Let’s be honest: the hardest part of growing a new business is figuring out how to market it. This can be especially true for more practical industries such as construction companies, who may not be as accustomed to the flashy sort of self-marketing and social media branding that goes hand in hand with industries such as fashion or entertainment. But no matter what industry you’re in, you need a way of putting your company on the map and attracting customers to your growing business.
If you’re looking to learn about marketing for construction companies, you’ve come to the right place. When marketing your construction business, the important thing is to keep in mind what specific things you can do at your local, city, and state level to make sure you’re always promoting your business and services.
While digital marketing is certainly one of the most important areas you’ll want to tackle, it’s important not to disregard the physical actions you can take to market your business in your local community. Here are some ideas on how to promote and market your business and generate more customers:
1. Create and Develop a Unique Brand
To draw customers to your business, you have to make your company stand out. People are much more likely to choose a construction company that they feel has a professional and unique identity over one that looks just like every other construction company out there. The way to set your business apart from the rest is to spend the time and energy to create your own brand. Your brand will be the first impression that draws the attention of the customer, so it’s crucial to make it look as polished and professional as possible.
Brand identity and brand awareness are both important parts of marketing for a growing business. Advertising such as billboards are all about boosting brand awareness and getting your business’ name out there, but you first need a brand in order to do so. Consider investing in a professional designer to develop a visual brand identity for your business that will clearly depict what your unique selling point is and why customers should go with your business.
While you want your customers to feel like you can take care of all of their construction needs (and you most likely can), trying to appeal to customers as a business that is equally good at everything is not likely to make you stand out. Consumers look for specific services online, and if you’re able to develop your brand around one or two services that you excel in, you’re much more likely to stand out to people searching for that service.
2. Attend Trade Shows
Going to trade shows and conferences is the best way for any business to learn about new ways of building and doing business. They offer educational sessions, demonstrations, opportunities for networking, and access to other exhibitors who are promoting their services. You can attend yearly conferences held in cities like Las Vegas or Atlanta in order to learn from businesses all over the country as well as local trade shows to interact with master construction companies in your area.
Local trade shows can offer you connections with other people in the industry as well as information about the products and services offered by other local construction companies. They provide you with a clear picture of what your competition is offering and how you compare. You’ll also learn more about what the current market demand is and how to shape your marketing ideas accordingly.
A lot of homeowners attend these events as well, providing you with an opportunity to directly interact with your community. Networking in person is one of the best and easiest ways to develop prospects and generate business, as the personal interaction builds trust with the customer and allows you the opportunity to engage with people who are actively looking for your kind of business.
3. Dominate Social Media
Social media is one of the most popular methods of communication among people in today’s digital age. It’s grown way beyond friend-to-friend interaction, turning into a platform for people to share their thoughts with the world, network, and even shop. It provides you with a free networking opportunity with other businesses as well as the chance to directly engage with customers looking for your service.
Maintaining a presence on multiple social media platforms is crucial for any construction company looking to reach as many customers as possible. You have to consistently update all of your social media platforms in order to effectively maintain an online presence, as irregular posting will cause people to be less likely to follow you. Rather than trying to be on everything at once, choose a few of the best platforms that you’ll be able to regularly engage with.
Create a cover photo that pairs well with your brand, as it will be the first thing that customers see and the most consistent factor among platforms. Regularly create engaging posts on a variety of content, from sharing industry-specific articles to upcoming specials and events. Social media is also a great place to post pictures and descriptions of work you’ve completed for satisfied customers who you can interact with on the platform. Even just sharing funny posts will increase your chances of customers following you on social media; the more engaged you are, the better.
4. Join or Attend Your Local Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is a business-oriented American lobbying group, with local chambers focusing on local issues and promoting local businesses. The Local Chamber of Commerce in your area will hold a variety of seminars, events, and networking opportunities for local businesses looking to interact with other businesses as well as leaders in the community. They also offer programs for businesses who want to learn more about growing and marketing their business, making them an excellent resource for marketing a small construction company.
You can join your local chamber to receive membership benefits such as having your business listed on its website and online directory, marketing your business, and improving your SEO. They also offer additional opportunities for advertising including website and events, as well as business consulting services that can provide your construction company with expert advice on marketing and dealing with business problems. As an added bonus, chamber investment dues are tax deductible as a necessary business expense.
