One of the most important elements of any successful marketing plan is knowing who your customers are and how to best reach them. 

In the realm of restoration and water damage marketing, it’s easy to think of your service area and target the market as all homeowners in the general vicinity of your business’s location. After all, every home is vulnerable to water damage and may need your services at some point. However, your marketing strategy will be infinitely more effective if you perform market research surrounding target audience identification and service area determination, which allows you to tailor your messages to the right people at the right time.

Why You Need a Service Area 

When launching a home services company, taking on clients from anywhere might seem like a great way to generate revenue and build a reputation to garner referrals. However, accepting every job can ultimately backfire. Not only do you run the risk of spending valuable time on the road, but it’s also more difficult to develop an effective marketing and social media strategy because you’re trying to be all things to all people.

Defining your service area accomplishes several goals:

• Better operational efficiency. A smaller service area lets you be more responsive and minimizes travel time and expenses.
• Personalized marketing. Focusing on a defined area allows you to really get to know your ideal customer and tailor messages to that audience and their needs and priorities.
• Stronger reputation. A defined service area allows you to manage your team more effectively and provide better service, which helps establish your reputation and ensure customer satisfaction.

How to Define Your Service Area 

Service area determination starts with in-depth market research. This means identifying your ideal customer demographics, analyzing the competition, and assessing the demand for your service. For example, an underserved area or one that’s growing quickly or has a high population density may be the ideal spot for your company to grow and thrive in. We typically reccommend starting small and working your way outward. Start in the smaller communities

After identifying the areas that may benefit from water damage marketing, further narrow them down to ensure operational efficiency. This means defining a service area based on:

• Travel time. Traveling long distances to jobs increases costs. Plus, it means it takes longer to get to clients, which cuts productivity. The savings that come from working closer to headquarters can make up for some of the lost revenue.
• Logistics and supply chain. In addition to getting technicians to the job site, you need to get materials and supplies there too. Issues with logistics and supply chain can influence your ability to work efficiently, so consider the impact of a larger service area on these factors.
• Staffing. A larger service area often translates to a larger team, so be sure you have enough people on your team to handle the wider work area.

Performing a lead volume assessment, or analyzing how many leads the area has available, can also help you determine the size of your service area. Keep in mind that an area without many current leads can indicate an emerging market or a region that doesn’t currently have many services like yours. Expanding into those areas could allow you to access an untapped market and develop a strong reputation with local homeowners before there’s much competition.

Marketing to Your Service Area

Once you know where you intend to offer your restoration services, water damage marketing becomes a matter of developing local marketing strategies that address the specific needs of those homeowners. A social media strategy that focuses on reaching people in that area with targeted paid advertising and localized content, local SEO-focused content that puts your company at the top of search rankings, and offering free services like quotes or inspections can get your business in front of an audience in your service area. 

Request a Strategy Session to Grow Your Water Damage Restoration Company 

When you need help determining a service area or any other element of water damage marketing, schedule a strategy session with Vinnie Mac Restoration Marketing. Our years of expertise in the industry help restoration companies attract more customers and land restoration jobs, and we can guide you in designing the perfect creative strategy for your company. Request a complimentary strategy session today by calling (314) 582-5210 and see how we can help your company reach its goals and get more business with effective marketing.