UK Lead Generation Podcast

James Dooley:
So if I have a plastering business and I want a consistent flow of inquiries to generate more revenue every single month, what would you recommend when it comes to marketing strategies?

Kasra Dash:
So if I owned a plastering company and I was looking to grow the business, the first thing I would look at is having a professional website set up, a professional email, and making sure my branding online looks good. I’d make sure I’ve got loads of testimonials and reviews, and that I’m ranking for the main keywords my demographic would search for.
So the first thing I would do is SEO and creating a branded website for my company.

James Dooley:
With regards to growing a plastering company, what are your thoughts on social media—whether paid or organic?

Kasra Dash:
I’ve seen a lot of plastering companies upload timelapse videos of them plastering a wall. It’s actually quite therapeutic to watch sometimes.
You can definitely go down that route. It can generate a lot of views—some of the videos I’ve seen have millions of views. But millions of views doesn’t mean millions of people want your service.
In many cases, 1 million views might convert into only five to ten paying customers. So yes, the strategy works, but you need to be consistent. Don’t think you’ll upload three videos and get three million views on each—because that’s not how it works.

James Dooley:
What about Facebook ads—actually paying for ads?

Kasra Dash:
Facebook ads could work. Setting up a pixel on your website is important so you can retarget people who’ve visited your site. Retargeting on Meta (Instagram and Facebook) works very well.
Cold Facebook ads for plastering, though—I’m not certain. It’s hard to catch homeowners at the exact time they need plastering done. It’s more of a search-and-click industry.
So I think PPC might work if you can target very specific demographics. For example:
– Dry lining
– Industrial plastering
– Plastering for hotels, leisure centres, gyms, etc.

Going after longtail keywords in PPC could work.
The downside of PPC is that it’s expensive, and there is click fraud.

James Dooley:
What is click fraud, for anyone watching?

Kasra Dash:
Click fraud is when bots—or sometimes your competitors—click your ads repeatedly to burn your day’s budget. You pay for each click, but none of it is real customers.
Sometimes competitors click your ad just to see your landing page or offer. You still pay for those clicks.
Unless you know what you’re doing, I wouldn’t personally run PPC yourself. If you hire a PPC agency and know your numbers and conversions, it can be profitable.
Another important thing: make sure the agency loads a negative keyword list.
Otherwise, if you target “plastering in London,” you’ll also show up for:
– Plastering careers in London
– Plastering jobs in London
People might start applying for jobs instead of becoming customers. Negative keywords prevent that.

James Dooley:
Moving away from that—what are your thoughts on lead generation companies?

Kasra Dash:
A lot of plastering companies are already using lead generation companies.
But many go wrong because they aren’t tracking their cost of acquiring a customer—also known as CAC.
For anything you spend on—Facebook, PPC, SEO—you should know exactly how much it costs to acquire a new customer.
Same goes for lead generation platforms like Bark or Checkatrade.
Every month, you should know:
– How much you spent
– How many leads converted
– How much each customer costs to acquire

Another strategy is testing different lead generation services.
You’ve got Checkatrade, Bark, and of course FatRank—which is actually very good because you don’t pay them until you’ve completed the job and been paid by the customer.
So it’s probably the best strategy if you meet their criteria.

James Dooley:
Yeah, I think if you’re a plastering company looking to grow, head over to FatRank.com and fill in the form. You’ll go through an onboarding process to see whether you qualify.
Fat Rank uses a no win, no fee lead generation model. Not all plastering companies are accepted—we need to make sure you have a professional email, a good website, that you look good online, and that you can convert leads and make profit.
Once you make profit, you just pay a percentage over to Fat Rank. It’s zero risk—a no-brainer for plastering owners.
But I still recommend using a few other lead generation companies alongside Fat Rank. Fat Rank might not approve you if:
– You’re not ready
– You can’t respond fast enough
– You don’t have a sales team
Other companies like Bark, Checkatrade, Builder, TrustATrader may also work for you.
The downside of most lead gen companies is you pay per lead, and that doesn’t guarantee profit.
Fat Rank guarantees ROI—that’s the big difference.

Test two or three different companies, see which converts best, and also invest in your own SEO.
The Holy Grail is generating your own leads.
Don’t become reliant on lead generation companies.

If you can generate leads from:
– SEO
– PPC
– Social media
…you’re setting up your business long-term.

James Dooley:
What are your thoughts on traditional marketing—TV ads, radio ads, billboards?

Kasra Dash:
No.
For plastering, a 60-second ad on BBC or Sky will cost a fortune. You can’t track it. You won’t know how many people visited your website because of it.
Everything we’ve suggested so far has trackable KPIs:
– SEO shows leads
– PPC shows leads
– Facebook shows leads
– Fat Rank shows leads
With billboards, radio, TV—you don’t know how many people saw it or converted.

James Dooley:
What about networking events?

Kasra Dash:
Yes, I think networking events could be good.
I like the idea of “shouldering niches”—basically asking:
Who could refer work to a plasterer?
Other tradesmen.
So I’d befriend:
– Joiners
– Bricklayers
– Plumbers
If they’re busy on a job, chances are plastering is also needed.
If you build relationships with joiners, plumbers, etc., and they trust you, they’ll refer you.
I’d go to home improvement meetups, and I’d use LinkedIn to connect with as many joiners and plumbers as possible.