Winter Marketing Strategies For Service Businesses

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The driveway is a sheet of ice, the hill is unforgiving, and somehow that’s the perfect backdrop for a sharper marketing plan. While we’re snowed in, we map out practical, low-friction ways service businesses stay top of mind when no one wants to leave the house. From photo contests that spark community to text messages that offer real help, you’ll get a clear playbook for turning a slow season into steady momentum.

We start with engagement you can launch today: run a simple snow-themed contest, share user photos, and anchor your brand with memorable visuals. Then we shift to respectful outreach. If you serve homeowners or tenants, a short text that acknowledges the storm and offers contractor referrals or a winter checklist builds trust fast. We dig into seasonal education that actually matters—preventing frozen pipes, choosing pet-safe ice melt, spotting roof leaks during the thaw—and explain how short articles, Facebook notes, and quick videos all count as modern blogging that wins attention.

Next, we open the door to events and partnerships. Host a 30-minute webinar on prepping a house to sell by April, or record a video on pipe relining versus dig-and-replace. Add early booking incentives like complimentary valuation visits or discounted maintenance inspections to turn interest into action. Then map your partner network: real estate agents, property managers, insurance brokers, roofers, and plumbers. Co-create checklists, share referrals, and co-host sessions so your expertise multiplies across audiences.

We close by tightening the engine: sharpen guarantees, clarify offers, and upgrade speed. Refresh your website with clear service pages, strong photos, and fast lead forms. Standardize follow-ups and text templates so every inquiry gets a quick, human reply. The snow will melt, demand will rise, and the groundwork you lay now will pay off when phones start ringing. If this sparked ideas, tap follow, share it with a colleague who’s bracing for winter slowdowns, and leave a quick review so more service pros can find it.

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To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com) 

NBC4 news segments: The importance of home inspections, and what to look for | NBC4 WCMH-TV

Advice from experts: Don’t skip the home inspection | NBC4 WCMH-TV

OSU student’s mysterious symptoms end up tied to apartment’s air quality | NBC4 WCMH-TV

How to save money by winterizing your home | NBC4 WCMH-TV

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hey everybody, it's Jim, and then here with me, of
course, is Laura, the officegoddess.

SPEAKER_02 (00:06):
Hello, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Alright, so we're snowed in for the last two days.

SPEAKER_02 (00:13):
And by snowed in, he doesn't mean, you know, we're
just stuck in the house becauseit's cold and we don't want to
go out.
We are legitimately snowed inand can't get up and down our
hill.

SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
Correct.
Now we did have uh a guy withactually it's a skin loader.
It's a skid loader.
Went up and down the driveway uhget rid of all the snow.
We easily eight inches, then wehad freezing rain for a while.
So we we had it was a lot, andthen our driveway is like 900
feet approximately from the roadto our house.

(00:49):
So it's a long way.
It is steep, it is steep andgravel.
So even during the summer, itcould be a little challenging to
get up there even if you don'thave a built up a little bit of
speed in the car at the bottom.
But you can't build up speedright now because it's ice at
the very bottom where it's flat.
So anyway, it's a challenge.
Fun times, but challengingchallenges during the winter are

(01:12):
not just for you know gettingout and about because the road
conditions.
We weren't level three untilyesterday morning, but despite
that, winter's a challenge formarketing your services.
And I'm thinking mainly ofservice type businesses.
If you are a real estate person,you can get ideas from different

(01:34):
types of businesses andindustries and use that for
yourself.
Because I believe fast foodrestaurants, they got the per
first person did the drive-thru,got that idea from the banks.

SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Oh, really?
That makes sense, though.

SPEAKER_01 (01:50):
Yes, until then, they're like, hey, look what
they're doing with the banks.
I like that, so let me do that.
Or maybe it's the other wayaround.
I may have that backwards, butanyway.
But just think about that.
How much banks or fast foodrestaurants have changed because
now there's a drive-thru window?
You can't go through, go buywhat is it that uh Chick-fil-A.

(02:12):
You can't go buy a Chick-fil-Aaround lunchtime and not see a
huge ass line going aroundbecause they have their stuff
down to a science.

SPEAKER_02 (02:19):
Oh, yeah, like their stuff's completely and totally
insane with how well they dostuff.

SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
So yes, so okay, so Laura.

SPEAKER_02 (02:27):
Yes, Jenny.

SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
We're just looking.
So what are some ideas forwinter marketing for service
businesses?
And a lot of these can be usedfor other type of businesses as
well.
So, what are some ideas, Laura?

SPEAKER_02 (02:39):
Uh, picture contests.
Who's got the most snow?
Who, you know, who's got thebiggest snowman, things like
that where you run a contest andyou know, give some cute little
prize out.

SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
Okay, I like that.
So not frosty with a magic hat,but you could put on a snowman
and have AI stick on yourcompany's shirt, or if you got a
shirt big enough, make a snowmanand put your shirt around the
outside of it.
I mean, you could do all kindsof different things.
So, all right, so you got that.

