Blueprints, hard hats, and excavators are probably some of the first things that come to mind when you think of construction companies. Pair those tools with hard work and grit—they all contribute to differentiating your construction company from your competitors. But what about marketing? How can marketing elevate your construction company to the next level?
The answer is simple: increased brand awareness, and in return, increased business profits. Here are our top marketing practices your construction company should be utilizing and the most effective ways to execute them.
An Effective and Helpful Website
While a good bit of the construction industry finds and builds leads based on word-of-mouth, you are doing yourself a disservice if you do not also use a website as a tool to reach a new audience. As a consumer, one of the first places you turn to when making a purchase or starting a project is Google. This applies to your potential customers and partners as well.
For your website to be effective and assist you in beating out the competition, you should ensure that the site is easy to navigate and clear. Put yourself in the shoes of your consumer—what details would they be looking for when they are visiting your website? Some of the specific data points we recommend should be front and center to maximize the efficiency of your site are:
- A contact form
- A phone number
- Information on what services you provide
- Some of your previous work (or projects)
- Explain what makes your business unique
- Photos of your team in action
Credibility is a huge aspect of the construction industry, which is why word-of-mouth is a popular method to grow your business. Consider your website to be a different form of word-of-mouth marketing. Using your site to provide as much information on the front end will help your potential partners to feel informed and motivated to move into the contract negotiations phase with you.
Social Presence
Another stop a potential client or partner might make during the consumer buying process is on your social channels. Establishing a social presence does not mean you should be on all social media platforms and not maintain them. However, you have an in-depth understanding of your target audience, and with that information, you should select a platform that will appeal to them.
For example, if you are targeting large corporations as a post-construction clean-up company, you likely would find LinkedIn the most effective platform for your organization. Or if you are a local construction company looking to build custom homes in your community, you likely would find your audience on Facebook and potentially Instagram.
Either way, it is crucial to meet your target audience where they are. Once there, showcase your projects as well as company values in an eye-catching way, such as team photos or custom graphics. Make sure that your social media strategy aligns with your overall marketing strategy and company goals so that you can drive results.
Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader
You are already ahead of the curve if you have an effective website and a strong social media presence. To truly establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, there are a few more things you should consider adding to your marketing strategy.
For starters, a blog is an excellent way to share your best practices and recommendations with your audience. When developing a blog, you should imagine yourself as an outsider looking into your industry. What questions would you have if you were a potential consumer or partner? Some topics we recommend include:
- Safety practices in the industry
- Current building and product trends
- A breakdown of the difference between commonly confused products
- Technology in the field
- Training resources
- Showcase completed projects
Sharing your knowledge with consumers that are unfamiliar with the industry will establish brand trust and reliability. You can publish these blog posts to your social channels to reach your target audience or share them via email with your subscribers.
This brings us to an additional way you can establish yourself as a thought leader in the construction industry—an email marketing campaign. Along with the blog posts, you can send information such as tips, company updates, links to industry-impacting news, and more details on your services in a monthly newsletter.
A Growth Plan
The practices mentioned above establish a sturdy foundation for your construction business, but for it to flourish you need to implement a growth plan. A growth plan entails working with your respected digital marketing professional, either internal or external, to establish your long-term business goals. Understanding what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts will help the decision-making process.
With these goals in mind, you will be able to build out an organic or paid ads campaign. Improving your SEO will help you boost your reach and allow you to make new connections you might not have previously established.
For example, if you are looking to break into the construction industry in Atlanta, you would use paid ads to target your chosen audience (project managers, construction managers, builders, etc.) located in that area. Chances are this is the first touch point these individuals have with your company, and because of that, your ad should reflect an obvious call to action.
You should continuously update your marketing plan and goals to reflect the current status of the construction industry as well as trends in digital marketing.
Proud to Serve
GreenMellen is proud to say we have served clients in the construction industry to establish and implement the marketing practices mentioned above. If you are in the industry and need assistance in developing your strategy, please contact us here.
