Ever Wonder What Type Of Marketing Works For Other Security Companies?

Let Security Dealer Marketing Be Your Little Fly On The Wall!

After dedicating ourselves to the security industry for the past 4 years and having worked with over 80 security companies nationwide we’ve narrowed down the top 7 successful marketing efforts that every security company should be doing! Interested? Then keep reading and if you’re not, congratulations on not needing any more business!

Back in the dark ages before there was the World Wide Web as we know it advertising would likely include costly magazine ads, billboards, newspaper ads, TV, radio and possibly mailers. In order for this marketing approach to work you’d need to disrupt someone’s day! You’re basically stopping someone to say hey! I know you weren’t in the market to purchase a security system, but let me try to convince you anyway. This is what is referred to as push marketing, a shotgun approach, but there is a better way!

Imagine being able to advertise your security company’s product/services only to those who are actively seeking it with their wallets out ready to purchase or act on that call to action towards the next steps. The day and age of wondering how to advertise to your potential customers is over and it has been for quite some time. It’s time to start “Pull Marketing” as opposed to Push Marketing.

In the last 4 years we have helped over 100 security companies nationwide market themselves with their grand ideas and methods but after helping our customers we have learned what actually works to generate leads. How many times have you wondered what your fellow colleagues are doing to grow their business? Well, we’re that little fly on the wall and although we would never share our customer’s trade secrets or self-proprietary material we can share the common methods that actually works.

We are the only 100% dedicated full-service marketing agency that has entrenched itself to this wonderful industry and have come to love the thousands of people that we have met by exhibiting at industry tradeshows, speaking engagements, through our monthly marketing column in SDM Magazine, “Marketing Madmen”, local security organizations, and other events that we are very active within.

And it’s because of this passion and love of helping dealers, integrators and industry manufactures (yes I said manufactures) nationwide we have always provided marketing services that produce results!

Below is list of core services results show your company should be focusing on mastering before going on to secondary efforts like self promo, or out of the box ideas to grow your company. Master these and we promise the leads will come in:

1. Website Design – Your website is the single most important piece of your entire marketing efforts. Your website will act as your 24/7 sales person, ensure credibility, and more importantly generate your company leads. If designed and developed correctly, your website will be found on search engines including Google for all relative security searches within your service area and provide a wealth of knowledge on how potential customers are seeking to purchase security in your area, report what is most appealing to them (ie security cameras, wireless security, etc.) Monthly benchmarks allow you to start split A/B testing to see what creates more leads. For example do web visitors want lengthy or shorter to the point verbiage? Do they prefer manufacturer videos showing them the technology? Or, is it an emotional connection they are looking for? All can be tested and answered to create new, higher benchmarks. If your website looks exactly the same as when it was launched we encourage you to look at your analytics and start changing things up!

2. PPC – A great way to start generating traffic to your website within hours! If your website is up to speed and is ready to start tracking results, turning on a local or national PPC campaign is a great way to start getting targeted searchers who are ready to purchase security to your website. Great thing about a PPC campaign it is 100% trackable and the results are almost instant. PPC can be set for any sized budget.

3. Local Map Listings – It amazes us how many security companies overlook this and feel as if it’s not important. Do a simple Google search in your area and see what results are towards the top of your search. More than likely it is going to be Google’s local map listings, which provide a potential customer a wealth of knowledge! It provides them with customer reviews, your location, hours of operation, list of services a link to your website and Google+ page. If you were a potential customer what would hold more equity? Telling how great your company is or hundreds of satisfied customers sharing their story on their great experience with your company? We can help your company claim, register, add multiple locations and rank higher with Google Map results. Some of the additional services below we can even cross pollinate your marketing efforts with an E-newsletter campaign encouraging existing customers to click on a link and write your company a review.

4. SEO – We like to refer to SEO to fishing. Putting a single line in the ocean with the best bait for a particular fish is great, but what if you had dozens or hundreds of lines in the ocean? Do you think that would improve your chances of catching that trophy-sized fish? And the same goes for your national or local SEO efforts. With a geo-marketing SEO campaign we can create you geo-landing pages that will pull up on the top of results when different types of key phrases are being typed into Google, need an example? Lets say your company is in Los Angeles and you provide residential security, possible searches are Los Angeles home security, Los Angeles home security company, Los Angeles wireless security system, Los Angeles home security cameras, etc. We can of course get you on the top with a PPC campaign but each time a potential customer clicks on your ad it costs you money vs. a page that pulls up in the natural search results does not. In our experience having an ad on the top using PPC, being in the top A-D of the local map listings and being on the top of natural search rankings is the secret ingredient to generating leads exponentially! And we can help you achieve it.

5. Referral Programs – What if we told you that up to 10-12% of past customers would indeed refer your company to friends and family each month! What would that do for your company? Most security companies are happy to give an incentive to existing customers or prospects to refer others to you. If you don’t have a formal referral program than create one and make sure its in writing so it is official. Don’t leave money on the table; your best prospects are existing customers. If you are indeed providing great service like you claim you are, thank you shouldn’t be scared to ask your newly installed customer for a review and a referral. Again with cross pollinating marketing efforts when tied in with a monthly E-newsletter each month you will see referrals come in and an increase in up-sales as well as Google reviews.

