Beginners Guide to Building Industry Marketing
Whether you are a start-up or established member of the building industry, marketing your business can feel overwhelming. Our Beginners Guide to Building Industry Marketing will simplify the process and ensure you have all the construction marketing basics in place to grow and succeed.
Building Industry Marketing – Lay strong foundations
The first three steps of our Building Industry Marketing Essential Guide will provide a solid foundation for all your future marketing. By following these first three steps, you will achieve improved outcomes from the marketing recommendations provided in the latter section of this guide.
1. Branding – be seen, be heard, be respected
The building industry is extremely competitive, making being appointed ahead of tough competition extremely challenging. Branding is an excellent tool to achieve this goal, as it will help differentiate you from your competitors, establish trust, and increase the effectiveness of your marketing.
Every successful brand is underpinned by the following customer facing elements:
Brand Style Guide: While your customers won’t see this document directly, a brand style guide outlines how and when your logos, fonts and colours should be used. To build credibility and trust, it is crucial to ensure your business is represented professionally and consistently through all of your marketing activities.
Company Logo: Your logo must be consistently showcased across all marketing channels. Using pixelated versions or incorrect fonts can appear unprofessional. Ensure that your logo is utilised correctly at all times.
2. Client winning Website
With your branding complete, your next step should be creating a professional website for your business.
Your website will be the cornerstone of your building companies marketing strategy and is often the first place potential customers will interact with your business. Therefore, it’s crucial that it not only looks attractive but also meets the needs of prospective clients.
Incorporating your brand guidelines, embrace a clean, professional, and mobile-friendly web design to ensure a positive user experience. Utilise Search Engine Optimisation techniques to enhance your ranking potential and improve loading times.
If available include project case studies, testimonials, information about your products and services, accreditations, and details about your team to establish trust and credibility with potential clients.
More for information of what to include in your website, ready our construction website essentials article.
3. Building Industry Marketing Strategy – Maximise your marketing success
A Marketing Strategy isn’t just a document – it will be your roadmap to winning business and outshining your competitors. A well-orchestrated plan can be the game-changing factor that elevates your construction brand, cements trust with your audience, and helps you overcome your competitors.
A comprehensive Building Industry Marketing Strategy will include:
- A deep-dive analysis of the market, your target clients and your competitors.
- A thorough review of your current marketing efforts. See what’s working, what’s not, and how you can boost your marketing game.
- An actionable marketing plan including recommendations designed to help you achieve your business goals.
- The plan will identify how to position your brand within the marketplace, the right marketing channels to use, and how to attract and engage new customers.
Don’t skip ahead – Building Industry Marketing
The following building industry marketing recommendations will achieve greater success following effective implementation of steps 1 through 3. Without unique branding, a robust marketing strategy and a professional website in place your business is at greater risk of wasting time and money on marketing that won’t get results.
4. Set up your Social Media accounts
With your Building Industry Marketing Strategy established, you’ll gain a clear understanding of the social media channels to prioritise to get maximum return for your marketing efforts. This strategy will also offer valuable insights into the types of content that engage your target audience effectively, as well as what tends to fall flat.
If you’re a Business-to-Business (B2B) company, LinkedIn is the social media platform that will offer the most benefits for your building industry firm. Conversely, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) companies may find greater success connecting with their target audience on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
5. Set-up your Google Business Profile
Google serves as the primary search engine for many prospective clients searching for the services and solutions you offer. By creating a Google Business Profile, you can enhance your visibility in search results, making it simpler for people to locate your business.
Once your profile is properly established, it will begin showing up in searches by those looking for your services in the vicinity. Beyond sharing details about your company’s location and offerings, your Google Business Profile also acts as an excellent platform for gathering reviews for your construction start-up.
6. Create an Email Signature
Before sending emails to peers and prospects, create a professional email signature that allows your business to shine. Your email signature may be one of the first opportunities for you to introduce your business to new clients, so make sure it makes a great first impression.
Featured at the foot of all of your outgoing emails, your email signature is a fantastic building industry marketing tool for building brand awareness and drive traffic to your website. Include a high-resolution logo, key contact information and encourage people to visit your website with a compelling call-to-action.
7. Post and schedule social media content
With your brand guidelines, website, and building industry marketing strategy finalised, you are all-set to begin sharing content that connects with your target audience.
Use your brand guidelines to craft social media graphics that align with your identity. Refer to your marketing strategy to identify the types of content to share and establish a posting frequency. Direct traffic to your website by including links in your posts. Streamline your efforts by creating and scheduling posts weeks or even months ahead, allowing your social media to run on autopilot.
Need help planning and delivering your social media content? Book a call today.
8. Email Marketing
Email marketing targeting your current contacts will serve as a highly valuable building industry marketing tool during the initial phases of your new business. Reach out to them to share information about your venture, the services you provide, and include a link to your website. Leveraging your existing network can open doors to new business opportunities.
Remember to personalise each message, highlighting how your offerings can benefit them specifically. This approach not only strengthens your relationships but also demonstrates genuine interest in their needs.
Consider asking for feedback or suggestions, as this can provide valuable insights and further engage your contacts in your journey. Additionally, encourage them to share your information with others who might be interested, thereby expanding your reach even further. This foundational support can be instrumental in building momentum and establishing a strong presence in your industry.
9. Build your personal brand
If your business is just starting out in the industry, it may lack the credibility needed to persuade potential customers to collaborate with you. Over time, gathering case studies, client testimonials, and referrals will serve as invaluable resources for securing potential prospects. In the absence of these assets, developing you personal brand and network will be crucial in helping you attract and secure your ideal clients.
In many instances, start-up companies tend to have a limited number of LinkedIn followers when compared to the connections on your personal account.. Leverage your personal platform to raise awareness of your business, highlight your expertise, and develop positive relationships with potential clients. Your personal brand will serve as a valuable building industry marketing asset for many years ahead, making the early phases of your business the ideal time to begin cultivating it.
10. Update your website monthly
Successful building industry marketing features a frequently updated website at its core. Neglecting your website and displaying outdated information can prompt potential clients to seek services elsewhere.
Your building industry website should showcase your most recent project case studies, introduce current team members, and highlight your latest news. Has it been months since you posted any news updates? Are you still featuring team members who departed the company last month? If so, your business’s image may be at stake.
By updating your website monthly, you ensure that it consistently represents your business accurately and professionally. This practice demonstrates to prospects that you are active and ready to assist them with their future needs. While monthly updates may seem excessive, maintaining this standard makes updates manageable rather than overwhelming, avoiding the pitfalls of having a six-month gap between revisions.
Updating your building industry website will include adding project case studies, team members, and sharing your latest news. Book a call today or contact us here to discuss your business’ website management requirements.
Take your Building Industry Marketing to the next level.
At Cherry Picker Marketing, we help built environment professionals rise above the competition, grow their business and win new clients. If you are a start-up or an established company looking for building industry marketing guidance and support, book a call below, or use the contact form in the page footer.
