What are the benefits of social media marketing for construction companies?
Social media marketing has become increasingly important for all businesses, and social media for contractors, construction businesses, and home builders is no exception. In today’s digital age, having a strong presence on social media platforms is crucial for establishing credibility and building brand awareness. Statistics show that 93.7% of businesses use social media for marketing purposes.
With an effective social media strategy, contractors can reach more potential customers and build relationships with them that can lead to more business.
This guide will help contractors, construction businesses, and home builders develop and grow their presence on social media.
Identify opportunities for growth for your construction business
Before developing your social media strategy for your construction business and jumping into the world of social media marketing for construction companies, it is important to establish a clear understanding of what you hope to achieve. Do you want to increase awareness about your construction business? Are you looking for new leads and customers?
To run a successful social media marketing for contractors campaign, you must first research and analyze the local market to understand the needs of the community.
Identifying what you want to accomplish will help inform your strategy and determine the social media platforms that are best suited for your goals.
Formulate a plan for your social media presence
Before deciding which social media platforms are right for your company, you’ll need to do some self-analysis first.
Establish your goals and objectives
What do you hope to achieve with your construction social media marketing efforts, and what metrics will construction companies use to measure a successful social media campaign?
This might sound obvious but often companies start with social media because their competitors are doing it.
Make sure you understand what you want to achieve examples might include:
- Engaging an existing audience around your brand or related issue to build loyalty
- Educating potential or existing customers on a topic core to your brand
- Informing potential customers about how your brand will help solve their pain points
- Enabling your customers to succeed at what they came to do
- Entertaining your audience so they engage and pay attention
- Delighting your users by having next-level customer service
- Empowering your audience to make the best choices for them
- Amplifying an issue your brand and its audience stand behind
Define your brand identity
A brand identity is the image that your construction company wants to portray to your potential customers. It includes elements such as your logo, color scheme, tone of voice, and overall messaging.
Developing a strong and consistent brand identity across all your social media platforms is crucial to building a recognizable brand and establishing trust with your target audience.
Select social media platforms
You cannot be everywhere at once. Trying to manage multiple social media accounts can be time-consuming and counterproductive. To ensure that your digital marketing campaigns are successful, you should focus on the best social media platforms for your type of business – those with the most potential to help you achieve your goals.
There are a number of social media platforms that are effective for construction companies and home builders to consider. Some of the most popular social media platforms include:
Facebook is the largest social media marketing platform in the world. It provides a great way for construction companies to connect with potential customers.
Facebook allows you to create a business Facebook page that includes your company’s name, location, contact information, days and hours of operation, and a description of your services. You can also share photos, videos, events, and updates about your projects, as well as interact with your followers through comments and direct messages.
LinkedIn is a professional social media site that is also great for online marketing. It is ideal for connecting with other businesses and industry professionals. As a contractor, construction company, or home builder, you can use LinkedIn to share updates about your projects, join relevant groups and connect with potential clients, and build your professional network.
Instagram is a visual-based social media platform that is great for sharing photos and videos of your construction projects. Construction companies tend to ignore the potential of Instagram marketing, but it can be an excellent way to show off your work and attract new clients.
You can post updates about projects you’re working on, highlight completed projects, and even post photos and videos of what goes into building a home.
You can also showcase your work, highlight your team, and give potential clients an inside look at your company’s culture and values.
Twitter is a fast-paced social media platform that is ideal for sharing quick updates and engaging with your followers in real time. As a construction company or home builder, you can use Twitter to share updates on your projects, industry news and connect with potential clients.
Once you’ve identified which platforms are the most relevant social media for contractors, home builders and their target audience, and narrowed your list to focus on a few, it’s time to begin formulating a content plan.
Create content
Creating interesting content that is relevant and engaging to your social media audience and the construction industry is key to growing your social media presence. This could include sharing updates on construction projects, showcasing completed construction projects, and providing tips and insights on construction and home building.
Vary the type of content you share
To keep your social media audience engaged and interested, it’s important to vary the type of content you share. Some ideas for different types of content include:
Photos and videos
Sharing photos and videos of your completed construction projects is an excellent social media marketing strategy. It is a great way to showcase your work and build credibility with potential customers. You could also share behind-the-scenes footage of construction projects, before and after photos, profiles of the owner and staff, and tips and tricks for home building and renovations.
Share how-to videos
Videos are a great way to provide visual instructions on how to do different construction and home improvement tasks. You could create videos for potential clients demonstrating the proper way to paint a room, lay tile, or repair common household problems. You can even create a time lapse video of a construction project from start to finish.
Blogs and articles
Sharing an informative blog post and article can help position your construction business as an expert in the industry. This type of content can also be shared on your website and other different social media platforms to drive traffic and increase visibility.