6. E-Newsletter Campaign – First things first! If you’re not getting your current customers email addresses you better start. Today! I mean it! We have found many benefits of a monthly E-newsletter campaign to be what we believe is a necessary crucial part of your marketing efforts. Our results show it will actually lower attrition by keeping in close contact and top-of-mind with your existing customers, generate up-sales on additional hardware or upgrading their systems to home automation, generate monthly referrals, increase your Google reviews (Again highly important), increase your social media growth, create awareness on additional services your company may offer and much more! We’re not sure what else we can say to convince you on this simple yet effective marketing effort that helps your company in so many ways! If you’re not doing it you’re leaving money on the table!

7. Re-Marketing – Ever visit a website and notice that for some strange reason their ads seem to follow you around when you visit other websites, on Facebook or when you’re checking your email? Well that’s not by chance, it’s called re-marketing and it works! Sometimes when a visitor visits your website they might need a little bit more time to make a decision. But because they visited your website we can embed a cookie onto their computer, or as we like to call it a parasite. This embedded cookie will tell other websites they visit to show your company’s ad to keep you top-of-mind and provide them with an incentive to revisit your website such as a discount or offer. Tying this in to your marketing efforts truly completes a full circle! Vary rarely have we met with a security company that has all of these services down perfect. When we provide our marketing audits we usually find ways that we can improve each campaign, but the secret is to consistently put these 7 marketing efforts concurrently in play!

With these list of services there is no waiting around to see if they are working, they are instantaneous! And because they are we can work with you to set monthly benchmarks, split A/B test to increase results and truly help your company to grow.

Do we believe this is the only thing your company should be doing when it comes to marketing? No, but we truly believe in our 4 years of experience helping security dealers nationwide that they are the foundational solutions to help your company to grow! If you made it down this far chances are you’re the candidate we’re looking to take on as a client.

To see if your company is a fit for our company to take on as a client we encourage you to pickup the phone and lets have a chat! You won’t get a pushy sales pitch because we’re not looking to take on every dealer in the world, only the ones that understand that with quality efforts and a steady pace they will see results!

CALL TODAY TO GET STARTED: 888-572-4450 ext. 100

The 80′s Called! And They Want Their Logo Back!

A logo is probably the first impression you can have with a potential customer! We at Security Dealer Marketing feel that your company’s logo is truly the foundation of your company’s brand.

Think about it, when is the last time you’ve seen an ad that looked cheesy? Or you could tell that a professional was not used to create it? Probably just the other day, right? The same goes for your company’s brand when a potential customer is trying to decide who to run with! Brand we know is more than just a logo, but it begins there.

I get asked all the time when we’re about to start a new design for a website or when we’re designing some direct mail campaign “What do you think about our logo?” If you have to ask someone what they think about your company’s logo, chances are it’s not representing your company’s brand to the” T”, or worse yet you’re embarrassed of it.

Our co-founder Alex Chavez comes from a very heavily branding background and working with companies like Hard Rock Hotel & Ed Hardy is a stickler for great design and great brand! (And will more than likely tell you the REAL truth about your logo, whether you like the feedback or not and probably go into his mantra on the purple cow theory, which basically is all about making your brand stick out from your competitors. )

For this week we’d like to extend a welcome to all security dealers to ask away on our opinions and questions regarding your company’s logo, after all it’s the first thing potential customers see on a business card, a fax, your website, or an ad. And if it isn’t credible, professional, legible and standing out from your competition it might be time for an upgrade.

Below are some samples of new and redesigns of logos we have done in the past.

Security Dealer Marketing
Security Dealer Marketing – Logos

June – SDM Magazine Article

For those of you who are visiting our Moo blog welcome! If you read our article on connecting with your targeted audience the video we were referring to is below, this video sparked the interest and mission to create content and visual content that sparks a connection with potential online visitors, get them to think of nothing else but your product or service for the next 2-3 minutes after reading your website, watching a video or viewing a graphic. Video example:

Don’t just Band-Aid your marketing efforts!

Let us help you reach your ultimate goals not just the immediate ones.

It’s been over 3 years since we decided to dedicate our marketing agency to this great industry and not a day goes by where we don’t learn new marketing challenges and solutions for security companies like yours.

Your goal may be to break into a new vertical such as critical infrastructure, healthcare or education. On the other hand it may be to control more market share, expand your service area or to grow into multiple locations. Many security companies nationwide share these same challenges and goals. And we are helping or have helped over 65 companies get closer to achieving them.

But the big question is how do we get there?
When speaking with a potential client I usually get asked how much is a website? What does it cost for a direct mail piece? To design an ad? When the actual question you should be asking is How can Security Dealer Marketing help me reach my goals or solve my long term challenges?

