AI, SEO & Social Marketing are reshaping how remodelers reach customers, but a recent panel at the 2025 Pro Remodeler Leadership Summit reminded veterans that basic principles still matter.
Spread Reviews Beyond One Platform
Rita Mikhailova of Next Stage Design + Build said her team once celebrated 400 reviews on a single service. The firm changed its approach, encouraging staff to collect reviews wherever they appear. Within a year, Google reviews doubled. The takeaway, according to the panel, is to avoid relying on a single repository; a shake‑up can knock the basket clean.
Audience Insight Beats Aesthetic Pride
Amanda Venditti of Premier Home Pros recounted a campaign of polished ads that looked great but failed to convert. When the company switched to raw, authentic images, click‑through rates rose. She also described an influencer partnership that mismatched product and audience—selling gutter guards to a design‑centric Instagram feed. “Brand awareness is nice,” she said, “but without conversions it means nothing.” The lesson was clear: let data steer creative choices, even if it hurts a designer’s sensibility.
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Keep Storytelling In‑House
When Hull Millwork appeared on a television series, the feature felt detached from the company’s core identity. The shift happened when the company began filming its own YouTube segments, discussing rafter tails and historic siding. Those videos attracted viewers who arrived already educated about the craft.
SEO as the Fuel for AI
Rita answered a common question: “Is SEO dead now that AI is here?” She said no, because AI models pull from search‑engine signals like domain authority and brand mentions. Amanda added that after a year of neglecting SEO, her team refocused on technical elements—site speed, meta tags—and on building expertise signals, known as EEAT. Both agreed that without a strong SEO foundation, AI‑driven tools will overlook a business.
Continuous practice sharpens skills.
Related: Remodeling growth to slow next year
Video as a Multi‑Purpose Asset
Rita captures every stage of a remodel, from countertop edges to crew setups. Those clips become ten separate pieces of content, each ready for text overlays or educational captions. Amanda mirrors the tactic, producing time‑lapse footage of bathroom installations that highlight process and speed. Hull Millwork takes a longer route, filming eight‑minute deep dives and then chopping them into fifteen‑second snippets for TikTok, polished reels for Instagram, and full lessons for YouTube. The consensus: shoot abundantly, edit for each channel, and let the footage serve as proof of capability.
AI Handles Repetitive Tasks, Humans Keep the Soul
The panel’s message was simple: automation eases drudgery, but the emotional connection stays human.
Start Small, Guard Partnerships
For newer firms, Venditti advises vetting external partners who share risk rather than paying for a static landing page. She stresses ongoing oversight of what those partners publish about the brand. Conlin adds that word of mouth—referrals, repeat jobs—remains a powerful driver. Rita concludes that early review collection builds a digital referral network, preventing a late‑stage scramble for credibility. In short, businesses control their own proof, process and perspective, regardless of algorithm changes.
