In all but the warmest climates, roofing jobs are typically done during the spring and summer months. This is partly due to customer demand, but it is also because it's much harder to do the work in colder temperatures or when the roof is covered with snow, for example. Because of these things, business for roofers tend to lag during the winter, and it is often tempting to stop marketing during this off-season. However, it is a mistake to do this. People look for roofers all year round, and often decide who to call long before they actually pick up their phones.

Why Roofers Need to Keep Marketing All Year

Despite most projects being completed during the spring and summer, Google Trends reports that searches for the term "roofing company" peak in the fall and rise again in January after a small decline. This shows that people are researching roofing companies even in the winter months and not only during the busy season. For this reason, it’s crucial to market year-round, which can help you drive business in a number of ways.

Build Brand Awareness

The off-season is the ideal time to build awareness and garner interest in your company. And by marketing your roofing business year-round, you can ensure that more people will be seeking your services during the busier seasons. There are a variety of tools and tactics that you can use to improve your brand awareness. These include digital advertising, radio, social media and digital brand management.

Generate Qualified Roofing Leads

For non-impulse purchases, like roofing services, lead generation is the lynchpin of success. Simply put, more leads equal more potential business for your company. To generate qualified leads, provide helpful content and advertise consistently to get people to call you or fill out your online information request form. Be ready to respond to queries at all times during the year – some people may call even in the dead of winter. This is especially true for roofers, whose customers may realize that they need service due to the effects of winter weather.

Enhance Brand Perception

People's opinions of your company can impact customer loyalty and behavior more than the service itself. This is why brands that are arguably very similar in physical properties, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, put so much effort into creating unique brand experiences for their products. That differentiation, more than the products themselves, is what sets them apart – and what drives most people to choose one over the other. The same process works for all sorts of products and services.

For roofing companies, word-of-mouth referrals and online reviews are all big business drivers. These rely on the perceptions of former or current clients, who would typically refer others or leave reviews. To ensure your business is generating positive referrals and reviews, focus on improving aspects of your business that impact customer’s perception of your brand, like customer service, service quality, reputation and branding. Then, promote these aspects year-round to drive business in every season.

Keep Your Company Top-of-Mind

When someone decides to move forward with a roofing project, he or she will likely contact the company that comes to mind first. To ensure that your company's name is top-of-mind, be sure to have an active social media presence, send reminder emails to your roofing leads, and deliver consistent ads to your target audience.

While it may be tempting to slow or even stop marketing your roofing company during the "off-season,” it is actually beneficial to continue doing so all year. This will help boost your business in a number of ways - including increased awareness, more leads, improved brand perception and increased recall - regardless of the season.