So your company is in the construction industry, and you want to succeed? You know that digital marketing can be helpful, but how exactly should you go about marketing your construction business?

What are the digital marketing best practices for the construction industry to ensure you achieve optimal results? And are there any unique construction marketing ideas to take advantage of?

This blog will tackle precisely that as we explore our top 10 digital marketing tips to help your construction company succeed in 2023.

Let's get started!

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase using these links, we earn a small commission. We only recommend tools we use and trust ourselves.

Tip 1: Identify Your Target Market

You need a clear understanding of your target market before starting construction marketing. Why? Because if you're unsure who your customers are, you won't be able to reach or sell to them effectively.

The easiest way to identify your target market is to build customer personas. A customer persona describes the demographics, interests, online behaviour and problems of a customer who may use your product or service. They're helpful because they give you an idea of how different types of customers like to shop and what marketing campaigns and tactics your ideal client may respond to best.

We recommend you start by reviewing your existing clientele and group them into different customer persona buckets. From there, you can develop the personas in more detail, drawing on everything you've learnt about your clients over the years of working with them. Once you understand your customer personas, you can begin crafting your copywriting and design to target their characteristics specifically.

We recommend you undertake this process every year. Your clientele and their underlying interests, problems, and behaviours are most likely changing from one year to the next. By undertaking an annual review, you ensure your copywriting and design remain correctly targeted and optimized.

Finally, don't forget - if you don't like your existing clientele, then don't use them for your customer personas. Instead, identify your preferred clientele, develop new and improved construction marketing ideas, and then create your copywriting, design, and some excellent construction marketing strategy with those individuals in mind.

Effectively using marketing is one of the best ways to transition your construction company into a preferred client demographic. Don't be afraid to update your marketing strategy and go after your top prospects.

Tip 2: Partner With Similar Businesses for Co-marketing Campaigns

An often overlooked but great way to improve your construction marketing efforts is by using a complementary industry or company as a partner, cross-promoting and exposing your construction business to a completely different marketplace.

Whether a B2B or B2C company, co-marketing can be used to promote your products, service offerings, a new business or division you recently launched, or an established brand name that you'd like to grow.

With a bit of creativity, you might be able to connect one business to another, increasing the value and reach of your construction marketing campaign.

Consider what you want to achieve, your target audience, and what great brand partners operate in the space. Then, reach out to those individuals and negotiate a mutually beneficial partnership that will allow both of you to grow your respective businesses.

Like they say - if you want to go far, go together.

Tip 3: Feature Your Employees

Construction marketing has always proved challenging, not only because of the high competition in the space but because you're fighting against an underlying distrust among prospective customers. We have all heard about the construction company horrors many have dealt with at the hands of your less professional and less capable competitors.

Unfortunately, these negative experiences increase the trust thresholds construction businesses like yours must pass to gain people's business. But, lucky for you, there is a relatively simple, accessible, and effective way to approach this problem, and that's by featuring your employees. By including your staff throughout your paid advertising, social media marketing, website, and any social media platform like Instagram or Facebook, your leads can feel they know your brand better than ever.

Your company now has a face, or several faces, connected to it. No longer are you simply a logo or brand name, but rather a real company run by real people.

It's a simple way of incrementally building people's trust, setting you apart from the competition, and improving the overall effectiveness of your marketing tactics.

Tip 4: Build a Super Informative Construction Industry Blog

If you own a construction business, you may hear the word blogging and think of fashion, food, or travel bloggers. While those are some of the most significant blogging communities, there is an evergrowing and ever more prosperous blogging community in construction.

Today, people are looking to industry experts who are active and present online for advice, best practices, tutorials, product reviews, industry trends, etc. Regardless of the industry, people are hungry for information from those in the know.

As a construction business, you have first-hand knowledge and experience that others find valuable. So, share it with them!

By writing blog content that is informative and helpful, you can begin to establish yourself as an expert in the construction industry. Slowly but surely, you can develop an online presence. As you post more and more content, your search ranking will improve, and soon enough, your posts will appear on the first pages of Google.

Now, people will look to you when they need answers, keeping your construction company top-of-mind as an established industry leader. The next time they or someone they know needs your services, they'll most likely contact you, asking when they can expect a quote for their next construction project.

This is the power of blogging. Your blog content has already completed the sales process. Although you were unaware, the prospective client has engaged with your content for months, feels like a rapport has been built, and, most importantly, trusts you to provide the services they need.

You've provided them valuable information, and now they're repaying you. The hard work has paid off.

Tip 5: Build a Marketing Team (Or Hire an Agency) for Your Construction Business

All this blog stuff sounds great. But it must take a lot of time to write the blogs, add the images, post them on your website, share them, and optimize them. Where do you begin, and where does it end?

