The Complete Guide to Renovation Marketing: Methods for More Enquiries [2026]

Drawing attention as a way to raise the value of homes and property and improve the quality of life in them: renovation」。

Because it costs less than building new while still delivering a space that feels like your own, it has broad support, from younger buyers to families and even investors.

And as the renovation market grows, competition between firms sharpens year on year.
Now that attractive project photos and design skill alone are not enough to stand apart, winning enquiries continuously and improving returns calls for a strategic approach to marketing.

Plenty of firms are unsure how much to invest and in what, which methods suit them, and how long results take.

This article covers what a renovation company needs to know before taking on marketing: the revenue structure, the measures that matter (CAC, LTV), and the specific online and offline activities available.
It also sets out strategies by company size and unpicks how marketing contributes to growth.
If you run a renovation business and are wrestling with how to design your marketing, this is directly practical, so do read to the end.

1. Defining refurbishment and renovation

The two words get used for similar things, so here is the difference.

What refurbishment is

Partially repairing or improving an existing building or living space to raise its function or design. It usually aims at replacing worn-out fittings, changing the interior or exterior, and making a place easier to live in, and it stays within what does not greatly alter the structure itself. Common examples are renewing a kitchen or bathroom, replacing wallpaper or flooring, and seismic reinforcement.

What renovation is

Carrying out large-scale work on an existing building to add new value or function. It goes beyond repairs and swapping fittings to changing the layout, reworking the design, and improving seismic and insulation performance, with the aim of upgrading the building as a whole. A typical case is stripping an old block of flats back to the shell and rebuilding it as a living space suited to how people live now.

Spending on “refurbishment and renovation” generally ranks as follows.

1. Wet areas
2. Interior
3. Exterior

Wet areas, meaning the kitchen, bathroom, toilet and so on, bear directly on daily convenience and hygiene, so they are a particularly high priority.
Interiors and exteriors also show their age plainly and shape both comfort and kerb appeal, which puts them high on the spending list too.
In the refurbishment market, what matters is proposals that answer this demand.

1.1 What wet areas are

Wet areas are the four fittings of kitchen, bathroom, toilet and washroom: the places where daily life uses a lot of water.

They are used often and take the brunt of damp and wear, so they generally need replacing or reworking after 15 to 20 years. Past the ten-year mark in particular, demand rises as things wear out and people rethink how they use the space.

Kitchens and bathrooms especially involve larger jobs and so higher prices, and water heaters come due for replacement at around ten years, which makes wet-area refurbishment a field with both high demand and good margins.

1.2 What the interior is

The interior is the finishing work that improves how a home’s inside space looks and functions, and it mainly covers these four.

• Replacing wallpaper
• Replacing flooring (timber, cushion flooring and so on)
• Adding partitions (to use the space better or for privacy)
• Adding storage (wardrobes, built-in shelving and so on)

Interior refurbishment changes how a home feels and works at relatively low cost, so demand for a refresh is strong and the work is done periodically as years in the home add up and life changes.

1.3 What the exterior is

The exterior is the structure and finishing materials on the outside of a building, and it bears heavily on a home’s durability, weatherproofing and appearance.
It mainly covers these five.

• Spot repairs (filling cracks, redoing caulking, replacing siding parts and so on)
• Painting the outer walls (to keep it watertight and looking good)
• Replacing siding (for wall material that has worn or come away)
• Re-roofing (replacing tiles, slate and so on)
• Painting the roof (to extend its life and improve insulation)

The exterior works as an “outer barrier” protecting the building from rain, wind and ultraviolet light, so as it degrades it affects the life of the whole house. In particular, once a building passes ten years the need for inspection and maintenance tends to rise, making this a field that calls for planned work

2. The revenue structure of a renovation company

Renovation covers a wider scope than refurbishment and often involves design, changes to fittings and structural reinforcement, so the value of a single order generally runs renovation > refurbishment.

In a kitchen renovation, for example,

①Buying the kitchen units
②Changing the flooring and wall materials
③Carrying out the plumbing work

a full job like that reaching close to ¥10 million is not unusual at all.

Against that revenue, the cost of sales consists of

• Fittings (the fitted kitchen and appliances)
• Related materials (flooring, wall materials, pipework and so on)
• Subcontracted labour (carpenters, fitters, interior trades and so on)

these elements, and on average it reaches about 70%.

▼Profit structure on a kitchen renovation (example)
Category: amount
Revenue: ¥10 million
Cost of sales: ¥7 million
Gross profit: ¥3 million

Most renovation companies subcontract the bulk of the work to outside builders, so treating gross profit as the real revenue is closer to the truth.

Wages, overheads and profit all have to come out of that ¥3 million, and the budget available for marketing works out at roughly 15 to 30% of gross profit, or ¥450,000 to ¥900,000, as a rough guide.

So even with ¥10 million of revenue per job, marketing spend wants to stay within 4.5 to 9% of the total. Go above that and the job stops paying.

With that revenue structure in mind, here are rough figures for an acceptable cost per acquisition (CPA) and for KPIs.

3. A flow map of marketing activities

Below is a flow map of the activities involved in renovation marketing and how they connect.

For a renovation company looking for a steady flow of leads, the two channels highlighted in orange, [property advertising platforms] and [referrals], are the ones particular to renovation.

The first is where people with a strong interest in homes and property go day to day, and placing your own renovation case studies and a route to an enquiry there wins high-quality prospects.
The second works because many trades meet the customer at the moment their living situation changes, when they buy a home, move, replace fittings or discuss a loan, and leads come through referrals and joint work.

