The Contractor Marketing Guide
If you’re wondering how to better promote your contractor business and get more leads, you’re not alone. Home services, remodeling, and new construction are in high demand, and hundreds of new contractors are entering the workforce every month. How can you stand out from the crowd and create a profitable business?
A robust, clever contractor marketing strategy is crucial to your success. You could rely on word-of-mouth advertising as you build your base of loyal customers, but in such a competitive environment, that’s a dangerous approach.
Here’s why you need to create a marketing plan for your construction company so that you can overcome your competitors and book your ideal clients every month.
There are many contractors who want to know the best marketing strategies for their business. In this blog post, we’ll help you learn what they are. We will discuss how contractor marketing has evolved over time and give you some tips on staying up-to-date with current trends in digital marketing.
WHAT IS CONTRACTOR MARKETING AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Contractor marketing is the process of reaching potential clients with your company’s products and services. It has evolved over time to include a wider range of tactics, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, local listings management, content creation, and more. Understanding contractor digital marketing helps you create compelling messaging for various audiences that will inspire your potential customer to take action.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: SO WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL MARKETING?
There are many benefits to digital marketing:
- It’s inexpensive. You can reach a large audience with little or no cost
- Using your target audience in your marketing campaign is easy than ever before.
- Content and messages don’t wear out as quickly in this day of content overload on social media channels, email newsletters, etc.
- It works while you’re sleeping
- It’s important to understand that contractor digital marketing is different than traditional marketing. The best practices for contractors include a wider range of tactics, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, local listings management, content creation and more. Understanding contractor digital marketing helps you create compelling messaging for various audiences that will inspire your potential client base.
- Click to read about how digital marketing helps landscaping companies
HERE ARE SOME AREAS OF CONTRACTOR MARKETING TO FOCUS ON
While there are many areas to focus on, it’s important to note that contractor marketing is not just about advertising. Marketing strategies are often the best way for contractors to get more leads so they can grow their business and reach new customers.
” You know your value. But how can you prove it to potential clients?”
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY
For one thing, digital marketing strategy should be designed to help you get more leads for your business. Why? Because getting new leads is the best way for a contractor to grow their business and reach new customers who might not have heard about them before. Make sure you’re thinking of innovative ways that your target market will respond favorably to in order to create effective marketing campaigns.
For example, if your target market is homeowners in a certain zip code, then you might want to consider advertising on sites that are frequented by them. If they’re looking for contractors locally while using the internet or browsing through social media, there’s a good chance that you’ll be one of their top options – and therefore get more leads.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
(SEO) Search Engine Optimization is important to your general contractor or construction company because it’s what will push you to the top of search engine results. These days, with so much competition for potential customers and clients out there, any edge that you can get is a good one. The more people who know about your business – and find you through keyword searches in their browser or on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
SEO without keyword research is just guess work. The goal is to find the best words that people are using when they search for what you offer and then use those same keywords in your online marketing materials, website content, social media posts – anything and everything.
On-Page SEO Best Practices:
- Use title tags on blog posts with SEO keywords used throughout the text of each post so Google can understand what the content is about.
- Use keywords in the tags for images on blog posts so that Google knows which image relates to what content.
- In a website, use headers with SEO keywords used throughout the text of each section.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: LOCAL SEO
Local SEO is also important for your contracting business. By targeting a specific geographic area, contractors can have greater visibility in search engine results for that location.
Part of Local SEO is local directories and citations. Local directories are websites that list businesses and other information about the area, while citations refer to links with your business name in them.
Citations come from different sources like Yelp reviews or newspaper articles, which can link back to a contractor’s website for further information on their services. Many of these sites also have social media buttons that allow you to embed them on your site, so that customers can follow you or share your information.
It’s important to keep in mind that some directories may not list every contractor on their site, but they will usually link out to other sources for contractors who are unavailable.
“Local SEO is all about increasing search visibility for businesses that serve their communities face-to-face.”
