Marketing is an important part of running a successful painting business. No matter how good you are at the professional paint job, it won’t help you if you don’t have a marketing strategy to promote and sell the services you offer.

In this article, we look at how effective paint business marketing strategies can help your business get the paint jobs it needs on a regular basis. We also offer ideas and tips for putting together such a marketing plan.

brand strategy

From the beginning, you should aim to develop a brand. Reflect on how you want to shape public perceptions of your company. A great name and logo design can give your brand a visual representation, but there’s so much more to it than that. A winning branding strategy is having the right attitude and adopting a business philosophy that ensures that little by little you start to build a good reputation. Strive to be known as a trustworthy company that always meets and exceeds customer expectations.

paint niche markets

Before you can start developing a marketing strategy, you need to know exactly what painting services you intend to sell. Depending on the size of your local market and the number of competitors, you may decide to specialize in a particular area or be a “jack of all trades.”

The market can basically be divided into two large areas, exterior and interior paint. An exterior or outdoor painting job is often easier to come by, as people are less likely to do it themselves due to the perceived danger of climbing ladders. The best thing about outdoor painting jobs is that clients are often less demanding than when painting surfaces inside your home. However, with outdoor painting, you need to consider safety to a greater extent, especially for multi-story buildings. You don’t even have to limit yourself to painting houses, as all types of buildings need painting from time to time.

Market research

Carry out extensive market research and identify all the opportunities that exist in the market. You should also try to understand who your customers are and how you can market your service to them so that they respond favorably. Put together some customer profiles and chat with some typical customers to get more information from your prospects. Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and try to understand what they are looking for in a painting company.

networking tips

A great way to land some regular jobs is to approach people who you think are in a position to refer clients to you. Try to build relationships with real estate developers, interior decorators, real estate agents, home preparation companies, property management companies, and others that are available on the market. Other networking options include joining a local builders association or Chamber of Commerce.

Look for other well-established service companies that have large client lists and regular communication with them. You can find cleaning companies or lawn care businesses that will promote your service to their mailing list for a fee.

It can be great to have relationships with other painting contractors. While they are competitors in a sense of the word, they can also be useful. If you specialize in different types of paint or work in different parts of town, you may be able to recommend businesses to one another. If you’re lucky, there may be times when you have more work than you can handle. Being able to pass work on to other painters that you know are trustworthy will be good for your clients and good for them. They can also correspond and submit work their way.

A great place to meet people is at home improvement stores. The paint section at Home Depot can be a gold mine if you’re friendly and make some casual conversations. You will meet other contractors there and you may even meet a client as well.

Advertising campaigns

The obvious way for a new business to get in touch with potential customers is through advertising. Try a variety of methods that will put you directly in touch with your target market. For more information consult our article on Commercial Painting Advertising.

marketing elements

It’s helpful if you have some marketing materials to show potential clients when you meet them for a consultation. Prepare some brochures or at least bring a folder with photos of some of the work you have completed in the past. Testimonials from past clients also offer the prospect the kind of reassurance and “social proof” they want before signing the dotted line.

What can you do if you haven’t completed any painting work yet or don’t have proper photos? A great tip is to buy stock photography from an online retailer. Presenting images of beautiful paint jobs in your brochure or on your website is not fraudulent if you do not make false claims that the work depicted is yours.

Fine tune your sales process

To be extremely successful in the painting business, you need to have someone on your team who can go out and sell their services. There are many different sales strategies and techniques and they all have different levels of success depending on the salesperson and the prospect. Learn about some of the different approaches, try them out, and then find out what works for you.

Don’t be intimidated by the idea that you have to sell. Sometimes if you just be yourself, stay positive, and lead the customer through a nice conversation about how you can help them, that’s all it takes.

Try to sell customers additional paint jobs. Once they’ve agreed to hire you to paint a certain area, you can also start suggesting other areas of your home or property that could use a little paint work.

Ideas about customer service

In the painting business you have to be a good communicator as well as a good painter. It is necessary to take the time to understand the unique requirements of each client. Always offer them the best level of service and make sure they have open lines of communication with you. This should start from the moment they contact you to inquire about your services. Try to have someone answer your phone calls in person, and if this is not possible, be sure to return calls as soon as possible.

Marketing for existing clients

Once you have a client and have completed some work on their house, it doesn’t have to be the end of your relationship with them. Create a client list with notes on each property you’ve painted. You can then contact them from time to time and offer to do any other painting work they require.

There are many excellent guides available online that will offer you additional ideas and strategies for marketing your painting business. If you study marketing in general, you’ll find that most of the concepts relate to the paint industry and can be applied to your business.