3.1 Property advertising platforms

The information below is as at June 2025, when this was written.

Service	Operator	Website	How customers are passed on
SUUMO Reform	Recruit Co., Ltd.	https://suumo.jp/remodel/	In-person or online consultation (a housing adviser takes down requirements and introduces a shortlist of firms)
LIFULL HOME’S Sumai no Madoguchi	LIFULL Co., Ltd.	https://counter.homes.co.jp/	In-person or online consultation (an experienced housing adviser gives neutral help and introduces suitable contractors)
Home Pro	Home Pro Co., Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Recruit)	https://www.homepro.jp	Online matching (enter what you want done anonymously and receive quotes from up to eight firms to compare; everything stays anonymous up to the site survey)
Reshop Navi	ZIGExN Co., Ltd.	https://rehome-navi.com/	Online bulk quotes (a specialist concierge takes your requirements by phone and selects and introduces up to five reputable firms that fit)
Hapisumu	SMS Co., Ltd.	https://hapisumu.jp/	Online bulk quotes (a refurbishment concierge takes your requirements and introduces up to three firms that fit)
Town Life Reform	Town Life Co., Ltd.	https://www.town-life.jp/reform/	Online bulk quotes (fill in a web form and receive plans and quotes together from three to five firms able to take the job)
Reform Guide	Anabuki Digital Service Co., Ltd.	https://www.reform-guide.jp/	Introductions by a specialist concierge (you can enquire anonymously; the concierge picks out reputable firms to match what you want and introduces several)
Ienakama.com	Matching Japan Co., Ltd.	https://www.ienakama.com/	An online matching board (post the work you need anonymously and registered local firms send rough quotes and proposals on the site; you then deal with them directly and contract)

There is a wide range of renovation matching services, as above, and what matters is choosing the right one for your size and strategy.

◆Refurbishment firms operating nationally and able to take large orders For these, services with strong reach and plenty of projects are the right fit.
Home Pro and Reshop Navi, for instance, have many member firms and a large pool of prospects, and can be expected to bring in work steadily across a wide area.
There are plenty of competitors on them, though, so it tends to come down to price.

Services like SUUMO Reform and LIFULL HOME’S, by contrast, where the operator carries real credibility and a concierge checks what the user wants before making an introduction, let you focus on better-quality work with a relatively high close rate.

The larger the firm, the more capacity it has for a pay-on-close (success-fee) model, but a high commission rate such as Home Pro’s, at around 6%, squeezes profit, so if you want to protect your margin it is worth also using Reshop Navi, which charges no close fee, or platforms with a fixed fee.

◆Small and medium local refurbishment firms and specialists strong in a particular field For these, carefully screened customer introductions services that offer them are a good fit.
Reform Guide and Hapisumu, for instance, limit the number of firms they introduce and the concierge works through the detail with the user before matching, so there is relatively little wasted effort on competitive quotes, and you can concentrate on proposing the work.
These charge on close, but the expected close value per introduction is high, so even a smaller firm can sell efficiently.

Also, for firms working mainly on small jobs, a platform like Ienakama.com, which attracts a large number of minor repair requests, is a good place to build a track record and raise your review ratings.
Ienakama.com charges no close fee, so even low-budget jobs can turn a profit, which suits firms that want to pick up small local work steadily.

3.2 Referrals from stakeholders

Renovation work comes not only from online advertising and your own lead generation but, very often, from referrals by stakeholders in other industries.
The housebuilder who built the house, the electronics chain that sold the fittings, the firm that handled the move, and on to estate agents and banks — a great many players involved in a customer’s home or business space are in fact standing at the entrance to a renovation.

Even taking work as a subcontractor, the steady flow of referrals makes building alliances with these companies a significant growth opportunity.

Below is a summary of the main sources of referrals by category; use it as a starting point for finding partners that fit your strategy.

Referral source category	Example companies	Touchpoint (where they meet the customer)	How renovation work gets placed
Housebuilders	・Sekisui House ・Asahi Kasei Homes (Hebel Haus) ・Misawa Homes	・At scheduled inspections after a new home is handed over ・When a past customer asks about extending or rebuilding	Subcontracted to the group’s own refurbishment arm or to partner builders
Electronics and fittings retailers (refurbishment desks)	・Yamada Denki (Yamada Reform) ・Edion (Edion Reform) ・K’s Denki (K’s Reform)	・When buying wet-area fittings or appliances ・When using the refurbishment advice counter	Work above a certain size is subcontracted to partner contractors
Developers	・Mitsui Fudosan ・Sumitomo Realty & Development ・Mitsubishi Estate	・When selling new-build flats or second-hand homes ・When a tenant moves in	Refer a partner refurbishment firm alongside buy-and-resell deals or sales in shell condition
Fixtures and equipment manufacturers	・LIXIL ・TOTO ・Daikin Industries	・When upgrades to kitchens, bathrooms, toilets and the like are being considered ・When visiting a showroom	Refer a contractor they work with
Estate agents	・Mitsui no Rehouse (Mitsui Fudosan Realty) ・Sumitomo Real Estate Sales ・Tokyu Livable	・When buying a second-hand property, or renting or buying retail premises	Pitch a “property plus refurbishment” package with a partner refurbishment firm, then place the order with that partner
Financial institutions (mortgages)	・MUFG Bank ・Mizuho Bank ・Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation	・When applying for a second-hand home mortgage or a refurbishment loan	Refer partner contractors or one-stop renovation providers at the loan desk
Removal firms	・Art Moving Center ・Sakai Moving Service ・Nippon Express	・When moving house ・When arranging temporary accommodation	Refer a partner refurbishment firm
Furniture and interiors retailers	・Nitori ・IKEA ・Kokuyo (office furniture)	・When buying furniture ・When redecorating ・When seeking interiors advice	Refer a partner contractor
Architecture and design practices	・Blue Studio ・Eight Design ・Nomura Co.	・When seeking advice on creating a space	Refer a partner contractor
Property management companies	・Tokyu Community ・Nomura Real Estate Partners ・Daiwa LifeNext	・When residents or owners of a managed property ask about refurbishment (at routine maintenance, or when tackling vacancies)	Refer a partner contractor

