Keeping heating wires secured to roof during snow removal
Ice melting cables are just a stopgap. You should fix the real problem. The easiest way to get rid of ice damming is to improve the attic ventilation.  

Assuming you have existing vents, the biggest culprit is usually the eave venting. Check your eave vents to make sure they are clear. If so, you need more of them. If not, clear them and then add more. 

If you have modern soffit with perforated aluminum panels, pull some of them out and make sure that they are not screwed on to solid wood of plywood soffits (we see this all the time). If so, cut holes in the ply or wood and then reinstall aluminum. 

If they are installed directly to rafter tails or the like, look up inside and make sure that there is a free passage way from the eave up over the wall and into the attic space. It's common for overenthusiastic insulators to wedge insulation into that joint, thus effectively preventing airflow from the eaves into the attic space. This is vital for proper ventilation, which eliminates eave icing entirely.