Marketing Matters: Top 10 Digital Tools for Countertop Shops

By Stephen Alberts, Countertop Marketing Co.

When you’re trying to reach your customers through digital marketing tactics, there are a lot of great tools on the market that can help you achieve your goals. Using the correct software for your fabrication shop can save your staff time and money, but you need a good balance. While there is such a thing as software overload in the countertop industry, I often see companies not using enough digital tools. Let’s review some tools I recommend for any countertop company’s marketing efforts.

Facebook Business Page (and Instagram)

A Facebook business page can help your shop reach a broader audience, establish its brand and spread awareness on the social network. By showcasing different materials you carry, posting photos and videos of completed projects, and engaging with customers through comments and messages, your shop can build a following — an audience. While most shops have Facebook pages, many don’t consistently post content. Try to post a few project photos a week on your page. And don’t forget about Instagram! This photo-driven platform is perfect for project photos and material or trend content.

Google Maps

A Google Business profile will give homeowners accurate and up-to-date information, such as business hours and location. This information is displayed on Google Maps, making it easier for customers to find your shop’s location with turn-by-turn directions. Your profile will house your reviews, helping build trust and credibility with homeowners. We see a good amount of traffic, phone calls and customer inquiries from a shop’s Google Maps listing. Make sure everything is accurate on your profile, and create a communication strategy with your customers that encourages them to leave positive reviews.

WhatConverts or CallRail for Google Analytics + Call Tracking

Google Analytics and call tracking tools like WhatConverts and CallRail can be highly beneficial for a countertop shop. The best part about Google Analytics is that it’s free! You can analyze website traffic, identify high-performing pages and track user behavior. This information can then improve website design and enhance the user experience. Call tracking tools enable a shop to better understand their overall numbers in terms of leads coming in. Set up goals inside of Google Analytics and track phone calls and quote form leads from your website.

Pipedrive, Hubspot, STONE ENGAGE or SalesForce for Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A CRM system like Pipedrive, Hubspot, STONE ENGAGE, or Salesforce can help a countertop shop manage its sales leads more effectively. This is probably the number one issue we see with shops. They want to increase revenue and get more leads, but they do not use anything to manage the leads. Using a CRM enables a shop to track customer interactions, monitor leads and forecast sales. CRMs can automate lead tracking, send alerts for follow-up, and provide valuable insights into lead behavior. Having your team manage a simple sales pipeline will bring you more business and close more jobs. The beauty of the CRMs mentioned is that the follow-up messages can be automated — a terrific time-saver.

Facebook Ads

Advertising on Facebook can help your countertop shop get more project leads by targeting homeowners based on location, demographics, interests and behavior. Your shop can promote project pictures and packages that you are offering. I suggest starting with a smaller budget of around $20-$30 per day to test the waters. After you gain data to see what’s working, you can focus your campaigns on ways you know will bring results.

Google Ads

Google Ads can help your countertop shop get more project leads by targeting users searching for granite countertops, quartz countertops and tons of other keywords. Your shop can create compelling ad content, directing users to a landing page or quote form to request more information. By monitoring ad performance and optimizing campaigns, your shop can increase its visibility, generate more leads and ultimately grow its business. As with Facebook, I suggest starting with a $20-$30 per day budget here to see what works.

Mailchimp, Constant Contact or STONE ENGAGE for Newsletter and Communication Campaigns

Are you emailing all of your leads and contacts a monthly newsletter? If you aren’t, you could be losing out on business. Newsletter software like Mailchimp, STONE ENGAGE and Constant Contact can help your countertop shop get more project leads by sending regular emails to subscribers, showcasing new products, promotions and completed projects. Stay top of mind with your customers by reminding them each month about what you offer and showcasing your projects. The added benefit of a newsletter is that it can travel beyond your contact list when someone forwards it to a friend or relative who might be looking for a new countertop.

Canva

Canva is a fantastic tool for designing creative elements for social media, websites, printed materials, business cards — you name it. You can create the content using design templates, editing tools and a media library. You can upload your project photos and feature them in one of the thousands of design templates in Canva’s arsenal. This is truly a great solution that can make anyone a graphic designer.

Buffer, Hootsuite or STONE ENGAGE for Social Media Management

Scheduling your social media posts in advance is a great way to put out content consistently. Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite and STONE ENGAGE make this easy to do. Have someone on your team create at least 15 posts per month and then schedule three per week using one of these tools. Using a social media tool will also help you look at each platform’s analytics. You can see which posts get the most likes and shares and determine the time of day you get the most engagement, which could help you optimize your content.

ChatGPT

You have probably heard of AI tools these days, and right now, ChatGPT is all the rage. You can ask this tool to write something on just about any topic under the sun, and it will create content with the click of a button. This is a great way to get content ideas or refresh existing copy for advertising, blog posts, social media and more. Below is an example of a social media post it wrote:

To get this social media post, I entered: Write a two sentence Facebook post that mentions a granite countertop sale we have and use emojis in the post.

There is no shortage of software solutions that can help you achieve your marketing goals. Keep in mind: You don’t have to do everything all at once. I recommend clients start with the first four tools on this list and expand from there. If used properly, these digital marketing tools can help your shop operate more efficiently and grow the business.

Stephen Alberts is the owner of the Countertop Marketing Co. and STONE ENGAGE. They specialize in helping countertop companies grow the retail side of their business outside of word-of-mouth and referrals. They also offer software to help you engage more with customers and close more countertop projects. To learn more, visit www.countertop marketingco.com or www.stonengage.com. You can also email Stephen at steve@countertop marketingco.com.