4. The initial set-up for effective marketing

For your own marketing, setting aside property advertising platforms and stakeholder referrals, set up the following two things first.

① Choosing your target
② Setting your USP
③ Building your conversion points

Each is covered below.

4.1 ① Choosing your target

To settle on a target, set out age, income band, the current situation and problems, and the renovation points that matter, with a photo. Two samples are given here.

▼First: couples in their thirties with young children

Persona
Renovation for dual-income couples in their thirties with young children

Basic details
Name: Shota Tanaka
Age: 35
Occupation: works at an IT company (project manager)
Income: 7.5m yen
Location: Setagaya, Tokyo
Household: wife (33, works at an advertising agency), one child (2)

Current situation and problems
・Plans to buy a second-hand flat (20 years old, three bedrooms) but the layout and interior are dated, so renovation is on the table
・Both of them work, so juggling jobs and childcare is hard, and they want the flow through the home optimised
・Not enough storage, so things are spilling out
・Wants an environment that is safe for a child (furniture without sharp corners, non-slip flooring, wall materials that regulate humidity and control odours)
・Wants to keep the budget within 10m yen

The renovation points they want
・A layout that makes housework easier (better access from the kitchen to the laundry and storage)
・A living space where the child can play (a kids’ area and a work area side by side)
・More storage (built-in units and a walk-in wardrobe)
・Natural modern design (a warm interior based on wood grain and white)
・High-performance materials (wall materials that control odours and regulate humidity, scratch-resistant flooring)

What matters when choosing a renovation firm
・Whether they have a track record with families with young children
・Whether consultations and simulations can be done online (as both partners work)

Setting your USP
If this persona is your target,
✔”Renovation for families with young children: easier housework and more storage”
✔”Everything in one place: smooth renovation for busy dual-income households”
✔”Plenty of project examples, plus a free online consultation”
are the sort of USPs to set.

▼Second: couples in their fifties thinking about life after retirement

Persona
Renovation for couples in their fifties, taking in a cold climate, a second stage of life and care needs
※This persona wants the insulation and energy saving that a cold climate calls for, together with barrier-free design for older people and for care

Basic details
Name: Kazuo Sasaki
Age: 55
Occupation: branch manager at a regional bank (plans to take early retirement in a few years)
Income: 8.5m yen
Location: Asahikawa, Hokkaido (renovating the family home)
Household: wife (53, homemaker), mother (80, care level 1), two children (living in cities)

Current situation and problems
・Wants to renovate the 40-year-old timber-framed house inherited from his parents into somewhere comfortable to live after retirement
・Lives with his mother, who is at care level 1, and wants a home that will make caring for her easier in future
・Winters are severe and heating bills are high, so he wants better energy performance
・Wants barrier-free design that suits an older person (better flow to the toilet, bathroom and entrance)
・Worried about damp, condensation and mould, so he wants stronger ventilation
・Thinking about work to the grounds to cut the burden of clearing snow (road heating, a carport)

The renovation points they want
・Renovation for high insulation and airtightness (external and internal insulation, double windows, underfloor heating)
・Energy-saving heating (storage heating, panel heaters, a heat-pump water heater)
・A 24-hour ventilation system to prevent condensation and mould
・Barrier-free design (no level changes, handrails, wider corridors and doors for a wheelchair)
・A bedroom placed with care in mind (near the living room, large enough for a care bed)
・Space for each partner’s hobbies (a study, an island kitchen, somewhere to garden)
・Grounds that are safe in winter (a porch windbreak, road heating, a layout that makes clearing snow easy)

What matters when choosing a renovation firm
・Whether they have a strong track record with cold-climate renovation
・Whether they have expertise in barrier-free and care renovation
・Whether they can change the layout to ease the burden of care later on
・Whether after-care is thorough (dealing with faults peculiar to a cold climate)

Setting your USP
If this persona is your target,
✔ “Cold climate, barrier-free, ready for care: a home that is comfortable even in winter”
✔ “A warm home built for living with a parent and for the care to come”
✔ “No more worry about the cold, the bills or care: a renovation plan you can rely on”
are the sort of USPs to set.

Setting it out like this also gets everyone inside the business aligned on the target you want to win.

Next, set out your own strengths, your USP.

4.2 ② Choosing your USP

USP stands for unique selling proposition, the strength that is yours alone.

Of the list below, 1 to 3 are the main claims you can make.
4 to 6 are secondary points.

