How to Use Social Media to Attract New Painting Customers

Using social media to attract potential painting customers requires a very calculated approach, from participating on the correct platforms to creating the kind of content that will act as a lead magnet. While there isn’t a one size fits all painting company social media marketing strategy, there is some information we can provide you with that will help differentiate your business from others on social media.

The differentiating factor is what helps your painting company attract some of the attention available on social media. While there is a massive audience available there is also an incredible amount of competition and noise you need to cut through.

From businesses marketing their products and services organically as well as via paid ads, to users sharing content nonstop. All you have to do is open any social media app and look at the feed – the content doesn’t stop.

With the majority of social media browsing and engagement occurring on mobile devices, the majority of users are scrolling quickly, so you need to grab their attention and do so in a non-promotional manner.

It’s also important that your painting company’s social media marketing effort is focused on attracting and engaging with local customers. This in itself requires a creative strategy. Overwhelmed yet? Don’t be, because we are going to break down a few tips below to help you get the best return from your activity on social media.

If you based whether or not you were going to put a lot of effort into marketing on Facebook according to the perception of a year ago that only kids were active on it, you would miss the biggest opportunity you have to attract painting leads on social media.

Social media evolves, from its features to its core users. Facebook used to be for the high school to college-age demographic, and then those users continued to use it as they entered the workforce and “grew up.”

The younger demographic then deemed Facebook uncool and “for old people,” while they all shifted their attention to Instagram. Facebook is still used by everyone, but the most engagement and the longer session durations are coming from the older demographic.

Parents are using it to stay in touch with friends and family, share pictures of their everyday life, and then the oldest generation is now using it to easily see pictures of their children and grandchildren.

Facebook’s core users-base has done a complete 180 and who knows what will happen in the future. But, for the time being, it’s a social network with a perfectly matched demographic for a painting company.

Avoid Content That Resembles Advertisements

If your painting company’s social media marketing strategy is to just post special offers and posts that directly extend your services the results are going to be mediocre at best. The average social media user encounters hundreds – even thousands – of advertisements daily across all of the platforms.

The average consumer has become immune to blatant advertisements, so much in fact that they will scroll past your post without it even registering. You might have an incredible offer for your painting service, but if nobody is even slowing down to look at it your return is going to be minimal to none.

Create content that is fun and gets the average user to at least glance at your posts. It’s that initial fraction of a second that someone determines whether to keep scrolling past or take a minute to see what the post is all about.

The majority of the consumers you want to attract and eventually turn into painting customers are visual – it’s the image or video you use that is going to determine their level of interest. Imagine if you were on Facebook, casually scrolling through your feed, and saw a GIF that was a person getting a can of paint dumped on their head. Would it draw your attention to the post?

Once you have that attention you can then showcase a message to gain followers or direct that audience to a specific page on your painting company’s website. That type of GIF example doesn’t automatically register “ad” to someone scrolling. Instead, they think “funny,” which is one of the most popular content genres.

Contests are one of the most effective ways to gain social media followers for your painting company’s pages and profiles. Let’s break down the aspects of hosting a Facebook contest to gain local social media followers.

Once these local consumers follow your Facebook page they will see your posts in the future, becoming a possible lead or referral source in the future. Remember, social media marketing needs to be viewed as a long-term play for your painting company – the result (goal) will not happen overnight.

The Prize: Consider something that will only appeal to local residents for two reasons. First, it limits participation to those local to your area. Someone that follows your Facebook page not local to you looks good – it’s a new follower – but they have a zero percent probability of ever hiring your painting company. Popular local (non-chain) restaurants, local sporting event tickets, and tickets or passed to local attractions are always popular and well received.

The Rules: Make it as simple as possible to enter:

Follow the Facebook page
Like the contest post
Share the contest post
Comment “Entered!” and tag a few friends that would also be interested in entering

This literally takes five seconds to enter and it creates an incredible amount of engagement, which can further amplify and promote the contest.

The Drawing: Copy and paste all of the names that entered the content (commented) and put them in a random name generator. There are plenty of free ones online to pick from. Scree record the process to document it. Then, when a winner is selected confirm that they followed the instructions (follow, like, share, and tag). If they didn’t, run the generator again until you find a winner.

The Showcasing: Post the drawing video on social media, and be sure to tag the winner. Congratulate them and then ask your followers to do the same. This sparks instant engagement. Also mention that you will be hosting another contest shortly because this one was such a success.

This type of social media marketing for a painting company is so effective, yet it isn’t perceived as direct marketing and advertising by most consumers. Start small and don’t expect to gain 5,000 followers from your first contest.

Focus on engagement and running the contest smoothly. If you execute it correctly the first time it can set you up for an even more successful one in the future.

Continue to host these frequently and watch the participation and post-engagement grow with each one. You will notice that as they become more popular you can reduce the prize cost and host even more contests regularly, creating incredible social media growth.

As your followers increase – and if they are local – it gives you a larger audience that will see your posts and content in the future. This pool of prospects will continue to grow and this will naturally result in more leads and jobs.

Final Thoughts

A combination of creative content and engaging with your most valuable followers – those local to your business – can help your painting company succeed in its social media marketing efforts. Your follower count is irrelevant. Quality followers that can not only potentially be converted into customers, but also referral sources, are priceless.

Creating an effective social media marketing plan for a painting company requires some ramp-up time. Don’t expect overnight results, because if you do there is a high likelihood that you will be disappointed.

Take your time to create content that showcases your painting company’s work, company values, and personality. When you combine this with the correct targeting the results will continue to improve over time.

If you have any questions or would like to receive more information about our social media marketing services for painting companies please contact us. We will be more than happy to explain the process as well as answer any questions regarding how to market a painting company on social media.

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