All of this is undoubtedly true. It’s hard to know where to start and how to end, and it does require a lot of resources to run a blog that consistently posts content successfully.

As someone who owns a construction company, you likely don't have time for this. And even if you did, your time is probably better spent on other things you have experience in and can add value to - like completing all of those construction projects you have in the queue.

That's why we recommend you build a marketing team or, at the very least, start taking steps toward that. While it may seem like an unnecessary investment, it rarely is, as an experienced marketing team will drive a far better return on investment than you are.

As we said, your time is better spent elsewhere, and the opportunity cost of actively managing your marketing and content creation is likely far too high to justify any significant amount of time spent by yourself on it.

At the very least, start by looking for freelance copywriters. There are lots of great options through companies like Fiverr and Upwork. Even better, look for a freelance copywriter with experience writing for the construction industry. This way, they'll be relatively familiar with the basics of what your construction company does, and the learning curve will be less steep. You'll receive better copywriting quicker, meaning you can establish yourself as an industry leader sooner and experience faster business growth.

The next steps in building your marketing roster are often hiring a graphic designer, someone with experience in paid ads, and a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist.

That said, developing a full-time marketing team is often reserved for only the largest companies capable of sustaining such a payroll. So, what's the best option for most small to medium-sized construction companies?

Well, it wouldn't be a blog post if it wasn't for a shameless plug. The best option is to hire a digital marketing agency like Noetic Marketer!

By doing so, you're outsourcing your marketing efforts to a team of professionals specializing in developing great content and successful advertising campaigns for companies like yours day in and day out. You remove the $10,000 monthly payroll burden of having an in-house team and replace it with a far lower $2,000-$5,000 per month digital marketing agency expense.

Regardless of your best option, allocating resources to a dedicated marketing team or digital marketing agency is a no-brainer. It will bring far better marketing results than trying to do everything yourself or relying on individuals with little to no experience in construction marketing.

Tip 6: Ensure Your Phone Number is Super Easy to Find Everywhere

This may be another tip that, on the surface, seems obvious. Still, as a construction company, the availability of your phone number plays a huge role in how successful your construction marketing is.

Through our experience with roofing companies, landscaping companies, garden care companies, stonemasons, and many other contracting services, we've seen time and time again how much people like to call when they're interested in one of our clients' services.

Faced with a form to fill out or a phone number to call, nearly everyone chooses the phone number. Why? Because people want to talk with a real person who can answer their questions quickly and accurately.

And this is a good thing! Those calling you are the most emotionally invested of any lead, wholly dedicated to completing the goal they set out to achieve. We like to call these "hot leads," as the likelihood of them preceding with your services is high. Now all you have to do is turn on your salesmanship and close the deal!

So, go through your existing marketing material, website, social media accounts, and anywhere else your phone number may be present to ensure 1) your phone number is actually there and 2) that prospective clients can easily find it.

From there, you can tailor your marketing strategy and call to action to specifically focus on phone calls, directing those interested in your construction services to contact you by phone.

Tip 7: Go All-in on Local Search Engine Optimization

If you're not investing in local SEO, you're missing out.

Construction companies looking to bring in more leads should focus on optimizing their website and local listings for Google and other search engines.

With the right strategy in place, you can see a significant improvement in your web traffic and fill your sales funnel with qualified leads located in your service area.

Here are three digital marketing strategy tips to improve your local SEO:

#1 Add Your Address & (Like We Said Above) Phone Number Everywhere!

There's no better way to ensure you're seen on search engines than by including the essential information consumers seek: your address and phone number.

Whether it's on your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, website, landing pages, emails, or ads, make sure they're there.

And, of course, ensure they are consistent so there's no confusion on what number to call or what office address to visit.

#2 Optimize Your Google My Business

Google My Business serves as the centrepiece of local SEO.

As a construction company, ensuring your Google My Business listing is optimized is essential. This will help you appear in search results when people are looking for construction companies in your area, allowing you to increase brand awareness amongst your potential clients.

To ensure your Google My Business page is optimized, follow these tips:

utilize posts as much as possible, keeping potential clients up-to-date on what's happening at your company
add photos, videos, and visual elements to your profile to attract and retain the attention of those viewing your profile - for example, photos of recently completed projects
actively pursue clients to leave reviews - we all know we're going to Google a company and look at their reviews before engaging with them, so try to have as many great reviews on your profile as possible
respond to your reviews - authentically respond to those leaving reviews as it humanizes your company and works towards that all-important factor of establishing trust

#3 Create Valuable Content That Is Optimized for Your Local Market

Offering valuable content that is unique and optimized for your local market is another digital marketing strategy that will help you grow your digital presence in your primary service area(s).

