Do you think it’s complex to put together a construction company’s marketing strategy? Well, think again! Marketing in the construction industry is based on the same fundamental concepts that govern all of marketing.  

Advertising isn’t the only trick in the book when it comes to marketing, nor is online marketing. Here are the fundamental concepts that you can use as a contractor to get your projects off the ground. 

How to Market a Construction Company

A construction company’s marketing strategy isn’t all too different than that of any other business. The end goal is the same: your services must reach your client base. 

With that in mind, there are 6 basic marketing strategies you can use to make it happen: 

1- Create a website

A website is like a roadside shop. It can be located in an industrial zone or a pedestrian area in a big city. The benefit of a website is that, with time, you can take it from the former to the latter, and that, is solely with the power of search engines.

As such, you’ll be able to attract new visitors, therefore, potential clients. We’ll delve into that in point 2. 

First, though, let’s take a look at the 2 ways you can create a website dedicated to your construction company: 

• Go through a paid platform;

• Use a free CMS (Content Management System). 

The most common paid platforms are Wix and Shopify. They are designed to simplify your stock management as much as possible, as well as provide your clients with a variety of payment options.

However, if your website is, first and foremost, a showcase website, free and open-source CMSs, like Wordpress.org (for beginners) or Drupal.org (for programmers), will work just fine. 

Then, to find clients, one has to know how to position themselves and evolve from a brownfield land to a major urban centre.

2- Content marketing

Content marketing requires an all-out focus on search engines, more particularly Google, which represents 91% of the market, then Bing with a 3.19% slice of the market. And, that’s what’s referred to as SEO (Search Engine Optimization). 

Why optimization, you ask? Because it’s all based on algorithms, and it’s all free. However, to get there, you have to build content around keywords (words and phrases) with the following characteristics: 

• In line with your company;

• Researched by Internet users;

• Low-level competition.

To get this information, you can use paid software, or rely on Google Ads' Keyword Planner. With Google Ads, you can also design Ads campaigns, but we’ll get into that in point 6. 

To select your keywords, you can also rely on Google’s search engine. Want an example? Type “Construction company marketing” in your search bar. Scroll down to “Related searches,” to know what questions Internet users are asking:

• “Construction company marketing strategy examples”;

• “What is construction marketing”;

• “Marketing plan for construction company example”;

• etc. 

From there, you’ll simply need to create content around these subjects, meaning by writing, or outsourcing, blog articles. 

3- Social media

Kill two birds with one stone! Once the articles are uploaded onto the company’s website, share them on your social media, whether on your professional or personal pages. 

Dalia Ceron Gonzalez, of Image Marketing, said that “There are a lot of social media platforms that are useful marketing tools [LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, Ed.].

At first, try them all, then focus on the one that brings the most traffic to your website. Online marketing is driven by these platforms, which attract a large percentage of Internet users, including your clients.

Don't forget that social networks also contribute to your company's image, since they reflect your clients' opinions. Social proof is key to success.

4- Direct marketing

Danger, Will Robinson! Direct marketing is the act of using emails as a method of communication, but solely directed at those who have authorized the reception of said emails, and who can unsubscribe. 

Why? Because, otherwise, sending emails to lists of thousands of email addresses, purchased on the Internet, would consider you a spammer, and therefore you’ll be penalized.

If you want to take a stab at sending emails as part of your marketing campaign, bear in mind all the measures put in place by CASL (Canada's anti-spam legislation) since it became effective in 2014.

It's worth looking into, as Dalia Ceron Gonzalez rightly said, "If the contractor already has a good database, a newsletter is both useful and necessary."

5- Communicate locally

You're a construction company, operating in a certain geographical area. As a result, your first clients are likely to be located near you. To connect with them, you have several options:

• Sponsor a sports team (buy jerseys);

• Finance an event (a run, annual party);

• Hand out flyers;

• Reach out to journalists and the local press;

• Advertise at your job sites and on vehicles;

• Rent a billboard. 

How to Develop a Marketing Plan 

To develop your marketing plan, you'll need to assess your company and its environment, and meet the following criteria:

1. Use SWOT analysis;

2. Describe your persona;

3. Establish your goals;

4. Apply the 4 Ps of marketing; 

5. Set a budget;

6. Advertise.

1- What’s SWOT? 

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Your strengths and weaknesses are internal to your company. It's all about your employees' skills and abilities, but their limitations too.

Opportunities and threats are external to your company. They’re the market opportunities on which your construction company operates, and the threats that you face from competitors, labour shortages, or the state of the economy.

2- What’s your online persona? 

The indispensable element to any successful marketing strategy is the client. Who’s this “person,” this “persona”? To find out, answer the following questions:

• To which socio-professional category are you affiliated?

• What’s their financial means?

• What’s their gender?

• Are they tenants or homeowners?

• Do they own a house or condo?

• How did they hear about you? 

• etc. 

As you’ve gathered, there isn’t one persona, but many. Which is what’s referred to as customer segmentation. By doing so, you’ll notice a certain type of client who prefers to buy your products or services rather than another. 

The key to successful online marketing is knowing your customers/clients.

3- Define your goals

To ensure a clear and concise marketing strategy, you first need to define your goals:

• More job offers?

• More social media subscribers?

• Expand into new markets? 

The choice is yours, prior to moving on to the 4 Ps.

4- What are the 4 Ps?

• Product;

• Price;

• Place; 

• Promotion.

In one sentence, it means finding the ideal product or service for your targeted customer group, at the best price, right place, and right way. 

5- Set a budget  

Everything has a price. If it’s not directly through hiring labourers or outsourcing to freelancers, you still have to pay for the time you would otherwise have dedicated to one said task. The more serious your campaigns, the more you’ll need efficient tools, like CRM (Customer Relationship Management). This is a tool used to manage a company’s relationship with customers. 

Dalia Ceron Gonzalez offered the following insight during our interview with her: "When it comes to marketing, we recommend having a budget that accounts for a small percentage of the company's sales [10% of sales, Ed.]."

6- Advertise

Here’s the fastest marketing technique to get more job offers when one has a construction company. There are numerous advertising channels: 

• Google Ads; 

• Facebook Ads and Instagram;

• Pinterest Ads; 

• LinkedIn Ads; 

• Twitter Ads;

• etc. 

There are numerous platforms and they all depend on one thing: your persona. There’s a different demographic that uses, for example, TikTok and Facebook. As such, you have to target the right audience to render your ads profitable. 

Most importantly, note that not all keywords are created equal. Some are more expensive than others. Google Ads campaigns are very useful in this respect.

Strategy Examples to Promote Your Construction Company

A paid marketing strategy employs a combination of campaign techniques. The first one is Ads campaigns on Google, the most widely consulted search engine. It’s the first technique because it’s the fastest, but unfortunately, also the least sustainable over time. 

When you halt your publicity campaigns, you halt your income as well. For this reason, you also need to rely on SEO. Although it's useless short-term, it's highly effective over long-term use.

When marketing a construction company online, you need to add a company page to your Google Business Profile. It's where your local clients will find you.

Be original with video marketing. Want an example? Film your teams on job sites and post these clips on YouTube as tutorials. They’re also on Google. 

Who develops the marketing plan?

It all depends on the size of your company. It can be:

• You;

• Your marketing director;

• A specialized company.

Either way, it's you, as the company's CEO, who approves the proposed marketing strategy.

What apps can you use to market a construction company?

Good news! All of these marketing tools are most likely already standard in your business: 

• Client databases for newsletters;

• Standard communication tools between you and clients;

• Social media to generate a buzz around your company. 

So now that you've mastered the basics of construction marketing, the only thing left for you to do is get started.