Establishing and maintaining an online presence may seem like wizardry, and something construction companies never need worry about, but its proven: it actually works.
After the turbulent last 18 months with COVID-19, even the most traditional industries have had to go online. With the very 21st century world we now live in, where you can order a sushi platter at the click of a button, it is more important than ever to ensure your digital marketing strategy is spot on.
A study found only 0.4% of architects picked trade shows as the place that they would search for a new product, so the real question stands, do you want to keep with the times and watch your construction business boom, or lose valuable customers to your competitors?
Having a website is detrimental to any modern construction company’s marketing strategy. A whopping 30% of customers wouldn’t even consider a company if it doesn’t have a website.
Is it really worth losing almost a third of your customers for something so easily effective?
It may seem daunting, or you may think your brochure style website is sufficient to reach and convert your marketing leads to customers, but that my friend, is where you would be wrong. Your website should act as your extra salesperson, acting as a marketing funnel to convert browsers to become your next customers.
Think: is your current website easy to manoeuvre, with clear, consistent branding and easily accessible contact details? If the answer is ‘no’ you may need to take a look at updating your website to increase interaction, and most importantly, gain your customers complete faith.
Here are some fundamental components your construction website absolutely needs in order to blossom:
Have a look at your competitors’ websites, what are they doing that you’re not? How could you find something that no one else is doing in order to reach your perfect customers? I’m not saying copy every word, but it is good to get a feel for the market and what you can do to boost your customer base.
Those dreaded words; social media. I know it may seem a million miles away from construction, but utilising it correctly is an extremely cheap and effective way to increase your customer outreach. With 69% of all adults using social media, it is the latest evolutionary stage in construction marketing.
LinkedIn is a highly valued B2B platform, connecting businesses based on their interests, and enticing them with your engaging posts. Your next customer could be one connection away!
And your customers aren’t the only ones, 75% of all construction companies already use social media for their marketing strategy. If you haven’t already, go and set up your company’s social media account!
Establish your social media account with relevant and engaging content. You want to be present without bombarding people with posts and information. If you’re selling a product, present the end result, jump on trends like ‘before and afters’ and satisfying videos for that wow factor. You don’t want to get on social media just to blend in with the crowd.
Ultimately it is the case studies, the behind the scenes and testimonials that sell not only your product, but your culture and brand. By rotating the visual content that you post in an informative and light-hearted way, you are 55% more likely to be remembered by customers after three days. By using the tool ‘ritetag’ you can identify and implement relevant hashtags, already speeding up your marketing funnel, reaching your future customers for free and more quickly.
Use analytics! Most social media platforms give access to analytics so you can see how many people are viewing, sharing and engaging with your posts. A vital aid is integrating your social media with your CRM so you can immediately observe key data information to maximise your effectiveness.
With website creation and a solid social media presence in mind, it is imperative you don’t just let your website sit there gathering dust. With 98% of architects preferring to research their building products online, you simply cannot afford to be losing vital SEO. By keeping it up to date with relevant blogs and targeted key words, you will soon see your website moving its way up the Google rankings.
TOP TIP: ensure to integrate your key words into your titles and subheadings as this is what Google looks at most.
When you save your images that you use, be sure to name them with the key words too, as this makes up a third of the search for key words, an easy way to begin your move to the top!
‘I have the budget, so why not use PPC?’ 80% of users ignore paid ads that appear in search results, so not only could it result in a big splash of the budget, it is likely to be less effective in the long term than SEO.
‘I don’t have the time to implement SEO and publish regular blogs, I’d rather get out there and speak to people about my product!’. Traditional marketing strategies typically see a conversion rate of 1.7% into sales, in stark contrast to 14.6% for SEO. If you’re not already jumping onto the algorithm bandwagon, it is a key opportunity to improve your website engagement and ultimately bring you more revenue. You need to ensure your product is known and being considered during the research phase. Put simply, if you don’t appear on their first page of google search, your product can never be the outcome of the research process.
If you are unsure or just not sure where to start with maximising your construction marketing capability, there are many options for outsourcing your marketing to leave you to what you do best, construction. When researching for an external construction marketing agency, ensure you know what they specialise in and if they are results driven so that you can make an informed decision for the best interests of your company.
At Insynth we deliver a predictable flow of leads, customers, and specifications for building product brands through our inbound marketing approach, proven to reach a technically demanding audience.
We use the latest marketing techniques such as construction inbound marketing, to equip building product companies to grow sustainability in this era of digital transformation.
As the only HubSpot certified agency to major in construction marketing. We have a proven formula of bringing a variety of functionalities together including CRM Implementation, Web Design, Sales Automation, SEO, and Email Marketing to achieve your ultimate aim: Growing your business and gaining new specifiers and customers.
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