38. Maximizing Manufacturer Leads Through Digital Campaigns

In this episode, Janet and Caitlyn break down a powerful yet underutilized strategy for lead generation: integrating manufacturer leads into your digital marketing campaigns. Perfect for home improvement businesses in growth or scale mode, this episode outlines how to go beyond word-of-mouth and aggregator leads by partnering more effectively with product manufacturers.

Key Takeaways:

• What manufacturer leads are and why they’re so valuable.
• How to build meaningful relationships with your manufacturer reps.
• Unlocking co-op marketing dollars (that manufacturers don’t advertise!).
• Creating product-specific landing pages and optimizing with SEO and PPC.
• Leveraging social media and retargeting to stay top-of-mind with interested buyers.
• Why this strategy supports scalable, smart growth—often without increasing ad spend.

Whether you're already getting manufacturer leads or just discovering the potential, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Want to find out how we can create a custom digital marketing game plan for your contractor business? Schedule a call with us at fatcatstrategies.com.

Transcript

Caitlyn: 0:01

Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors. This podcast is brought to you by Fat Cat Strategies, a full-service digital marketing agency based in Raleigh, North Carolina. We specialize in helping home improvement contractors just like you grow their businesses.

Janet: 0:17

Today, you're listening to a series called Build, Grow, Dominate, marketing strategies for every stage of your home improvement business. Every Wednesday, we take a deep dive into the lessons that we've learned from supporting some amazing business owners in the home improvement industry.

Caitlyn: 0:34

In part one, we'll cover the essentials from startup to your first 5 million. In part two, we're shifting gears to focus on what it takes to scale your business to a successful exit and or how to dominate your market. Now let's get into it.

Janet: 0:48

Hey, I'm Janet, the founder of Fat Cat Strategies. Today, I'm joined by my colleague, Caitlin Noble. Caitlin, what are we talking about today? Introduce yourself and tell us what we're talking about.

Caitlyn: 0:59

Hey, I'm Caitlin, head client services, and we're really excited. Today, we're diving into a strategy that can seriously accelerate your lead generation as you scale your home improvement business, integrating manufacturer leads into your digital marketing campaigns. So,

Janet: 1:16

If you've made it past the early growth phase, like you're past all those pains and now you're into scaling and, you know, taking it to the next level, then you are probably already running solid campaigns. But what if I told you there's a high quality source of leads that's probably underutilized in your company and already tied to the products that you sell every day? Oh yeah,

Caitlyn: 1:41

absolutely. So today's episode is all about those manufactured leads, what they are, why they matter, and how to use them in your online marketing strategy for maximum impact. And just to pause really quickly, I think we inherit a lot of Businesses who have only used manufacturer leads. Oh, yeah. And then they come to us. And so this is kind of like the flip of that. A flip of that. You've got an agency, but now you're looking at an opportunity to add on another agency. Yeah.

Janet: 2:13

So we just want to acknowledge that, you know, we've had such an amazing success with so many fantastic clients who are installing Jacuzzi products and James Hardy products and other well-known brands that American homeowners know and love. And when we work with those companies, you know, they already know, oh, my manufacturer that I buy product from is such a huge source of qualified leads. If you've already cracked that nut, Congratulations. Pat yourself on the back. We are actually, today's episode is... aimed at those businesses that you're up and running, you are profitable, your revenues are growing, your staff is growing, and maybe you really got your start buying third party aggregators. Or you just have such a great footprint in the community and you've got all these great word of mouth leads. Wherever your leads come from, if you are not strategically thinking about how to partner with the manufacturers that you buy products from as a source of revenue growth for you. That's what today's episode is about. Perfection.

Caitlyn: 3:26

Always have to ask the factory. Oh, yeah. So let's start with the basics. What exactly are manufacturer leads? These are leads generated by the manufacturer. You get listed in a few of those. Jacuzzi, James Hardy, Certainty, all those qualities. So the manufacturer of the products you install, whether it's windows, roofing systems, doors, or siding, these folks have already shown interest in a specific product. Amazing. And that makes them a high-intent prospect and extremely valuable. to you.

