Water damage is a common source of revenue for contractors that provide restoration services because it can happen at any time.  Weather conditions like rain and flooding can result in water damage in homes and buildings and problems within buildings such as leaks and burst pipes can also cause water damage.

Restoration contractors get water damage jobs by generating good leads.  Typically, the more water damage leads you get, the more jobs you close.  However, it is important for contractors to remember that no matter how you get them, water damage leads do cost money, including the money you invest in advertising and lead generation and the time you spend taking calls and closing jobs.  The cost of water damage leads must be understood for contractors to accurately track their expenses and revenue from water damage jobs.

In this guide, we will break down the cost of water damage leads from multiple sources, including marketing you do yourself, hiring a marketing person, working with a marketing agency, and working with lead generation companies.  Understanding the cost of your water damage leads will help you adjust your investment and get the most out of the jobs you close.

What are Water Damage Leads?

Water damage leads are any opportunity that comes to your business in which you can sell your water damage restoration services.  Restoration contractors get most of their leads through phone calls, but they can also come in the form of emails, website form submissions, or text messages.  You can also get leads through direct messages on your social media channels.

Remember that each lead is an opportunity, it is not a guaranteed sale.  If you are generating quality leads, most of them will turn into jobs.  If most of your leads are not turning into jobs, you should reconsider your lead generation strategy.

How to Generate More Water Damage Leads

If you want more water leads for your business, you must engage in some additional advertising and marketing methods to draw in more leads.  Expanding your marketing and advertising does require an investment, so you must weigh the costs for each strategy.  The cost of your water damage leads is affected by what type of marketing strategies you use as well as where you are advertising.  Whether you choose to engage in lead generation tactics yourself or involve an agency or lead generation service will also affect costs.

The following are marketing and advertising methods that can help generate more water damage leads:

• Paid search ads: Paid search ads are advertisements that appear in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and on social media platforms. You can set up pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google and paid ads on Facebook and other social media platforms by bidding on your main keywords and phrases.  You will pay the fee each time someone clicks your ad.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to rank better in the organic search results. This generally includes updating existing website content to target main keywords and phrases and creating new content to drive more traffic to your website.  Content creation requires an investment whether you write it yourself or work with a content marketing professional.
• Local SEO: Local SEO involves optimizing your website so that your business appears in searches in your main service areas. This also includes claiming and managing business profiles such as Google Business Profile and making sure your business is listed in maps websites and apps like Google Maps.
• Social media: Social media is a great way to communicate with your audience. However, you may need to pay for ads and to promote posts to reach more people.
• Display advertising: Display ads are banner ads that show up on websites. You can pay per impression or per click to have an ad on other websites, and you may need to pay to design the ad.
• Traditional media: You can still invest in traditional media such as print advertising, billboards, and TV and radio commercials. The one downside with traditional marketing is that it is difficult to track the leads that come from these sources while each of the other methods mentioned above can be easily tracked.

The Cost of Water Damage Leads

To gain a better understanding of what your business is paying for water damage leads, you need to consider the investment into your marketing and lead generation strategies, as well as the rate at which you convert leads and the revenue from those leads.  A major factor affecting the cost of your leads is whether you are managing the marketing and lead generation yourself or with the help of a marketing professional or lead generation service.

The following are breakdowns of the cost of water damage leads for each scenario.

In-House Marketing

Managing the marketing and lead generation strategies in-house saves your business money because you do not have to pay someone to do it.  You also have complete control over your strategies, and you have more knowledge and experience with your industry than a third-party marketer.  The downside is that implementing marketing strategies can require a certain level of skill and take a lot of time.

The employees that take over the marketing for your business will need to learn more about marketing strategies and keep up with the latest trends and technology in marketing.  It can take some time to implement a marketing strategy and it may not get immediate results.  You must remain patient and continue to regularly manage your campaigns to see results.  Once your strategies are set and begin generating leads, it will take much less of your time to check and manage your marketing.

