Ask a Pro

Q:

What were your biggest marketing successes of 2021?

JEREMY N. FYFE, SR. is the owner of GLS Painters, a residential and commercial painting company based in Sicklerville, NJ. Established in 2008, the company has become a household name in the southern NJ area. Fyfe prides himself on developing young talent and cultivating the PCA standards. He operates his business with the long-term goal of building a sustainable company to pass down to his sons, Liam and Jeremy Jr. GLSPainters.com

A: I found success in several channels this year. First, I belong to Business Network International (BNI) and that’s a consistent source of qualified referrals for me.

Second, I’m very active on the community social network Nextdoor. It puts me in front of most of the 5,000 residents of my town and allows me to share images of our work, video testimonials, and stories about good work we’re doing in our community. For example, last winter, our crew shoveled out 50+ residents’ homes after a heavy snow. We also did some charitable painting for folks who were hit especially hard during the COVID pandemic. Basically, I use Nextdoor for ABA—anything but advertising. The approach I’ve taken is very effective at humanizing our business and connecting us to the community.

But, by far, the biggest marketing success this past year was a series of billboards.

I’ve been in our community for seven years and, five years ago, I began envisioning our business name on a billboard. Specifically, one in the same parking lot as a paint store and a Panera Bread, which thousands of cars go by daily. I thought about it a long time and finally pulled the trigger this year. And I didn’t do just one billboard; I did three.

I signed a 9-month contract for three electronic billboards to feature my ad for 8 seconds on each board every minute of every day of those 9 months. Best branding decision I ever made.

The day they went up, I did a video of myself standing in front of one of them that I posted on Nextdoor, Facebook and Instagram. I was so happy in that video, I nearly cried. Over 500 people on Nextdoor alone reached out to me in response to the video and congratulated me. But even before I posted it, three clients that I had just given estimates to signed that day because they saw the billboard. It legitimized my business for them and those projects paid for the entire 9-month contract on day one.

In designing the billboard, I went with the largest type possible. You can actually read it from three traffic lights away. And I didn’t clutter it with a URL and phone number. Just my business name and slogan: Don’t stress, call GLS. That slogan is the basis of our brand and it’s on everything—trucks, t-shirts, yard signs and now billboards.

I bought the billboards to raise brand awareness and make GLS Painters a household name in the community. Based on the response we’ve received, I think I can say we’ve officially achieved that.