The rewards of marketing are not always immediately forthcoming:
- Social media isn’t just a case of one tweet and get a lead.
- Blogging is a great way for people to find your business in search, but it takes time to get the content shared and ranked.
- Direct marketing such as letters and promotional fliers may sit on desks for weeks before customers see the need for your services.
Your marketing efforts will eventually reap rewards but their is still a waiting and reminder game that every business needs to play.
Today I bring you 5 marketing features you can implement that can have positive impact on your construction business today.
1. Pay Per Click PPC campaigns
PPC campaigns enable business’ working in the construction industry to skip to the top positions in search engines such as google, yahoo and bing.
If you are new company it can be particularly difficult (practically impossible) to get first page visibility on Google any other way.
Other long standing business’ have more back links, more content and are searched for more frequently resulting in them receiving ranking preference for the majority of search terms you want to be found for.
PPC campaigns cost money but can give your business an immediate in flow of traffic and enquiries for your business.
Any PPC campaign requires careful budget management as costs can spiral.
A well optimised campaign will require the following features:
- Website pages that customers click when visiting your site meet their exact needs
- Pages are optimised to specific search terms (keywords) that customers are searching for
- Google (search engine) adverts that are accurate but also encourage the right people to click
- Region specific (demographic targeting) search terms and adverts represent better use of your finances
- Use re-marketing so people who visit them see additional adverts on other pages they visit promoting your business
There are many things to consider with a PPC campaign but if well managed can be provide the jump start your construction business needs.
2. Testimonials/Reviews
By adding testimonials and reviews to your website today you can get instant credibility for your business.
It could be the difference between a potential customer finding your website and seeking an alternative or choosing your business.
Make sure testimonials are visible on your home page as new site visitors will seek them out before hiring your services.
A supporting page of additional reviews and testimonials can also help to enhance the credibility and increase the chances of them making contact.
3. Integrate an Instant Conversation Chat Panel
Don’t keep your customers waiting.
Live online chat panels are becoming more common and are even more relevant in todays instant response business environments.
Once a customer has found your business website, online chat makes communications simple and immediate.
There’s no longer a need to click through to the contact page and fill out the form, or pick up the phone, visitors can have a conversation there and then.
For customers to engage via the chat tool they will often need to provide their email address, which is extremely good for data capture.
These marketing tools can reduce the chance that customers leave without interaction (reduced bounce rate) and if contact is made when there isn’t staff available it’s simple for visitors to leave a message and for team members of the business to follow up on the next day.
Statistics indicate that customers are 4.5 times more likely to make a purchase and far more likely to become a loyal customer of companies that feature a chat panel.
Chat panels could be the difference between a visitor choosing your construction business or a competitor due to your ability to respond immediately.
4. Share Construction Project Progress and Results Photos on Linkedin
Linkedin is a great channel for making and meeting potential new customers and clients.
By sharing images of your before, during and after projects you can really showcase what your business can offer, to those new connections and potential customers you are trying to persuade.
Images that show a finished project are effective, but lack personality and don’t accurately show the full details of the expertise your business offers.
Encourage on site staff to take quality photos of their work (not poor ones as this can have the opposite effect) and share them on linkedin.
The likes and comments they receive could quickly result in new leads as others begin to see your work in their news feeds.
5. Follow, comment and communicate with potential clients on social media
As useful as automation tools can be in assisting business’ in their construction business efforts to share their own and other relevant industry news, it is is important not to ignore the need to interact with followers on a more personal level.
Time should be allowed to comment, share and interact “live” to build a business personality and relationships with your audience beyond a standard source of information.
This could help move relationships towards more direct communications such as email and phone calls leading to genuine business opportunities.
Actively seeking out specific business enquiries that your business via social media search can provide the perfect foot in the door opportunity that significantly shortens the marketing process.
6. BONUS – Send an Email With an Offer to Your Existing Customers
Take the opportunity to generate more business from existing clients by sending them an email with a relevant offer, incentive or piece of significant product or service related news.
This is likely to result in a significant increase in:
- Traffic to your website
- Possibility of new enquiries
- Eyes on your brand and the services you offer
- Sharing of you services by your existing customers
Your email may arrive at just the right time for an existing or potential customer and it could persuade them to work with you. Alternatively, it may help solve the problem of one of their colleagues leading to business from else where.
Never underestimate the value of your email database and the potential it has to create new business from existing and new customers.
For more assistance with your construction marketing don’t hesitate to contact us directly with you needs.
