Pool leads don’t come easy. Oh, sure, they did in 2020 when everybody was stuck at home with a house full of kids and no school, parks, library, or Chuck E Cheese. But those days are over, and it’s once again more of a challenge to get pool leads than it is to build the pools. Unless … you know some tricks! And tricks we have. Nobody generates more pool leads than The Get Smart Group, and nobody nurtures them better, either. Consider this our tell-mostly-but-not-all story. You’ll have to chat with our sales reps to get the whole scoop! Now, here’s your guide …
Running Ads Like a Boss for Pool Lead Generation
Surprise! The first step in pool lead generation is buying ads. But wait … we’re not going to leave it at that. Where you buy ads, and the specific ads you run, can make the difference in generating 10 pool leads per month versus 100.
Search Engine Ads for Pool Lead Generation
Oh, yes, certainly you’ll need to run Google ads for pool leads. But Google has now slipped below 70% of the search engine market share, while Bing and Yahoo are slowly gathering traction. While still hovering at 12-13% each (respectively), Bing is scoring around 12 billion searches per month! Yahoo trails with a respectable 700 million. Folks, that’s a lot of searches, and a LOT of pool leads you’re missing if you focus on Google ads only. As your financial adviser likes to say, diversify. Plan for enough search engine ads budget to have a sliver of each pie.
What should your search engine ad budget be? That depends. In a small market with little competition from other pool businesses, we’ve seen companies gain lead generation traction with a combined Google and Bing ad budget of less than $1,000. But if you’re in a larger market with lots of competition, it will likely take a few thousand to get you going. Over time, you can dial that back as your paid and organic SEO helps support your search engine ads budget. Never discount the power of a good SEO strategy when it comes to pool leads.
Social Media Ads for Pool Lead Generation
Like with search engine ads, you’ll want to go where the pool leads lurk, and that usually means a two-punch of Facebook and Instagram marketing. Also, like Google and Bing ads, you can get more bang for your buck if you do more than just advertise. Just like a smart SEO strategy boosts the visibility of your Google and Bing ads, a smart social media engagement strategy supports your social media ad budget. Simply put, the more people who engage with your social media posts, the more people the platforms show your ads to. In smaller markets with little competition, we see success with Facebook ad budgets under $1,000 per month.
Why do we particularly recommend Facebook and Instagram ads for generating pool leads? Two reasons: age and money. Of all the social media platforms out there, Facebook and Instagram users most closely match the demographics of pool leads – aka pool buyers. The other platforms generally cater to demographics that are too young, don’t own homes, and definitely don’t have $70,000 in disposable income (or credit) to buy your pool. No social media platforms beat Facebook and Instagram for pool lead generation.
What Makes a Good Ad for Pool Leads?
Now that you know where to advertise, let’s talk about what to advertise for pool leads. You have to start with a more-than-gorgeous image. Keep in mind, all the images your potential pool leads are looking at are gorgeous. Yours have to be more than gorgeous!
You’ll also need to size the images properly for each platform. Google currently requires the ad images in about 10 sizes. Bing, Facebook, and Instagram all have their own size requirements for ad images. They also have specific guidelines on how much text can be on the image and what that text can say. Those rules also change periodically, so you’ll need access to a savvy graphic designer who can whip up new images when you’re ready to run new ads.
When it Comes to Pool Leads, It’s All ‘Bout That Website
You’ll need a place to send those pool leads as they come streaming in from Google, Bing, Facebook, and Instagram. That means your swimming pool website. And it better be as stunning as your ad images, because trust us, your competitor’s probably is, and trust us again, your pool leads are also looking at your competitor’s website.
Website design trends have changed significantly in recent years, and there’s a heavy focus on designing for a great user experience on both mobile and desktops. If your website is nearing its 5th birthday, it’s already hopelessly out of date. But don’t worry, we can help.
Your Swimming Pool Website Must be Informational
In addition to breathtaking images, you need to populate your website with high-quality content. The latest statements from the gurus at Google indicate that their algorithms now consider quality to be the overall user experience on your website. What does that mean? It means smart URLs, snappy landing pages, streamlined images, oodles of metadata, and last but perhaps most important, outstanding content. Pool leads do a crazy amount of research before they buy (who wouldn’t before dropping $50,000 to $100,000 on a swimming pool) so they’ll be looking for a lot of content to do their diligent research.
Your Swimming Pool Website Needs to Offer Ecommerce
One more way you’ll need to keep up with The Jones’ pool biz down the street is in ecommerce for pool stores. Before the pandemic, the world was well on its way to almost exclusive online shopping. Now, if you aren’t offering your customers their chemicals, water testing supplies, and pool floaties online with that Buy Now button … well, no sense generating pool leads! An ecommerce site keeps your pool customers coming back for more and also generates new revenue streams as other online shoppers find your site.
But … Where Do All Those Pool Leads End Up? How to Leverage a CRM for Pool Lead Nurturing
Now that we’ve generated your pool leads and they’re interested, it’s time to keep them engaged. That means a smart CRM system. Pool leads can take from a few months to several years to finally make a decision. But you won’t lose their business if you keep them engaged with regular lead nurturing email campaigns. You should send regular emails through your CRM system for at least one year to 18 months after they have become a pool lead. Less than this and you’ll lose them before they get ready to buy.
And that’s it! Your holistic guide to generating pool leads and nurturing them through conversion. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, we do this every day. Let’s talk.
