During the past year, the Metal Roofing Alliance conducted an extensive analysis of the prospect market for residential metal roofing. As a result, the MRA has produced a Contractor Segmentation Kit that can make an immediate, local impact for roofing contractors.
Gold level contractor members receive the kit as part of their membership fee. Bronze and Silver level contractors can purchase the kit for only $500. Each kit includes a contractors’ market location and includes addresses for up to 50,000 prospective residential metal roofing customers. Contractors located in heavily populated markets can purchase multiple kits.

This data has the potential to be enormously valuable not only for the MRA and its member manufacturers, but also for contractors looking to get the most out of their own marketing efforts. Imagine being able to pinpoint neighborhoods where you are most likely to find metal roofing prospects.

Project Background
This segmentation project was based on data from 35,000 residential metal roofing owners. Those owners were categorized based on the leading lifestyle segmentation platform, PRIZM NE from Claritas, a premier market research company that provides marketing information resources and solutions for companies engaged in consumer and business-to-business marketing.

The PRIZM platform has been used by leading marketers for more than 20 years to identify types of consumers that will buy particular products. With a PRIZM-based segmentation in hand, the MRA has gained a detailed understanding of the demographics, lifestyles, media usage and online behaviors of consumers who are most likely to purchase and install a metal roof. As a result, the MRA can identify the number and geographic location of target households by a variety of geographic units, including states, counties, zip codes and even census block tracts.

The MRA Contractor Segmentation Kit consists of five elements: the introduction; maps and tables; demographic profile; direct mail list purchasing; and direct mail post card templates.

The first component of the kit is a complete overview of the MRA Segmentation Program, including demographic and lifestyle descriptions of key purchaser groups. With this information in hand, contractors will have a much clearer picture of the audience they are trying to reach. This information is available for both vertical seam panel audiences and modular product (shake, shingle, tile and slate) audiences — and there are significant differences between the two types of buyers.

Second, the kit includes localized maps and tables that show the actual number and percentage of metal roof favorable households by census block group in a radius around a specific business location. Every block group is ranked and labeled for easy access to back up data.

Above is an example of a block group map that shows a 25-mile radius. In this particular area, there are 488 block groups. A dark red block group has the highest density of metal roofing friendly households. These dark red areas represent a contractors’ best prospects. As the red lightens and moves to white and then blue, there are fewer households that are likely to be interested in a metal roof.

In this sample, there are 258 (out of 488) good-to-excellent metal roof block groups. In those 258 groups, 86 percent of the households are likely to be receptive to a metal roof offer. In the other 230 block groups, only 21 percent of the households are likely to like metal.

Third, a detailed demographic profile of the MRA contractors’ market area is provided. This information is derived from the latest U.S. Census Bureau studies, as well as other marketing databases. Tables in the package include information for the current year along with projections for the next five years. For example, a sample trend report would show the local population, number of households, average household size and income statistics for 2006 projected forward to 2011. With this information in hand, contractors can begin to target likely households immediately and forecast important changes in their market for the upcoming five years.

Fourth, the MRA Kit provides information on how to purchase direct mail address lists for use in the chosen census block groups. Should a contractor decide to use the segmentation data as a basis for a direct marketing campaign, it is possible to obtain addresses for the specific PRIZM NE households most likely to purchase metal roofing in an individual block group area.

The process requires a simple call or an online order with Claritas Corporation. A complete script is provided in the Contractor Segmentation Kit. The mailing lists themselves are very affordable — a three-time use list of 25,000 households would cost approximately $70 per 1,000 addresses, or $1,750. Lists purchased through the MRA program are much less expensive than many comparable providers, who often charge up to $100 per 1,000 addresses for a single use. A contractor can have the mailing list sent to his own printer or can use an MRA-provided printer for a complete turnkey solution.

The fifth component of the Kit includes a direct mail postcard template. Contractors who don’t want the hassle of developing their own creative can take the template, add their own address and send it out quickly and easily.

Valuable Solution
The Contractor Segmentation Kit is a very valuable addition to the successful MRA program that will provide contractors with world-class strategic marketing information for little to no additional fee. MR

The Metal Roofing Alliance has made the investment as another valuable solution for contractor members. The Kit is available to member contractors for order today at: www.metalroofing.com.

Bill Hippard is the president of the MRA and vice president of sales at Precoat Metals.