SPEAKER_02 (03:10):
Or you could just legitimately build a snowman and
not use AI.

SPEAKER_01 (03:15):
Well, I was thinking about actually building a
snowman, then you you use AI toput the shirt on.
Or you could just pin your own.

SPEAKER_02 (03:21):
Or you could just do it and not use AI.
Be outside, don't be on thecomputer.

SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
Or is a little anti-AI.
Just a little.
That's okay.
So and then here's anotherthing, because you can't really
if you're a service company, youcan't really go out and about
and market from to office tooffice.
So using uh text messaging, thatis something that could be very

(03:47):
valuable to do.
And my one thought regardingthat is if you're a real estate
agent, you likely have the cellphone number of every client
you've worked with.
There's absolutely, unless theytold you not to do this, nothing
wrong with you texting and go,hey, I know weather's really
bad, or it's been rough the lastlast few days.

(04:08):
If you need help findingsomebody to help your house or
any because you have your house,let me know I want to be a
resource for you.
There's nothing wrong with that.
In fact, we let we have a lot ofreal estate agents and past
clients use our home inspectioncompany as a resource for when
they you know want to do somehome improvements or something

(04:29):
happens.
They they contact us forassistance.

SPEAKER_02 (04:32):
Well, we've got that local company here that I know
they've got a database of alltheir clients, and we get, you
know, Merry Christmas, we get,hey, we're having a client
appreciation event, or there'sthis sale going on, and things
like that.
They do that regularly, not justin the wintertime.

SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
Yes, yep, and we've attended those.
Yes, we have.
And what I've seen, they arefairly well attended as well.

SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
And we live in a very small community and they've
got very good attendance.

SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
So you can also use this this time of year because
wow, if you like Laura, you hatesnow, you don't like winter, and
you want to have warm thoughtsof spring, so there's nothing
wrong with you going, hey,here's some spring planning tips
for you, or how or typicallywhat they do with, hey, here's
how you take care of your houseat this moment.

SPEAKER_02 (05:27):
One thing I do is I look through planting guides and
figure out how I want to dothings for the spring because it
helps me survive the winter likemulberries.
I'm trying to figure out whereand how to get a mulberry tree.
So if anybody has any that theywant to share, please let me
know.

SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
Yep.
There's all kinds of things.
You can do a how-to content,like how to prevent your pipes
from freezing, how to take careof your driveway.
Some a lot of people do not knowthat there are different types
of ice melt you can put in yourdriveway.
Some of those are pet friendly,pet friendly, and some of those
vegetation friendly potential tokill plants or to damage your

(06:07):
driveway.
So you need to be careful whatyou're using.
You could you could put up thosetypes of help.

SPEAKER_00 (06:13):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Trusted licensed home inspectorsfor your needs.
From radon to mall to warranty.
For a great home inspection, youreally can't go blog.

(06:34):
Visit home inspections inOhio.com.

SPEAKER_01 (06:39):
But yeah, contest.
What what else you got there,Laura?

SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
Uh blog posts.
I don't know.
Do bo people even do blogsanymore?

unknown (06:46):
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (06:47):
Like that much.
Yes.
Yes, but like they're yeah,people still do blogs.
They call them more like uharticles.
Well, what well think ofFacebook.
That's a blog.
That is a blog post.

SPEAKER_02 (07:02):
So stuff something like that, because part of part
of what makes a client use youor your company or any company
is that feeling that they'regoing to be given personal
service, that they know you,that they trust you.
And so when you're doingsomething like that, you're
letting people know a little bitabout you and you're making it

(07:24):
personal where they're going tolike you more, where they're
going to trust you, or they'regoing to refer you, or you know,
whatever the case may be.
Yes.
But you you want to get some ofthat personality out there that
you have because that's howyou'll get clients.

SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
Yeah, every post on some social media should not be,
hey, buy for me.
It should be, hey, here's whatwe're dealing with right now,
like us.
Like people.
Or chicken coop, the run.

SPEAKER_02 (07:49):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:49):
It collapsed or chicken run collapsed because
all the snow.
And ice.
So now the chickens are trappedinside, which is not bad for
them.
And they can go outside in therun, they just have a lot less
space in that run.
Because the snow, it dropped it.

SPEAKER_02 (08:04):
So that that needs to be we also have some
Icelandics, and so they wouldprobably be perfectly content
just being let loose and out,but I still don't want to do
that because it's really coldand they're my babies.

SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
So here's some things people can do during the
winter as well.
They can have a like make someincentives for people to book
early or schedule early yourservices.
It could be if you're home, ifyou're a real estate agent, uh
like a quick visit your house togive a valuation, a realtor
opinion of the value of thehouse.

(08:37):
You could also do wintereducational events, which can
be, you know, podcast like we dohere.
We've doing this for a coupleyears.
It could be a podcast, it couldbe a Zoom webinar that you
invite people to do to talkabout getting your house ready
for the winter.
Or I mean for yeah, it could bepast winter, it could be getting
ready for the spring, how tosell it.

