Service industry specific content marketing tips that will give your business everything you need to drive traffic and awareness online.

1. Leveraging Content for
the Service Industry

2. Leveraging Content for the Service Industry
1. What Does Content Have to Do With My Business?
2. Modern Marketing Is a Two-Way Street
3. What is a Blog Post?
4. Why the Service Industry Is Special Online
5. More than Just Words
6. Conclusion: Help Is Out There
“By enticing area homeowners through a blog, Twitter account or
Facebook page, you can begin to educate your customers about
the benefits of using your company, and thereby increase brand
awareness. This process requires a minimal investment, but the
effects can be great as you build a base of loyal fans, establish
yourself as an authority, and grow your e-mail list.”
-Ron Smith, author “HVAC Spells Wealth”

3. What Does Content Have to Do With My Business?
Business owners in the service industry have many advantages when adding an online marketing
strategy to their traditional marketing efforts.
• The products and services offered by businesses in the service industry usually require at least
a little expertise and some explanation
• Consumers and homeowners almost always (90+ percent of the time) perform research online
before making a purchase, which means those online searchers are asking questions about the
service they need
• Small-to-medium business owners can emphasize their authentic local ties to the community,
which is helpful when it comes to being found in search
An online presence can include multiple formats. While a company website is seen more and more
as the minimum presence a company should have online, social media marketing has sometimes
become an even more dominant online presence for a business. A company Facebook profile or
Twitter account is free and it’s where huge numbers of potential customers spend time online.
Surprisingly, though, almost half of small businesses don’t have a website,
according to an article by Entrepreneur magazine that cited statistics from
the website Statistic Brain. Some of those businesses choose to simply
maintain a Facebook account instead of a real website, according to the
magazine. This strategy is a mistake because it limits your company’s reach
and potential. Customers go online to find answers. Providing meaningful
content online gives customers what they went online to find and it starts a
conversation. Content, just like an ad with a phone number or a billboard, is
another way business owners can reach customers.
Modern Marketing Is a Two-Way Street
With a company blog that offers expert advice specific to a company’s products and services, a
service provider is meeting customers at their time of need. Blog posts on a wide variety of topics
will cast a wide net to those searching for online advice.
Online readers have to feel as though they received some value from a blog post, so it’s important
to provide blog content that has good information delivered in an engaging way. Good SEO tools
sprinkled throughout a blog post, but not in an aggressive way, will help the right kinds of online
readers (consumers in business’ service area) find blog posts related to their online search.
With the right kind of online content, service providers can leverage their expertise into solid
business leads. By working with a blogging service such as SocialTract, a service provider can have
input on the kinds of articles that make sense for the type of business the service provider runs,
but the burden of coming up with new ideas and writing the blog posts is placed on a team of
experienced writers.

4. What is a Blog Post?
Just as a fictional novel reads differently from the kind of writing found on the back of a cereal
box, a blog post is its own unique writing style. Online readers have relatively short attention
spans. But they also want value from their time online. An
expert-advice blog post should:
• Offer at least one or two pieces of information that the
reader didn’t know previously
• Get right to the point
• Be relatively short (no more than 500 words is a good rule
of thumb)
• Be readable. That means no textbook technicality or
lectures
• Be about the customer, not you. Let the reader know you
have customers in mind.
A great expert-advice blog post will read like a transcript of
a conversation with a customer in the customer’s home. The homeowner doesn’t want to hear a
three-hour lecture on the history of ceiling fans, for example. Instead, a homeowner who asks a
question about changing the blades on a ceiling fan would want to know in simple terms where to
get ceiling fan blades and how to safely install them. And the homeowner would appreciate hearing
from an expert if replacing the ceiling-fan blades is something best left to an expert. Giving expert
advice isn’t giving away your company secrets. It’s letting the homeowner in on your point of view
and helping customers better understand your business.
Why the Service Industry Is Special Online
The service industry is especially suited to providing expert advice because of the perception many
online readers have that online content isn’t always accurate. Most consumers don’t have the skills
to make major repairs to equipment in their homes. And while many How-To sites exist online, a
blog produced by a reputable local company has built-in credibility.

5. Many companies that provide services, such as heating and cooling contractors, landscaping
companies, auto-repair and other small businesses, have seasonal changes to the services they
offer. A blog allows a business owner to constantly update customers with fresh content that is
seasonal, relevant and new. Search engines reward websites that are refreshed constantly with
unique content, so businesses in the service industry have a built-in reason to generate fresh
content. The changing sales cycles lend themselves to new and engaging content throughout the
year.
More Than Just Words
Online readers can easily tell when an article online is a good, informative piece of information,
so it’s critical to convey good advice to readers that doesn’t have a hard-sales focus. The content
offered online should go beyond just the words in the post, though. Links to relevant information
elsewhere online or on the company’s website adds value to the reader experience and gives
readers an easy way to make contact with a company. Tailoring a blog post or piece of online
content to a specific geographic region is crucial.
Photos are an especially important way to draw in readers, but videos are enormously successful
with online viewers. Videos are another area in which businesses in the service industry have an
upper hand. YouTube provides a relatively easy format for sharing videos produced by a small
business and blog posts can easily link to a YouTube video.
In Summary: Help Is Out There
Blogging services such as SocialTract were built with the service
industry in mind. The writers and editors at SocialTract have
experience working with businesses in the HVAC, home-medical
equipment, auto sales, marketing, accounting and other fields.
The writers think like a consumer to provide blog posts that have
sound, expert advice, yet are easy to understand and appealing
to readers. SocialTract works with clients, through surveys and
constant feedback, to get to know a company so that online content
represents what the company really is. Regular reporting to clients
proves the value of online content and testimonials from satisfied
customers can make service-industry business owners feel at ease
entrusting content creation to the experts at SocialTract.