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: GOOGLE MY BUSINESS
Even construction companies should have a Google My Business listing. Google My Business will help you rank higher in the local search results for more targeted queries.
- Create a free account with Google, and then create your company’s business listing to include things like your address, phone number, hours of operation and any additional information that would be helpful to potential customers looking for contractors near them.
- And then add your website to your Google My Business listing.
- Google My Business will help you rank higher in the local search results for more targeted queries like, “contractor near me.” . This is just one of many tools that can be leveraged by contractors to keep their digital marketing on point and up-to-date with all the latest trends.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to include social media in your online marketing strategy.
- Create an active social media presence on a platform that is most relevant to your target market, and take advantage of the site’s features.
- Post high quality content at regular intervals.
- Engage with other users through comments or sharing their posts.
- Respond promptly when you receive messages from followers or potential customers/clients.
- Make sure your Facebook Business page is set up to allow your followers to see what you’re doing.
- Take advantage of Facebook Lead Ads and create an ad targeted at customers/clients who are searching for contractors near them, or have just moved into a certain area.
As part of your contractor or construction company marketing strategy, you should have a Facebook page for your company.
You can create posts that are relevant to the type of business you’re in (construction or contractor marketing). You also need to post updates at least once or twice per day depending on what kind of audience you want to reach.
For instance, if you work with many clients you can share past projects and testimonials.
“Over 90 million small businesses use Facebook and its related products.”
Don’t forget about Linkedin!
You can use Linkedin to promote your business, get referrals for new leads and find new customers in certain areas.
It’s also a good way to establish yourself as an expert. You can list the types of projects you have completed- this is valuable information if people are looking for someone who has experience with their type of project.
“With more than 690 million members, more and more brands are using LinkedIn marketing to network, connect, and sell.”
Take all of those images and add them to your account.
Use hashtags to show people what you specialize in, but don’t spam the tags or post too many pictures at once- this will just annoy followers.
You can share posts that tell a story and include images from past projects. People love looking through these types of albums because it gives them an idea of what they can have done.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: WEBSITE DESIGN
Your contractor website is the first impression your potential customers will get of you.
- Your general contractor website should be easy to navigate.
- Use a professional design that is mobile friendly.
- Be fast to load.
- Be the center piece for all of your marketing campaigns.
- Have your contact information.
- Use Responsive Web Design.
- Include images, videos, and testimonials in order to provide as much information about your company as possible.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: GENERATE LEADS
Generating leads is the most important thing you can do as a contractor.
A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in your services, but not yet made contact with you for more information.
Leads will come from many different avenues- advertising campaigns, conversations with current clients and prospects, networking events, referrals by family and friends.
CONTRACTOR MARKETING: EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to generate leads and grow your business.
The best email addresses are from people who have shown interest in what you offer, whether by visiting your site or contacting you for more information on a service.
In order to attract interested prospects via email campaigns, create newsletters and lead magnets that will make them want to sign up for your newsletter.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to get people who are interested in what you offer on the path to becoming a customer- even after they have shown interest by filling out an inquiry form or visiting your site! That’s where email marketing comes into play.
Email campaigns will help you convert more of those people who are interested in your services, but don’t end up following through on it.
PARTNER WITH BOLD Contractor
It’s time to stop thinking about marketing as a luxury or something only big companies need. You need digital marketing for your landscaping contractor or general construction business, too! Whether you’re looking to attract more customers and grow your customer base with SEO-friendly content that helps people find you online; drive traffic from social media by optimizing posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn; or increase sales conversions through email campaigns like lead nurturing emails and automated drip campaigns; get found in the local search results pages (aka maps) so potential clients can see what kinds of services you offer near them—we have everything covered. To help out even further we also provide affordable design assistance if needed.
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We'll help you grow your business with an effective website, search engine optimization (SEO), and the services outlined in our Bold Contractor Marketing Blueprint.