How to Get Painting Contracts: 12 Tactics to Land More Jobs

1. Invest in Local SEO

Local SEO (Local Search Engine Optimization) is a digital marketing strategy designed to improve the visibility of local businesses in search engine results for queries specific to a particular location. 

It's about optimizing your online presence to attract more painting leads and business from local customers. 

When someone from your target market searches for painting services in your area, local SEO helps ensure your business appears prominently in the search results.

The Local Map Pack, often called the "Google Local Pack" or "Google 3-Pack," is a section of Google's search results that displays the three local business listings most relevant to the search query. 

Here’s an example:

The cornerstone of Local SEO is your Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business. 

Optimizing your GBP means ensuring your business information is complete, accurate, and engaging. 

This includes adding high-quality photos of your work, collecting and responding to customer reviews, and updating your business hours and services when necessary.

Citation building is another vital element. This involves listing your business in online directories like Yelp, Angie's List, and the Better Business Bureau. 

The key here is consistency in your NAP (name, address, phone number) across all platforms to avoid confusion and boost your search rankings.

Your website, too, should reinforce your local SEO efforts. Create location-specific pages if you serve different areas, ensuring each page is optimized for local search terms. 

Consider adding service pages detailing various types of house painting jobs, including:

1. Residential painting

2. Interior painting

3. Exterior painting

4. Specialized finishes

These pages should provide clear, locally relevant content and include your NAP information.

Marketing Pro — Reputation by ServiceTitan boosts local SEO by automating customer review requests, leading to more highly rated reviews, essential for climbing up the Local Map Pack rankings. 

It enables targeted email campaigns that engage customers and encourage interactions, enhancing online visibility. 

By generating a steady flow of positive reviews and personalized engagement, Marketing Pro helps business owners improve their online reputation, attract more local customers, and significantly increase their local search presence.

2. Run Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads (LSAs) are a type of advertising offered by Google that allows local businesses to appear at the top of search results for services they offer in their area. 

These ads are designed to help service providers such as plumbers, electricians, and professional painters connect with people searching on Google for their services.

LSAs are a powerful tool for painting businesses looking to increase their local visibility on Google. 

Designed specifically for service providers, LSAs appear at the top of Google's search results, above traditional paid search ads, offering prime visibility to local service businesses. 

For painting contractors, this means appearing in front of potential customers actively searching for painting services in your area.

LSAs are crucial because they operate on a pay-per-lead basis, meaning you only pay when potential customers contact you directly through the ad. 

Integrating customer reviews and ratings into the ad enhances trust and encourages click-throughs, making LSAs an indispensable tool for painting businesses aiming to grow their local customer base.

ServiceTitan’s Local Service Ad integration can help you secure more contracts through Google Search, where over 70 percent of local home service searches occur.

The integration collates high-quality yields from local service ads into ServiceTitan’s booking dashboard.

ServiceTitan lets you invest in leads, not just clicks. Google Local Services Ads activate for relevant searches in your vicinity, ensuring your advertising spend garners meaningful, ROI-boosting leads.

3. Create a Referral Program

A referral program transforms satisfied customers into powerful marketing allies, rewarding them for sharing your painting services with their network. 

Such endorsements harness the trust and satisfaction of your existing customers, turning it into a potent lead-generation engine.

Consider offering unique incentives, like a three-year exterior warranty, for allowing your lawn sign to grace their yard. This rewards the customer and turns their property into a billboard for passersby, amplifying your visibility.

By rewarding clients who advocate for your business, you tap into that most credible marketing channel—word-of-mouth. 

Recommendations from friends or family carry a weight no ad can match, helping you penetrate new markets and solidify your standing as a trusted local service provider.

Incorporating a referral program isn't just smart; it's cost-effective. It propels job bookings and fosters sustainable growth by capitalizing on the network effect of personal endorsements. 

Make your painting business the talk of the town, and watch as your client list and reputation grow.

