Here is SOMEONE ELSE’S marketing advice…

(And MY modifications for POOL BUILDERS)

By Brett Lloyd Abbott, MYM Austin Inc.

Normally, I write my own articles, but I recently read an article from digital marketing expert Ilana Plumer regarding “5 Digital Marketing Habits You Should Ditch in 2017,” and I couldn’t help but comment. Ilana is a smart and talented marketer offering good GENERIC advice.  But if you’re a pool builder, you might want to consider my “slight modifications” to some of her advice, as it applies to YOUR specific situation. 

Habit #1: “Not Knowing Your Audience”

Ilana reminds us that we can use Google analytics and other tools to identify the demographics of website visitors and Facebook visitors, which certainly can be helpful.  Knowing more about your target market gives you the chance to tweak your message to resonate with that particular demographic. 

And while that’s great generic advice, it’s a level of detail you probably won’t need for your business.  That’s because your target market is pretty easy to define:

• If you’re a pool builder, your target market is basically a sufficiently-affluent homeowner who lives within your 50 mile radius, and wants to buy a pool. 
• If you’re a retailer or pool service company, your target market is a homeowner within your service area who has a swimming in her backyard. 

So yes, you could slice and dice your demographic data down to find out how many of your prospects are bilingual millennial’s who enjoy cooking and love dogs.  But that’s probably more detail than you need right now.

Habit #2: “Not Developing a Voice or Tone for Your Blog”

I agree 100% it is vital to your marketing success that you have (or develop) and maintain a “voice or tone” for your business.  Are you the high-end service folks who wear collared shirts, and email photographs of the pool after every service call?  Or are you the high-end pool builder who designs and installs vanishing edge and perimeter overflow swimming pools on challenging hillsides?  Either way, it’s smart to clearly promote your image and “who you are” (and “WHY should I care”).  (That’s why we offer our “Identity and Master Story” service here at MYM Austin.)

My only clarification here is that you should be developing and maintaining a “voice” (a.k.a. “image”) whether you have a blog or not.

Habit #3: “Focusing on the Channels You Understand — and Ignoring the Ones You Don’t”

Good advice here, but what’s more important is to KNOW which channels are important, and know which ones are okay to ignore.  For example, HOUZZ is an excellent channel for pool builders.  But Snapchat is not.  (Click here for an easy-to-read summary of what you should and should not do with all social media in the pool industry.)

Habit #4: “Not Using Paid Search”

Ilana is totally right here. If you are trying to generate more leads fast, nothing works faster and more efficiently in our industry than paid search. 

(If you are not currently doing paid search, and you’re looking for some advice, I recommend you contact us for some assistance and/or free advice.)

Habit #5: “Doing It Alone”

Once again, Ilana is right when she says “No one person will have the expertise to write copy that converts and engages customers on social media and conduct keyword analysis and all of the other activities and functions.“

I would speak more broadly than that, and say “No one person will have the expertise to be a great pool builder AND a marketing genius AND a Google adwords expert AND a website developer AND a social media expert, and an accountant and everything else that it takes to run a business.“  (That’s why people like me stay in business.)

BOTTOM LINE: If you are doing your own digital marketing, you are probably doing it wrong.

Let me say again – Ilana offers some great advice for a business owner.  But as a pool industry business owner, you’ll be better served if you consider my pool-industry-specific twists to her otherwise excellent advice in 2017.

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