Growth Strategy Marketing in Home Services

Contractors Get Creative as Affluent Households Grow Reluctant to Invest in Big-Ticket Projects

For the home services industry, much growth potential comes from affluent households. Growth strategy marketing typically targets these consumers with lifestyle enhancements like a backyard pool oasis, outdoor living room experience, chef’s kitchen renovation, or a luxury bathroom remodel. Just imagine anything you see on HGTV.

Over the last year, however, high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) have shown less willingness to invest in big, flashy projects. Home service contractors have gotten creative with their growth strategy marketing, helping shift homeowner priorities towards protecting their investments and making needed repairs.

Growth Strategy Marketing in Home Services:
Understanding Affluent Households Right Now

Most affluent households remain in solid financial position. They still have the funds to afford home services, but it’s a matter of convincing them to purchase right now. There are several possible motivations for current consumer reluctance, and sometimes they contradict each other:

• A belief that home service prices are ballooning due to inflation, and you’ll get a better price later if you wait
• Worry that the stock market is over-performing and the need to “keep your powder dry”
• High investment in the market, leading to lower liquidity and less free cash to buy home services
• Unease at the burgeoning residential real estate market. Concern that you may not see a return on any property investments you make if the market declines
• Concern over high interest rates

All of these consumer motivations have one underlying factor: uncertainty. It’s hard to commit to an extensive home improvement project if you don’t feel confident and certain about the immediate future. It can feel safer to wait and see.

Growth Strategy Marketing in Home Services:
These Popular Projects Are Sustaining Contractor Revenues

A “wait and see” approach from consumers does very little for a contractor’s bottom line. Successful contractors have been able to interject more urgency into closing projects that are related to maintenance or repairs that the homeowner might have been putting off (sometimes for years).

In my conversations with contractors, they are somewhat baffled that these behind-the-scenes fixes are gaining new popularity. But they are adjusting to market realities and putting marketing resources towards finding new leads for practical projects.

3 Examples of Practical Growth Strategy Marketing in Home Services

Residential home services contractors are usually small-to-medium-sized businesses with fairly modest marketing budgets. Just considering the construction industry, across the country there are over 745,000 LLC organizations, employing more than 7.6 million workers. That’s an average of 10 people per firm. Here are some real-life examples from my growth strategy marketing work with contractors.

TriState Water Works: Irrigation System Maintenance & Repair

TriState Water Works focuses on maintaining lawn sprinkler systems. This year, it launched and is promoting a Summer Cycle & Inspection, which is a value-added service in between Spring Start-Up and Winterization. Here’s a video example of that marketing.

LUX Landscape Lighting: Installation & Service

LUX Landscape Lighting has historically focused its marketing budget on installing new outdoor lighting systems. In 2024, however, it has started allocating some budget towards repair and maintenance, including its Epic Fails in Lighting series that documents how it fixes substandard installations by previous contractors. Its most recent video is “Landscape Lighting Repair Near Me: Brands We Service.”

Paramount Lawn + Landscape: Lawn Services Company

Paramount Lawn + Landscape offers services from epic outdoor transformations to seasonal maintenance care. This season, the company’s marketing focus is on:

• Irrigation Installation to preserve customers’ lawn and landscaping during current drought conditions in the local area
• Perimeter Pest & Mosquito Control to increase enjoyment for humans and pets using outdoor spaces

All three of these growth strategy marketing examples highlight the expertise of the company in helping consumers preserve and enhance existing property features.

Is ‘Practical’ Growth Strategy Marketing a Contradiction in Terms? Not in 2024.

Growth strategy marketing in these “boring” areas may seem like a doomed idea. Shouldn’t marketing be exciting and aspirational? Typically, yes! But in this particular instance, broader trends show that affluent Americans are de-emphasizing luxury and status spending. CNN Business reports in “Wealthy Americans are starting to spend more carefully” that:

• Burberry’s US sales have dropped 12% year-over-year
• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has seen a sharp decline in demand for high-end liquors, leaving the company with large, unsold inventories
• Walmart’s recent gains have been largely driven by affluent households

If wealthy Americans are willing to decrease their public spending habits for more affordable options, it shows that frugality is having a moment. And home services contractors are riding that trend. There’s nothing more frugal than ensuring your home’s electrical wiring is up to code, for instance.

Barriers to Growth Strategy Marketing in Home Services

Over and again, what I hear from home service contactors is that they can’t hire enough employees to meet demand. Recruitment and retention are the most significant barriers to growth strategy marketing in home services.

Contractors aren’t alone. A previous Insight to Action article identified retention and recruitment in the top 10 topics on business leaders’ minds for several years’ running. Since at least 2020, US small businesses have been struggling to fill open positions. As late as May 2024, over 40% of small businesses have at least one unfilled opening.

Recruitment is especially challenging for contractors, as applicants often need to be skilled, have good customer service skills, and be willing to perform manual labor. It’s a difficult trifecta to find.

In my previous article concerning growth strategy marketing for small businesses, I emphasized the importance of Google Maps, with its search dominance and trusted reviews. That advice still stands—and it has only grown more essential.

Insight to Action’s Growth Strategy expertise is extensive. We’ve shared examples from gamer energy drinks to the cannabis industry to attracting big-ticket buyers. Join our team for an Open Office Hours event to start the conversation and share ideas.