5 Signs Your Propane Gas Company is Ready for an Online Marketing Investment

As the manager of a local propane company, it’s easy to feel like a traffic controller, standing in the middle of a 4-way intersection.

You’re bumper-to-bumper with responsibilities—from overseeing daily deliveries, to maintaining finances, to meeting with team members, to keeping up with customers.

With work coming from all directions, stopping to plan a marketing strategy or investment is likely low on your to do list.

Without online marketing, you’re missing out on opportunities to grow your business

An online marketing approach can create a steady flow of leads for your sales pipeline and build a stellar reputation for your propane gas company.

Without it, your business is standing still. This gives other local propane companies in your service area have the chance to get ahead.

Here are 5 signs that your local propane company is ready for a marketing investment:

Your website is outdated

As a local propane company, your website should fulfill two priorities:

1. Make a good first impression
2. Be mobile friendly

Making a good first impression on the web is important, especially for small businesses.

Your website has 5 seconds to convince users to keep reading. In those few seconds, your website has to

• Clearly state what you do
• Be easy to navigate and look appealing

You want to generate trust on your site to prove that you are someone the customer wants to call. A well-designed website and clear messaging can help build trust. Investing in your website can prove you are an established, trustworthy propane gas company instead of a low-grade, unreliable business.

Want to make sure your site doesn't lose your users' attention or trust? Get real user feedback and schedule a 5-second test.

Mobile-friendly content gives you an edge

Nearly 60% of searches are from a mobile device.

This means a lot of people who are ready to buy propane gas are using their phones to find you. This is especially true for new homeowners who are younger and more likely to use their phones to find a propane supplier.

If they land on a web page that is not mobile friendly, you’re not going to make a good first impression.

In fact, you might not even be found. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly content when ranking the search results. So if people are searching for you on their phone and your site is not mobile friendly, Google will bump your search listing in favor of mobile-friendly competitors.

Test if your site passes the Google mobile-friendly test here.

Need help interpreting the results? We can review your site and share 5 tips over the phone, for free!

Your new customers only come from referrals

While referrals are always a good source of business and often an easy sale, referrals aren’t as dependable as you may think.

The truth about referrals is…

For most companies, referrals only generate enough new business to replace lost business.

So, relying on referrals isn’t going to grow your revenue stream. Instead, your company should drive new business leads through your website.

Adding lead generation forms to capture new prospective leads enables you to capitalize on website traffic you already have.

Capturing leads does not have to be complicated, either. Begin with:

• An incentive, discount, or sample of your product that catches your prospect’s attention
• A form on your web page that collects their information

Note that if you have set up a way to capture leads on your website, you should prepare your sales team to follow up with web leads.

This seasonal offer from a local propane gas company helps generate more leads online in addition to their referral campaign.

Want to find out how to make a referral campaign that will actually grow your propane business? Check out this blog post.

You’re not showing up in local searches

Curious to see how your website does in a local search? Open an incognito window in your browser and see for yourself!

Let’s say your target area of service is in Wichita, Kansas.

In this private window, you can search for ‘propane delivery near me’ or ‘propane delivery Wichita, KS.’

This search results page can give you an idea of what to expect when searching for propane delivery in your region. You want your website to show up in the paid search ads, then the local 3-pack, and the organic results.

Does your company show up on the first page of search results?

If your answer is no, then you’re missing out on potential revenue. 3 in 4 users will not scroll past the first page of search results. If you want your prospects to find you, you want to be on that first page of organic search results.

When you rank higher in search results, your contact information is easier to find. Since 76% of local searches result in a phone call, easy-to-find contact info means more leads funneled right to your sales team.

However, these leads will only find your website and contact info if you can make your website more appealing to search engines and boost your ranking.

Traditional marketing methods aren’t generating results

Post cards, radio and TV ads, billboards, newspaper ads—I’m sure you’ve used one of these marketing methods at least once.

While these traditional marketing avenues still have value, the truth is that they are more expensive, less effective—since many new, younger homeowners are glued to their phones for info—and harder to measure than online marketing.

Focusing your marketing efforts online can save you money and deliver better results. Online or inbound marketing cost 62% less per lead than traditional marketing and is 3 times as likely to produce a higher ROI.

An online approach to marketing differs in that it focuses on creating helpful information that attracts prospects. For example, an inbound marketing plan might consist of:

• Creating content your prospects want to read online
  • For example, blog posts about what to do when there’s a propane leak, or how to decide between different propane companies, etc.
• Promoting content and offers on social media
• Establishing a consistent email campaign, etc.

This propane company has a blog that provides helpful information to prospective customers.

As we mentioned before, online marketing has a greater value than traditional methods. Investing in marketing will help you provide more helpful resources to better inform the prospect and build trust.

Your marketing efforts are limited due to a lack of time

Perhaps you’ve already set aside some time for marketing, but your efforts just don’t seem like they’re doing enough. Chances are you’ve run out of time to

1. Stay on top of the current marketing trends

Marketing is subject to rapid change. It’s difficult to know what marketing methods are most effective today when you’re balancing so many other responsibilities.

2. Be consistent with your marketing efforts

Blogging, social media sharing, creating offers - those things take time. And these things don’t create results if you’re not consistent.

If these two roadblocks sound familiar, you don’t have to hang your head thinking of what you could do with more time. Instead of doing it all yourself, hire help.

Hiring a marketing agency for your propane gas company can give you...

• More time to focus on your business
• More time to build relationships with customers and vendors

Investing in a marketing partner can also help you stay afloat in the alphabet soup of marketing terms—from SEO to CRM to CRO, and more. A firm can explain the tools and strategies they will use to increase your conversion rates and marketing ROI.

While marketing may not have been a top priority in your high-traffic workday, it may be just what you need to grow your propane business and increase the flow of leads.