Janet: 3:57

So just to be clear, Caitlin, what you're talking about is a homeowner that knows that they want to install a specific type of product on their home and they went directly to that manufacturer's website and they probably clicked a button that said something like, find a dealer near me. They searched by a zip code and then they filled out a form. That's who we're talking about, right? That's exactly right. So the kicker is what we've found is that many contractors are not fully capitalizing on these leads. And the reason we think that is, is because you guys have not integrated them into your digital marketing ecosystem. So let's fix that. I didn't get a bunch of stuff for any go through. So let's go through step one. Okay, so step one is to get a steady stream of leads from your manufacturers. First, you've got to build trust with the manufacturer, not the homeowner with the manufacturer. So what you need to do is make sure that you've got a good relationship with the rep that services your area. So a lot of the manufacturers we see, their reps will have a geography. They'll be, you know, east of the Mississippi or they'll be the mid-Atlantic. So if you... Have a rep, but maybe you've only casually interacted with that rep. What we would encourage you to do is get to know your rep more. Find out what their goals are to sell those products. Because just like you have a sales goal for your company, your manufacturer's rep also has a sales goal. If you guys can help each other meet your goals together, that's where some magic can happen.

Caitlyn: 5:38

Yeah, I think that, I mean, you summed up exactly what to do there in terms of building that strong manufacturer relationship. Get to know your rep and attend those trainings. Again, that's stay current on the products and show that you're serious about representing that brand. I know, you know, as an agency, we've connected with reps of manufacturers. Absolutely. Janet has gone on to do many webinars and so forth just to educate, you know, people like you who have been introduced through the manufacturer about marketing tips. So we're even just like extra perks there. I think that are offered just by building that relationship. It doesn't necessarily mean first dibs on leads, but I do think there's opportunities there to like get co-graded marketing and so forth, which is the second step they'll kind of dive into right now in terms of that co-op marketing with the manufacturer. Janet, you want to talk a little bit about the marquee programs? Yeah,

Janet: 6:41

I'm going to... take a little sidestep and tell a story from a completely different industry and then come back to manufactured products that are construction products. So years and years ago, when dinosaurs were on the earth, I used to work in software and I worked with local companies that were like IT consulting companies and they were, you know, installing full Microsoft products and setting up servers and whatnot.

Caitlyn: 7:12

Yeah.

Janet: 7:12

And that was kind of when I was introduced to a phrase called joint marketing dollars. And so what I came to find is that local IT companies that were selling phone systems, Microsoft, hardware and server closets, all of the manufacturers of those products would have some amount of money earmarked for joint marketing, but they don't go around advertising it. They are not going to have, you know, they're not going to go out of their way to say, hey, we've got this money that we've set aside that we will give to our dealer network as long as that dealer is doing a fantastic job of promoting our product. And so the same holds true that I found 25 years ago in software and hardware where Cisco systems might sponsor a lunch and learn for a bunch of, you know, system administrators in an effort to get them to buy Cisco products, but they're doing that through a local IT company. These manufacturers of decking, windows, insulation, roofing, doors, and not just the manufacturers, but companies like ABC Supply, your local supply companies, they have a vested interest to sell the products. And they may have a little pocket or a little bucket of money that that they're not going to tell you about. And they may tell you about it, but if they don't, it doesn't mean it's not there. Yeah, so if you go back to step one, which is get to know your rep.

Caitlyn: 8:55

Exactly.

Janet: 8:56

If you've got a good relationship, a good, friendly, cordial, professional relationship with that rep, and then you bring an idea to that rep, like, hey, I'm really thinking about a spring promotion. I'm going to have a landing page. I'm going to market it through my TV commercials, you know, whatever. You bring that idea to your rep and say, hey, I am only going to highlight your products in my spring promo. What can you do to help me? Exactly. And Caitlin, I'm going to shout out to her. She has actually been on the front lines in many instances where she will, on behalf of our clients, coordinate with the reps from the manufacturers to really work out the logistics and negotiate of the campaign and what kind of dollars can our clients get back from the manufacturers.

Caitlyn: 9:50

And I'll, you know, On that note, where we saw the most success when we're talking about co-op marketing dollars is the client and or the rep identified an area that they wanted to expand their product into. Do you mean like an area on earth? An area on earth. Okay. Like a specific town that the product just isn't. Because these reps have that information. Yeah, they know the data. They know that James Hardy isn't selling in a certain zip code. So if you can marry that information with a PM. Hey, there's co-op or a city share. So,

Janet: 10:29

yeah, I mean, I'm going to give credit where credit is due. Caitlin has really been, like I said, she's been in the actual conversations, negotiating the dollars and negotiating the terms. And there are terms like you as the company that the home improvement contractor is often what happens is you have to go ahead and front load and pay for the campaign. You're paying for the PPC, you're paying for the event, you're paying for whatever. And then you take the results back to the manufacturer. And if you meet certain pre-negotiated criteria, then they will refund some part of your advertising. So that's one example. Another example that is a little bit anecdotal because I personally haven't seen it all the way across the finish line. But we had a client in the Midwest that was doing roofing and siding and added shade products and awnings onto their list of products that they were selling. And at the time, the awning manufacturer that they were getting their fabric and their hardware from, they told our client, hey, we really want to expand into these states that were neighboring Yes, exactly. talk through your rep to the manufacturer's marketing department or see if you can involve some other executives to say, hey, let's craft a campaign together to tackle that neighboring state. I think

