I Asked ChatGPT To Help Me Make A Contractor Marketing Plan

There has been so much chatter about AI tools and ChatGPT and Gemini and Claude and AI coming for your jobs and so on. So, I figured I'd embrace our robot overlords, check in on their contractor marketing prowess, and see if my job was in trouble.

For the sake of this experiment. I told ChatGPT that I was an electrician, and I asked for detailed steps on what I should do to market and promote my business. I did this while talking to the ChatGPT app on my phone, and this question prompted a long response.

The Marketing Plan ChatGPT Delivered

At this point, it delivered a fairly well-rounded - though long-winded generic answer.

ChatGPT covered all the basic tactics of what to do...

• Build A Professional Website
• Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile
• Implement Local SEO
• Utilize Online Review Management
• Leverage Social Media
• Use Email Marketing
• Partner With Local Businesses
• Invest in Google Ads and Local Service Ads
• Use Print Marketing
• Track and Adjust Your Marketing Efforts

It covered a surface summary of each of those things, and we can get into those another time.

A Deep Dive On ChatGPT's Website Plan

I wanted to take a deep dive into the website side of things. For most contractors, their website is one of the first things they know they need to prioritize.

So, I asked ChatGPT how I could build a website myself. And again - for someone going the DIY route - it gave a ton of information.

ChatGPT reviewed core website details...

• Discussed website builders like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly versus CMS platforms like WordPress
• Deliver a basic overview of domain names and hosting
• Talked about templates and themes for DIYers
• Gave suggestions on customizing your website with your branding, call to action, contact information, and creating separate service pages
• Reviewed a basic overview on using keywords (while not providing them), meta tags, alt text, and how sitemaps work
• Suggested adding testimonials and case studies
• Recommended blogging
• Encouraged social media links
• Offered best practices for testing, launching, maintaining, and updating.

At this, I looked at all this contractor website design and build stuff and thought - wow... this is a lot.

If I really am an electrician, I'm looking at all of this stuff that I don't necessarily understand - and my next question is... "What does this look like if I can get someone else to do it?"

What Does ChatGPT Say About Website Costs?

So I followed up with ChatGPT, asking, "How much should I anticipate spending if I'm going to outsource all that website stuff to somebody else?"

After the initial disclaimer about how costs can widely vary - it did give some actual numbers.

• For the type of website I'd want as an electrician (not the cheapest, not the most expensive) it told me to expect to spend $3k to $10k on the build itself.
• Ongoing website maintenance looked like $200-$500 per month in the middle range.
• It also cited additional costs for blog posts, SEO content optimization, domain registration, hosting, stock images, etc.

Aside from the price data, ChatGPT also suggested some key considerations here - ones that are more about business than they are about marketing

• Investment vs. Return: A professional website can significantly improve your business's credibility and lead generation, potentially paying for itself over time.
• DIY vs. Outsourcing: If you’re concerned about costs, consider a hybrid approach where you manage simpler tasks (like content updates) and outsource more technical aspects.

And these are two really great points.

About ROI And Websites

It's a much harder pill to swallow if you’re building a website for $10k

But when your website is done right, it will - over time - help deliver some of the lowest-cost leads you can possibly attain.

So, while you have to pay for your website and ongoing care for online marketing, it is an investment in your business and your future success.

About DIYing Versus Outsourcing

I believe that - aside from paying lots of money for complete white glove service that includes local talent - there is no way to completely wash your hands of your marketing efforts anyway.

Be present where you need to be in your marketing and outsource what is appropriate.

Balance out the investment of your time and money compared to the value of an expert doing the work.

Asking ChatGPT To Build A Website For Me

I wanted to take things a step further - the step I assume many people experimenting with AI would take at this point. I asked ChatGPT to actually do the thing - to actually build my website.

I instructed ChatGPT that I wanted it to build the site for me - and told it to ask me questions as necessary to get the job done properly. It ultimately delivered a home page...

... and contact page...

It's not the worst thing ever - but it's not the best either. But clearly, visually and content-wise -- this isn't a home run.

I tried to give it a fighting chance. I got more granular with my directions, asking for it to add images, more content, and more stuff to help my local optimization. After some back-and-forth, we ended up with this...

The website still doesn't have the best visual appeal, but at least there is more content, including placeholder names for images that even have alt tags appropriately added.

Assessing ChatGPT Contractor Marketing Plan & Website Performance

So... what have we learned here?

As far as providing basic information, ChatGPT did pretty well. It shared some good overall insight and strategy for someone who wants to start from zero knowledge and delve into marketing for their business.

But the harder part is the implementation of that business plan.

I won't go through the full transcript here - but you should know that between all of my conversations with OpenAI's chatbot for making this video, I spent about 45 minutes talking back and forth with ChatGPT. So you could spend hours just talking to ChatGPT to get some pointers on what to do and how to do it - and start to cobble together a plan - which is certainly better than no plan at all.

Knowing what to do is one thing. Having to put those plans into action yourself in another thing all together

I had asked ChatGPT to estimate how long it would take me - as an electrician with no marketing or web experience - to build my website myself. It estimated that between time for research, learning new skills, writing content, SEO optimization, website template set up, content creation, testing - it would take 50-75 hours to make a DIY website. That doesn’t include any changes or updates you need to make to your website. It doesn’t include anything else mentioned in the big list of suggestions from the rest of the contractor marketing plan.

As a contractor, you’ve seen what happens when non-experts DIY the work – chances are pretty good that a DIYed website will not be a good as when - say, a contractor marketing agency with 20+ years of experience does the same job.

At the end of the day, ChatGPT can absolutely be a strong research assistant for getting ideas, creating a game plan, all of that.

But you have to still sort out the rest yourself - including a whole bunch more education and skill development to become a ChatGPT expert and a website expert and an SEO expert and everything else.

If you’re like most contractors and home service business owners...

• You’re an expert in your craft or in sales - not in prompt engineering, marketing, business development, or business management.
• You don’t have time for that.
• You just want to run your business without needing to become an expert in all of that.

While ChatGPT can certainly give you a base education, it still makes good business sense to learn what you need to do, and then find people and partners to help you do it.

If you need help creating and implementing a contractor marketing and business management plan, the team at Footbridge Media is ready to help.

About Chris Lonergan

Chris Lonergan has over 12 years of contractor marketing experience with Footbridge Media. With a background in web design, print design, content creation, and online marketing, Chris is focused on providing quality marketing and business solutions in the construction and service industries - helping small business owners to more efficiently manage their companies and grow their operations.

Chris Lonergan has previously contributed to and/or been featured in PM Magazine (Plumbing & Mechanical | Contractors x Engineers), theNEWS (ACHR - Air Conditioning | Heating | Refrigeration), Service Roundtable's blog, inPAINT Magazine, the SMB Marketing Agency Show, and the Green Industry Podcast. Chris is also a past SGI/CertainPath breakout session presenter.

About Chris Lonergan