1. Design and concept
・Premium renovation overseen by a designer (for customers who want luxury)
・Specialising in minimal, stylish modern design
・Specialising in a style such as Japanese modern, old-house restoration or West Coast

2. Price and value
・Low-cost, high-quality renovation (value for money comes first)
・Fixed-price renovation plans (clear pricing, such as “here is what 10m yen buys you”)

3. A specific target
・Reassuring renovation for families with young children (safe materials, an optimised layout)
・Barrier-free renovation for older people (design that allows for care later)

4. Timescale and speed
・Finished in as little as ○ days: fast-turnaround renovation
・Flexible enough to renovate while you stay in the home

5. Eco and sustainability
・Insulation and energy-saving renovation
・Healthy renovation using natural materials and solid timber

6. After-care and guarantees
・Renovation you can rely on, with a 10-year guarantee
・Free routine inspections after the work
・Advice on customising once you have moved in

5. ③ Building your conversion points

The broad flow of an enquiry, as in the diagram above, is

document request → online meeting or showroom visit → site survey → quotation → contract → work

.
This section covers “ document request and online meeting or showroom visit“.

5.1 Document requests

The document should contain the following.

• Company profile
• Service overview (the scope of work you cover)
• Completed projects
• How the work proceeds

The change in behaviour you want from a prospect who receives it comes in three steps.

1. They have plenty of experience with the kind of kitchen I want done
2. They look like they will propose on function as well as design
3. I can picture this going well, so let me try an online meeting

One more thing: the document should be prepared both as a PDF and as a printed booklet。

5.2 Online meetings and showroom visits

In a meeting where you deal with the customer directly, ask about two things, ① their basic details and ② what they want, and be ready to show comparable projects.
The basic details and wishes to ask about are as follows.

▼Example questions

1. Basic details (used for target analysis and area marketing)
☐Name
☐Date of birth (thirties, forties, fifties and so on)
☐Gender
☐Address
☐Occupation and industry (employee, self-employed, healthcare and so on)
☐Household income

2. Household (used to set the target persona)
☐Number of people in the household
☐Who they live with (children / parents / on their own)
☐Whether they have pets (renovation needs for pets)

3. Information about the home (used to optimise the service you offer)
☐Current type of home (house / flat / rented / owned)
☐Age of the building
☐Why they want to renovate (select all that apply)
☐Fixtures are worn out
☐Wants more storage
☐Insulation and energy saving
☐Wants to change the layout
☐Refurbishment as the children grow
☐Making it barrier-free for older people
☐Refurbishment for care
☐Wants a fresh design
☐Other (free text)

4. The renovation plan (used to analyse needs and sharpen what you propose)
☐What they are considering (select all that apply)
☐Kitchen
☐Bathroom and toilet
☐Living and dining room
☐Storage
☐Insulation and cold-climate measures
☐Barrier-free work
☐Exterior and grounds (carport, garden, entrance)
☐Whole-home renovation (back to the shell)
☐Other (free text)
☐When they are thinking of doing it (within a year / within three years / five or more years away)
☐Budget (under 5m yen / 5-10m yen / 10-15m yen / 15m yen and over)
☐How they will fund it (own funds / refurbishment loan / remortgaging / grants)
☐Whether they intend to use grants or subsidies (yes / no / not sure)

5. What matters when choosing a contractor (used to sharpen your competitiveness and your promotion)
☐What they weigh most when choosing a renovation firm (select all that apply)
☐Price
☐Strength of design proposals
☐Breadth of completed projects and examples
☐Reviews and reputation
☐Speed of the work
☐Guarantees and after-care
☐Knowledge of grants
☐Being a local firm
☐Other (free text)
☐Have they compared other renovation firms before? (yes / no)

6. Where they look for information, and marketing use (used to optimise your advertising)
☐Where they found information while considering renovation (select all that apply)
☐Internet search
☐Social media (Instagram / Facebook / YouTube and the like)
☐Leaflets and door drops
☐Television, newspapers and magazines
☐A referral from a friend or family member
☐Word from a firm they used for earlier refurbishment work
☐Other (free text)
☐Have they seen renovation examples on social media? (yes / no)
☐How they would like to hear from you (email / LINE / post / a visit / not at all)
☐Would they like to receive renovation information in future? (yes / no)

7. Other (free text)
☐Please write any specific concerns or wishes about the renovation.
☐A preferred date and time, if they want to see project examples or talk it through.
☐Any other questions or requests.

You collect all this so that it can feed your marketing, as below.

▼Examples of marketing use

• Needs by area and age group → optimise targeting in advertising and social
• The parts of the home they care most about → strengthen the products and services that matter
• Budget and funding plans → strengthen the case you make about grants
• How they compare you with competitors → make your own strengths clear
• Where they look for information → feed an effective advertising and promotion strategy

6. Online methods for winning new customers

These are the places in digital marketing where you can concentrate your effort.

①HP
②SEO
③MEO
④SNS
⑤Google Ads (search advertising, display advertising, P-MAX)
⑥Social advertising

Each is covered below.

6.1 ①HP

Your website is unlikely to be the first point of contact. More often, customers who have come across you on another channel, such as social media or advertising, visit the site looking for more detail.
So what the website is asked to do is “ convey that you can be trusted.
To show that you can be trusted as a renovation firm, two things broadly need attention.

1. The home page (main visual / project examples / forms / social links)
2. The project example pages (the listing page and the individual example pages)

1. The home page
There are four things to get right on the home page.

• Making the design case through the main visual
• The route to project examples, and how easily they can be searched
• The route to the forms (document request / free consultation / enquiry)
• Links to social media (Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube) ※placed at the foot of the page

[1] The main visual
For the main visual, go with a design that creates a sense of luxury, as in the image above, so the brand image lands strongly at first glance.