Caitlyn: 12:17

that's awesome. So the first two steps, I mean, are really on you to build that relationship and to get out there and connect with the manufacturer. There's other steps that honestly don't require, I mean, They require a different amount of effort, but if you have an agency or somebody else doing your marketing, I think this is a no-brainer. Create manufacturer-specific landing pages. If you're going to promote a specific product line, no-brainer. Create a dedicated landing page for it. Include rich product information, beautiful images, testimonials, and, of course, a clear-cut action. Some beings do help. benefit in landing pages would be asking, you know, your manufacturer, your rep for an access, you know, to maybe a marketing hub where there's product photos or videos that you can use, you know, so you're not having to write this content yourself. They may already have it that exists. So create those manufacturer-specific landing pages just to show that you have that product and it notes drops any other thoughts on that can it

Janet: 13:31

yeah i mean if you're thinking to yourself okay i really install 15 or 20 different products it can feel like a big lift to create all these different pages on your website per product but caitlin to your point yeah most of these larger established manufacturers these are brand names that people know and love you have a Yeah. Videos is a great one. using the images and the content that they have already put together. And then the only thing I would add to what Caitlin said is, you know, if you're building out these pages on your website, don't forget to put some trust signals. If you've worked really hard to get certified or achieve a certain level with that contractor, you've checked all the boxes, you've demonstrated that you've installed a certain number of jobs, and you've gotten a preferred status, preferred, certified, Whatever. I mean, literally. Yeah. Take those logos and put them on that landing page for that product.

Caitlyn: 15:02

And write about what those certifications and those statuses mean.

Janet: 15:07

Yeah. Write a little blog post about all the hoops that you had to jump through

Caitlyn: 15:11

to become preferred elite. Yes. Absolutely. So now that you have those landing pages created, again... This is, I keep saying, you know, Breyer, but once you've had those ideas, one DPC campaign is targeting those manufacturer keywords. I will say caveat with this is, you know, there are many manufacturers who are already spending millions of dollars doing this to drive growth. or drive by clicks back to their own manufacturer websites to okay, that looks like something along the lines of find a local contractor. And then through those clicks, they're then sending a user to you because you're on that manufacturer list. So there is a little bit of a competition that could happen with some of these manufacturers. I'd be curious to like find out, you know, or for you to ask, you know, is that manufacturer writing KDC campaigns? And if they're not, do it. Or, right, because

Janet: 16:15

you don't want to have to bid against the manufacturer that you also buy your products from. And then in some instances, you also have to buy leads from. That's true. But

Caitlyn: 16:26

exactly. You do have to buy some of those. It's sometimes your fault. So being about right QC campaigns, I would ask, are they right? Their own campaigns gain their area. If they're not, great opportunity. Do it. If they are, tread lightly. I still think it's a good opportunity to Just if you can have the budget, that's for an idea. And those are some of the key words that I think Heather felt a little dizzy

Janet: 16:52

of. Yeah. So if you've made some inquiries and you've got a good strategy behind how much money is appropriate to spend on paid Google search ads, based around that manufacturer name, you know, you could decide, yeah, I know that they're running their own ads and I want to run it on that brand name just so I can like double my chances at the top of the board. You could also take sort of a long tail keyword approach and get really specific with like a series of windows, Anderson 400 series windows installation near me. I mean, that's one, two, three, four, five, like six windows. It's called a keyword, but it's really a phrase. series of windows from that manufacturer and targeting either your town name or the phrase installers near me, then that search phrase, you're going to drive traffic to the landing page that you made in the last step that we talked about.

Caitlyn: 18:20

Yeah, I think that's fantastic. So you need to see some opportunity. And then, of course, because you have those editing pages, obviously it's going to benefit your SEO. And we do have actually several episodes on the difference between SEO versus VQC. You can just search for those wherever you will see your podcast. Let's just break that down in more detail. I think another really great tip in terms of how to just maximize manufacturer leads is promoting manufacturer content also. social media. Social media is a great way to reinforce your and his actual partnerships. They're all, they're all on social. And I mean, Janet, do you want to share a little bit? Yeah. So

Janet: 19:02

it's like, so the, the manufacturer's They have a much bigger budget than you do, and they've got likely entire departments that do nothing but promote that manufacturer brand on social. So you can kind of dovetail into that. You can, again, use your own before and after photos, use some before and after photos from the dealer login. You can highlight warranty. You can showcase your certifications. You can make posts like, hey, really proud of this job that we just installed, town name, and then tag the manufacturer.

