Are you looking for new construction marketing ideas to help grow your business?
As a seasoned construction marketer, I’m always curious to find out the latest marketing tips and advice to help my clients keep up with the competition – and you should be, too.
That’s why I decided to put together some of the best new ideas for construction marketing out there – that’s right, I’ve scoured the internet so you don’t have to!
So, sit back, relax and make yourself comfortable, as this blog comes fully loaded with some fantastic resources you can use to help you along the way.
1. Share your expert knowledge
Perhaps you’re already blogging on a regular basis, but if not, then you should be. But not only should you be blogging, in particular you should addressing the big issues no-one’s talking about, and really showing that you know your stuff. Let me explain.
Firstly, there are always going to be subjects that you perhaps want to skirt around (such as price, problems, or what competitors are doing) – however, these could be the topics your customers want to know the most! In fact, they’ll probably be searching for answers, so they’ll be happy they’ve found someone willing to share.
TIP: For more on these topics, read what marketing expert Marcus Sheridan has to say on what he calls ‘The Big Five’, and why you should be answering them.
By addressing these ‘elephants in the room’, you’ll be doing what hardly anyone else in your industry is, and that will also help establish trust with your visitors early on – an especially important thing when it comes to construction, as they’ll need to know you can deliver on projects.
Also, going into depth and sharing insights and industry knowledge may seem unnecessary at times, but it helps to establish your authority. If you address the challenges, issues and hot topics in the construction industry, you can even become what’s known as a thought leader, and others will start paying attention, too.
2. Stay on track with lead meetings
One of Contractor Dynamics‘ clients are using one of the best ideas I’ve heard for a while, and involves weekly meetings where you and your sales team get together to look at every prospect and lead that’s currently in your sales funnel, and the actions you need to take next.
Doing this allows you to get a better idea of the bigger picture, and make sure no-one falls through the net or gets forgotten about by your sales/marketing teams. You can review where everyone’s at, and mark them as either ‘active’, ‘on hold’, ‘dead’, or various other statuses.
These meetings don’t have to soak up a lot of your time – in fact, they only need to take 15 minutes – but can make a huge difference to your team’s effectiveness when it comes to securing new customers. It can also help you to review your processes, and find any gaps that you haven’t covered.
3. Digital networking – create your own groups
We all know how important networking can be, but what about if you took those great opportunities and put them online? At least, that’s the idea from Digitalux, who suggest you start a social networking group (such as a Facebook or LinkedIn group) and invite other local businesses to join in.
Think about it – you’ll be able to exchange referrals and just generally keep up with all the local business news in your area, without even having to leave the office. A great opportunity comes up (say, Dave’s Construction needs some help completing a job on time), and you’re just a click away!
Social networking groups are fairly easy to set up, and you can make them open or private. You may find other companies may just invite a few new and valuable contacts of their own, and it can also be a great place for getting advice or the low-down on what’s happening in your area.
4. Host an open house and let them come to you
According to Builderslog, hosting an open house (and advertising it to the public) can be a fantastic construction marketing idea to attract new business. You’re basically opening your office to the public, giving them a chance to come in, chat freely, ask questions face-to-face, and see how you work.
It’s such a friendly, welcoming way to meet potential new clients, and it’ll also give them a feel for your company culture and what it might be like to work with you – without any pressure to buy any of your products or services.
You know what else this is great for? Why, acquiring new leads, of course! If you leave an opt-in form for people to fill in – and assuming you’ve already made a good impression – you’ll soon be able to start nurturing them down your sales funnel with helpful, non-salesy email marketing.
Another way to do this is to team up with a few similar local businesses in your area to host a larger event, which means there’ll be more attention, but also potentially more competition – which means you may have to work a little harder to stand out.
5. Test your photography skills with Pinterest
I know that social media photo-sharing platform Pinterest may at first seem like a surprising place for construction businesses, however it’s become one of the best places for you to showcase your projects, tools and materials. After all, Pinterest is all about sharing bright and inspiring images with the world.
And with over 100 million active users and around 2.5 billion monthly page views, why wouldn’t you want a slice of that action? In fact, the Now Marketing Group state that 47% of online consumers have made purchases based on things they’ve viewed on Pinterest.
Stuck for inspiration? Here’s a few construction companies who are already making waves on Pinterest, and you could join them:
For a much more in-depth guide to getting set up with your business Pinterest account, check out my blog ‘Construction Marketing: The Best Tips for Getting Started on Pinterest’. By following these tips, you’ll be up and running in no time!
