Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’m Crystal Williams and McWilliams and Son Heating and Air Conditioning is my family’s HVAC company in rural east Texas.  I was the Service World Woman of the Year in 2018 and have been the Marketing director for McWilliams for 5 years.  We’ve seen 20-30% growth year over year and have implemented some great advertising campaigns and strategies!

What do you see as the biggest challenge for home services companies, when it comes to marketing? 

Consistency and competency!  The lack of understanding of how to create, implement and be consistent with a marketing plan is a huge struggle that I see.  Many contractors know they need  to market, are willing to spend the dollars, but just don’t know where to start!

What are the key marketing areas that home services businesses should focus more on in 2020?

Truthfully, it depends on what market you’re in!  For some, social is where the most growth is just waiting and ready to explode.  Also, OTT is really gaining popularity when it comes to reaching the “cord cutters” for digital tv and of course…all things digital!  No matter how you build your marketing stack, consistency will be the differentiator!  Only the strong survive!

What is the tool or marketing tactic that the home service companies can implement right now, with less than $1000?

SOCIAL!  With free resources out there to help with scheduling and design, from your laptop you can really kick up a little dust for your business!  

In the end, tell us about how you can help home services companies.

For 5 years, I watched my brother work hard on McWilliams and son.  He was always looking for things to benefit our team, ways to increase profitability and he still had to verify phonebook ads (YES..they still work in 2020 in Rural east Texas LOL!), cut new radio commercials, etc.  I realized that what he needed was an advocate, a person that could take all the concerns and responsibility that comes with making sure our marketing was on target, consistent and clean and thus APEX Marketing Firm was born.  We are a marketing company designed for Service industry companies that really want to grow but don’t know where to start or how to allocate their marketing dollars to a comprehensive campaign!  Apex is here to help!  We do all the leg work and help other service companies all while still working in the industry. My passion is to help owners dominate their market!

Crystal is the creative director of APEX Marketing Firm, a marketing agency that strives to elevate companies to the top of their industry, using innovative vendor partnerships and comprehensive campaign management.  

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This is the 3rd article, part of a blog series of interviews that we took with marketing specialists on marketing for contractors and home services companies. You can read the 1st interview and the 2nd interview here.

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