Repaired and Expanded Brand Awareness While Building Omni-Channel Marketing
Outsourced CMO Leverages Specialized Mold Inspection Company Expertise to Secure Industry Position and Grow Business Opportunities
Outsourced CMO Leverages Specialized Mold Inspection Company Expertise to Secure Industry Position and Grow Business Opportunities
Michael Bains
President
Mold Inspection Sciences and Mold Inspection Sciences Texas
The implementation of our creative marketing communications and consulting services didn’t just drive brand performance but secured Mold Inspection Sciences as the leading choice for mold and indoor air quality solutions, boosting revenue, securing multiple guest appearances with the Dr. Phil show, the opportunity to launch a live streaming podcast and more.
Mold Inspection Sciences (MIS) was founded in 2002 by President Michael Bains with one simple goal in mind: to provide affordable, professional, and high-quality mold inspection and testing services to all clients suffering from the nuisance of mold. Since founded, MIS has successfully performed proven science-based testing and solved thousands of investigations providing safer and healthier conditions for a wide variety of clients to thrive in.
Mold Inspection Sciences, and sister company Mold Inspection Sciences Texas, are powerhouses in their industry with a unique company culture that invests in their employees and flourishes on proven high-quality workmanship that sets a standard.
Still, MIS needed help honing their presence and securing their position in the market to establish them as the clear choice. These two companies had different identities, services, processes, and systems, yet used the same business model. The issue here was they weren’t leveraging the best aspects of each other or collaborating for maximum impact. They needed to work as one to devise best practices for scaling together.
After fixing the Texas branding for cohesiveness, I harnessed MIS’s strong technical and scientific expertise to fix elements across all touchpoints, implementing one overarching strategy for both companies – the ultimate cost-effective solution. I then leveraged their brand and industry leadership for visibility, attracting more audience, new services, product launches, and increased business opportunities.
The MIS team was missing sales opportunities due to a lack of empathy and overall customer experience when managing leads. We needed to button things up and get the crew on board with putting the customer at the center of our strategy while using data as the focal point of our customer operations to drive a better experience.
Not only did I train the team throughout the customer’s journey, but I helped hire new employees, and worked to design a new hiring system for MIS as an additional strategy and marketing tool. This approach helped drive lead-to-client conversions.
Once Q2Mark began working with the team, it was abundantly clear that everything we think we know as consumers about mold and indoor air quality is mostly a myth or misconception. It was a no-brainer to build an engine for engagement by delivering a strategic and targeted message at every turn. Our vehicles of choice included a blog, e-mail marketing, social media, lead magnets, a podcast show, public relations, news, videos, and paid traffic.
Right as Q2Mark was coming on board, Mold Inspection Sciences Texas was coming off of an expert appearance on the Dr. Phil Show, and they hadn’t fully leveraged the opportunity post taping. I proposed several ideas that included repurposing the episode as a new blog post for MIS and MISTX, email marketing communications, as well as a social media campaign.
But the public relations efforts didn’t stop there. I curated press releases surrounding timely company news, and highlighted the business’s successes, such as: partnering with a global infrared thermal camera manufacturer for greater services, being recognized by Angie’s List for their consistently high levels of customer service, and hiring additional staff members.
Generally, consumers hesitate when it comes to fixing a mold problem because of two things: First, cost; second, they don’t fully understand the right way to solve the problem. As mentioned before, it was clear the team had strong technical and scientific expertise, yet it wasn’t at the consumer’s fingertips. There was a huge unrecognized opportunity to educate people on how to get started and solve their mold issues the smart way.
Q2Mark’s tactic here was to create tools that highlighted informational content on how to find sources of mold, moisture, and indoor air quality issues that clients and potential clients could look to. Mold Inspection Sciences loved this idea, and after developing these pieces, they were used across different mediums to help drive leads back to MIS to schedule an inspection.
With an enormous opportunity to educate their audience, I pitched the idea of developing an attractive character for their brand, using that character as the face, voice, and leader in photos and videos, and in a podcast as well. The team loved the idea, and we started vetting our attractive character, who happened to be one of their field consultants. I provided training, tools, and tactics helping field consultant Craig Cooper transform into the face of Mold Inspection Sciences and host of The Secret Life of Mold podcast.
As PR outreach and presence began to make an impact, the Dr. Phil Show reached out to Mold Inspection Sciences again, this time to help investigate and solve a severe issue that was impacting one of his guests.
The team and I had received a call on a Thursday with an opportunity to be on the show two days later. This was a $365,000 free media opportunity hitting a daytime audience of 5.2 million TV viewers plus online and social media reach. On the day of taping, field consultant Ben arrived at the guest’s home during a severe rainstorm with equipment and marketing plans in hand.
This was a completely new experience for our inspector, so I stepped in to help prepare and led the public relations efforts. I met with the producers to discuss the taping of the episode and then prepped our inspector and team on the next steps. I also offered the Dr. Phil team full marketing and communications support, providing graphics, talking points, and shot lists. We obtained photography of our inspector for pre-promotional use, and I also requested footage from the taping with the rights for promotional opportunities post-airing, which is surprisingly often missed by guest experts.
The appearance also included an interview with inspector Ben, via Skype, to discuss findings and lab reports. This was yet another new experience for MIS, so I trained him on hair and make-up, what to wear, speaking techniques, and rehearsal strategies. In addition, we scripted the discussion for Dr. Phil and his team.