[2] The route to project examples, and how easily they can be searched
It also pays to think about the route to the project example pages and how easily those examples can be searched.
Visitors have a strong need to “find project examples close to what I want, by layout, cost and so on”, so give the project example pages a clear route in and let people get at them along several different axes.
As in the image above, offer several entry points to suit what the user is after: “project examples”, “browse by example”, “browse by part of the home”.

[3] Forms (document request / free consultation / enquiry)
Give the form three options: ① document request, ② a consultation, ③ an enquiry.
Letting visitors choose lowers the psychological barrier and can be expected to lift the conversion rate.
As well as the form, other ways to get in touch, such as email, phone and LINE, are worth adding, so there is more than one way in

【4】Links to social media
Links to social media matter too. With renovation, a visual case made through photos and video works well, so if you run accounts, put the icons on the page.

2. The project example pages
Prepare two kinds of project example page: a listing page and individual example pages.

[1] The listing page
Add a search function to the listing page.

The search axes would be something like“layout”, “cost”, “part of the home (kitchen, bathroom and so on)”, “building type” “”, though visitors have their own search needs, such as “age of the building” or “area”, so meet as many of them as you can.
Put plenty of tags on each individual project example so there are many axes to search along.

[2] The individual example pages
The recommended make-up of an example page is as follows.

• Photos
• Property data
• The details that were laboured over

Photos
Given the nature of renovation, photos communicate best.
When choosing photos, as below,“good image quality”is the starting point.

And, as below, photos with people in them and photos with a sense of depth convey a sense of life being lived, and let people picture a richer lifestyle.

Property data
Include property data along these lines.

Location: Shinagawa, Tokyo
Household: a couple with children
Age of the building: 14 years
Area refurbished: 95m2
Duration: 3 months
Cost: 40m yen

One point to watch: it is not unusual for a customer to be unwilling to have the figures shown.
Only ask for permission to publish from customers you have a good relationship with。

The details that were laboured over
Annotating a published photo with just the details that were laboured over gives other people a useful sense of what others chose to care about.
https://pixta.jp/photo/66748787

Alongside the home page and the project example pages covered so far, the website should

・A page about the show home
・A column page ※for SEO
・A page of customer voices

also carry these three pages.

6.2 ②SEO

When a renovation firm strengthens SEO as a way of drawing customers online, the strategy breaks broadly into two parts.

The first is keyword setting: which search terms to go after.
The second is content design: how an article is structured and what it says, so that it ranks for those terms.

1. Keyword setting
It works best to aim mainly at compound terms with a clear search need, like these.

“area name × renovation × the part being worked on (kitchen / toilet / plumbing)”
(For example) “Setagaya renovation kitchen” / “Fukuoka renovation toilet”

And because Terms that go straight to the worries people have while deciding, such as “refurbishment gift tax” or “refurbishment temporary accommodation”, matter too。
Beyond that, also plan concrete terms tied to the age of the building, the type of home, the household and life events。

2. Content design
The points are as follows.

Length
As a rule of thumb, 8,000 characters or more is recommended
(a solid amount of information is expected)

Photography
Project photos, the work in progress and so on
(the visual side carries weight, so shooting and preparing material is crucial)

Solving the reader’s problem
Risks in the work, what it costs, common things that go wrong and near misses
(design the article so that reading it clears up questions and worries)

A call to action
Always place a route to action, such as “enquire” or “book a consultation”, at the foot of the page and within the article

A reviewer page
To build trust, state the profile of the person who reviewed the piece, such as the site manager or an architect

Related article:
[SEO basics] Its effects, advantages and disadvantages explained

6.3 ③MEO

MEO (map engine optimisation) means the work of optimising your shop or office so that it is easier to find on Google Maps.
It is known as working on Google Maps, and for a renovation firm it is a very effective way of reaching local users.

■ What MEO mainly gives you

① Directions and help getting there
Google Maps shows the best route automatically, by car, on foot, by bike or on public transport, along with a rough journey time.
Arriving without getting lost, for a renovation meeting or a show home visit, helps lift the rate at which people turn up.

② Basic details at a glance
Opening hours, closing days, phone number and address can all be checked at a glance, which makes a phone booking or a consultation easy to reach.

③ Reviews and ratings
Customer voices, photos and star ratings are shown, which builds trust and reassurance directly. Plenty of users enquire after looking at the reputation of the work itself and of the service.

6.4 ④SNS

Customers routinely look for the life and the design they aspire to on Instagram and Pinterest, and watch the work itself and before-and-after examples on YouTube.
In other words, from the moment they start thinking about renovation, they are already gathering information on social media.

YouTube

Unlike Pinterest and Instagram, YouTube is “where users who are deciding dig into the detail at length”by nature, which makes it very effective for a renovation firm in winning trust and pushing people through the decision stage.
※YouTube is the channel that gives the final nudge just before an enquiry

Using YouTube videos to warm up leads won through social media and SEO works well.

Below are the points a renovation firm should keep in mind when running a YouTube channel, drawn together with how Renoveru, a strong example, uses it.

▼Three points a renovation firm should keep in mind on YouTube

① Structure videos to settle the viewer’s worries
Users who are deciding carry worries: “how much does it cost?”, “is changing the layout all right?”, “what should I look at so this does not go wrong?”
So mixing in Q&A formats and explanations from a professional, not just room tours and project examples, closes the psychological distance with the viewer.

