Should your construction business be on Twitter?
This is a great question and one I hear a lot from construction companies I speak to – who’ve often been told it’s the place to be if they want more business.
However, to answer this question fully, we have to bear in mind a few things first.
In this article, I’ll take a closer look at what makes Twitter a good platform for your business, and hopefully you’ll be able to decide if Twitter is the social media network for you.
The statistics
When surveyed, 83% of construction companies planned to increase social media activity.
However, that doesn’t automatically mean you should take to Twitter, or any other specific social media platform.
The best step is to first take a look at the facts:
- 15 million people in UK use Twitter
- Two thirds of Twitter users are under 34 years of age
- 51% of Twitter users are women and 49% are male.
- According to adweek only 26% of consumers use Twitter.
Does your buyer persona fit with the stats above?
Now, let’s move on to understanding your buyer personas.
Understanding your buyer personas
Your buyer persona is all about understanding your audience. Are they homeowners or businesses? Do they spend much time on Twitter?
If your target market is mainly under 34 years old, the stats seem to indicate that Twitter may be a good idea.
This is why you need to understand who you are trying to reach before you go ahead and dedicate a lot of time to building up your Twitter following.
An opportunity to engage
Twitter, or any social media site for that matter, is no place to start shouting your sales messages. If you do this, the chances are you will see no success at all.
However, it is a good way for you to engage – as long as you only engage when you have something to add.
For example someone may have a particular issue related to construction that you could answer. This would be a great opportunity to engage with them and be helpful by answering their question.
This builds trust and you will be seen as an authority.
Can Twitter generate leads and sales?
I’m sure the reason you are considering using Twitter is that you think it might be able to help you get more sales.
Twitter can indeed lead to your business growing sales, but I don’t believe it will on its own. It needs to be part of a biggert strategy.
Why? Well, Twitter is a great way to attract people to your website to read interesting and helpful content that relates to their challenges.
This in turn can lead to more leads and sales. Inbound marketing is a more holistic approach to marketing and social media is an important part of that.
If all else fails, listen
If for no other reason than Twitter can be a great way to listen to your customers and help you to understand their challenges.
This in turn helps you to provide a better level of service, create content that they will find helpful, and build a more detailed picture of who they are.
Conclusion
Before you rush into using Twitter, first identify if your target market uses it. If they do, then try and listen to them and engage when you have some value to add.
Twitter can be a good source of leads and sales, but it’s not for everyone, so I’d recommend testing its effectiveness and using it to drive traffic to your website where people can find content that is helpful to them.
Now, I have a little job for you. Go onto Twitter and do a search for a term related to your business.
What results did you get back? Let me know in the comments below.