In Australia, in 2021 the construction industry was valued at $165bn by GlobalData. As the industry grows and demand rises, construction companies can broaden their customer base. The challenge is to stay visible in a crowded market, and construction industry marketing achieves this. If you want to know what marketing trends are emerging in the construction sector, keep reading.
6 Reasons Why Construction Industry Marketing Is Important for Growth
Marketing your construction industry is important for growth, as it assists keep your company in a customer’s mind after your current dealings with them are over. These are the six main reasons why marketing matters in the construction industry:
1. Informs People About Your Services
Marketing attracts customers by showing them why they should choose your company over others. Accurate marketing displays how your company’s products and services can benefit your customers. In other words, it educates an audience about what your business can do to meet their needs or solve their problems.
2. Assists You Get To Know Your Audience
Marketing can deliver valuable insights into who your target market is, and what their desires, problems, and needs are. It allows you to track their changing preferences and traits, leading to more accurate personalised advertising. Knowing your audience improves your service to them and can improve their standard of living.
3. Introduces the Company to Your Target Audience
A strategic marketing plan gives potential customers insight into what your business is all about. This isn’t limited to the products and services you offer, but also what the company stands for, and what they believe in. Successful marketing makes your business relatable to potential customers and draws them in.
4. Builds Brand Reputation With Your Target Audience
Reputation is important when establishing a construction business. It determines whether a potential customer trusts you with their business, or goes to your competitors. Marketing establishes your reputation as a brand. This may include the quality of your work and how you deal with customers.
5. Expands the Geographical Reach of Your Construction Business
Marketing is an essential element of growing your construction business as it extends your reach. As more people get to know about your products, services, and reputation for excellence, they trust you with their projects. A growing customer base leads to increased revenue for your enterprise. Marketing is the key to reaching new customers.
6. Generates Qualified Leads for Sales People
A qualified lead is a potential audience who fits the profile of an ideal customer who intends to buy a product or make use of a service. This type of lead is typically sourced by the marketing team and evaluated by the sales team. Good marketing attracts the right potential customers, developing a robust sales pipeline.
Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing
Traditional marketing was the only method of advertising available to construction companies before the advent of the internet. The internet brought digital possibilities with it that didn’t exist before. When it comes to choosing a marketing strategy, consider the needs of the construction company and the desired outcome of marketing endeavours. Here are some of the key types of advertising in each method:
Traditional Marketing Methods
Using traditional marketing limits the ability to reach a specific target market as it relies on using older, outdated marketing channels and tools. There is limited opportunity to personalise messages or offer complex pricing solutions. One of the biggest drawbacks of using only traditional methods is the inability to measure the success of a campaign.
Traditional marketing methods rely on print media, broadcast adverts, direct mailouts, phone marketing, and outdoor advertising such as billboards. Relying solely on traditional methods in the modern world may not give you the results you want. However, when used together with digital marketing methods that are designed to operate with modern technology, traditional methods can still have an effect.
Digital Marketing Methods
Digital marketing methods for construction companies can assist you reach your target audience easily. Using advanced marketing tools and channels, you can connect with your target audience by sending them personalised messages. Digital methods enable you to measure how effective each strategy is. This enables you to adapt your methods for a bigger impact.
One of the benefits of using digital marketing methods is the ability to capture data. The information you receive from your clients and sales patterns can form the basis for decision-making and business strategy.
10 Trends in Marketing for the Construction Industry
Construction marketing trends change as fast as technology develops. Here are 10 construction trends for marketing ideas to consider for your business.
1. Create an Optimised Website
Consumers often refer to a company’s website to find out more about the business before engaging with them. An optimised website includes an ‘about’ page, details and images or videos of your work, contact information, where the business is located, and which areas they service. An appealing website is easy to navigate and can include a blog, testimonials, case studies, live chat, and social media links.
2. Apply SEO Principles to Your Website
There are simple actions you can take to make it easier for search engines to find your website when people are searching for online construction answers. Researching industry-standard keywords and using them throughout your website is a good method to optimise your page to respond to search engines.
3. Establish an Email Marketing Strategy
Email marketing strategies are effective for nurturing leads and converting them into customers. Quality mail-outs that offer valuable information can result in high open and engagement rates. This may be information to address pain points or solves challenges. To begin email marketing, consider:
- creating and growing your email list
- setting-up automated email sequences
- compiling regular newsletters to send out
- making use of videos for demonstrating products or video tours
- sending out surveys or frequently asked construction questions
Building a mailing list is better than relying on growing a following on social media. It prevents you from losing the ability to contact your subscribers should the social media site no longer serve your purposes.
4. Use Content Marketing
Content marketing involves offering high-quality, relevant content on your construction website. As consumers look for answers to their questions, they are drawn to your site by the SEO-optimised web copy or blog content. Browsers may convert to paying customers as they become more familiar with your brand and the solutions you offer.
5. Run Digital Events and Webinars
Digital events and webinars are relatively inexpensive to run and can reach a wide audience. Your content can be tailored to your audience, for example, a B2B event may cover the use of a new product or building technique. An event aimed at homeowners could focus on new trends for building on.
6. Set up Chatbots and Live Chat
Using chatbots and live chat features on your website means your site is responsive to any visitor queries. Chatbots can answer frequently asked questions. They can prompt the visitor with suggestions of what customers typically ask.
7. Request Online Reviews
Online reviews guide many consumers in their choice of contractor. Reviews from clients can assist your construction business rank more highly on local search engine results pages, where potential clients are more likely to notice your business. Testimonials from actual customers
8. Paid Social Media and Search Advertising
The key benefit of using paid social media advertising is the ability to fine-tune the target markets that will see your adverts. This allows companies to run different campaigns, aimed at specific segments of the market. Paid search advertising allows companies to promote their websites based on search terms that users may enter.
9. Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing creates direct contact with customers. Part of your strategy can include SMS marketing, which is a permission-based way to communicate promotions, deals, or other alerts. WhatsApp is widely used and allows sharing of images, audio, video, and Vcards.
Using QR codes is another way to market via telephone. A QR code is an easy-to-generate 2D scannable barcode that can be placed on flyers, brochures, or billboards. When a consumer scans the code, they are directed to a digital location of your choosing, such as your website or a landing page setup for a specific action.
10. Press Releases
Make use of newspapers and press releases to grow brand awareness among local consumers. Effective press releases can increase your sales and introduce your company to potential customers. Press releases can be repurposed as fresh content for a blog. Press releases are valuable for project launches, mergers, new partnerships, industry awards, or rebranding.
Press releases can be targeted at local newspapers for smaller construction firms that concentrate on working locally. Larger firms with a national presence can aim to feature in nationally distributed newspapers.
Futureproof Your Construction Business With Digital Marketing
Using digital tools and platforms as your main form of construction industry marketing can assist you to stay up to date with emerging trends. Once you establish yourself in the digital marketing arena, embracing new technology and marketing tools becomes a part of your construction marketing plan.
We offer the tools and expertise you need to develop and grow your construction marketing strategy.
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