Further demonstrating our commitment to this opportunity, Dr. Phil and his team invited me to attend the show. From the moment I stepped in the studio, I was able to see firsthand just how much the Dr. Phil team cares about their guests. They made sure the woman impacted by mold had the resources needed to recover and return to a healthy state once again.
After the taping, it was time to work on preparing for the launch. The photos and shots that were captured during the taping process were used to announce the upcoming show date, and I worked to develop a 30-second commercial to be distributed on CBS during the April 1st airing of the show.
I pitched the concepts, wrote the script, hired voiceover talent, edited the commercial, managed the media buy, and the submission of the creative.
April 1st was an exciting day for everyone involved, and the marketing tactics from this appearance didn’t stop there. Post-show promotions, blog publications, social media, email marketing, and training for the customer service team were all launched. Ultimately, I leveraged the Dr. Phil Show expert appearance as a tactic to help further position MIS and MISTX, proving that these fully integrated efforts yield more significant results time and time again.
The state of Texas has had strong regulations in place for the mold industry since 2004, but when the discussion started about deregulation, Mold Inspection Sciences Texas immediately got involved. Within a day, we were helping them fight this. I jumped in, providing recommendations on what to do and help train the MISTX team on how to prepare for House and Senate hearings that were set to be taking place in a couple of days. A lobbyist told MISTX the four bills being presented couldn’t be stopped; however, this wasn’t true. Our tactics proved to put enough data and information in front of the committees to halt the administration. This was just the first step of many to come.
I also helped guide the formulation of a new industry organization, now known as Texas Mold Assessors and Remediators Association (TMARA). This association focuses on building and supporting the mold industry in Texas through connection, collaboration, legislation, and action among industry professionals. Q2Mark developed this brand as well as its current branding tools. I’ve also consulted with the organization on structuring their membership, driving donations, support, public relations, and marketing tactics – for their professional community, to educate consumers, provide the facts to the media, and secure support from legislative interests.
In addition to vetting and honing the new voice of Mold Inspection Sciences through an attractive character, I also worked to direct and develop both video and photoshoots. This included all of the team members to help clients and potential customers get a sense of who Mold Inspection Sciences is as a company.
With today’s consumers always connected and regularly consuming information through a variety of mediums, it was a no-brainer to propose a podcast for Mold Inspection Sciences. Now that they had a recognizable voice, it was time to share their stories and case studies in a way that really captured the attention of their audience. As a consumer myself, when it comes to the topic of mold and indoor air quality, I’m always learning something new when producing these episodes. There truly is a secret life when it comes to mold, and this type of personal, mobile media drives engagement for a topic that people typically would deal with only when they absolutely had to.
While B2C was our priority when developing and executing strategy for this client, there was also a commercial program they had, but they weren’t leveraging it to build affiliate and B2B opportunities. I proposed introducing a Premier Service Provider program to develop and execute a full-funnel specific to their commercial audiences.
This included fixing and updating the existing brochure, outreach via phone and email communications, an email series, a new landing page, PowerPoint presentations for meetings with potential partners, The Secret Life of Mold Podcast guest appearances, social connections, obtaining and providing blogs, email, and social media content to share mutually via each other’s communications outlets. I also helped define standards for this program and recommendations on how to qualify a potential partner and monitor their success.
It’s also important to note that networking and event sponsorships can be large investments of time and budgets. To maximize opportunities and ROI, I vetted potential membership programs and requested more benefits. I developed processes for the sales team to provide content (new or repurposed existing material) to the organizations they were involved with. Along with other marketing tactics, I also pitched speaking engagements.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and stay-at-home orders were disseminated, the business immediately changed, transforming the way products, services, and operations were delivered. Mold Inspection Sciences had a unique opportunity because people might not realize that their home environment could already be impacting their health, making them even more susceptible to the virus.
In addition, MIS wanted to talk to more people while being more economical about their advertising. I recommended shifting their sales strategies to leverage free platforms like Facebook Live and live streaming on YouTube with pre- and post-show marketing tactics for greater reach, exposure, and results.
The client jumped in, and within two days, we had a planning meeting, developed and launched pre-show promos, and went live.
Internally, we harnessed their team, providing instructions and training on how to help get the word out and raise more awareness about the live event.
Paul Sterling
Chief Technical Officer
Mold Inspection Sciences and Mold Inspection Sciences Texas
Q2Mark has a proven track record with a highly efficient team of experts. We are here on the virtual ground – as we have been for 16 years – working with businesses and clients across the U.S. to protect their opportunities even with today’s challenging times.
In working with Mold Inspection Sciences, I brought creative marketing communications and consulting services that have driven their brand and performance, cementing them as the choice for mold and indoor air quality solutions.
With our collective efforts, MIS has had multiple record-breaking months of achieving new revenue heights, and overall annual revenue results.
Ultimately, the investments MIS is making are only preparing them to scale even further.
Mold Inspection Sciences greets its customers with a realigned team moving under one approach. A new internal infrastructure that focuses on fine-tuning all points of contact including hiring, interviewing, and streamlining employee development. We also helped launch a testimonial system to further build trust and social proof among clients.
With the shift in business and sales strategy during the COVID-19 crisis, Q2Mark was able to help Mold Inspection Sciences remain visible and vocal, and address consumer concerns about optimal health and wellness. At the same time, we are helping MIS have a discussion about how a home-services business can still operate with a no-touch and paperless platform.
Mold Inspection Sciences is absolutely the solution to help people solve their mold and indoor air quality issues without having to worry about contamination.
Their live event reached nearly 3,000 people, had over 270 engagements, was shared nearly 30 times, and had over 1,000 views.
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