② Write titles and thumbnails in words that sit close to people’s worries and aspirations
“Renovating a 30-year-old flat into a cafe-like space”, or “Renovation successes and failures, both on show”, for instance: titles and thumbnails that are easy to search for and easy to relate to are the key.
A structure that conveys real change and a professional’s eye earns more than showy production.

③ Turn videos into series and tidy up your playlists to keep people moving through
Rather than one-off videos, build series by theme (“renovating 50m2”, “plumbing in depth”, “the customer voices series”) and organise them into playlists: people stay longer and are more likely to become fans.

A useful account to look at is Renoveru’s YouTube channel, which makes excellent content built around room tours.
Renoveru: Renoveru – YouTube

Instagram

On Instagram, build the feed around “after” photos of completed projects.

In the caption, adding a professional’s commentary earns trust: the details laboured over, why a material was chosen, how the owner’s problem was solved, rather than a plain description of the photo. A tone that feels expert without being hard going works well.

For hashtags, think “#renovationexamples”, “#flatrenovation”, “#livingwithsolidtimber” and the like, combining the part of the home (kitchen, washroom) with the material (tile, solid timber) and the style (Nordic, industrial) so that you are easier to find as people browse from search to search.

Give product codes and sizes where you can. Users want concrete answers: “whose light is that?”, “how big is that piece of furniture?” It feeds straight into product choice and into the route you build for them.

Tag accurately, including the pin’s category and the link URL. Get it wrong and the post will not surface in search, and good work gets buried.

Using video as well as stills, a short room tour or an explanation of the work, lifts both the save rate and time spent. Texture and the openness of a space come across better on video, so use both.

Two accounts in particular are worth looking at.

DAIKO Electric: DAIKO | Daiko Electric Co., Ltd. | lighting manufacturer (official)
Each light is shown in use and product codes are given carefully, so it is easy to search.

Sekisui House: Sekisui House, Ltd.
Strong at proposing a whole space, and the way it is grouped by style is instructive.

Pinterest

On Pinterest, laying out information so that users can save it and use it again matters a great deal.

① Keep signs of daily life out as far as possible, and hold one consistent look
Pinterest users are looking for the life they aspire to and the ideal space so avoid photos with signs of daily life in them, such as laundry or household items.
Keep the lighting, the angle and the colour consistent, and aim for the kind of beauty, as in a magazine or catalogue, that makes people want to save it.

② Put searchable keywords in the title and description
Pinterest also works strongly as a search engine, so put the words users are likely to search for, such as “Nordic living room” or “entrance tile grey”, alongside the visual. Posts become easier to find and the save rate rises.

③ Make the detail easy to reach on the page you link to
On Pinterest the natural flow is interest first, then off to the web, so the page a pin links to should be laid out so that the material, the product code and what was done are clear at once That matters. A sloppy detail page, or one with little information, leads to drop-off.

6.5 ⑤Google Ads (search advertising)

Search advertising, Google Ads and the like, reaches users who are considering renovation directly, but for a small or medium-sized firm with a limited budget, choosing the ground you fight on matters enormously.

Big terms such as “renovation” and “refurbishment” in particular are bid up heavily by the large property advertising platforms, so the cost per click has soared and the value is hard to make work That is the reality.

So rather than casually running ads on broad terms, the basic approach is to narrow down to niche terms built on area and need.

▼Recommended example terms
“Setagaya two-bedroom renovation”
“second-hand flat full renovation Osaka”
“single-storey house refurbishment Kumamoto”
Concrete search terms made up of a place name, a property type and a need work well.

Even those can be bid up, and the one thing you must hold is your branded terms

Running ads to users who search your company or service name (“○○ Renovation”, “△△ Co., Ltd.”) is among the most efficient advertising there is: the cost per click is low and the conversion rate is high.

Competitors sometimes run ads against your name, so advertising on branded terms is also effective as a way of protecting the brand.

Related article:
What is search advertising? Costs and how to manage it, explained
How much does search advertising cost? Four ways to decide your budget and how to keep costs down
A manual for improving search advertising management (the basics)
Five Google search advertising success stories [our own work]

6.6 ⑥Google Ads (display advertising and P-MAX)

Display advertising and P-MAX, Google’s automated campaign type, are strong because the case they make is visual, but there are things to watch in running them.

To begin with, if your budget is small or medium-sized, or the business is focused on one area, there is no need to force them in. They assume a certain volume of advertising and a widening of the target, so unless you are pursuing a large-scale strategy for drawing customers, the reality is that they are not a priority.

That said, if you have creative, a banner or a video, that has performed in Meta advertising on Instagram or Facebook, carrying it across into Google’s P-MAX and display advertising and Yahoo! Display Ads (YDA) is effective

Visuals convey the feel of a space and the appeal of the finished work in a way search advertising cannot, so they sit well with renovation, a trade that makes its case through imagery.

Related article:
What is display advertising? How it differs from search advertising, and how to maximise its effect, explained
Google Ads P-MAX: placements, asset specifications and tips for running it

6.7 ⑦ Social advertising

Within social advertising, the channel that performs best in the renovation industry is Meta ads (Instagram and Facebook).
At NowVillage we also trialled Pinterest ads, but while they delivered reach, they rarely led to conversions such as meetings or enquiries, so we rate them as low priority in our judgement.

