How fabricator support can help installers stand out from competitors The current climate might be challenging but it isn’t putting the brakes on home renovations for every homeowner, with more than a third considering making enhancements this year. For those with the money to spend, key drivers are eco-improvements; changes made to achieve environmental or energy efficient benefits. According to recent statistics, nine out of ten homeowners plan to carry out work that will make their houses more thermally efficient, with purchases including solar panels and thermal insulation. Marketing the benefits of today’s uPVC windows and doors will therefore appeal to today’s environmentally conscious homeowners, as well as their wallets - cutting down energy usage reduces the impact on the environment and drives down utility bills. What’s more, uPVC is more environmentally friendly, with products from the likes of VEKA containing recycled uPVC - a material that can be recycled again and again up to 10 times. That’s the equivalent of a 350-year lifespan. It's these kinds of key messages that we encourage our installers to promote and share with their customers in a range of different ways. Thinking about who the end customer is and what appeals to them enables the message to be tailored to meet their needs, whether that’s saving them money on their bills, reducing carbon emissions, adding value to their home or simply living in a draught-free environment when the nights draw in. Talking of instant gratification, millennials are a key audience to target and to do that, you need to be where they are – online. Today and tomorrow’s homeowners like to research online and search for reviews before choosing an installer. As a key audience to target it’s also worth considering what else drives them. As millennials are more likely to seek out innovations, then smart technology is an excellent lever to pull.

The swift arrival and slow departure of the pandemic changed everything for UK industry, and the fenestration sector was no exception. Unlike many other sectors however, we faced pent up demand post-lockdown, which altered how we approached business. As the industry struggled to accommodate the influx of new custom, marketing was put on the back burner for many to focus instead on installs. Two years on, it's time to get back to basics, earn our leads, and use marketing to acquire and convert new business again. Play to your strengths Word of mouth is critical for home improvement companies, and a satisfied customer recommendation is worth its weight in gold, particularly now we're firmly in the digital age. 97% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses, with the addition of the phrase 'near me' rocketing by more than 500% in recent years. Having a dynamic, user-friendly website underpinned by a local SEO strategy is a necessity. It's an area we already support our installers with by monitoring their performance and recommending changes to maximise opportunities - helping them rank in local Google searches. When a prospect visits your site, they want an easy-to-navigate experience, which outlines your product offering, provides digital brochures, shares customer reviews, hosts images and videos of previous installations, and has a clear call to action enabling them to contact you. Glazerite already supports around a third of our customer base with digital marketing, including a branded website, which is developed with their local market and audiences in mind. As many of our installers already have a web presence, our marketing team is also on hand with advice to help further shape and improve existing content. An active social presence also reaps rewards, with many homeowners turning to Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration when it comes to renovations. Our Social Media Toolkit equips installers with assets and materials to engage with local audiences on the relevant channels and help keep them front of mind.