Your team likely won’t have time to write blogs so consider hiring a content marketing team.
Increase engagement by creating a plan for developing engaging content
Once you figure out what type of content to post and how to engage with social media users, the next step is to create a plan for creating and distributing your content.
Some of the strategies that you should consider as components of your social media marketing strategy include the following.
Create a content calendar
A content calendar is a schedule that details what content you plan to post, when you will post it (such as 3 posts a week or every Wednesday), and the social media marketing platforms it will appear on. To create an effective social media marketing strategy, consider using a content calendar to ensure your message is conveyed consistently and effectively on all the major platforms on which you have chosen to have a presence.
Having a content calendar will help you stay on top of your social media strategy and ensure that all posts are tailored to the right audience at the right time. It also helps you have a consistent flow of social media engagement, so that your followers won’t feel bored or neglected.
Post consistently
Consistency is key when devising a marketing strategy for social media for contractors and construction companies. You must post regularly on social platforms about something potential clients care about, for example, relevant industry news and construction trends.
Your social media marketing for general contractors plan should include the topics you will share on social media, your posting schedule, which social media channels you will focus on, and how much time each day or week you will dedicate to creating and posting content for potential customers.
Use visuals
While the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” might sound cliche and overused, it is very true for social media advertising for construction companies.
Visuals can be especially effective in showing construction progress. Photos of the job site before and after can show how far the project has come, while time-lapse videos can allow viewers to watch the entire process condensed into just a few minutes.
Visuals can also showcase craftsmanship and creativity. Wow your prospective clients with excellent results. Customers who value quality workmanship will be drawn to the work you do if you showcase it on social media.
Social media posts featuring these visuals are perfect for getting people interested in your construction company and fostering engagement with your followers. You can also create highlight reels or stories on your Facebook business page and other social media platforms to give a more detailed look into how your construction company works.
If you don’t have the bandwidth to get to worksites often to take photos, encourage project managers and subcontractors to email photos and videos to the person in charge of writing and posting the content. Perhaps you offer an incentive for submitting photos for consideration. Who doesn’t like a gift card to Starbucks or a local lunch place?
Encourage your employees, friends, and customers to follow you
If you’re just starting to build your social media presence, it can be helpful to reach out to your network for support. Encourage your friends, employee construction workers, and customers to follow you on all social networking platforms, and ask them to like and share your posts to help spread the word about your construction business.
In addition, you could also collaborate with other industry professionals to cross-promote each other’s social media account and expand your reach even further. Does a subcontractor you work with often perform their trade particularly well, such as build cabinets, or do high-quality masonry work? Profile them on social media to give them a boost and build rapport with your community.
Respond to comments and reviews
Social media engagement is generally a two-way street, and social media for contractors is no different. It is important to engage with your audience and respond to their comments and messages in a timely manner. This can help establish a positive relationship with your followers and increase their loyalty to your construction company.
Encourage your followers to ask questions and provide feedback, and be sure to respond in a helpful and respectful manner.
Work with other contractors to expand reach
Social media marketing for general contractors or construction companies is all about networking and building relationships. Construction companies should work with others to expand their reach and build their brand. This includes collaborating with other businesses, subcontractors, industry influencers, and customers to create content and share it across multiple social media sites.
One way to establish credibility for your construction company is to partner with influencers within the construction industry.
Who is an influencer in the construction industry?
An influencer is someone (often a professional or someone with industry insights or news on industry events) who has a strong online presence and is respected within the construction industry.
Influencers share knowledge, advice, tips, and construction home solutions to relevant challenges to the general public and can help promote your construction business by sharing positive news about your company.
You can find influencers within construction by searching relevant groups on social media (such as construction Facebook groups), researching industry awards and events, or asking around in the industry. Once you’ve identified an influencer to work with, contact them and share your ideas for how they could help promote your business.
Having an influencer share content from your company page or website can help boost community involvement, your reach, and engagement, while also providing an extra layer of trust among potential customers.
You could even consider joint venture partnerships with people in the industry. This type of collaboration with construction professionals will result in more exposure and lend additional credibility to your business.
Consider using geo-targeted ads
If you want to go even further, invest in paid ads on Google, Facebook, and YouTube. This will allow you to target specific audiences that may be interested in your construction company’s services. Most construction companies work in a specific area and with geo-targeted ads, you can make sure your message is reaching the right people.
With geo-targeting, you can target your ads to people within a certain geographic area, such as a particular city or zip code, who are more likely to be interested in your construction work.
By using geo-targeted ads, you can ensure that your advertising budget is being used effectively and efficiently, as you are reaching the people who are most likely to become customers. This can also help you to increase the conversion rate of your ads and ultimately drive more sales for your construction business.
