As the owner of Roofing Webmasters, clients often tell me that I’m refreshingly honest. There are two reasons why I come across that way. First, I don’t like misleading my customers. Second, almost every other digital marketing company in the United States is either ignorant or unethical. Unfortunately, many are both, which is incredibly dangerous for roofers.

In the following podcast episode, Jason and I discuss the truth about digital marketing for roofers, and it’s not comforting. However, it is highly entertaining and insightful.

Does Your Roofing Digital Marketing Company Get Results?

More than 70% of SEO consumers are unhappy with their current provider. Unfortunately, the 30% of companies happy with their SEO services aren’t watching this video or reading this blog post. You are likely one of the roofers with a lousy digital marketing agency if you are reading this.

Does your marketing agency deliver results? Sometimes this can be hard to prove or disprove. How’s your revenue? How is your website traffic and lead generation? These are questions that marketing companies should help you answer. However, you have to pay attention independently also.

What Makes a Digital Marketing Company Honest?

Let’s use my agency, Roofing Webmasters, as an example. We don’t aim to make a lot of money from clients in their first year. Why? Because we intend to form a long-term relationship with our customers. We want them to succeed long-term, which also benefits our agency.

In contrast, dishonest agencies use a churn and burn model that frontloads the agreements. So if they make big money in the first six months and then lose your business, they really don’t care. The model also works for them because they no longer need your business by the time you realize their services don’t work.

Buying a Business Relationship Over a Service

The marketer you spoke to on the phone seems very nice. After all, he repeats your name on numerous occasions and assures you that his marketing model works wonders. However, there’s one problem, he’s selling you a warm fuzzy feeling instead of a productive service.

Roofers often fall into this trap in the buying and leaving stages. A roofing contractor may go with an agency because they had a good conversation with the salesperson. Furthermore, they may hesitate to leave even when they sense something wrong with the services.

Although many experts claim that marketing is all about relationships, it’s more about results. Suppose you choose a marketing agency that delivers results. In that case, you can form all the connections you need with your new customers and other roofers in the industry, many of who are envious of your marketing position.

Customer Service vs. Actual Service

If Bob, the salesperson, calls you each week to talk about your progress (or his version of it), you might feel good about the customer service. The problem with this strategy is confusing customer service with actual service. He assures you that you’re doing great, but you are doing horrible.

One of the most significant problems with the marketing industry is that roofers will pay for customer service over good marketing. They want to be assured that things are working because they don’t have the time or energy to find out themselves. Unfortunately, marketing salespeople prey on this mindset.

Roofing Digital Marketing Agency Red Flags

To avoid choosing the wrong digital marketing agency, look out for common red flags. These companies often share strategies to reel in unsuspecting roofing companies. They use these tactics because they work more often than they don’t. Check out some common red flags:

They never tell you something won’t work — instead, they tell you everything you want to hear and confirm everything you say
They want you to pay a hefty upfront fee and lock you into a six-month or 1-year agreement.
They sold you based on metric-driven reports from SEMRush or other SEO tools.
They have a salesy delivery or reek of manipulation, dishonesty, and BS.

From Almost Quitting to Multi-Millionaire

Before using our services, one of our roofing SEO clients was fed up with the digital marketing industry. He told us that we were the last agency he would ever use and that if our services didn’t deliver, he would shut down his business. Fast forward three years, and he became a multi-millionaire.

The story reveals two things about the digital marketing industry for roofers. First, most agencies will destroy your will to compete in the roofing industry. They lie so much that it becomes like putting air in the tires. Secondly, many great opportunities exist if you find a rare agency that does good work.

This roofer was the beneficiary of some circumstances as well. His company operated in San Antonio, TX, and experienced one of the most significant hail storms in city history. As a result, his marketing presence on Google and Google Maps specifically gave him a ridiculous amount of high-ticket leads.

The Bottom Line About Digital Marketing for Roofers

Most digital marketing agencies are sales-driven, dishonest, and provide inadequate services. Unfortunately, this is the rule and not the exception. Roofing companies that find the rare roofing marketing agency that does excellent work can benefit substantially. However, most roofing companies never get there to find out.