Should I Outsource My Marketing? A Guide for Local Home Service Businesses

Marketing, sales, operations, HR, customer service, finances — it's a lot for a small home service business owner like you to manage by yourself.

Your company is small in size but big on professional, prompt, and friendly service. Despite that, you don't even employ a dedicated marketing professional, much less a whole department.

So you handle the marketing yourself. Along with just about everything else.

"Overwhelmed" doesn't even begin to describe your day-to-day.

You bounce back and forth from berating yourself for not doing more to cutting yourself some slack because there simply aren't enough hours in the day.

You're tired, stressed, and stretched to your limits — but you need more leads to keep the lights on.

Maybe you're considering pay-per-lead services or hiring an SEO agency to take care of things for you.

And you're wondering...

Should I outsource my marketing?

The short answer is yes.

Because if you're asking this question, you recognize you have a problem that you can't possibly hope to solve on your own.

But there's a right and wrong way to go about outsourcing marketing for a local home service business like yours.

What every local home service business should know about outsourcing their marketing

Local home service businesses often rely on pay-per-lead agencies and third-party platforms to generate leads. But this approach can cause more problems than it solves. Let's take a look.

Pay-per-lead services

It can be tempting to hand over lead generation efforts to the agency that charges the least per lead. Besides, some of the most popular lead generation sites for local home service businesses reach millions of homeowners every month.

Seems like a no-brainer, right?

Not quite.

Pay-per-lead services can be highly problematic. Choosing an agency that isn't 100% transparent about their lead generation tactics will cost you more than just money in the long run.

Most agencies charge per lead. So it's in their best interest to sell you as many leads as possible to maximize revenue.

Even if those leads aren't relevant or located in your service area.

Even if those leads are also shared with your competitors. (This is very common.)

So if you're not careful, outsourcing your marketing could cause even more problems than you're already facing. Which leaves you to clean up a mess someone else made. Yet another thing on your already overcrowded plate.

Third-party platforms

Sinking thousands of dollars into Google Ads each month seems like a good way to increase brand visibility.

Only problem is, all of your competitors are doing it too.

Google is saturated. You don't need us to tell you that. The top spot goes to the highest bidder.

And the minimum bid is increasing all the time — which means local businesses like yours might eventually be knocked out of the running.

You're already paying anywhere from $50 to $80 per click. On the lower end, you might spend $1,000 for 20 clicks.

Now, what are your conversion rates? Probably nowhere near 10%, right?

But let's say they are. That only equals 2 booked jobs.

You might be thinking, "Okay, but what if that customer books a $20,000 job? It's worth it then, right?"

Wrong.

Because a treadmill approach like this isn't sustainable.

What would happen if Google published a major algorithm change? Or if the minimum bid increased so much that you couldn't afford it?

Relying too much on third-party platforms like Google puts your business at risk.

Especially when there are smarter — and cheaper — ways to generate leads.

Things to consider before outsourcing your marketing

Before you hand off your marketing to an agency that doesn't know your customer base or your industry, ask yourself some questions.

What are your overall business goals?

These likely include increasing revenue, cutting costs, generating more leads, and taking some tasks off your neverending to-do list.

What do you hope or expect to gain from outsourcing your marketing?

You probably want your outsourcing efforts to produce more loyal customers and simplify lead conversion. At the same time, you need better processes to manage customers that you don't have to think about day-to-day.

Intelligent outsourcing for maximum ROI

Outsourcing your marketing to outside agencies only addresses a small part of your problems, which is generating new customers.

And it neglects a major solution: Booking more jobs with your current customers.

You know, the ones you've already paid anywhere from $250 to $350 apiece to acquire?

The ones who already trust your business?

The ones who took time out of their busy lives to give you a glowing review?

Many home service business owners are caught between managing their business while also trying to grow it that those existing customers slip through the cracks.

And those customers a secret weapon for generating revenue.

Because leads only generate revenue after they convert into customers.

It's time to get off the treadmill of chasing new customers and start reconnecting with your existing ones.

We'll let you in on a secret:

The most successful home service businesses generate at least 65% of their revenue from repeat business.

We're willing to bet the opposite is true for you — you might generate 65% of your business from new customers.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

In fact, it shouldn't be that way.

You already know you need to turn your marketing on its head to implement lead-loss, data review, and customer follow-up processes.

And the good news is, you don't have to do it alone.

Re-engage your past customers and drive repeat business with ZyraTalk's Growth Suite, tailor-made for local home service businesses like yours. Instant messaging, email and SMS marketing, reputation management, intelligent analytics — we've thought of everything.

Build better relationships with your customers to unlock explosive growth with the assistance of a dedicated account manager. Your peace of mind is our priority — rest assured that when you welcome ZyraTalk to your team, your most important marketing activities are already taken care of.

Bid goodbye to that expensive treadmill and say hello to more revenue from more customers with less effort. Book your demo today to discover why 2,000+ local home service businesses trust us to handle their marketing. Mention this blog post and we'll even throw in a free trial of our Growth Suite!