According to the Climate Change Catastrophe Report from CoreLogic®, 2020 was the sixth year in a row that property damage from record-breaking wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes caused more than $1 billion in damages.
And with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projecting up to 10 hurricanes, three to five of which would be major hurricanes, for the Atlantic hurricane season, there’s concern 2021 will follow suit.
For owners and managers of home repair companies, now is the time to get ahead in finding those who may need property restoration the most. Locating these specific target markets can be a daunting task, but using a combination of hazard risk data, granular property insights, and delivery channel selection can help narrow the focus and build trust with homeowners who need it the most.
Extreme weather events
Unfortunately, what makes this an opportune time for restoration service companies is that homeowners are weathering difficult times.
In 2021 alone, February saw frigid arctic air sweep across much of the country causing significant damage to homes in Texas. ServiceMaster Restore’s Director of Operations Austin Yoder recently shared the company’s experience on a CoreLogic webinar , nothing that the scale of damage called for more than 700 individuals and more than 17,000 pieces of equipment to assist. Year-over-year, it was a 3500% increase in losses.
That event was followed by a highly active severe convective storm season. By early May, California’s governor had officially declared a drought in that state, and Tropical Storm Ana kicked off the Atlantic Hurricane Season more than a week before the official start date. In particular, the 2021 Hurricane Report from CoreLogic notes that nearly eight million homes are at storm surge risk, and more than 31 million homes are at moderate to extreme wind risk.
As the climate changes and atmospheric drivers continue to increase the frequency and severity of natural catastrophic events, communities will continue to face an onslaught of challenges.
Putting big data to work
In other words, people who were, are or will be adversely affected by catastrophic events need a trusted partner for home goods and restoration services.
The key to effectively targeting and marketing to potential prospects lies in understanding the natural hazard risk in your target geographies, locating homeowners most likely to need the services you provide and selecting the right digital and physical channels to connect with your desired audience. Understanding the specifics of risk, potential impact and delivery platform help ensure targeted messages arrive before disaster strikes, so you can be there in their moment of need.
Address-level risk modeling
Data analytics and risk modeling technology have made exponential leaps in recent years. Driven by the insurance industry’s need to understand exposure on every insured property, companies such as CoreLogic offer sophisticated hazard risk models and analytics that cover properties down to the street address level. These peril models cover natural hazards like earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and severe weather—as well as non-weather risk such as crime or fires caused by appliance failures.
One of the newest technologies is using weather forensic data for verification of recent weather events to pinpoint where risk became reality for wind, hail, lightning and tornado damage. Knowing where damage occurred in near real-time in your market region can help you be first on the scene to help affected communities recover.
In-depth property details
The next step is to narrow your focus to achieve greater precision with homeowner and property data provided by CoreLogic. By combining risk prediction with comprehensive property details , you can segment and personalize your communications. Home characteristics such as whether the home is owner-occupied, when it was built, the type of basement (if any), its proximity to the ocean or other body of water, whether the property has a pool and building and permit records, to name a few, allow you to zero in on your ideal prospects.
Choose your channels
The final consideration is choosing a marketing partner that reaches your prospects at the right time and place. Industry-leading property and consumer data can help to identify who the “right” digital audience is and deliver messaging through the digital platform of your choice. With unique custom audiences comprising millions of consumers, these audiences can provide the context needed to better reach your target customers.
By narrowing in on the risk areas faced, getting up to speed on the property characteristics of your prospects and fine-tuning delivery platforms, you can refine your planning and mobilization efforts in advance, enabling you to pull resources, refine marketing efforts and ensure maximum return on every dollar you spend.
Better still, you can build trust with the people you may eventually serve so that, when faced with a disaster, homeowners will immediately know where they can turn for help. In short, by knowing the risk, you can help them accelerate their recovery.
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