With Meta ads, the key is visual claims that lean on taste — the kind of image a user wants to save. As below, it is important to separate your banner types clearly and run several patterns as a test.

▼Banner ideas (three patterns)
On Meta ads, running the three case-based banner patterns ①–③ below in rotation lets you maximise both click rate and enquiry volume.

① [Case banner with a price (single project)] ※ the most effective
→ A banner with a strong claim where cost, building age and property type are clear at a glance, such as “A full renovation of a 30-year-old flat for ¥12.8m”.
In live campaigns this format has the highest click rate and enquiry rate, and converts most readily.
It is easy for a user to picture “maybe I could do the same for about that much”, which leads to action.

② [Before → after banner]
→ A format that shows directly how a space changed. It has particular impact on full renovations and other projects where the change is dramatic.

③ [Service claim banner]
→ A format that pairs an area claim with a concise statement of what your service does well, such as “For detached-house renovation in Yokohama, choose ○○”. It works for brand search and awareness.
Stating the numbers (price) and the conditions (building age, property type) in this way is a major factor in lifting response rates.

Related article:
Facebook ad targeting types and the settings that deliver results
A manual for improving Facebook ad performance (the basics)

7. Offline methods for winning new customers

Even now that online activity dominates, offline methods of winning new customers still work well in the renovation industry.

For locally rooted firms in particular, leaflet drops, follow-up calls, consultation events, referrals and free-paper listings are important touchpoints that build trust and raise contact frequency.
Here we look at how to use these analogue activities in practice, and what makes them work.

7.1 Leaflets

In the renovation industry, leaflets remain one of the effective ways to attract customers. In regional areas especially, door-to-door leaflet distribution is still the norm, and its strength is that you can target an area or a demographic more tightly than with newspaper inserts.

They also reach people who never see web or social advertising — older homeowning households and couples, for instance — and for them, a leaflet can be the only point of contact which is far from unusual.

What matters is designing in a QR code so that traffic moves to a web page or LINE and the effect becomes visible. Precisely because it is print, designing the route to the next action is what drives results.
That said, distribution efficiency falls in central city areas so a pinpoint strategy is needed, such as dropping only into high-rise blocks or narrowing the area. Running print activity to suit the character of the area matters just as much.

7.2 Telephone

In the renovation industry, the telephone is an effective way to build relationships — for new enquiries, document requests and follow-up with existing customers. A call immediately after a document request is a particularly important touchpoint, since it builds trust and clears up open questions.

That said, A heavy-handed stance such as “we will not send the document unless you take a call” can damage the impression you make, so it is better avoided. Respect the other person’s pace and take care to pick up on their interests.

And because Cold calling as outbound sales is not common practice in the renovation industry. The telephone works best positioned as a supplementary way to deepen a relationship with someone who has already responded.

7.3 Exhibitions

In the custom-build housing industry, housing exhibition parks are a well-established channel for attracting customers, but in the renovation industry there is no permanent equivalent such as a joint exhibition park. Most trade shows and fairs are also industry events for housing companies (EXPO format), and joint events where many renovation firms exhibit to consumers are extremely rare.

Putting high expectations on exhibitions as a channel is therefore unrealistic.

On the other hand, opening and running a showroom is the one effective way to show your own projects and the quality of your proposals. A space where visitors can experience materials and layouts for themselves pushes their consideration up a stage.

For a renovation firm, the phase calls less for “an exhibition as a blanket claim to an undefined crowd” and more for designing a place to show the work in-house you might say.

7.4 Consultation events

A renovation consultation event is a seemingly casual event format offering a sales conversation, provided by the likes of SUUMO and Renoverisu.

In practice the soft word “consultation” sets up the entry point, while on the day specific renovation needs are drawn out and the conversation moves towards a sale.

The Renoverisu consultation page is a good example: it offers a free consultation with a specialist as the entry point, lowering the psychological barrier for the user.

If you run events like this regularly yourself, it is important to set up inbound channels such as these.

• Traffic from your own channels: your website, Instagram, LINE and so on
• Listings on paid media such as SUUMO, LIFULL and Renoverisu

Taking the form of a consultation event lets you approach people who would rather not be sold to straight away, making it possible to attract customers without the feel of a pitch.

Even with few attendees, a high share of them are strong prospects, so this is a channel worth watching for its high conversion rate.

7.5 Referrals

Referrals from people your customers know are one of the highest-quality ways to attract customers in the renovation industry, spreading out from the trust an existing customer already has in you.

Friends and acquaintances of the referring customer often share a similar lifestyle, income bracket and family make-up, so they are likely to be prospects who fit you well.

The key to encouraging referrals therefore lies in careful aftercare for existing customers.

For example, questions such as Sending a gift at the customer’s birthday or the one-year inspection after completion, with a small booklet carrying a referral offer enclosed, lets you prompt a referral naturally

Rather than simply announcing a referral campaign, attaching it to a gift that carries a thank-you turns referring into something the customer wants to do of their own accord.

7.6 Free papers

If your business is deeply rooted in a particular area, using free papers — locally focused publications — is another option worth considering.

In cold regions such as Hokkaido, or resort areas such as Nasu Kogen and Karuizawa, where the climate and construction conditions are specific to the place, showing the know-how and the projects particular to that ground makes a strong case for your trustworthiness and expertise.

For example, You can leave the impression of a company that understands the issues specific to the area, with claims such as “insulation specified to resist condensation even in winter” or “what to watch for with water and electrical work on holiday-home sites” is possible.