Contests to engage followers
Another way for construction companies to engage social media followers and increase their reach is to run a social media contest.
This can help to generate excitement and encourage your followers to share your content with their own followers, which can result in more exposure for your construction business.
For example, you could run a contest where followers are asked to share a photo or story related to a construction project they have been involved in, with the winner receiving a prize or discount on your services.
This type of contest can not only help to increase engagement and reach, but also can generate leads for your construction company. Also you can share user-generated content from the contest on your own social media accounts.
Add social media buttons to your website
Another tip for increasing the reach of your construction company on social media is to add social media buttons to your website. By adding buttons that link to your social media profiles, you can encourage website visitors to follow you on social media and stay up-to-date on your latest projects and services.
Make sure that the social media buttons are prominently displayed on your website, such as in the header or footer, and that they are easy to find and use. You can also consider adding other social media networks or share buttons to your website to encourage visitors to share your content on their own social media accounts.
Use tools for scheduling and editing to maximize success
To maximize the success of your social media strategy, use tools to help you schedule posts and carefully edit your content ideas. This will help you save time and optimize how often your posts reach their targeted audience. Popular marketing tools for scheduling and editing include the following.
Buffer
Buffer is a social media management platform that allows you to schedule posts, including text and photos, across multiple social media platforms in advance. It also provides analytics to help construction companies track their social media performance.
Canva
Canva is a graphic design platform that can help you create visually appealing social media posts, even if you don’t have design experience. It offers templates, fonts, and graphics that you can use to create professional-looking content for social media marketing for construction companies.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another social media management tool that allows you to schedule and publish posts, as well as monitor and respond to comments and messages. It also provides analytics to help you measure your social media performance.
And more
Using these tools can help you streamline your social media marketing efforts and ensure that your content is visually appealing and effectively targeted to your audience.
Overall, social media marketing, like traditional advertising, can be a powerful tool for contractors, construction businesses, and many construction companies to establish their brand, reach new customers, and engage with their audience.
By developing a clear strategy, creating engaging content, and using the right tools, you can grow your social media presence and ultimately drive more business to your construction company.
Leverage customer feedback
Customer reviews can be invaluable for improving your construction business.
Not only do they provide insight into how customers view your services, but they can also give you valuable feedback to help inform your marketing strategies.
For example, if you notice that a certain element of your construction project is particularly unpopular among customers, you can work on improving it or even discontinue it altogether.
On the other hand, positive customer reviews can be shared and highlighted via social media to demonstrate the quality of your work. And what employee doesn’t like to hear positive feedback from a good review?
Listening to customer feedback is a great way to make sure that you’re meeting their needs and providing them with the best possible experience while also increasing customer loyalty in the long-term.
Highlight client reviews and testimonials
Sharing customer success stories is an effective way to build trust with potential customers. Try highlighting different customers who have had positive experiences with your construction services or products.
You could also feature interviews with customers who have completed projects you’ve worked on and ask them to describe their experience working with you.
Develop a system to monitor performance and track progress
After you have implemented your social media marketing strategy and started to receive customer feedback, it’s important to monitor your performance and track your progress. This will help you to identify what’s working well and what’s not, so you can make adjustments to your strategy as needed.
There are several key metrics you should track, which follow.
Engagement
This includes likes, comments, shares, and any other interaction with your social media content. Tracking engagement will help you understand what type of relevant content is resonating with your customer base.
Reach
This measures how many people have seen your content, either through organic search or paid advertising. Unlike traditional marketing, it is much easier to measure the success of your social media campaigns.
Tracking reach will give you an indication of how well your strategy is performing and whether it’s reaching the right audience: your target customer.
Leads/Sales
The ultimate goal of any social media campaign is to generate leads or sales. Tracking the number of leads and conversions from your campaigns will give you an indication of how well your efforts are paying off. You should also track your conversation rate. Conversion rate measures how many people take a desired action, such as filling out a contact form or making a purchase, after seeing your social media content.
It’s important to monitor these metrics on a regular basis in order to refine your strategy and ensure that your campaigns are achieving their desired results.
By regularly tracking these metrics, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your social media marketing strategy and improve your overall performance.
For a consult on how to improve social media for contractors, look no further than Take the Stairs
Social media marketing can be a powerful tool for construction businesses to improve brand recognition, generate new leads, and engage with old customers.
By developing a clear strategy, creating engaging content, leveraging customer feedback, and monitoring your performance, you can effectively use social media to drive more business to your construction company.
Take The Stairs is a Nashville-based digital marketing agency for construction businesses. Our expert team can help you develop a customized social media strategy that meets your unique needs and helps you stand out in a crowded market.
Contact us today to learn more and take your construction business to the next level!