6. Write an engaging email series
An email series can be a fantastic way to engage your audience – especially if you make them so carefully planned out and entertaining that they’ll be waiting for the next one to arrive in their inbox!
We actually tried something relatively new recently at Stargazer, and wrote a 9-part email series that we’d actually adapted from a story we had written about the journey one of our clients had taken on their route to inbound marketing success.
The idea was that from writing it as more of a story than a guide, and sharing our client’s experiences at each stage of his journey (from initial meetings and set-up, to pitfalls along the way and final results), it would give our construction clients a better idea of what to expect from inbound, and how it might work for them, too.
It was only after writing the ebook that we suddenly had a bit of a lightbulb moment, and thought to ourselves: ‘Hey, wouldn’t this make a fantastic email series, if we broke it up and sent it chapter by chapter?’ — and that’s exactly what we did! We’ve had some great feedback already.
The moral of the story here is if you keep an open mind and think outside the box, you could find some great, unique opportunities to help turn more of your leads into customers. Perhaps you have some really helpful blogs that would work perfectly when linked up in a series, or maybe you could write something completely new.
The possibilities are endless!
7. Offer a ‘Green Audit’ with every quote
Nowadays, it’s never been more important to be ‘green’, which is why offering a green audit when visiting quotes and giving estimates seems like a fantastic idea from ForConstructionPros!
It doesn’t have to involve hours of work, either. It could be as simple as giving a few tips and bits of advice on how your client could be saving energy and making their home or business more sustainable – you can do this in the form of a checklist that covers things such as cavity wall insulation, boilers and other enery saving measures.
As well as this, you can also hand out some valuable information from resources such as Recycle Bank and Friends of the Earth.
Doing this will ensure your prospects won’t forget you in a hurry, and promotes a company culture of sustainability which is really important – especially for the construction industry.
8. Encourage new leads with a referral programme
A referral programme is a cost-effective way to encourage new business by rewarding your existing clients for their referrals – and it doesn’t have to mean putting together a complex points system either.
All it takes is to send your customers a ‘thank you’ card with a voucher for a free meal, or perhaps a £50 coupon to spend at a store of their choice whenever they send a new client in your direction.
Did you know that 92% of respondents trusted referrals from people they knew (via Nielson)? And accordong to the American Marketing Association, offering a reward increases the likelihood of referrals, but the size of the reward does not matter.
You could even go so far as to giving the new client a discount on their project, which provides more of an incentive for your clients to refer their friends, as it feels more like they’re doing THEM a favour, rather than you. Of course, it’s less profit, but if it gets you even just 3 – 5 extra clients a month, it might be worth it!
9. Keep them coming back with re-targeted ads
Ad retargeting is a great way of advertising to all the right people, as it means your ads are only displayed to those who have previously visited your site in the past 30 days. According to marketing pro Neil Patel, your conversion rates could increase dramatically when using this innovative tactic.
For instance, have you ever been looking at something you’d really like to buy, but you haven’t got round to doing it yet? Then, when you go onto Facebook or YouTube, an ad featuring the exact same product and website somehow miraculously shows up, reminding you of your interest? That’s why retargeting works so well.
However, if you do try using retargeted ads, it might be wise to rotate your ads every week to keep things fresh – keep using the same old ad and your ROI could drop back down.
10. Become a YouTube phenomenon
YouTube is a fantastic way to get attention for your construction business, if you do it right. Bear in mind that getting it spot on can be expensive – but it doesn’t have to be.
For instance, some of the best YouTube videos out there for the construction industry contain tips and how-tos that viewers can try at home. They are simple enough to film, and as long as you have a good camera and basic editing software, you’ll be off to a great start!
As you start to build up a following, don’t forget to reply to comments and do video requests, too – perhaps even a Q&A video answering the specific questions of your viewers!
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading our jam-packed blog post full of inspirational new construction marketing ideas, but more importantly, I hope it’s given you some new insights and tips that will help invigorate your marketing, to keep things fresh and exciting.
Here they are in summary:
- Share your expert knowledge
- Stay on track with lead meetings
- Digital networking – create your own groups
- Host an open house and let them come to you
- Test your photography skills with Pinterest
- Write an engaging email series
- Offer a ‘Green Audit’ with every quote
- Encourage new leads with a referral programme
- Keep them coming back re-targeted ads
- Become a YouTube phenomenon
Do you have any specific questions about how to implement some of these construction marketing ideas? Feel free to leave me a comment below – I promise to answer as quickly as possible!