Are you looking for reliable ways to market your construction business?
Having come from a construction background myself, I know that it’s more than likely you’ve worked hard to build your construction business up over the years – just as I’ve done with Stargazer. And I want to help.
That’s why I’ve really sat down and thought about the biggest lessons I’ve learned from construction marketing over the years, so I can share this valuable information with you – you never know, you might learn a thing or two.
So, without further ado, here are the top five lessons I’ve learned from construction marketing:
1. People do their own research
I probably don’t have to tell you that buyer behaviour has changed. People are now taking to the internet to do their own research, and in turn they’re becoming more informed about your products and services when they do approach you.
What’s more, they no longer want to be sold to. So, what’s the best way to attract this new type of customer? By giving them all the information and resources they need to learn more about the solutions you offer. But more about that below.
2. They don’t care about your business
Okay, that sounds a bit harsh. What I really mean, is that your customers only really care about finding a solution to their problems. NOT how many awards your business has won, or why you started it in the first place. They want to know how you can help them.
You see, most people who enter your website are on a journey, and that journey starts with awareness. For instance, they might not even be sure if your solution is right for them at all – perhaps they don’t know if they want a home extension or an annex. How will they know unless they get the information they need?
And trust me, if they can’t find that information from you, they’re going to find it elsewhere. So, instead of another section on how great your company is and how they can get a quote, what you really need is to fill your website with useful resources to cater to those potential customers who are hungry for information.
3. If you build it, they will come
In this instance, I’m talking about a blog. It’s one of the best places you can post a wealth of quality content about the products and services you use. This is called content marketing, and it doesn’t necessary have to be written content. It could be videos, blogs, infographics, slideshares and more.
But wait a minute, how will you know what to talk about? Well, it all comes down to answering the real questions your customers are asking on a daily basis. In fact, if you can use the same key words and phrases that your ideal customer is typing into Google, you’ll start to build more organic traffic over time.
You can also share and promote this amazing content on social media in order to get even more traffic to your blog – just be sure to include sharing buttons on the blog itself, and write engaging social media posts to help draw people in.
4. Help them and they’ll trust you
The whole idea behind your content is to be as helpful as possible. This not only arms your customers with all of the relevant information they need to make a purchase decision, it also establishes their trust early on.
Like I said above, it’s about answering their biggest questions, and doing so in a helpful, impartial way. In fact, if you can answer the important questions your competitors shy away from, you’ll be putting yourself head and shoulders above others in your industry.
Some examples of the questions you should be answering include:
- How long will the job take?
- Which materials will you use?
- What are the common problems with this solution?
- How much does it cost?
- What are your competitors offering?
The last two may sound particularly tough to answer, but trust me, these are the questions your customers really want to know.
5. Not everyone’s ready to buy
If you’re already spending time qualifying your leads (and you should), that doesn’t mean that they’re all necessarily going to be ready to buy straight away. Now, that doesn’t mean you turn your back on them. Instead, you should nurture those leads by providing them with helpful, valuable information.
This is called email nurturing or lead nurturing, and is designed to help guide those leads that aren’t quite ready to buy yet, further down their buyer’s journey. For more information, read ‘The Four Lead Stages Every Business Should Know’.
Final thoughts
Well, there we have it. I’ve really enjoyed sharing my five most important construction marketing lessons with you – I just hope you’re going to find them helpful and that you’ll be able to put them to good use when marketing your own business.
The above lessons I’ve shared with you are no secret – in fact, it’s all part of the inbound marketing methodology, which you can read more about in my blog post ‘5 Reasons Why Construction Companies Need Inbound Marketing‘.
If you have any questions about anything I’ve talked about in this blog post, feel free to drop me a message in the comments – I promise to answer!