4. Print Flyers

Flyers are printed promotional materials designed to advertise products, services, or events to an audience.

They are tangible, cost-effective marketing tools that deliver information to potential customers, and ServiceTitan offers various professional templates available online for immediate use.

For local businesses, including painting contractors, flyers offer a strategic advantage by targeting specific neighborhoods or communities with personalized messages. 

This localized approach ensures that the marketing effort reaches those most likely to require painting services. 

Benefits include increased brand awareness, the opportunity to highlight special offers or discounts, and the ability to convey key business differentials in a personal, engaging way. 

Flyers can effectively drive word-of-mouth referrals and attract new customers, making them a valuable asset for painting businesses aiming to expand their local footprint.

5. Try Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing uses platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to promote a business's services or products. 

For painting contractors, it's an effective way to showcase their work, connect with potential customers, and build brand awareness. 

Organic social media involves posting content to your business's profile without paid promotion, aiming to engage followers through quality content and interaction. 

In contrast, social media advertising involves paid campaigns targeted at specific demographics, increasing reach and visibility.

Painting contractors can use both approaches to highlight their expertise and projects. 

Here are a few content ideas:

• How-to Guides: Share tips on selecting paint colors, preparing surfaces, or maintaining painted areas. 

• Before and After Photos: Showcase the transformation achieved through your painting services, highlighting the impact of your work.

• Behind-the-scenes: Give followers a glimpse into your daily operations, showcasing your team in action or the preparation for a project.

These content types engage audiences and demonstrate the contractor's skill and professionalism, encouraging inquiries and bookings.

6. Get Listed in Directories & Lead Generation Sites

Directories are online platforms that list businesses by category, helping customers find needed services. 

For painting contractors, being listed in these directories increases visibility and credibility. 

Key directories include:

1. Google My Business

2. Yelp

3. Angie’s List

4. HomeAdvisor

5. Better Business Bureau

Being named on these sites can boost your online presence, improve local SEO, and connect you directly with individuals seeking painting services in your area.

Likewise, lead generation sites are platforms designed to connect service providers with potential customers actively seeking specific services. 

Key lead gen. sites for painting contractors include:

1. Thumbtack

2. HomeAdvisor

3. Houzz

These sites can significantly increase your exposure to potential clients. 

Finally, maintain a consistent NAP across all platforms. This boosts local SEO, helps your business rank higher in local searches, and effectively reaches your target audience.

7. Leverage Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful strategy that uses customer recommendations to promote a business. 

It's one of the oldest and most effective forms of marketing because people trust the opinions of those they know. 

To make word-of-mouth marketing work, businesses must deliver exceptional customer experiences that exceed expectations, compelling customers to share their positive experiences with others.

ServiceTitan's Customer Experience Software enhances word-of-mouth marketing for painting businesses. 

The ServiceTitan app lets you send appointment reminders, share technician bios via SMS, and allow customers to confirm or reschedule appointments by text, significantly improving the customer experience.

In addition, ServiceTitan’s tech tracking lets customers know exactly when to expect their service professional, adding a highly valued level of transparency and convenience.

Painting contractors can enhance service delivery by integrating advanced communication and scheduling features. This results in satisfied customers who often recommend your services. 

Such recommendations boost reputation and drive organic growth, attracting new customers through trusted word-of-mouth.

8. Partner with Other Local Businesses

Partnering with other local businesses creates a supportive network that benefits all involved. 

Painting experts can seek opportunities as independent contractors with local construction companies or partner with general contractors and real estate agents within their community.

Such partnerships can lead to referrals, joint marketing efforts, and shared customer bases. 

For example, a hardware store might recommend your painting services to customers buying paint, while you can suggest that store for supplies. 

Similar arrangements can be made with realtors, property managers, interior designers, and other home improvement businesses in your area.

These alliances expand your reach and strengthen community ties, fostering a sense of trust among local customers. 

