Digital marketing has become increasingly essential for businesses of all types in recent years, as technology and customer expectations have advanced. This is especially true for contractors, as potential clients expect them to have a strong online presence. Without effective digital marketing, construction companies and contractors risk losing out to competitors who are well-marketed. In this guide, we aim to demystify digital marketing for contractors and provide them with the necessary tools to succeed in the construction industry’s digital environment.
The guide covers various aspects of digital marketing, including PPC advertising for general contractors, SEO for content, social media, and reputation management, integration of email and direct mail with video production, and concluding remarks. Paid advertising, in the form of pay per click (PPC), is a critical aspect of internet business promotion that all contractors should be familiar with. PPC can be used on different channels, such as social media and search engines, to display ads to potential clients based on their searches or online habits.
To set up a successful PPC campaign, contractors must first determine their campaign objective, whether it’s to promote a short-term event or campaign or test new forms of content. Next, they need to choose keywords that align with their brand and develop ad landing pages that match user intent. By following these steps, contractors can effectively leverage PPC advertising to enhance their digital marketing efforts.
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To ensure a successful digital marketing campaign, it is important to select the appropriate platforms that align with the campaign’s objectives. Start by identifying the demographics or keywords that will help you target your desired audience. Create an advertisement that complies with the ad platform’s guidelines and encourages users to learn more. Align the advertisement with a landing page that closely matches the user’s intent. Evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness by measuring public opinion and use this feedback to inform future marketing efforts.
Content contractors must also understand best practices in our increasingly complex digital environment to assist with content creation and marketing. Today’s consumers seek products and services that can solve their problems, so the content provided by brands must be closely aligned with these needs.
To produce high-quality content, contractors must work closely with their clients to determine client personas and the buyer’s journey of the target audience. Detailed personas should describe the typical demographics of the target customer and the problems they aim to solve. This will provide a better understanding of the customer’s priorities. Additionally, contractors must comprehend the terms that matter to clients at each stage of the buyer’s journey to respond to inquiries from leads and bring them closer to conversion.
SEO
It’s critical to keep SEO, or search engine optimization, in mind when you write this interesting material. When keywords are naturally inserted into the copy of a well-written, optimized article or blog post, Google recognizes this content as thought leadership and will rank it higher when a term is searched. Additionally, “areas served” pages are valued by many contractors. They have copy for a certain city that your company serves but are not visible on a website. These pages are likely to produce genuine leads close to your business because they particularly target potential clients in these regions. With Google’s recent adjustments, Q&A content blocks within a post are the newest trend for an efficient SEO approach. These can assist you in getting a featured snippet, which is a text box above all other search results on Google that directly answers the user’s query. The featured snippet ranking should be the objective of every blog post and article for 2020 and the foreseeable future due to the level of exposure it can provide your organization.
Social Media
Social media has become progressively influential in the digital marketing landscape, with 74% of customers relying on their social networks for purchasing advice and 71% likely to act on recommendations they receive on social media. Advertising agencies can leverage social networking platforms like Facebook and Houzz to target specific demographics, such as those in a particular location or with certain interests or occupations.
Brands that know how to engage with potential clients on social media can establish themselves as valuable contributors to the conversation, providing the opportunity to interact more personally with customers. Therefore, contractors should be familiar with best practices for engaging with prospects on social media.
Creating a platform that prioritizes user assistance is crucial. Users are more likely to follow businesses that appear to care about them rather than those that are solely focused on selling. Incorporating images into written posts is also important, as Facebook posts with images get 53% more likes and 104% more comments than posts without images. It is also essential to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) on social media, such as engagement metrics, click-throughs to your website, and the number of followers gained.
Reputation Management
Reputation management, which involves controlling and influencing a company’s or organization’s reputation, is an important aspect of digital marketing. Google reviews and social media sites such as Houzz can be used as a digital marketing technique to manage reputation. Houzz is a helpful hybrid of a social media site and a forum for user reviews, where users can share user-generated content by creating ideabooks, uploading images, and responding to reviews. Customers should be encouraged to leave positive reviews, with a focus on Houzz, Google, and Facebook. The Whitespark Google Review Link Generator is a useful tool to increase your Google reviews, providing a brief URL to share with customers.
Video production and advertising are essential components of any successful general contractor marketing strategy. Video has quickly become a leading digital marketing tool, offering the highest return on investment, according to 51 percent of marketers.
Video
There are many ways to incorporate video into a marketing strategy. For instance, a construction company can use videos to:
- Showcase a specific method, manner, or strategy
- Display before-and-after photographs
- Conduct interviews with actual clients who attest to the value of the service
- Provide insight into the business’s executives
- Offer in-progress or backstage footage
Brands can also create advertising videos to introduce a service before other well-known videos that feature adverts. These short videos can effectively capture the attention of potential customers and leave a lasting impression. Video Production and Advertising
Video has become a crucial aspect of digital marketing, and contractors must incorporate it into their marketing strategy. According to 51 percent of marketers, video marketing offers the highest return on investment. A construction company can use videos in various ways, such as showcasing a specific method or project, featuring before-and-after photographs, interviews with satisfied clients, and providing insight into the business’s executives. Additionally, contractors can create advertising videos to be shown before other popular videos.
When producing videos, contractors should focus on the following:
- Creating captivating openings that grab viewers’ attention and encourage them to watch the entire video.
- Keeping the video’s length reasonable to increase watch-through rates.
- Ensuring high-quality video to make it clear and visually appealing.
Email Marketing
Email remains a vital tool for contractors to maintain interest in prospective leads and move them through the buyer’s journey. A well-crafted email campaign can target leads based on their interests and preferences. Email marketing is also an effective way to cross-sell to current customers. To make the most of email marketing, contractors should follow these steps:
- Segment the email list as leads come in based on buyer personas and interests.
- Personalize emails based on prior interactions and interests to increase engagement with customers.
- Track customer interactions to observe their progress through the buying process.
Direct Mail
In addition to digital marketing, it is important for contractors to consider traditional marketing methods like direct mail to maximize their efforts in engaging with clients.
Direct mail can be used to enhance brand recognition and offer promotions that entice potential customers to visit a contracting business. One effective way to use direct mail is through Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), which allows you to contact potential customers without knowing their specific addresses. By sending out a postcard through EDDM, you can improve the overall success of your marketing campaign, as over 60% of people are persuaded to visit a website after receiving a postcard. Postcards can also stand out from other forms of direct mail.
To further extend your direct mail efforts, you can upload your direct mail contact list to Facebook and run ads in the news feeds of your current contacts. However, this is not possible with EDDM since it uses postal routes.
As the world of digital marketing for contractors continues to evolve and consumers engage with businesses through multiple channels, it’s essential for contractors to stay up-to-date on the latest techniques and work with a digital marketing agency that can deliver the desired results.
To succeed in this environment, contractors should focus on understanding:
- SEO
- Content marketing
- PPC advertising
- Social media reputation management
- Video production and advertising
- Email and direct mail integration
