Are you still trying to work out how to distance your construction business from the cowboys?
It’s an ongoing concern for many businesses that approach me here at Stargazer; that image of the lazy builder or joiner who cuts corners and deliberately rips off honest customers. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and can do a huge amount of damage to the construction industry’s reputation as a whole.
Perhaps you’ve even given quotes to customers who’ve been scammed in the past, and have been wary about doing business with you for that very reason – hell, you may even have lost business because you couldn’t demonstrate trust.
In this blog post, I’m going to tell you how to distance yourself from cowboys once and for all – with inbound marketing.
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is a relatively new marketing methodology that includes elements such as:
- Content marketing
- Email marketing and nurturing
- SEO
- Social media
- Website optimisation
And more!
The basis of inbound marketing focuses on creating helpful, quality content that answers the questions your customers are asking on a daily basis. By addressing their key challenges, concerns and paint points, you help them along their buyer’s journey faster – so they can make a more informed decision.
Your offline sales process works, but buyer behaviour has changed dramatically in recent years. People do their own research. The reason inbound marketing is so successful is that it essentially changes the way you speak to potential customers online, so that instead of chasing them, they come to you.
TIP: Find out more in my blog post ‘5 Reasons Why Construction Companies Need Inbound Marketing‘.
So, you may be thinking; how will inbound marketing make your construction company stand out from the cowboys?
5 ways inbound can help
Below, I’m going to demonstrate five ways that inbound marketing can help build trust so that you leave the cowboys in the dust.
1. Let customers come to you
If you build it, they will come. In this case, I’m talking about a blog. It’s the first step to creating helpful, quality content that your potential customers will love, and by posting regular blogs using the questions or phrases they’re typing into Google, chances are your customers will start coming to YOU rather than the other way around.
And let’s face it, that’s not what you’d expect from a cowboy. Usually they’re the ones knocking on doors or cold calling with super cheap deals and sketchy on the details, am I right?
2. Establish trust early on
By writing helpful, unbiased and practical content WITHOUT TRYING TO SELL, you’re essentially building up your visitors’ trust early on – probably long before they pick up the phone to speak to you.
If you’re taking the time to publish friendly, engaging blog posts, videos, infographics and more on a regular basis, then they’ll start to even feel like they know you. Just try to keep it positive – especially if you’re posting about competitors, make sure you’re unbiased without slagging anyone off, or it might have the opposite effect.
3. Build authority by demonstrating expertise
Sure, anyone can start up a blog, can’t they? But after reading a few blog posts, it’s easy to tell if someone really knows what they’re talking about rather than just bluffing their way through. That’s why you have to demonstrate your expertise by being an authority figure in your field.
Talk about industry secrets, give practical tips and advice, and explain how long a job takes and which factors can affect it. Answer the tough questions that no-one else is prepared to answer, such as cost (that’s usually the big one), the common problems with your services, and what your competitors are offering instead.
4. Get more leads that are ready to buy
This often takes a lot of my clients by surprise, but once you start creating the regular content mentioned above, post it on social media and throw email nurturing into the bargain, you’ll find you’ll get a lot more leads coming through that have spent weeks doing their research and know exactly what they want.
In fact, many of them might just call up to get a quote and arrange the job – no selling required! These ‘ready to buy’ leads are a huge benefit of inbound marketing, and another great way to distance yourself from the cowboys. You’re essentially letting the content speak for you.
5. Customers know exactly what to expect
Another pleasant side-effect of inbound is that when customers do finally come on-board, the chances are that they’ve read through all of your amazing content and know what to expect from your construction business.
Things like:
- The type of materials you’re going to use
- How long the job will take
- How much the job will cost and any factors that might affect it
- The type of service they can expect from your employees
So, they won’t be left in the dark (unlike with most cowboys) and won’t be in for any nasty surprises that you’ll have to explain to them later on – it’s a win-win!
Conclusion
There are plenty of reasons a reputable construction company would want to distance themselves from cowboys – especially as they can significantly hurt your business. That’s where inbound marketing comes in!
Above are five main reasons inbound marketing can help you distance your construction company from cowboys, so you end up with more delighted, informed customers who are ready to buy.
Still feeling unsure about inbound marketing as a solution? Feel free to contact me directly or leave a comment on this blog post – I promise I’ll answer you!