Using PPC Custom Audiences to Effectively Retarget Home Improvement Leads

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Janet Mobley

September 25, 2019

At FatCat, we LOVE PPC advertising. It’s one of the best ways a contractor can generate “exclusive” leads.

We’ve recently shared some of our favorite PPC targeting tactics that have helped us generate tremendous results for our clients. Demographic, location, and time-of-day targeting are great for pumping new, exclusive leads into your system. However, if you’re not nurturing these leads, you’re missing out on a potential gold mine of sales opportunities.

Fortunately, by implementing custom audience targeting, you can take your lead nurturing game to the next level.

What is a custom PPC audience….and why should home improvement companies care?

A custom audience is a form of targeted advertising where home improvement contractors can use information from their CRM to target really specific lists if prospects.

Who can you target with a custom PPC audience?

Demo-no-sell leads
Old / cold leads
Home show leads
Previous customer / upsell leads

What does it mean to “target leads with a PPC campaign?” Simply put, it means you’re showing very specific online ads to a very specific group of people from your CRM.

Why do we like this tactic so much? The costs are lower. It’s super targeted. And it’s a great nurturing tool.

Think about it this way: You already paid to get these leads into your CRM, either through a home show, TV commercial, or lead aggregator. But for some reason, they’re just not ready to buy. This tactic keeps your name fresh in their mind, without much work on your part.

A quick side note: You can’t make custom audiences without a CRM. And, we assume you’re using a CRM, but if you’re not, you really should. We love MarketSharp because it was made for home improvement and remodeling contractors. But there are countless other CRMs that will get the job done. The point is you need a CRM.

Nurture old or cold home improvement leads with a custom PPC audience

We love custom PPC audiences built from the data in your CRM. Why? Because you can get soooo specific with your targeting For example, you can create a campaign to show display ads, or social ads JUST to those old, cold leads in your CRM.

How do you do it? It’s easy.

Run a report or ‘custom view’ in your CRM to filter on leads that have expressed an interest in your products, but never answered the phone, or set an appointment.
Export that list (with email addresses).
Import your list to an online advertising platform, like Facebook, Bing or Google.

Boom. You’ve just created a custom audience.

Custom audiences are nice because you don’t really have to mess around with a ton of settings and buttons like with other targeting tactics. But what really makes them powerful is the ability they give marketers to get so uber-specific with messaging.

Why is Custom Audience targeting so effective?

Unlike “top of the funnel” online ads, where you’re just trying to capture a new lead, you already know the people in your custom audience, and they already know you.

According to Invesp, retargeted customers are three times more likely to click on your ad than people who’ve never interacted with your business before. So when you combine this knowledge with an amazing offer or super-specific messaging, it becomes clear why custom audiences are so effective.

Online ad campaign ideas for home improvement remarketing audiences

Show “exclusive offer” ads on Facebook to previous customers
Show Google display ads to anyone who’s requested a quote in the last 6 months, but didn’t buy
Show Bing ads just to a list of sweepstakes or contest entries
Show special offers on Facebook just to a list of people in your CRM that live in one neighborhood

Once you get the hang of combining a filtered list from your CRM with a targeted ad, you should have a TON of ideas.

We’d love to hear how you’re using custom targeting to do innovative nurture campaigns for your home improvement leads.

Have Any More Questions? Let’s talk.

Creating a campaign with a custom audience isn’t hard. Creating one that’s effective and drives sales, however, is. If you’re not careful, you could end up spending a lot of money with nothing to really show for it.

Fortunately for you, this is what we’re good at. If you have any questions about how you can remodel your online image to increase leads, set up a free 30-minute consultation with us!

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