Putting some careful thought behind your biggest challenges and goals on where you’d like to be in 6 months and a year will allow us to put together a strategic marketing plan with the right messaging and implementation across the appropriate channels. On the other hand if you only hire us for a small piece of the overall goal it only puts a Band-Aid on the entire objective you are trying to achieve.

A good example of this is the many phone calls I get from security companies that have purchased ad space and want us to create their ad. Now don’t get me wrong we will make the most out of that ad with its messaging and design, but had we known prior to the ad purchase we may have suggested an alternative method to reach the same audience in a more cost effective way. Additionally, ad space in trade magazines is expensive, but what if we were to tell you from past experience that by placing ads within Facebook to a very targeted audience is not only less expensive on a cost per impression but can get you a better return on investment. You are able to place your ad right in front of an ideal prospect and create a captive audience ready to be sold on your services!

If penetrating a new city is your goal we have created numerous geo-landing pages that rank on page 1 for Google searches that will generate you in-bound leads to those targeted locations creating brand equity and more RMR before you even open your office! We have even seen great results from security companies that primarily generate most of their sales by the door-to-door model. By implementing a strategic plan and mailing to the areas the week before you canvas them results can increase by up to and additional 12%. These are small examples of proven marketing strategies we have executed and have many more!

So rather than calling us up to say “I need for you to design me and ad” tell us your goals, your challenges and what your security company’s vision is for the next year. Then allow us to put together a carefully thought out marketing campaign based off our experience and one that fits your budget.

Remember, it doesn’t cost you a penny to pickup the phone to tell me your company’s challenges and goals. However, it can cost you a fortune in time and money if you take a gamble on what you think is the best way to penetrate a new vertical or gain new residential accounts.

We are the only full-service marketing agency that has dedicated itself to the security industry, with over 65 clients nationwide that range from large integrators to residential security dealers we have the experience and track record to help your company succeed. We have been trusted by some of the industry’s largest names and have been trusted to be the marketing agency of choice by great partner programs such as PSA Security Network and Monitronics.

We encourage you to take the time to think of your company’s goals or challenges, then take the time challenge us to come up with the perfect marketing plan to get you on the fast track towards reaching them.

888-572-4450

5 Comments or Questions We Hear All The Time!

Security Dealer Marketing
5 Comments We Hear All The Time!

On the average Security Dealer Marketing will communicate with 8-12 security dealer’s everyday. From existing clients to new sales prospects and it seems like every time we connect in the beginning of our relationship 5 comments are always made.

Why do you care you might ask? Well because it might help answer a few questions you may have had about us.

So here they are in no particular order:

1. I wish I met you months ago!
This is mentioned to us a lot and most of the time its due to some web design company that does not know the industry creating a half-assed website that generates no leads and worst yet, a website that the client is embarrassed of.

2. My web designer won’t call me back! Can you help?
Another frequent question that is far too common. And the answer is maybe. Putting together a website is like putting together a house. Without the blueprints or without knowing what goes between the walls there is no way of really knowing until we dive into what you currently have, if you have anything at all.

3. What outside the box ideas for marketing can you help me with?
Most of the time when we hear this we’ll tell the client, before you start venturing into secondary stages of marketing lets see what you’re doing or not doing correctly. And 90% of the time the security dealer is not collecting emails from clients, does not have a proper referral program, is not doing an email marketing campaign, website is not setup correctly nor showing up on any type of local search. So what’s the point? Make sure you’re doing all the “foundational” marketing and doing them correctly before you start venturing into some crazy gorilla marketing campaign.

Chances are you’ll see a significant increase in your in-bound leads. How do we know you might ask? Because we handle multiple security dealer accounts nationwide!

4. Tell me what’s the difference between my local marketing agency and you guys?
REALLY? Lol, well in case our name does not say it all we specialize within this great industry and have become quite good at helping security dealers nationwide to improve their marketing.

We live, eat and sleep the security industry. Everything we offer is relative to what helps dealers to create more RMR, nothing less! So when we say Facebook is a huge waste of time in the security industry, there’s a reason.

5. My biggest problem is I just don’t have time! Can you help automate my marketing?
Yes! Security Dealer Marketing can help you in either 2 ways. We can act as your in-house marketing, know your goals, setting up a retainer, and implement all of the required actions to achieve them. With most cases we will create a 30, 60, 90 day marketing strategy and will keep in close communication with our client by having monthly phone conferences to report what happened last month. We’ll also discuss what will be adjusted for the current month. This helps by ensuring the right marketing activities are happening requiring just a couple of hours per month on your part.

Or, we can help with pieces of your marketing such as web design, print, direct mail, SEO, PPC and more. We even have been known to play nice with others, meaning working with your current existing marketing team to help improve your bottom line.

So there it is. Maybe this will help to answer any questions you may have had when discussing or thinking to pick up the phone and call us.

By now we hope we’re top of mind when it comes to hiring a marketing company to handle your needs. Because if we’re not when you call us in the coming months you’ll be kicking yourself like those referenced in comment #1 comment above.