Strategic partnerships are an innovative, cost-effective way to grow your painting business and enhance your local reputation.

9. Invest in PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an advertising model where businesses pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It's a way of buying site visits rather than organically earning them. 

For painting contractors, PPC can target potential customers actively searching for online painting services. 

Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads allow you to create ads that appear in search engine results or social media feeds, targeting specific locations, interests, and behaviors.

Painting businesses can leverage PPC by targeting keywords related to their services, such as "house painting services" or "local painters." 

Contractors can attract high-quality leads by crafting compelling ad copy and landing pages highlighting their expertise, special offers, and customer testimonials. 

PPC offers the advantage of immediate visibility and the ability to measure results in real time, enabling painting businesses to adjust their strategies for optimal performance.

ServiceTitan's Home Services Marketing Software optimizes marketing efforts for painting contractors. 

Using the software to track ROI on campaigns and create targeted ads helps businesses attract, convert, and retain customers. 

Its data-driven insights enable painting contractors to identify effective strategies, secure more jobs, and boost revenue through informed decisions.

10. Try Radio Advertising

Radio advertising is a classic marketing approach that broadcasts ads to listeners through radio. This includes DJ live-reads, sponsored programs, and pre-produced spots.

Pros include a wide reach, targeted audience segments, and the ability to create an emotional connection through sound. 

Cons might be the fleeting nature of ads and difficulty tracking direct ROI.

Radio advertising can be particularly effective for painting businesses due to its local reach. It allows contractors to target specific communities, aligning their services with the listening habits of potential customers. 

Whether it’s a catchy jingle or a compelling narrative about transforming homes, radio ads can embed a painting business’s name into homeowners' minds. 

This method can complement digital marketing efforts, reinforcing brand recognition and driving inquiries from a broad audience base.

11. Attend Trade Shows

Trade shows are events where businesses in specific industries showcase their products and services. 

Attending trade shows is invaluable for commercial painting businesses. 

It offers the chance to network with suppliers, swap business cards, discover new trends in the painting industry, and meet potential clients in person, all while promoting your business name and services.

Trade shows also offer a platform for demonstrating expertise, discussing services in detail, and directly engaging with businesses seeking commercial painting services. 

Direct interaction at trade shows helps commercial painters secure new contracts and partnerships and deepens their understanding of market needs. 

Participating in trade shows is essential for contractors aiming to expand their client base and industry presence.

12. Create Lead Magnets on Your Website

Lead magnets are valuable content or offers on your website that you can exchange for contact information. 

For painting businesses, lead magnets could be free color consultation guides, discount codes for services, or informative e-books on maintaining painted surfaces. 

These magnets provide immediate value to your website visitors and convert them into leads by capturing their contact details for direct engagement.

Incorporating lead magnets into your website effectively transforms visitors into potential leads, nurturing them to book your services. 

This strategic approach significantly boosts your online marketing, enhancing lead generation and overall business growth.

ServiceTitan's Marketing Pro feature takes this strategy a step further. It automates email campaigns, allowing painting contractors to follow up efficiently on the leads generated by lead magnets. 

With the ability to send targeted emails, contractors can effectively nurture these leads, encouraging bookings and fostering repeat business.

ServiceTitan streamlines the entire lead management process, from initial contact to conversion, resulting in higher conversion rates and more job acquisitions. 

By harnessing the power of ServiceTitan alongside effective lead magnet strategies, painting businesses can attract more leads, secure more contracts, and achieve substantial growth.

Over to You

Unlock more painting contracts by leveraging some or all of these 12 powerful tactics for scaling your painting business in your local community.

ServiceTitan can help you streamline this process by offering an all-encompassing solution for generating, nurturing, and converting leads.

ServiceTitan is an all-in-one, push-button software that painting contractors use to attract, convert, and retain customers while offering valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns. Join thousands of other service providers nationwide who already use it!