Marketing your construction business doesn’t have to cost the earth. The most obvious marketing methods might be right under your nose, you just need to approach them from a different direction. In this article, we’ll share some low budget ideas to help you drum up more business and encourage repeat business.
But first, let’s look at the state of construction marketing in 2019. In 2017, there were 314,590 construction companies operating in the UK. That’s one company for every 2.14 square miles in the UK. That’s a lot of competition. Finding a way to stand out from the crowd is one of the biggest challenges facing construction companies today.
Some companies have been resistant to the rise of the internet, preferring to use traditional marketing methods such as direct mail, print advertising, radio advertising and even relying on word of mouth. While this might work, there’s no denying the power and reach of the internet. In 2018, it was reported that 89% of UK adults used the internet at least once per week.
It doesn’t matter if you primarily deal with B2C or B2B sales, the internet can help you to reach more people, gather feedback, refine your offering and grow your company. If you’re stuck in a marketing rut and aren’t sure which way to go next, try these low-budget ideas.
Email Marketing
The main reason for adding email campaigns into your marketing mix is that consumers actually prefer this method of communication. Many marketing professionals worried that the new GDPR rules would put an end to the effectiveness of email marketing, but it remains just as powerful.
If you haven’t emailed your list for a while, going in with a hard sell might be problematic. Instead, focus on building a rapport and remind your subscribers what you do and why you’re the best at it. You don’t have to be strict, but try to develop a schedule so that your customers will know to expect an email from you. You should also add an email sign up form to your website so that visitors can keep in touch.
Read our tips on improving your click through rates.
Find out how to get sign ups from your website.
Remarketing
When looking for construction services, your customer’s won’t just go with the first company they see online. They’ll request quotes from multiple companies and might visit your website multiple times in their customer journey. This is why remarketing can be so effective.
Remarketing allows you to put your adverts in front of people who have already been on your website in the last 3 months. This puts you at a distinct advantage over your competitors if they aren’t engaging their audience in this way.
During the consideration phase of the customer journey, you can use your remarketing ads to share some of your best testimonials. This will ensure your company is at the forefront of the customer’s mind while they make their decision.
Find out more about remarketing here.
Display Marketing
Like remarketing, display marketing is a highly-cost effective method to get your company name in front of a lot of people. You can read more about display marketing here. In short, it’s a great way to increase awareness of your brand within your niche. You can choose the types of websites you want to be seen on, so you could choose things like home improvement and construction industry.
Find out more about the display network.
Reviews
Good reviews won’t come flooding in unless you ask for them. If this isn’t already part of your post-sales care, you should consider adding an automated email to your marketing mix. Getting reviews from existing customers might not seem like the most obvious marketing strategy, but those kind words could help to convince future customers.
The easiest way to generate reviews is to simply ask. At the end of a project, when you know the customer is happy with the outcome, simply send an email asking for a review. Asking for reviews in this way also helps you to take control over the platform you use. For example, if you’d prefer Google reviews, you can direct customers to your Google My Business page.
Once you have a stack of 5 star reviews, make sure you include this information on your website.
You can read more about the best review platforms for your business here.
Customer Referral Programme
Customer referrals are a dream. You don’t have to do any of the hard selling, because your existing customers are out there doing it for you. A customer referral programme is a great way to generate repeat business from existing customers while also drumming up new business for your construction company.
Since you won’t want to devalue your services by offering a discount, the best way to manage a customer referral programme is to offer something else. An Amazon voucher, for example, is a great way to encourage people to recommend your company to their friends, family and colleagues.
If you’re ready to take your construction company marketing to the next level, get in touch with our team to discover how we can help.