You don’t have to be a member of your local chamber in order to attend its events. Although you will have to pay to attend, you can still take advantage of the opportunity for networking with other small construction businesses and learning new construction marketing ideas. Getting an accurate representation of what the competition is doing to promote themselves will help you to successfully market your company accordingly.
5. Direct Mail Marketing
One of the most important parts of promoting your construction company is continuing to maintain a relationship with previous customers, as happy and loyal repeat customers will make up a great deal of your customer base. In order to ensure customer retention, you will need to keep reaching out to customers, and direct mail marketing is an excellent way of doing so. It shows customers that you haven’t forgotten about them and that you value their business.
Keep previous customers updated with regular newsletters about your business and any services or specials you’re offering. Providing exclusive promotional rates to customers will make them much more likely to return for repeat business rather than go with a competitor’s lower price. Give customers a reason to be loyal to your business and they will choose you every time.
To make your newsletter stand out amongst the junk mail that gets delivered every day, consider hiring a professional to design it. Having a professionally designed newsletter that represents your brand and catches the eye will make customers less likely to throw it out and more likely to read it in full. You can even use direct mail marketing to request reviews from happy customers, as positive reviews are one of the best ways to attract more customers and build trust with the community.
6. Run a Blog
Blogging is one of the best ways to engage digitally with customers on a deeper level. Including a blog as a portion of your website gives you a space to write detailed articles about your products and services, current trends in the construction industry, and completed projects with satisfied customers. Long form engaging content is much more likely to be read and shared on social media and will give customers more information about your company and what makes you unique.
Regularly update your blog with information that will interest your followers, such as well-written posts about home maintenance advice, tips on bathroom renovation, etc. Be sure to have a way to capture these readers which could easily convert into a potential home improvement lead for your business. Any articles you can write that will intrigue your customers and teach them more about the construction industry will keep them engaged and make them more likely to trust you and your business. You can also post about any new works or products that your business is launching in order to turn your followers into customers.
Feel free to interact with other blogs online, as the more engaged you are the more likely you are to gain followers. Target homeowners and other renovators who have the same interests as you by creating groups centered around these interests and adding them. You can also share links and blogs of other construction companies in order to build trust with your followers and increase your chances of people following you. Be sure to employ SEO optimization on your blog to help it rank higher on search results as well.
7. Participate in Local Events
Investing in your local community is a great way to show your customers that you’re dedicated to serving the people in your area. Be an active member in as many local organizations as possible, attending various events that you can promote your business and services at. The more you’re getting out there and directly marketing to the people in your community, the more qualified leads you’re likely to generate. After all, a positive personal interaction builds trust more than any amount of digital marketing.
A great way to interact with your community is to find a local school, organization, or community group that has a sports team of kids looking for corporate sponsors. Sponsoring local kids’ sports teams can be a great way to get your company’s logo out there while giving back to your community.
Another opportunity for engaging with your local community is through volunteering. If you partner with churches or homeless shelters and provide them with free services, you’ll receive excellent word-of-mouth marketing that can bring you paying customers who appreciate a company willing to give back. Take the opportunity to promote any volunteer work you do with a press release and links on your website in order to maximize your visibility.
Does all this sound like hard work? I know. That’s because it is. There are no shortcuts when it comes to building your home remodeling or construction business, unfortunately.
Some Final [important] Tips For You
Now that you’ve got a few ideas on how to market your construction company and a couple of the different types of digital marketing techniques you can use, test out a few of them and see what changes you notice in lead generation. Track and monitor the efficacy of your promotion techniques in order to devote most of your energy to the tactics that generate the most business for your company.
Marketing your construction business takes time, and you want to spend your time wisely in order to grow your business as quickly as possible.
Aside from these tips on how to promote your construction business, make sure that you’re taking every possible opportunity to promote your business and services. Whether you’re networking at a conference, engaging with people in your community, or even volunteering at a charity, every moment can be an opportunity to market your construction company and tell people about your growing business.
The biggest hurdle for small businesses is to get their name out there, so devote the majority of your efforts to marketing your construction business and give yourself the best chance of success.