Marketing Professional

If you do not have anyone on your in-house staff with the time or skill to manage your marketing, you can hire a marketing professional.  You can choose to hire a marketer as a full-time employee or as a part-time contractor to manage your marketing while your business maintains a certain level of control.  An in-house marketing professional can manage marketing strategies that perform better with less time and effort.

One of the disadvantages of hiring a marketing professional is the cost.  The average salary for a full-time marketing specialist in the U.S. is $78,000 while the hourly rate for freelance and contract marketing specialists is generally between $23 and $50 per hour.  The other disadvantage is that the person you hire may not be familiar with your industry and need time to learn about the basics of water damage restoration.

Marketing Agency

Working with a marketing agency is like outsourcing all of your marketing to a third party.  Marketing agencies have a team of professionals that can handle every aspect of your marketing including managing and designing ads, writing content, optimizing your website, and more.  They have the knowledge and marketing experience to implement, manage, and track multifaceted marketing and lead generation campaigns.

The biggest thing to consider when working with a marketing agency is the cost.  The cost differs between agencies and may not be indicative of the quality of their services.  Some agencies may want you to sign a six-month or one-year contract and may have monthly costs between $1000 and $3000.  Hourly rates for marketing agencies may range anywhere from $50 to the hundreds.  The fees you pay will not include the money you will have to spend on ads.

The other possible downside is that the marketing agency may not be familiar with your industry.  They may have to do some market research to get to know your business and you can also help by working closely with them at the beginning.  You can benefit from finding a marketing agency that has experience with clients in your industry.

Lead Generation Companies

Lead generation companies have the marketing expertise of an agency but have an advantage because they focus on one industry or a group of similar industries.  They can use their industry experience to create and manage targeted campaigns to generate quality leads and their success is tied to your success which gives them an added incentive.

It is common for lead generation providers to advertise the services you offer under their own brands and the leads they generate are sent directly to you.  When someone is looking for water damage restoration, they are likely more worried about getting a professional there as quickly as possible.  These leads are generally of higher quality because even though every lead won’t turn into a job, each lead is at least in need of your services.

Lead generation companies can charge per lead with the average cost between $275 and $700 per lead.  You can also work with some lead generation companies on a contractual basis in which you will pay a fixed monthly or yearly rate no matter how many leads are generated.  This can be more cost-effective if your campaign generates a high volume of quality leads.

Make sure any lead generation provider you work with has a process in place to validate leads so that you are only charged for these leads.  You should also avoid lead generation companies that send the same leads to multiple contractors and only work with providers that offer exclusive leads.

Considering the Cost of Water Damage Leads

When considering the cost of lead generation, you must include advertising costs, wages for hired marketers, fees and hourly rates for freelancers and agencies, and the time your employees spend on marketing and converting leads.  According to market research by 33 Mile Radius, the following are the average costs per lead for each marketing method:

• In-house marketing: $100 per lead
• Hiring marketing professional: $670 per lead
• Marketing agency: $775 per lead
• Lead generation company: $425 per lead

To determine what you are paying per lead on average, simply divide your total yearly investment into your marketing and lead generation campaign by your total number of leads.

Why Paying More Per Lead Pays Off

While taking the route with the lowest cost per lead may seem like the most cost-effective route, you must account for the quality of the leads.  Paying more per lead for better quality leads from an agency or a lead generation company is more cost-effective in the long run as higher quality leads are more likely to convert.  Higher conversion rates bring a higher return on investment over time.

Water Damage Leads from RestorationMaster

Restoration contractors rely on leads for water damage jobs, and they need to pay attention to their cost per lead to ensure they are getting the most out of their investment.  If you need help generating more leads, you should weigh the options discussed above, including the advantages, disadvantages, and cost to your business.  Understanding your costs per lead for different marketing methods and strategies and the potential return on your investment will help you make the best decision for your business.

At RestorationMaster, we help restoration contractors generate quality leads including water damage leads, mold remediation leads, and more.  We generate leads through our highly optimized, geo-based website restorationmasterfinder.com that are sent directly to your business.  You can expect exclusive leads for your territory, so you don’t have to compete to convert leads.

You can call RestorationMaster at (888) 846-1992 for more about our lead generation services for restoration contractors.