Why Fewer Leads Can Mean Bigger Wins: Smart Marketing in the Trades with Laura Koester

📅 June 12, 2025 ⏱️ 31:16 🎤 Chad Peterman, Katie Donovan, Laura Koester

Chapters

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0:00

Introduction to Can't Stop the Growth

Chad Peterman introduces the podcast series with Camp Digital, focusing on marketing insights for the home services industry.
0:35

Welcome to Around the Campfire

Katie Donovan, CEO of Camp Digital, welcomes listeners and introduces Laura Koester, Head of Marketing at Champions Group.
1:49

Laura Koester's Diverse Background

Laura shares her career journey from subscription services and consumer marketing to veterinary hospitals and then to home services, highlighting her passion for the people in the trades.
5:29

Trust in Home Services

Laura and Katie discuss the critical role of trust in the home services industry, comparing it to emergency veterinary care, where customers often face urgent, unfamiliar problems.
8:29

Invisible Investments & Marketing Challenges

Laura explains that home service investments are often 'invisible' (like a water heater), making marketing challenging and emphasizing the need for trust and strong brand presence.
12:23

Fewer Leads, Bigger Wins

Laura discusses the major industry shift towards fewer but higher-quality leads, stressing the increased value of each lead and the importance of efficient handling.
14:56

Marketing as 'Base Runs'

Laura introduces the 'base runs' analogy for marketing, explaining that consistent, fundamental efforts across various channels are more effective than relying on 'home run' tactics.
18:01

Scaling Through People & Planning

Laura emphasizes the importance of hiring the right people and establishing scalable frameworks with proactive planning, allowing for adaptability while maintaining structure.
23:47

Proud Moments and Team Focus

Laura expresses pride in her team and their ability to connect with and support technicians, recognizing the technician as the most crucial brand touchpoint.
33:23

KPIs and Data-Driven Marketing

Laura advises on key performance indicators (KPIs) like revenue, sales, and phone calls, urging businesses to demand weekly data reports from their marketing partners.

Speakers

Chad Peterman

Host

Katie Donovan

Host — CEO of Camp Digital

Laura Koester

Head of Marketing, Champions Group

Key Takeaways

✦

Prioritize trust: Recognize that home service customers often make urgent, unfamiliar purchases and rely heavily on trust. Build your brand around reliability and transparency.

✦

Embrace 'base runs' in marketing: Focus on consistent, fundamental marketing efforts across multiple channels (SEO, PPC, reviews, phone answering) rather than chasing single 'home run' tactics.

✦

Demand data from marketing partners: Treat your marketing with the same data-driven rigor as your operations. Request weekly reports and analyze trends to understand what's working and what's not.

✦

Plan proactively: Develop a flexible marketing framework with a 20-week outlook. This allows for adjustments based on current needs while avoiding last-minute panic.

✦

Good operations enable good marketing: Ensure your internal operations (e.g., answering calls, technician professionalism) are excellent, as even the best marketing cannot overcome poor service.

✦

Measure against yourself: Instead of constantly comparing to competitors, focus on improving your own metrics and trends month-over-month or year-over-year to track true progress.

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← CSTG 217: How to Build a Strong Culture Through Leadership Metrics with Eddie Geller

CSTG 216: The Law of Buy In with Chad Peterman →