11/5/2024
Written by Albert Hu
If you run a business that provides home services such as house painting, you will likely find that generating clients during the winter is a challenge. Usually, the late season has a lower demand for home services. Many are preoccupied with the holidays, year-end activities, or budgeting for the new year, making them less likely to take on large or discretionary projects like repainting.
However, with the right methods, you can work to adapt to the seasonal business slowdown. Generally, the best approach to resolve this issue is to prepare some months before the winter season starts. Ideally, you have an email list of subscribers that you've built up before winter and you have been doing content marketing targeted towards them. Chances are that you have impressed them with your expertise, so you are the go-to business for their needs. Thus, you can reconnect with them during the winter season and are very likely to find demand within your list of contacts.
However, if you do not have an email list and have not done any planning at all before winter comes, it is better late than never to start now. When there is a will, there is always a way. Thus, it is important that you as a business owner take the initiative to overcome the challenge of a slow season.
Here are some ideas on how to do so:
If you offer a limited-time deal, you may trigger people's scarcity mindset. When people take a chance on a deal, they think they got something valuable for less in a small window of opportunity. If they do not take on the deal, they fear that they might lose the opportunity.
Some painting businesses have reported that when they offered 15% off their usual rate until the next year, their phones were ringing and they were booked for the entire season.
You do not have to limit yourself to discounts, but you can always offer packaged deals that add value to whatever you are already offering. That way you avoid the fact that discounts lower the perception of the value of your service.
If your business is located in a snowy area, the weather may limit exterior work. This is problematic for companies that rely on exterior work, particularly house painters, whose work can be damaged by snow or rain. However, winter is the perfect time for indoor projects, as many homeowners are indoors more and may be more inclined to notice areas that need improvement. Run online ads or email campaigns that target work on living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms for a fresh, updated look.
For example, real estate agents often need homes spruced up before sale, even in winter. Partnering with local agents or property managers can bring consistent work.
Offer these partners a referral incentive or maintain a portfolio they can quickly reference when recommending services to clients.
Keep your social media active and focused on your indoor projects. Share before-and-after photos, tips for winter home maintenance, and the benefits of booking painting services in the winter.
Winter-themed posts—like “refresh your space for the new year” or “warm up your home with a fresh color palette”—can inspire people to take action.
Chances are that there are homeowners who have a demand for home services and are actively searching online for them. Thus, it is best to take advantage of optimizing your site for local search results. It makes it more likely that your business will appear in homeowners' search results, and thus, they are more likely to find out about your business. This is your opportunity to develop specific landing pages for winter services—such as “Interior Painting in Winter” or “Winter Home Refresh Deals”—to attract winter-time clients. These pages can feature tailored content, showcase seasonal discounts, and emphasize the benefits of indoor painting during colder months, helping to convert seasonal web visitors into paying clients.
Having an optimized website allows you to do content marketing around winter tips. As an example, you can publish blog posts or articles on winter-specific topics like “Benefits of Interior Painting in Winter” or “Top Colors to Warm Up Your Home This Season.” This content can drive additional organic traffic to your site and position you as a knowledgeable, locally trusted expert, increasing your chances of getting client inquiries.
And of course, if you do content marketing long enough, you can get a feel of what your audience prefers and the type of common problems they are trying to solve, which gives further insight into potential business opportunities you can capitalize on.
During slower months, consider boosting your online visibility through paid local search ads targeting winter-specific keywords. Run ads that highlight discounts or seasonal promotions to drive more traffic to your local SEO-optimized site. Paid ads can increase visibility immediately, especially if competition for “indoor painting [City]” is lower in winter.
The cost of Google Ads, or paid search ads, can fluctuate during the winter, but whether they’re more expensive depends on factors specific to your industry, competition, and even location.
Winter can be a prime time for many home service businesses if you have an open mind and can tackle less weather-dependent projects. With the right strategy, you can generate demand and keep the business strong all season.
