Marketing yourself is not just for Instagram influencers – it matters to the construction industry too. Booking your next job is business critical, which is why you need to be top-of-mind to prospective clients. There is no better way to get there than through an effective marketing strategy. Your marketing efforts matter, and forming a coherent marketing strategy and plan that aligns with your business goals is critical to future growth. Here are five ways to keep your business focused and on track when implementing a construction marketing strategy.
Put Your Marketing Plan in Writing
Map out your construction marketing strategy and plan. Think of this as the who, what, when, where, why, and how approach to growing your company. Ensure you have an understanding of who your target market is, what problem you solve for them when they need to see your messaging, where your target market will see your messaging, question why your brand is marketing is product or service that way, and how you are going to measure your success. Allow open and honest feedback from your team to occur without ego. Marketing independence is one thing, but creating campaigns in a corporate vacuum can lead to disaster. This concept goes both ways, so make sure you, as the construction marketer are also in the loop on big-picture executive decisions.
Create an Online Presence
Claim and build your online domains and profiles. Begin with your website, then take it one step further and optimize it for mobile! This is an area where many construction companies need to improve. It is easy to ignore your online presence, but in today’s increasingly mobile world, you cannot afford to. Doing things the “way they’ve always been done” is no longer an option to keep growing. Companies that do not have a helpful or attractive website are often ignored in favor of the competitor that does.
Create a valuable, user-friendly website that generates leads and links to your product solutions, blog, and social media profiles. Refrain from overwhelming your audience with too much information but allow them to get to know your brand. Consider the following elements:
- Home page (feature a customer testimonial video)
- About page (with professionally-shot images of you and your team)
- Contact form
- Services page
- Portfolio page (with real examples of your work)
The more your future customers can get to know you and your brand, the better. Be authentic and professional. Show them you are a trustworthy construction company they can count on.
Create & Share High-Quality Content – Often
Believe it or not, construction blogs, podcasts, reels, and tweets are a thing. Focus on posting informative, helpful content that builds trust and creates value. The construction industry is all about solving problems, meaning there is plenty of online traffic to capture of people Googling something you have experience with. Creating a blog, video series, or podcast that covers specific industry questions and educates your audience will pay off in organic traffic over the long run.
Savvy construction marketers don’t stop with blogging and video content. They generate high-quality social media content regularly. Your social content game should be on point, from Linkedin and TickTok to whatever the latest social channel. Use graphic design, videos, and audio to take your prospective customers beyond 2D words and images. Showcase your projects, your staff, your valued customers, and your construction industry knowledge to stay relevant.
Show Up in Search
Get into your customers’ brains and turn your construction marketing efforts into Google bait. Search engine optimization opportunities are everywhere, from alt-tags to keywords and blog titles. SEO is a 360-degree approach connecting content, social media, websites, digital ad campaigns, and beyond. When all your digital marketing assets are aligned, the following positive results will occur:
- A boost to brand credibility
- You will reach your target audience
- Achieve a competitive advantage
- Maximize advertising dollars
While short-term SEO results are often attained through pay-per-click campaigns, long-term SEO benefits are exponential. Laying a proper search-engine-optimized foundation will allow your brand to grow in ways that do not cost you a penny. Over time, search engines will reward your marketing efforts and organically direct visitors to your site because it contains valuable information.
Analyze Your Results
What is working? What is not working? Where can improvements be made? If you cannot answer those questions monthly, quarterly, and annually, then you need to do more to analyze your marketing efforts. Even the best-laid marketing plans must pivot, which is why you should continuously revisit your results. Choose meaningful and measurable metrics that can be tied back to revenue.
Marketing actions are past tense and take time to generate results. Campaigns launch and then take time to influence potential customers. Anything you can do to make that lag time clear to your construction company executive team is crucial. Communicate what went well in the prior quarter and what strategies are going to be improved upon. Set new goals and continue to monitor progress.