To create content optimized for your local market, you can:

actively target local keywords - for example, "Toronto's best construction companies" or "Austin design build companies"
write content for your local area - for example, you could discuss the building practices associated with cold climates like Toronto, write a post about your top 5 completed projects in Dallas, or feature your favourite local suppliers
participate in guest posts - for example, if you've found a co-marketing partner, contributing to their blog will help improve your local SEO via linkbacks

The local SEO world is endless, but these are three great places to start!

To learn more about writing optimized content for Google, visit our previous blog post, “How to Write Content That Ranks on Google.”

Tip 8: Prioritize reviews and customer testimonials ALWAYS

A happy client who speaks for you will help your construction business grow and create measurable results.

You've put in all the hard work. You closed the deal, completed the project on time and within budget, and now you have a satisfied client. Don't let this opportunity go to waste.

An excellent construction marketing strategy is to feature your client reviews and testimonials wherever and whenever possible. Here are some of the best places to do so:

#1 Facebook Ads Campaigns

Utilizing testimonials in your Facebook Ads is a highly effective way of encouraging those viewing your ads to click on them. They're especially effective when retargeting people, meaning you are sending ads to those who have already engaged with your company in some way.

Often, these individuals are nearly committed to contacting you, and seeing a testimonial from a former client raving about the positive experience with your company often pushes them to take that last step and reach out.

#2 Your Landing Pages

Landing pages are where all your ads are directed to. They are dedicated pages specifically focused on converting the lead into a client.

Just as testimonials are effective within ads, they are also effective within landing pages for the same reason - they are an excellent push for those leads who are on the fence and unsure whether they should contact you or not.

#3 Your Website

Your website is another great place to emphasize your reviews and client testimonials. It's simply another location where the lead can receive further confirmation that your company is legitimate, well-regarded, and worth the potential investment they're about to make.

Consider, too, that you have much more flexibility with how client testimonials are presented on your website than Facebook Ads and landing pages.

As such, you can start to get creative, presenting the words of your satisfied customers in engaging and unique ways, perhaps catching the attention of leads that skipped over the client review portion of your Facebook ad or landing page.

Finally, consider having at least one video testimonial on your website if possible. Video content resonates with people, meaning there is perhaps nothing more impactful and high converting than a video testimonial from a client.

While it will take additional resources and your client's cooperation to do this properly, the results can be compelling, and you'll have an exciting piece of content to feature for years to come.

And, of course, most construction companies won't be featuring video testimonials, so it's a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition and remain memorable to those searching for their next construction company.

There are other places to feature client testimonials but start with these three areas first to bring the most significant returns.

From there, you can expand, adding reviews from existing customers to your sales pitches, lead magnets, social platforms, and so on.

Tip 9: Invest in Email Marketing

Email is a dynamic digital marketing tool that is, unfortunately, often overlooked by most construction companies and SMEs in general.

It may be intimidating and perhaps overwhelming at first due to the seemingly endless customization, automation, and tracking offered by most email marketing software today. But, the simple truth is that email marketing provides some of the highest return-on-investment of any digital marketing strategy or marketing tactic available, even outperforming paid advertising in most cases.

As such, you really should consider email marketing moving forward. Here are some great ways to begin using it within your construction marketing strategy:

#1 Have Your Initial Target Audience Be Existing Clientele

One of the most challenging parts of email marketing is gathering the emails in the first place. Usually, you have to create content that is only accessible if people provide their first name, last name, and email address.

Classic examples used for this exchange of information include subscribing to a newsletter, registering for a webinar, or gaining access to a downloadable piece of content like a lead magnet or ebook.

Generating these assets takes time, but for most construction companies, you already have an entire client email database to start with.

So, the first tip here is to gather a centralized database of all your client emails.

#2 Keep in Touch With Your Customers

A great way to create new income and increase customer value is by following up and keeping in touch with existing customers.

They already chose to do business with your company once, and assuming everything went well, you would be their first choice for their next project anyways.

If approached correctly, there is perhaps no more straightforward source of new income and additional business than remaining connected and in communication with your former customers.

Email marketing efficiently achieves this connection as you can easily send standardized emails on a pre-determined schedule to a single client or your entire customer base.

Here are just a few examples:

You can email a client one month after their project completion, asking if any issues have arisen, if they have any questions or concerns and if they would be interested in additional services.
You can email a client one year after completing their project, celebrating the first anniversary and providing them with an electronic gift card as a thank you for their business. You can close the email by asking if they've considered starting other projects over the past year.
If affected by seasonality, you can email before the upcoming year announcing your availability towards the end of the season. You can then ask anyone interested in completing work that year to reach out to you as soon as possible since openings are filling up quickly.

These are just a few examples of time-based emails that can conjure new business from existing clients. There are, of course, an infinite number of customizations and variations you can explore from here.

