Episode 149: Trade Marketing Magic Playbook Pt 2 - Brand & Digital

Today on the To The Point Podcast, self-proclaimed “Santa Chris” is in the studio with Matt Tyner, MAX Service Group’s V.P. of Brand Experience. In this episode, our host and guest discuss the art of branding, LSA, PPC, SEO, and what home services contractors should expect in 2023. Coming off the week of the famous RYNO Christmas Party, our host, Chris Yano, starts off this interview by discussing humble beginnings as “Indiana Boys” and how he met Matt.

About Matt Tyner

Chris and Matt met in 2010 when Matt was working for an HVAC distributor. Matt got into the trades right out of college. He knew his passion was the marketing side of things, and from there, he got into contracting commerce, e-commerce, and distribution. Later he became the Director of Sales and Marketing at a small business in Kentucky. He decided to move back to Indiana to raise his kids in his hometown and started working for a marketing agency focused on the trades as their V.P. of Marketing. From there, he moved on to MAX Service Group where he worked his way up to becoming the V.P. of Brand Experience – which is where he is today.

Since Tyner’s journey through the home services industry, he’s accomplished so much. Some of his highlights include:

• Total of 640% growth over three years in eCommerce
• A blended return on ad spend of $14:$1 as a residential contractor
• Grew a startup marketing agency revenue (client ad spend removed) from $0 to $3.5M in two years

Matt Tyner believes in some integral marketing philosophies. For instance, a return on marketing spend (or ROMS) is essential to growing businesses. He believes that all marketers should be quote, “tactic agnostic.” He says that if a tactic works for your business, use it to help your company grow. Lastly, he says: test and grow. It’s integral that all marketing campaigns should be tested. If you find it works, the next step is to scale. If not, move on to whatever’s next.

Branding and Building Trust

From a branding perspective – what is the most important thing contractors need to pay attention to in 2023? Tyner says 2023 has the opportunity to be very different from the last two years. As an industry, we’ve been fortunate not to be too impacted by the economic effects of Covid-19. There were a lot of things that played in our favor to our industries, and we need to be prepared for these factors to come to their maturity as well as the coming changes whether you’re a big or small contractor.

Matt says it’s important to ensure you’re covering all your bases in the funnel so you can hit every customer at any stage and not just hone in on one piece. Matt talks about using a “mix” of tactics, whether it’s social promotion, brand promotion, etc.

Chris talks about how when Covid-19 hit, the “pendulum,” so to speak, swung very hard in RYNO’s direction because of the nature of the business and everyone suddenly staying at home. But they knew that eventually, things would even out. Branding is so important in uncertain times like these because customers will want to rely on a brand they can trust. Chris says in 2023, branding will be very important and that contractors need to plan for it. Social media is a great tool for this, especially because it’s free.

Building trust with the consumer is so important and will continue to be important because of situations like an economic downturn. Brand trust will be essential for success. Branding can’t fix your business overnight. But it is integral.

Desktop vs. Mobile Advertising

Chris talks about how LSA (local service ads) are so beneficial to companies and so low risk it’s just a matter of managing your spend for the best results. So what’s the best way to manage these LSA programs for the best outcome? Matt says his company keeps his budget uncapped for these leads but has also seen it done successfully in small budgets. It’s important to understand that Google’s goal is to drive revenue, and we need to work around that. You need to have a reliable number of staff members to manage your advertising if you’re going to keep your budget unlimited.

Is there anything MAX is doing differently for desktop vs mobile advertising? Matt says you need top-of-the-line marketing for mobile because consumers who need these services in a pinch go to their phones. Phone numbers and contact forms must be readily available and easy to find. For mobile, the goal is that your customer can connect with you quickly. You need to be strategic with how your homepage is laid out. If your customer can’t convert easily, then you’ve lost.

Join us Next Week for Another Exciting Episode!

Listen to the rest of the podcast episode in the video above for more hot tips about branding, consumer trust, LSA, PPC, and SEO strategies from Chris Yano and Matt Tyner. Look out for another exciting episode of the To The Point Podcast next week! You can listen to the podcast weekly here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, and Google Podcasts.

MAX Service Group is a consumer services company in Indianapolis, IN that operates as Williams Comfort Air, Mr. Plumber, Thomas & Galbraith Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, Jarboe’s Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, and Buckeye Heating & Cooling. They are one of the top providers of home services in the country. You can connect with Matt Tyner on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.