(08:57):
It could be if you're a piperelining company, you talk about
the benefits of pipe reliningversus digging up your whole
entire yard or to fix a pipe.
Especially when it's you know,like 14 below.
I mean, you could even thinkabout what whatever your service
is, what are the commonquestions that you get or

(09:18):
misconceptions people have aboutyour service, and then do a
webinar about that, or you justjust do a YouTube video, you
know, of yourself speaking andpost that and share it
everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 (09:31):
Another idea is, you know, like we've been talking
with a lot of agents and they'retalking about getting houses
prepped to sell, not just youknow, like in a week or so, but
they're having us come in and domaintenance inspections and
they're working slowly throughthe list so that everything's
taken care of and it sellsfaster.
Something like that, lettingpeople know that you know, hey,

(09:53):
you should have a maintenanceinspection done so that you can
start working on things.
And I, you know, like if you'rethe the agent and they've got a
contract, maybe volunteer to payfor that and take care of that
with them.
You know, there's all kinds ofdifferent things you could do
because then that way you getthe listing.

SPEAKER_01 (10:08):
Yes, yeah.
Well, and this is the type ofyear, the time of year where if
there's a roof issue, you can'tfix it right now.
If your gutters are overflowing,which they may be overflowing
here, within a week or so whenthe snow starts melting.
You you can't work on thosethings this time of year.
It's frozen, it's snow covered,it's not safe to climb up on a

(10:29):
roof to fix anything.
So this is a good time of yearwhere it's like it's it's a
reminder, especially when itstarts melting, like, yeah, I
need to get things fixed in thefall, which like October,
November, good time of year tohave uh like a maintenance
inspection or moistureinspection done in your house.

SPEAKER_02 (10:47):
Or right now coming up when everything starts
melting, because we're gonna beable to see roof leaks, we're
gonna be able to see the guttersand the downspouts.
So, you know, now's a good timealso because we're gonna have a
lot of water hitting everything.

SPEAKER_01 (11:02):
Oh, yeah.
This is also a good time of yearto think about other businesses
that might serve your sameclient and then make um uh like
deals or agreements to work witheach other, maybe refer business
to each other.
For home inspectors, I mean it'sdefinitely real estate agents,

(11:23):
as always, but property managersand insurance agents, they have
commercial properties orresidential insurance companies
have started to hire homeinspection companies to come do
uh inspections on houses andcommercial building on the roofs
and everything else just to stayahead of things and help reduce
claims for themselves.

(11:44):
But you could do this with othercompanies easily.

SPEAKER_02 (11:50):
Yeah, so the wintertime is actually, you
know, and not only that, likeyou can you can get in, you can
still do some marketing, you cando your posts.
Typically, what about threemonths before you really start
seeing anything?
So when you're doing stuff now,you're prepping yourself for
when it's going to be busier,and you're you're getting all of
that set up and you're settingup the rest of your year.

(12:12):
So now's a really good time todo some of this.

SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
Yes.
So, and there's all kinds ofthings that can that can be
done.
I mean, the most obvious to us,and we've always constantly done
this.
What can you do to improve yoursystems for your for your
company?
Like you can depend on all yourbusiness, you can add
guarantees, you can add speed,clarity, you can add tangible or

(12:38):
intangible things to your offer.
You if you make an irresistibleoffer, which is like um like a
risk reverse reversal, like hey,you do this, you're not
satisfied, we'll give you allyour money back.
So that this they feel no riskin doing this, which is like
real estate agents.
They go, hey, I'll come in andgive a valuation of your house.

(12:59):
It you you can say it's a$500value, but we're gonna I do it
for free.
Based upon, you know, whatever.
You can make up your own ownstories, you're all right.

SPEAKER_02 (13:10):
You can make up your own stories.

SPEAKER_01 (13:11):
Yep, your own your own own criteria because we have
guarantees with our services.
And I mean, people there's ourhome inspection company is is
one of the safest companies togo with because we have
guarantees to help people out ifsomething happens, and we do
such a thorough job that we thatwe've had people tell us to

(13:37):
clients that they chose us overwho the real estate agent
recommended.
Some of the people didn't trusttheir agent fully.

SPEAKER_02 (13:45):
Which is sad.

SPEAKER_01 (13:46):
Yes.
So I can't think of anythingelse really, but yeah, use this
time to hone your company, yourbusiness, think about what
questions people have, and thenput out some content for that.
It could be articles, textmessages to everybody, pictures,
blog posts, reach out topotential partners to share um

(14:09):
referrals back and forth to eachother.
Work on your online presence.
Always good to do that.
Takes time.
This is the time this time ofyear where you may have more
time on your hands to do it.
Between you know, tasks ofshoveling snow, you have more
time.
So I and Laura, can you think ofanything else?

(14:29):
No, I can't.
So I think that's about it.
If you have any ideas oranything that you need, let us
know.
Um, our home special company isa good source for you.

SPEAKER_02 (14:40):
Stay safe and stay warm.

SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
Yep.
All right, bye-bye.