According to IBIS World, there are over 800,000 more construction businesses in the US in 2023 than there were ten years ago. That is a lot of competition. Keep reading for contractor marketing tips to convince clients that you are the one to choose for their construction needs.
Let’s touch on a few categories of marketing contractors can use to build up their business.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – This will help consumers find your construction business with ease through sites such as Google and Bing.
Social Media – Connect with past, present, and future construction clientele, as well as other local businesses online with platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) – Pay-per-click advertisements to encourage traffic to a contractor’s company website. Google Ads and Bing Ads are examples of PPC ads.
Inbound Marketing – Consumers voluntarily see your advertisement. For example, they may choose to follow your business social media account, therefore, they would see any advertisements you post. In contrast, outbound marketing is when an audience views your ad without consciously choosing to do so. A radio ad or street bench signage would be examples of this marketing strategy. Consumers may happen to see or hear these while driving home from work.
Email & SMS Marketing – This consists of spreading awareness of your construction business using emails or texting mediums to which clients have subscribed.
That’s not even all the strategies out there! Let’s dig a little deeper!
SEM Advertising Strategies for Contractors
Search Engine Marketing includes SEO and Local SEO. What is SEO? Let’s find out!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
For contractors looking to entice consumers to their websites, SEO can get the job done. The goal is to increase your site’s visibility when your target audience is searching online. You can do this by ranking for high-traffic keywords.
A great place to start would be researching what phrases were entered into the search bar when individuals were attempting to find a business like yours in your service area. Below are a few examples of high-traffic keywords for a construction business in Tampa, FL.
- Contractors Near Me
- Top Rated Contractors
- Construction Companies in Tampa, FL (or the city you are located in)
- Contractors in Florida
Don’t forget to include questions your target clientele may search to help solve problems you can help them with. For example, “How to build a custom home?”
After you have conducted some keyword research, you can begin to optimize your website and web pages for those keywords. To do this, you should optimize the following around your keyword:
- Image Title
- Image Alternative Tags
- Keyword in body text
- Page Title
- HTML heading tags
- Meta-description
Consider hiring a contractor SEO agency to help you maximize your SEO efforts.
Local SEO
Following looking into SEO for your construction business, the next step is to look into Local SEO. In addition to focusing on the keywords previously stated, you will want to make sure your company’s NAP information (name, address, and phone number) are correctly listed across multiple search engines.
Examples of citation locations where a contractor would want their profile to be updated include Yelp, Bing Places, Google Business Profiles, and Yahoo Local. A very important contractor marketing tip is to make sure your profile is complete and accurate.
Once your directory is set, you can start seeking our reviews. Reviews are like gold! Platforms such as Facebook, Yelp, and Google are where we suggest contractors focus their attention first. Sites like Home Advisor are great, but second because they do not have as large of an audience or reputation as sites like Google or Yelp. Our contractor marketing tip is to have as many five-star reviews as possible!
More times than not, to rank highly in local searches, your online profiles should be complete, accurate, and close to the searcher(consumer). Check out our local SEO guide or a Local SEO agency for contractors.
Social Media Outreach
Another contractor marketing tip is to be present and active on social media.
Organic
Organic social media advertising consists of pushing out highly engaging and interactive posts to those who follow you. This is at no cost to your business. The percentage of our population who spend lengthy amounts of time on social media is increasing year over year. Staying relevant on social media is imperative and keeps you in front of consumers’ minds. It will also help you appear relatable to your target audience.
Below is a list of social media platforms we recommend contractors utilize.
- YouTube
- TikTok
Paid
Meta Ads and boosted Facebook posts are examples of paid ads that can be used for contractor marketing. You can choose a post that is performing well among your followers, and boost it to expose it to a larger audience outside of those followers who may be interested in your services. This can help you capture new followers and in turn more customers.
Inbound Contractor Marketing
Below are some inbound marketing tips. Utilizing this strategy for contractor marketing will have consumers coming to you!
Content Writing
Content writing is a way to attract people to your site. Many companies do this by posting blogs and offering accurate information to the public. Potential consumers are likely to voluntarily travel to your site and explore it if your blog appears during their Google or Bing search. If you can accurately and quickly answer the question they search they will trust you to provide a service for them.
Similarly mentioned in the SEO section, you can conduct keyword research to see what questions your target audience is searching for. To have a higher likelihood that prospects encounter your site, include these keywords in your blogs.
Content writing is a long-term advertising strategy that will take patience, but can be super effective. The more blogs you write, the more authoritative your company’s website will become. Check out our blog post on inbound marketing for more information, or read our article on writing blogs.
Pay-Per-Click Contractor Marketing Advertisements
Pay-Per-Click is another marketing strategy for contractors. Let’s jump in!
Google Search Ads
Google Ads is a Pay-Per-Click strategy we recommend because it is really effective for your long-term growth. You can see where your business is advertising, adjust budgets, and scale your advertising budget.
Learn more about how Google Ads can advance your business goals, or how long it takes to work.
However, be careful as advertising on Google Ads can easily go through your ad budget if you are not a professional. Hiring a PPC professional for contractors almost always pays for themselves many times over.
Google Local Ads
Like Google Ads is Google Local Service Ads. Google Local Ads or Google Guaranteed Ads, helps business display their local business to consumers searching within a particular area for businesses like yours.
Local Google Ads for contractors are one of the most effective online advertising strategies.
To be effective with Google Local Ads and convert leads, use call tracking to track your return on investment (ROI), answer calls quickly, and have a high amount of Google Reviews as mentioned above.
Microsoft Ads (Bing Ads)
Microsoft Ads is very similar to Google Ads. They are cousins! Consider using Microsoft Ads to increase your exposure even more with clients who choose Bing as their search engine of choice rather than Google.
Yelp Ads
Finally, we have Yelp Ads. Yelp Ads tend to perform well for contractors that have good Yelp reviews. Consider Yelp Ads alongside your Google Ad strategy to mix your marketing ideas. Many times, one platform’s return on investment will be better than the other for a given time.
Email & SMS Message Contractor Marketing
Next, we have email marketing and text message marketing. Email marketing for contractors is critical to your business’s growth success. Many construction businesses send newsletters to their past customers to help retain customers and boost their customer lifetime value.
You can also use email marketing for consumers who have inquired about your business online or subscribed to your blog posts. This can help you stay at the top of mind for your clients as we mentioned in the social media section but can help you target a different audience. Many people may not utilize social media platforms, at least access emails, and text messages.
SMS marketing does come with some regulatory restrictions. However, it can be beneficial to consumers who have opted in to receive SMS messages. Remember not to spam someone who has not agreed to receive messages from you.
Check out our email marketing ideas or even our SMS marketing guide.
Other Contractor Marketing & Advertising Strategies
Direct Mail
Direct mail can benefit up-in-coming areas or those who are known to add additions to their homes. Once a handful of people in an area utilize your services, the word may spread to others.
Branding on Vehicles, Uniforms, and Merchandise
Having a consistent brand presence can increase recognition in your service area. People are more likely to reach out to a contractor who they have seen repeatedly in their community compared to one that they have never seen before. You can sponsor a local community event and give out cups, pens, or t-shirts with your logo, colors, and branding.
Signage, Billboard, and TV Advertisements
Local TV and billboard advertising is a form of mass outbound advertising that can be highly localized to different regions.
Build Your Construction Business Today!
So there you have it, the best contractor advertising and marketing ideas and strategies! Implement a few of these strategies at a time and track your return on investment to see which are most effective for you.
Interested in contractor marketing services? Check out our marketing services for contractors!
