Marketing is a universal need for businesses of all shapes and sizes and across all industries. However, while marketing may be easy for some brands (i.e., retailers and food service), it can be trickier for others. For example, when running a construction company, it can feel challenging to know how and where to market your services.
Fortunately, we’ve compiled five winning strategies to help your business reach new clients, close new deals, and provide a stable foundation for years to come.
How to Market a Construction Company?
Even though construction marketing may seem unique on the outside, the fundamental aspects of advertising still apply. Those include elements like:
- Audience – Who are you trying to reach? Are these developers, businesses, or governments?
- Unique Value Proposition (UVP) – What makes your company stand out from the competition? What can you offer that other firms can’t?
- Channels – Which marketing channels are more likely to reach your audience?
Once you have those components figured out, it’s a lot easier to determine which marketing strategy will work best. It’s also imperative to understand your strengths and weaknesses as a company. For example, what happens if you get calls from multiple high-end clients? Do you have the staff or infrastructure to take on various projects simultaneously?
Thankfully, you can use your weaknesses as an advantage. If you are a smaller company that doesn’t do big projects like high-rises or stadiums, you can focus on a particular niche (i.e., single-family homes). Conversely, if you’re a larger company that can’t afford to take on small projects, you can focus your attention on big clients and direct smaller offers to your competitors.
After working out these details, you can start building a marketing strategy using these five options as a template.
1. Become Easy-to-Find With a User-Friendly Website
These days, all businesses need a high-quality website to attract new customers. Even if you get new projects via word of mouth, prospects will still want to do more research to determine if you’re a good fit for their needs.
While it’s never been easier to build a website yourself, it’s often best to outsource the process to a professional web developer. Not only can the entire site be constructed faster, but it will also work better and be more user-friendly. Plus, most developers will offer multiple designs, so you can choose the one you like best before making a final decision.
What should a construction company website include?
As a construction company, your pitch to clients is much different than that of other businesses. Typically, you want to reassure prospects that you offer high-quality services at reasonable rates. Even smaller projects can be a massive investment for those funding them, so the more you can establish your expertise, the better.
With that in mind, here are some core components to include in your construction website:
- About – Dive into the company’s history and why you do what you do. Talk about your biggest milestones and the projects you’re most proud of. It can also be fun to add some tidbits and factoids to this page. For example, what’s the oldest construction project that’s still standing? How many tons of materials did you use on your largest project? These details can help draw prospects in.
- Testimonials – We’ll discuss how to use testimonials for marketing later on, but it’s best to have them front and center on your website. Even if you’re still new to the industry, you want to showcase positive feedback from previous clients. This will instill confidence in new prospects and motivate them to call.
- Gallery – A written testimonial is great, but clients want to see the finished project. Galleries of your previous work are a fantastic way to show off your skills and capabilities. Also, don’t just show the final results. It’s best to show different stages of the process, so clients know what to expect. You can even include project timelines for reference.
- Contact – Typically, the best way to close a construction project is to speak face-to-face. Barring that, the best option is to speak over the phone. Make sure that prospects know how and when to contact your business. It’s also a good idea to put a floating “contact us” button on the bottom of the page to make the process even easier.
2. Geotarget Clients With an SEO Strategy
Geotargeting is when you target a potential client based on their location. For example, if someone is looking for “construction companies in Los Angeles,” your ad may pop up if you’re nearby.
While geotargeting is a valuable marketing strategy for retailers and restaurants, it requires a bit more creativity when customizing it for construction companies. For example, if someone is hungry, they may go to the closest restaurant that sells the food they want. However, proximity and convenience are not necessarily the top traits a client looks for in a construction company.
That said, here are some creative ways to utilize geotargeting to your advantage:
- Highlight Previous Projects – If someone is looking for a construction company in your city, you can pop up with addresses of buildings you’ve constructed in the area. This way, a prospect can visit that building and see your handiwork up close.
- Show Local Pride – If you’ve been in business in the same city or state for a long time, you can promote that in geotargeted ads with local flair. For example, you can use local landmarks or terms to show that you’ve been around a while.
- Show Off Your Supply Chain – Even though you’re based in a particular city, where do you get lumber from? What about gravel and concrete? If you work with local suppliers, you can highlight those partnerships in geotargeted ads.
In addition to creating customized ads based on a specific location, you must also optimize your website and landing pages for that area. If you have multiple offices in different areas, make sure to create unique pages and ads for each one. For example, if you have an office in Atlanta and another one in Savannah, you don’t want clients getting them mixed up.
3. Raise Awareness With Content Marketing
Content marketing means creating unique, compelling content and sharing it across various platforms to build buzz around your business. Content can take many forms, including:
- Blog Posts
- Social Media Posts
- Surveys and Quizzes
- Video Clips
- Podcasts
- Infographics
- Images
Realistically, you should create content in multiple media and share it across different channels. For example, you can publish a single video on TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. Similarly, you can post a blog article on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Best of all, when it comes to written content, sites like WriterAccess make it easier than ever to deliver high-quality results to your audience. You can tap into a vast network of experienced writers to curate content that builds awareness and increases conversions. Our two-week free trial can help you test the waters to verify the quality of content before launching a full campaign.
What types of content work best for construction companies?
Knowing that you need marketing content is one thing. Knowing what kind of content will generate leads and drive conversions is another. Part of the challenge is that you’re typically marketing to other businesses or governments. So, a viral campaign of TikTok videos may not deliver the right messaging for your ideal prospect.
