Building awareness for your product or service is essential to attracting new customers and growing your business. If potential customers don’t know about your brand, it’s hard to win their business. To ensure they’re seen, local B2C companies often invest in advertising to boost awareness, increase sales, and draw in new customers.
But with today’s vast digital landscape—including social media, streaming platforms, and AI—figuring out where to advertise has become a complex puzzle. In the past, brands could reach their audience through a handful of options like print, radio, and TV. Now, with countless media channels available, businesses face a big question: How can they determine which channels will be most effective for their advertising?
To find answers, DW Creative surveyed a sample size of 1,600 people. Each participant was at least 25 years old and owned their own home. People from different regions of the U.S. took part—400 each from the Northeast, South, West, and Midwest. The survey ran from September 3–18, 2024, and included an even mix of men and women with a range of incomes. The survey asked a variety of questions regarding media usage and how media helped users choose home service providers.
DW Creative is a Kansas City-based marketing agency that drives growth for clients by creating meaningful connections between their clients’ brands and the homeowners they serve.
By reading this article, you will learn highlights from the survey results which can help your business build its marketing strategy.
Media Consumption Habits Throughout the Day
The survey asked about the media people use regularly throughout the day and week. Here’s what it found:
- Morning: 58% check social media, email, or online news first.
However, 36% of respondents said they watch local news channels in the morning, particularly older age groups (45 and above) while younger demographics prefer streaming services (33%), radio (29%), and cable TV (28%). - During the Day: 68% still check social media, while streaming (51%), radio (37%), and cable TV (36%) were also common. This data indicates that, while traditional media like radio and cable still hold a presence, digital platforms increasingly capture the attention of homeowners during daytime hours.
- Evening: Streaming is most popular at 63%, followed by social media (58%) and cable TV (41%). The 65-and-older age group preferred cable TV over streaming, with 54% watching cable versus 49% opting for streaming. This suggests that while younger age groups are embracing digital platforms, older demographics continue to favor traditional media in the evening.
This data shows that digital media is popular throughout the day, with streaming and social media being key sources of information and entertainment.
Traditional Media vs. Digital Media
Traditional media includes local television channels, cable TV, newspapers, magazines, and radio. Digital media includes streaming services, online applications, and social media.
The survey found that both digital and traditional media are commonly used. Even though digital media has a slight edge, traditional media is still very relevant across all age groups and incomes surveyed.
- In the morning, 76% of people use digital media, compared to 72% who use traditional media.
- During the day, digital media use goes up to 87%, while traditional media use is at 78%.
- Digital media remains high at 85% in the evening, while traditional media is 74%.
- On weekends, digital media usage reaches 89%, while traditional media is at 78%.
Website Use During Decision-Making for Home Improvement
When planning a home improvement project, people often visit websites to help make decisions. About 78% of those surveyed said they were likely to visit a company’s website during this stage.
Because so many visit websites as part of their decision-making process, a quality website is crucial for producing new leads.
Important Website Information Home Services Seekers Expect
When looking at a website, people value certain features more than others. The surveyed users ranked the features they found essential in home service websites.
- Pricing/Cost Estimates (69%)
- Customer Reviews and Testimonials (56%)
- Warranties and Guarantees (55%)
- Certifications and Licenses (48%)
- Contact Information (46%)
Other important website elements included photo galleries of past work (43%), availability and scheduling information (42%), and service/product details (38%).
Users overall were least concerned with live chat options (11%), pages like blogs of FAQs (13%), and comparisons with competitors (24%). However, that did not mean that these pages were irrelevant to all demographics.
Older groups tended to look for warranties, contact info, and company background, while younger people (25-44) valued interactive features like live chat and blogs.
Financing options were most important to incomes less than $50k and with the $50k-$100k income bracket. However, galleries were more important to those with an annual income of over $100k.
AI’s Role in Decision-Making
While growing in popularity, AI tools are still not widely used for home improvement planning. It has not yet taken over the home service industry. The survey found that:
- 60% of users never use AI tools.
- 24% occasionally use AI for quick tips or advice.
- 10% of users said AI is almost always part of their planning.
- 6% of users regularly use it for detailed guidance.
Most people don’t use AI to research service providers or contractors. Those who do mostly look for general information, compare services, read reviews, or draft messages to providers.
Next Steps for Learning More Media Marketing Insights
For businesses in the home services field, this information shows a few clear patterns.
Digital media is crucial, but traditional media remains relevant. Websites are important resources during the decision-making process, and certain features—like pricing and reviews—can make a big difference. While AI use is growing, it’s not yet the main tool for most people planning home projects.
By understanding these trends, businesses can better tailor their advertising and online presence to reach more customers.
Are you looking for more information on American media usage to help your marketing strategy? To learn more about 2024 media usage trends, visit DW Creative’s American Homeowner Media Research page. It features an overview of the survey demographics, graphs outlining findings, and a white paper PDF available for download.
DW Creative is an agency committed to empowering homeowner-focused businesses.
If you want help creating a marketing strategy, schedule a fit call with our team to see how DW Creative can help.
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