Niche information of this kind, which is hard to convey through national media, reaches the target more easily and earns more empathy in a locally rooted free paper.

8. Methods you can use for nurturing

Even when offline activity such as leaflet drops and consultation events puts you in front of a new customer, it rarely leads straight to a contract on the day.
In practice, because renovation is an expensive purchase that takes a long time to consider, customers typically gather information and compare options over several weeks to several months before deciding.

That is exactly why you need a mechanism for nurturing — following up continuously with a customer you have made contact with once, and helping their thinking along. Here we explain what to do in practice to make nurturing work.

8.1 MA and CRM tools

For nurturing in the renovation industry, using MA (marketing automation) and CRM (customer management) tools to deliver “information optimised for the individual” works well.

When you send messages to customers over LINE or an email newsletter, the basic approach is to split your list by these four attributes

• Area (for example Shibuya or Yokohama)
• Price band (for example around ¥10m, or over ¥20m)
• Preferred taste (for example hotel-like, or Nordic vintage)
• Property type (detached house or flat)

The more finely you split the list, however, the more case content you need to match each segment.

That is, Splitting the list alone achieves nothing; whether you actually hold case studies that fit each set of conditions is the key to nurturing well

For this reason, building up and organising your case studies across several channels — your website, Instagram, YouTube — is what maximises the effect of MA

For a small firm with limited resources, on the other hand, there is no need to force automation: a manual one-to-one newsletter or LINE message is perfectly sufficient.

The higher the price band, the more careful the follow-up each individual expects so messages that make someone feel “they remembered me” land hardest.

◆CRMs built for the property industry
If a renovation company also handles property brokerage or resale homes, bringing in a CRM built for the property industry works well. Property records, enquiry handling and customer information become easier to manage in one place, and sales work gets far more efficient.
Below are the main CRM tools commonly used in the property industry.

Canary Cloud
Features: strong support for lettings and sales teams, with portal integration, LINE support and a full set of follow-up features. It works well on a smartphone, which suits work out on site.

ielove-cloud
Features: an all-in-one set of industry-specific features including enquiry management, property proposals, automated follow-up and LINE integration. It suits firms that care most about automating follow-up and responding to enquiries faster.

◆Not built for the property industry, but maximises results when combined with an MA tool
HubSpot is the CRM attracting attention as one that is not built for the property industry but delivers strong results through integration with marketing automation (MA).

HubSpot
Features: HubSpot was originally designed as a CRM for B2B marketing, but there are now many examples of its use in the property industry, covering form enquiries, LINE integration, drip email and sales status management in one place.

What matters most is making first contact within three hours of an enquiry. That is an important measure in another sense too: linking MA and CRM through HubSpot lets you automate the flow of “enquiry arrives → alert fires → sales rep responds immediately” and so maximise response rates.

For a company that wants to balance speed, information in one place and automation, HubSpot is a strong option. There is also a free plan for small firms, so you can start by running just part of your enquiry handling on it.

8.2 LINE

In the renovation industry, using LINE less as a broadcast channel and more as a way to contact customers individually is most effective.

With refurbishment and renovation, each person’s conditions and wishes differ widely — the size of the home, its age, their preferred taste, their family make-up — so broadcast messages tend not to land.

So even when you run a LINE official account, you will see better results by sticking to individual replies rather than forcing generic campaigns and case studies out to everyone.

Follow-up after a document request or a show-home visit, scheduling, answering a quick question — LINE is best used as a way to make contact that is faster and friendlier than email.

8.3 Email newsletters

The email newsletter is an effective way to share information in the renovation industry too, but as with LINE, results come from running it as individual replies matched to the customer’s interest rather than as a broadcast。

Because conditions and needs differ widely from one renovation customer to the next, the effective approach is not to send everyone the same thing but to deliver the case studies and articles that suit them, based on enquiry history, preferred area, budget and design taste.
For example, questions such as Someone considering a detached-house renovation in Tokyo gets similar projects plus a sense of the cost. Someone who requested a document on “resale flat × Nordic style” gets a close example Delivering personalised content in this way builds trust.

9. Marketing methods by company size

In the renovation industry, the marketing methods you should use change considerably with the size of the company — headcount and the resources available in particular. Rather than adopting the newest tool for its own sake, the fastest route to results is choosing activity that fits the phase you are in.

Headcount	Main phase	Recommended marketing methods
Up to 5	Starting up, organising your projects	・Build a website that publishes your case studies ・Concentrate on referrals and existing customers ・No need for advertising or social media
5 to 50	Stronger customer acquisition, brand building	・Run Instagram and Facebook (including Meta ads) ・Take your case studies to social ・Use web advertising selectively
50 or more	Nurturing, efficiency and expansion phase	・Room tours and project explainers on YouTube ・Nurturing with an MA tool ・Advanced CRM use

10. In closing

In the renovation industry, marketing is not merely a way to attract customers but the capability to build a mechanism that conveys your value accurately and gets you chosen by your ideal customers

Strategic work that combines web, social and offline leads not only to more enquiries but to better average order values and win rates, and ultimately to higher revenue.

If any of the concerns below apply to you, now is the time to strengthen your marketing.

・“I want to get off SUUMO, but I haven’t the nerve to stop”
・“I want to be able to attract customers myself”

With one renovation company we supported, three years of hands-on work cut its dependence on SUUMO by more than half.

From waiting for customers to publishing your own work and being the one who gets chosen.

Let’s use marketing to build a renovation company that can grow sustainably.