Caitlyn: 19:36

Yeah, that's exactly. Always tag them. Always, always, always tag them. I've gone to see many manufacturers who will share or feature your own posts, which is just an actual exposure for your own brand. So fun, Trick, just so you guys know, and we will mention this in our show notes as well, is we do have a DIY social media chat. If you are sitting here like, oh my gosh, I just don't even know. We're so social. I don't have the time for it. We're offering one. Low price, deal with our website, go to packages. We'll also link to it in the show notes, but it's completely customizable. And then you can plug in those manufacturer pictures, et cetera, captions if they provide them and publish those. That's

Janet: 20:25

a great reminder, Caitlin. Okay. So we've talked about social. Caitlin, talk to everybody about what it means to retarget visitors. Those are website visitors, people who've come to your website and they've shown an interest in a manufactured product. So tell our contractors in this instance, what can they do to retarget those visitors? Like what is retargeting and how can they do it? Yeah,

Caitlyn: 20:51

no, how slowly? I think this is one of the... more slick and advanced opportunities here to re-engage with those manufacturer leads. So you have those landing pages up on your website. You have that blog content up on your website. You've been running ads about that Jay Hardy sighting. Have a re-narb and retargeting text file set up to then go on to capture those people who didn't age with those specific pages, or they clicked on your ads that didn't convert. So we see a lot of success with this through Meta, where Meta is also Facebook, where you've got, you know, product heavy images. So you're once again, so these venture site, they've clicked, they've been binged, but maybe in the voter form, but now they're getting followed around on Meta with It sounds more complicated than it is, but that to me is a no-brainer. Like, highlight what somebody's already interested in, and you can use those product images that have already either been provided to you or by project you've already completed.

Janet: 22:06

And you can do that across Google search and display as well. You can. You definitely can. I think

Caitlyn: 22:12

visually... It's better. You

Janet: 22:13

think

Caitlyn: 22:13

it's better on meta? It's just, I mean, maybe for the return. But, I mean, display ads... It's lower cost. Exactly. Display ads, for sure, would be great equity. So, retarget those visitors who have shown that quality interest to your advertising. So... Let me give you a bunch of tips in terms of how to maximize those manufacturing leads. Great opportunity. Some of them are free, some of them aren't. But I take me, you know, bring it on home. Why should somebody do this? Well, you know, if

Janet: 22:44

you're not already... Leveraging this as another high quality source of leads. them. If you partner closely with your reps and you ask about those co-op marketing opportunities or bring your reps the opportunities, don't wait for them to bring them to you. That's where the real, I think, gold can be is when you get creative and you take the idea to your rep because the rep may then be able to go up his or her management chain and argue for a budget that might not have been Approved. It might not have been on the table. They can go and argue for it and fight for you. So that relationship and opportunities through these manufacturers can really be a goldmine. You can run targeted campaigns. You can run remarketing campaigns. If you've got all of these digital elements set up, then you've also got... You've got settings and campaigns set up to nurture those leads through email, through social, through possibly text messaging, because it's all integrated with your CRM. You've tagged them and bagged them. You're going to nurture them until they buy. So we just really see an opportunity for you to exploit this channel to everyone's benefit because it's a win for you and it's a win for the manufacturer.

Caitlyn: 24:36

Definitely. With or without a free seminar, I'd spend. So, and that's honestly what Smart Roof looks like. Next week, we are going to be talking all about how blending traditional Boots Underground efforts works with online campaigns that can actually help you generate more leads, build more trust, and close more jobs. So, Do you re-explain what SPS is about? So if you

Janet: 25:04

are past the startup phase and you are really on that scale trajectory, you're starting to hit that exponential part of the curve, and maybe you've got some sales reps, you might have a booth in a Sam's Club, you might be going to events, you've got brand ambassadors, you're working neighborhoods, you're canvassing, and you really want to tighten all this up and make sure it's really integrated for this next

Caitlyn: 25:30

episode is for you. Oh, yeah. I love it. And gosh, the success we see by doing that. So, thank you all for joining us for another episode. If you found this episode helpful, check out our past episodes for more ways to grow your home improvement business in a smart

Janet: 25:44

way. And if you're ready to work with a digital marketing partner who understands the home improvement space inside and out, you know where to find us. And until then,

Caitlyn: 25:53

keep building, keep growing, and go dominating. Thanks.

Janet: 25:57

Digital marketing for contractors is created by Fat Cat Strategies.