But remember, you're already familiar with your customer, their house, their property, their tastes, their budget, their future plans, their backburner projects - the list is usually quite exhaustive. Still, you've already worked hard to gain their trust and build that relationship.

You fail to capitalize on that relationship and hard work by not remaining in contact, potentially leaving significant amounts of money and some fantastic future projects behind.

#3 Incorporate Email Marketing Into Your Sales Process

Incorporating email into your sales funnel is the last and most common use case.

This could be an entire blog post in and of itself, so I won't go into too much detail. But, the general idea is to utilize email within your sales process to improve your conversion rate by providing an improved buyer's journey.

As I mentioned above, you generally create some content that is only accessible by providing an email address. Once you've received an email address, you can direct these qualified leads through a pre-determined email sequence, sending out customized and dynamic emails based on actions taken, pages visited, information provided, and so on.

By doing so, you can draw the path you want your leads to take, utilizing various marketing tactics to help build relationships, build trust, and ultimately increase the likelihood of the lead becoming a client.

Many great resources go into far more detail, so be sure to search for those and check them out before proceeding with any significant investment in using email in your sales process.

Some good starting points are the blogs of ActiveCampaign and Campaign Monitor.

We use ActiveCampaign and love their software. If you’re interested in poking around and getting an idea of what email marketing software looks like, you can sign up for a free trial with ActiveCampaign here.

Tip 10: Create and Incorporate Compelling Video Content Into Your Construction Marketing

We already touched on the power of video briefly when talking about testimonials, but its impact is so significant that video content warrants its own tip.

Quite simply, video has been shown to drive a 15% increase in sales for businesses actively using it. For a company doing $5,000,000 in annual sales, that's a potential boost of $750,000 to your revenue, not a small figure, especially considering the expense of creating your video content will be a small fraction of that.

The power of video is particularly true for visually-oriented industries such as construction, where the purchasing decision is significantly influenced by what the individual sees. No amount of wordsmithing or expert copywriting will portray the quality of your work and the aesthetics of your project as well as a video can.

Even when compared to photography, video does a far better job of immersing someone into your project, communicating the emotional connection one might feel when interacting with your project.

With most buying decisions being heavily influenced by emotion at the time of purchase, it's no wonder video has such a powerful effect on individuals looking for exactly what you're providing. They've seen what they want and felt that connection to your work, and now it's their turn to experience that feeling in their home.

Here are some impactful construction marketing ideas that incorporate video:

Utilize before, during, and after videos to showcase the transformation that was undertaken on your projects. Seeing the finished product is nice, but seeing the barren land that turned into a foundation with framing that turned into a completed home is way better.
Utilize drones if possible. For large-scale projects especially, drones provide a unique and, short of using a helicopter, otherwise unattainable view that can offer a tremendous and dynamic perspective into your project.
Utilize project walkthrough videos, where you, the project manager, or whomever you would like guides the viewer through the project. This is an excellent opportunity to highlight unique features, discuss interesting information, provide a backstory to the project, etc. It's another way to differentiate yourself from the competition further as you again put a face to the company and humanized your brand identity.
Utilize social media video options like Instagram Stories, Snapchat, and TikTok, and share stories to your Facebook Page. Not all video associated with your company has to be professional. Social media options like those listed above are an excellent resource for providing more casual, personal, and behind-the-scenes content about your construction company's day-to-day routine. It's easy to forget, but your employees can produce fun and exciting video content daily. It's simply a matter of picking up a phone, recording it, and sharing it on your social media channels. This is a good place to start with video, as we've seen time and time again how much leads value this type of content.

Conclusion

And there you have it – our top ten digital marketing tips for construction companies looking to succeed in 2023. Of course, this is just a starting point, and every business must tailor its approach based on its unique needs and goals.

If you have any questions or want to discuss your situation, please get in touch with us. Our team of experts would be happy to help you create a plan that puts your construction company on the path to success.

Thanks for reading!

About the Author

Garrett Evans

While not overseeing Noetic’s work as a Project Manager, Garrett enjoys writing about the latest trends and strategies in digital marketing.

Coming from a landscape design-build background and having seen the power of effective marketing, Garrett particularly enjoys discussing different digital marketing strategies those in the contracting and construction industry can use to help their businesses grow. He hopes his writing provides unique insights and applicable recommendations to all those reading.

Who We Are

Noetic Marketer is a full-service digital marketing agency with roots in Ottawa and the GTA. We specialize in creating and optimizing digital marketing campaigns for the higher education, e-commerce, professional services, and contractors industries.

As digital marketers, we strive to find solutions to every company’s lead generation challenges, creating personalized marketing strategies that suit the specific needs of our clients.

Marketing for Construction Companies: 10 Digital Marketing Tips to Help Your Construction Company Succeed in 2023