Our guide on how to market a construction business
Marketing a construction business can seem difficult as you aren’t selling products, and it’s difficult for potential clients to understand what service they will be receiving as everyone has different wants and needs.
Also, there are a lot of SME construction businesses out there. So how do you differentiate yourself and not simply do the same as everyone else with your marketing?
It is a legitmate question to ask as to how to market a construction business in such a way that will make it stand out from the competition, generate quality leads and ultimately grow your business.
When it comes to developing a digital marketing strategy, there are many different marketing channels to look at. Content marketing, networking, reviews and other techniques can be used together to achieve your marketing goals.
Whether it’s increasing your exposure, having more website visitors or receiving more enquiries, the different marketing tools provided by working with an expert marketer will help you to identify and deliver the correct content to the right target market.
Below are our 5 steps that will lead to a successful marketing strategy for your construction company.
1. Start by establishing a strong brand
The construction industry is a saturated market, but there are plenty of customers who need you! With so many local competitors, establishing a successful, recognised brand is essential.
Your brand doesn’t just mean a logo and brand colours. True branding means a lot more and can you give your construction business an edge in a crowded marketplace.
The first step is to identify your target audience and what makes your brand unique.
Do note, good customer service is not a unique feature as there are very few businesses who aim or will say they deliver poor service! Quality service is a customer’s minimum requirement, so saying you’ll achieve the minimum is not very inspiring to prospects.
It is very difficult to successfully and efficiently market a business without getting your target market and brand messages sorted out first. So it is a crucial first step in how to market a construction business to get this agreed.
Once you have a clear idea of your target audience, you can create a brand identity and messaging that resonates with them. Developing this messaging is of great importance, and something that Growth by Design would be happy to help you create.
Together we’ll discover what makes your business different, and cultivate a strong marketing message that incorporates your USPs and stands you out from competitors.
Once you have developed your marketing messaging, it’s time to consider creating a logo and a website.
Additionally, you should focus on building relationships with your target audience through social media, email campaigns, and other marketing efforts, making sure to track the success of your campaigns so you can see how your brand is growing.
From website design and build, to social media posts, our team of marketing experts at Growth by Design can work with you to create marketing activity that represents your brand. This will help to create linked marketing activity that exposes your brand which directs potential clients to your website.
2. Share on socials
Social media marketing is an important tool for any business, including your construction company as it allows you to reach potential customers, build relationships with current clients, and stay up-to-date with industry trends.
The best thing about social media? It’s free!
Social media provides a platform to showcase your projects, products, and services, while also providing your customers with the opportunity to interact with you and leave feedback.
Additionally, it is an effective way to increase brand awareness and build customer loyalty.
Through social media, you can engage with customers, demonstrate your expertise, and increase your visibility in the construction industry.
Social media is like an endless case studies page on your website. By having high-quality images of your work – we highly suggest frequently posting before and after photos – potential clients are able to see if you can achieve their construction needs, compare you to other local construction companies and easily get in touch with you.
Developing a strong social media strategy is vital for good exposure and community building on social platforms, and this can help to build up reviews and recommendations which are invaluable to any business.
At Growth by Design, we have a strong team working in our social media department that can work alongside you to develop a social media strategy that will deliver meaningful results.
3. Utilise SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) helps a business appear higher in search engine rankings, making them more visible to potential customers. With SEO, construction companies can reach a wider audience of customers, and capture more leads and sales.
Therefore, if you are looking at how to market a construction business, SEO ought to be in your marketing mix of tactics.
Appearing higher in search engine rankings also means your website will show before your competitors’ which helps you to establish your authority in the construction industry.
Through regularly adding new and relevant content to your website, this not only boosts your SEO if keywords and phrases are involved, but also establishes your construction company as an authoritative source of information.
This builds trust with both past customers so they will continue using your company for their construction needs, and potential customers who are just browsing as they can compare you to other construction companies in their local area, and get in touch with you when they’re ready to commit to a purchase.
The key is to identify the questions, concerns, issues and needs of your potential customers and then create content tailored to helping them and answering their query. By creating and hosting this content in the right way on your website for both prospects and the search engine bots to engage with, you are in a strong position to be the first local construction business to speak to a new potential prospect – successfully beating your competition to it!
4. Networking
When it comes to marketing, it’s not only important to build strong relationships with potential and past clients, but with other businesses as well.
Other businesses can be incredibly useful – if they are non-competing – as you can form alliances with them, meaning you will act as introducers for each other and point any potential clients interested in their services their way, with them reciprocating this practice for you.
Networking also allows you to spread awareness of your construction company, gain referrals and leads, and speak with other construction industry professionals to learn new trends or streamlined practices to help improve your business.
Therefore, when looking at how to market a construction business, your marketing strategy should not only be about digital marketing, but also offline, print and your own networking efforts have a critical role to play in piecing all of your efforts together for maximum return.
5. Reviews
Reviews provide potential customers with valuable insight into the quality of your services and the level of satisfaction that they can expect. They help to build trust and credibility with those searching for local construction companies, by showing that you are reliable and experienced in your industry.
For your industry, reviews and recommendations are often one the main sources of new business.
Reviews can drive more traffic to your website, as customers are more likely to click on a company with a good reputation. Ultimately, reviews can be one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to promote your construction company and attract more customers as it doesn’t cost anything to ask a past client for a review, but their review can bring in several enquiries!
However, if you just rely on someone being really satisfied with your service and then provide you with a review all by themselves, you are set to be very disappointed! Reviews are something you need to ask for, encourage and enable.
The next steps
There are plenty of other marketing techniques that can help you to develop a successful strategy for your construction company. This short blog goes someway to exploring how to market a construction business successfully but every business is different.
You may well undertake some of these individual tactics already, but it is their interconnectivity and combination that will enable your business to reach it’s potential. Therefore a marketing strategy should always be your starting point and then selecting the right tactics from there.
At Growth by Design, we can help you to create a strong, recognisable brand, build your customer base through reviews and social media, help you prepare branded marketing materials for networking events, and boost your website through the use of SEO.
Get in touch with our team of experts today to take the first step towards becoming the chosen construction company in your local area.
