The construction industry is a vital part of the global economy, but it is also an industry that has been slow to embrace digital marketing. However, in today’s digital age, it is essential for construction companies to have a strong online presence to be successful.
So, what does it take to gain that search engine visibility or local presence to increase your lead generation?
Effective SEO Strategies SEO is a crucial element of digital marketing for building companies. It involves optimising your website to rank higher in search engine results pages. Effective SEO can drive more traffic to your website, resulting in more leads and more customers and repeat business if possible.
Leveraging SEO for Enhanced Visibility
Improve organic search rankings to attract more website traffic.
– Conduct keyword research specific to construction and the building services you provide.
– Create and optimise content and meta tags and content schema with these keywords.
– Build quality backlinks and engage in local SEO tactics.
Content Marketing to Establish Authority
Position your brand as a thought leader in the construction industry, this can be at a local level and remember that the content can also be about your activity within your local area. Make sure and use your social platforms as a method of getting your social audiences to see your website content; it is so regularly overlooked. All channels should be working together.
– Publish case studies and project highlights.
– Create informative or related blog posts on trends or brand or work activity and best practices.
– Develop whitepapers on innovative construction techniques.
Local SEO & Google My Business Optimisation
The goal here is to dominate your local search results to attract nearby clients. I suggest getting your GMB information correct and up to date. Look upon it as a method of refreshing reviews and updates of what your company has been up to and the latest work and ensure that those targeted keywords of services and location are regularly used. The more positive reviews you get on Google My Business, the better you will rank in the local search results, it’s a simple as that. The next step is using MOZ Local as a platform that ensures that all platforms and devices are showing the same information on Facebook, Bing, The Sun, Alexa, TomTom…etc.
– Claim and optimise your Google My Business listing, if you do have a local showroom makes sure you use this as your local listing.
– Encourage reviews and maintain accurate and detailed business information, get yourself one of those review cards, they work a treat.
– Target local keywords and participate in local online forums.
Website Optimisation for Mobile Use
Your site needs to be mobile friendly, if you’re still living in the dark ages, stop it and get yourself a responsive website, they are cheap and easy to use. Most construction websites dont need massively expensive content web build systems. I work with several website designers that use a range of platforms, most of them are search friendly!
– Ensure responsive design.
– Optimise site load times.
– Simplify navigation and increase touch-friendly features
Social Media Engagement
The purpose is to increase brand visibility and engage with prospective clients.
– Use platforms like LinkedIn for B2B networking and Instagram for visual project showcasing. Always try and drive them to the website or to some form of engagement. Remember to link to your website where possible and when relevant.
– Share client testimonials and behind-the-scenes content.
– Engage in community-related posts to enhance local presence. Try and generate conversations when it seems like the right thing to do.
Email Marketing for Sustained Client Relationships
The focus is to keep past clients engaged and nurture new leads. There are two ways about this, most building companies dont keep their customers up to date about their latest projects or a new supplier or service or even a change in compliance. It’s a great way of driving clients and potential clients back to the website.
– Segment email lists and personalise messages.
– Share regular newsletters with industry updates.
– Send reminders for maintenance or special seasonal offers.
PPC Advertising for Immediate Lead Generation
Use targeted ads to gain quick visibility and attract leads. Setting up a half decent campaign on Google involves dropping that ‘Smart’ campaign immediately and setting up something that can give you campaigns that can be controlled to a point where we can get a ROI out of it.
– Develop compelling ad copy with strong CTAs.
– Use platforms like Google Ads and LinkedIn for targeted campaigns.
– Understand your geographic areas where you show your adverts to, and where you want to allocate budgets
– Monitor performance and adjust strategies accordingly.
Video Marketing to Showcase Capabilities
Use video content to demonstrate projects and expertise; it’s such a simple way of demonstrating what you do.
– Create virtual tours, time-lapse videos, and client testimonial videos.
– Optimise video content for SEO.
– Share videos on YouTube, social media, and embed on your website.
Reputation Management Online
Build trust and handle feedback positively to enhance brand credibility. This is closely related to the comments on getting listed in the local listing space and reviews across all channels.
– Monitor and respond to online reviews. If you do see something negative address it quickly, but keep it pragmatic, professional and show an element of social intelligence or empathy where necessary. What is posted stays up forever!
– Share customer success stories extensively.
– Maintain transparency and honesty in all customer interactions.
Making the most of Influencers and Building Relationships
Try and collaborate with industry influencers or local influencers to expand reach. This can be anything from sponsoring a local football team to creating a blog post about a trade show event.
– Identify and connect with influencers in the construction field. Or anything from your local area.
– Develop mutually beneficial partnership projects.
– Engage in community events and sponsorship.
Analytics and ROI Measurement
It goes without saying you need to track the effectiveness of marketing strategies and adjust based on performance. How easy this is in real terms depends on not on how everything is tagged up but how much of your business doesn’t come from direct phone calls that were never measured. I suggest as this is the building trade, you use a blend of measured quantitative results from your analytics package and the qualitative data you get from asking whoever takes your call inquiries.
– Set up and monitor key performance indicators like traffic sources, conversion rates, and bounce rates.
– Use data to refine marketing strategies and enhance user experiences.
– Develop compelling ad copy with strong CTAs.
Lead Generation and Nurturing
Closely related to refining what you are monitoring is lead gen’ where we are trying to convert interest into actionable business opportunities. You may be using HubSpot which covers many of these issues.
– Implement a CRM system for lead tracking.
– Employ retargeting, personalised communications based on where the client is in their user journey of thinking, planning or doing
Digital Visualisation Tools
There is real advantage to using AR and VR to present projects. They stand out and give the client a vision. It normally suggests that the site has a budget behind it, and we aren’t using a standard template. They won’t necessarily help you rank for search terms, but this type of content is about engaging the user once they have reached the site.
– Integrate AR for on-site visual enhancements.
– Use VR to offer immersive pre-construction visual experiences on your site.
Building Your Digital Strategy
To thrive in the digital era of the construction industry, integrate these diversified marketing strategies into your business model. These tactics not only build a robust digital presence but also foster long-lasting relationships with clients, ensuring sustainable business growth. Begin with assessing your current digital footprint, identifying areas for improvement, and systematically implementing these strategies for a comprehensive digital transformation.
If you dont have the time, because your too busy doing the full-time job, or realistically you aren’t a digital marketing professional with decades of experience over countless industries you may want to partner up with someone has the experience and the capacity to take this on for you. If so, I’d love to hear from you.