Here are some content ideas that can work instead:
- Time-Lapse Videos – Show new projects from start to finish where clients can see the building taking shape in a matter of minutes.
- Employee Interviews – Have some of your top workers discuss what they like about the job and their favorite projects.
- Industry News and Trends – Show off your insider knowledge about different trends within the industry. You can also interview other experts in the field to gather insight.
- Infographics – Blend statistics with colorful graphics to illustrate what it takes to get a project off the ground.
- Quizzes – Engage prospects by quizzing them on what they want in a dream construction project.
- Pop Culture Construction Breakdowns – How long would it take to build Cinderella’s castle from scratch? How much Earth would need to be moved to build the underground facility in Resident Evil? These kinds of exercises show that you know what you’re talking about but aren’t afraid to have some fun.
4. Go for the Big Fish With Account-Based Marketing
Typically, when advertising your company, you want to target multiple clients at once hoping that one or more of them will pay attention and call you for a quote. With account-based marketing, however, you flip the script, so to speak. Instead of creating content and waiting for clients to come to you, you pick an ideal client and promote your services to them.
This strategy can be hugely beneficial when done correctly, but it also hinges on your prospect closing a deal with your business. If they decline, it can feel like you’ve wasted time and resources. While you can repurpose most of the materials you created for the campaign, it’s hard to recoup all the losses.
That said, account-based marketing is often lucrative enough to try, especially if you already have a few companies in mind. The basic process works like this:
First, the marketing and/or sales team needs to figure out who to talk to at the target company. LinkedIn is a great resource, but there are other sites available as well. Also, the target prospect may have an index listing of different executives, complete with contact information for each one.
Next, you’ll have to develop a sales pitch. The details of this pitch will depend on the type of project you’re hoping to land. For example, let’s say you’re targeting a development company that specializes in apartment buildings. Your pitch could be to build a new project on a lucrative tract of land close to the city. Or, maybe you know of a condemned building that could work as a new housing project.
When developing the sales pitch, make sure to address core objections. These objections can include elements like:
- Cost – Typically, the best way to offset this concern is to relay how good of an investment the project is. Be transparent with a cost breakdown and highlight the use of data-driven tools like geofence time tracking or project management tools for accurate cost estimation.
- Timeframe – While you would rather not promise something you can’t deliver, you can come up with different timelines and explain the details of each one.
- Other Contracts – Maybe your prospect company already works with another construction firm. If you can find out which one, you can address how your business is better. Otherwise, you can lean into your unique value propositions and put them front and center.
Once you have all of your pitch details ready, your team reaches out to the prospect and tries to schedule a meeting. Ideally, the prospect will accept and hear your pitch. However, if they decline right away, that doesn’t mean you should close the account. Instead, you can hold on to your pitch and reach out again later. You can also make sure to promote your other marketing campaigns, so individuals at the company see your materials.
Overall, account-based marketing can be time-consuming, but it’s often worth the effort.
5. Collect Testimonials and Build Killer Success Cases
As we mentioned, testimonials should be featured prominently on your website. The primary purpose of client testimonials is to instill confidence in your leads, so they’re more willing to close a deal.
When soliciting testimonials, it’s best to have a list of questions that your client can answer. Some of those questions can include:
- What did you like most about working with us?
- Did our team meet or exceed your expectations?
- What could we have improved upon?
- Would you use our firm again for future projects?
- How satisfied are you with the results of your project?
By having targeted questions, it’s easier to get information that will appeal to new prospects. If a client just says you were great, that doesn’t provide any specifics. However, if they say you were great because you were ahead of schedule and came in under budget, that sounds fantastic to a prospective customer.
Similarly, video testimonials are an excellent way to convey more information. Plus, you can use the video for marketing purposes and share it across different channels.
Along with testimonials, it helps to create case studies around previous projects.
What to include in a construction case study
A case study is an in-depth analysis of a particular project. Case studies are fantastic for marketing because they give more insight to prospects and allow you to showcase all of your best features. When building a case study for marketing purposes, try to include these elements:
- Project Goals – What did your client envision when starting the project? How were you able to achieve those goals? Also, mention if those goals shifted during construction and why.
- Project Timeline – What was the original construction timeline? Did you meet your deadlines or finish ahead of schedule? If you were behind schedule, provide insight into why.
- Materials Used – Where did you source the materials, and how were they applied during construction? Did you use any sustainable materials or green design elements?
- Unique Features – Were you able to create any unique elements within the building? What makes them unique?
- Challenges and Obstacles – What challenges did you have to overcome during the project, and how did you overcome them? In many cases, prospects want to know that you can adapt to setbacks.
- Gallery – Show the construction process from start to finish. You can even include schematics and designs, if applicable (or allowed). Also, make sure to show the building in use. Static shots of an empty building are okay, but it’s better to see how it’s used.
Market Your Construction Company With Rock Content
Marketing your construction company doesn’t have to be an overwhelming chore. While you may be an expert in how to put a building up, you may find yourself struggling to come up with blog posts and video ideas. Fortunately, that’s where Rock Content comes in. Our creative content cloud offers everything you need to get your business off the ground. From building a sleek new website with Stage to developing interactive content with Ion, we have you covered. We also know how to appeal to your clients, so you can close more deals and supercharge your bottom line. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, get started with Rock Content.
