Marketing for Construction Companies

Construction companies make imaginative things real. They bring into existence the diagrams drawn on the drawing sheets by constructing the buildings / infrastructure work for an agreed amount decided prior with their clients.

The construction companies are divided into many different categories depending upon the type of jobs they perform. They consist of operating, designing, land acquisition, paper works, financial planning and execution.

Below listed are some of the classified construction companies accordingly to the job they perform;

1. Small renovation contractors: This category falls into home alterations, office work and small commercial contracts

• General Contractors:They are the one who specialize in public works. They are experts in performing alterations with their own force and involve in either alterations or new buildings

• Owner/Builder: These companies acts as owner builder in a sense where they build buildings only for their ownership either to sell or rent on completion

• Real Estate Developer: These type of owner builders do not only build for personal ownership but also build to sell before or after completion of their construction

• Professional construction manager: It comprises of a group of professionals which may include construction superintendents, project managers, accounting personnel etc acting as an agent for the owner. They work as if they are owners own employees

• Program Manager: Complete project is managed by this category such as demolition, acquisition of new site, architect hiring, consulting on financing and payment methods, obtaining tenants and even hiring accountants, real estate professionals and management and leasing experts.

• Package Builders: These are licensed professionals who design and construct buildings with services of land acquisition as well as financing the project. Generally they prefer their own team and are also able to show prototype to their clients of their previous projects
• Sponsor Builder: These are basically government aided or subsidized builders who design, construct, manage and maintain buildings. They also employ attorneys to deal with various institutions and agencies

After having and understanding of the type of construction companies let us move on the marketing ideas of digital marketing for these companies

1. Niche marketing strategy: As the word itself suggests one needs to have a proficiency to stand out of the lot. You need to focus on micro market rather then trying to be jack of all trades and master of none. You cannot provide all things to all people, so focus area should be on a particular market and be the best in what you opt to do. For example a construction company has come up with a  new idea of eco friendly homes and is getting popular because of that. Hence the marketing strategy in any area of advertising should be this eco-friendly concept. Links leading to pictures of their existing work on face book and other plat forms will grab the attention of the viewers and will definitely lead to more business

2. Build and update your website: It is needless to say that in today’s fast expanding digital marketing world;  website is the most important medium of marketing. Your website should look professional, smooth and efficient. It should comprise of both interactive and educational content.  It should contain  all the good work done in different areas  and your specializations in an easily accessible manner. Using navigation to other pages and hyper links to show videos and pictures of your existing work will help you generate more leads. Timely upgradation of your website as per the current market trend is to be done. Website should be user friendly and easily accessible all types of electronic media. Also your contact details should be displayed on the home page of your website for the customer to contact you easily.

3. Blogs about the latest trend: You can also start a blog on your website and publish content related to development in architecture and construction. Your blogs should form a part of the latest trends in the construction field and also the work you have done in the same areas. The blogs should be regular so that the followers who might be waiting for your upload get to read it in time. It should be designed and posted with all the relevant information for the reader to understand the things you want to convey to your audience. It is needless to say that the content should be authoritative and niche

4. Get into Facebook Marketing : FACEBOOK the most popular social media platform needs to be used to the maximum to portray your work in a smart way so that the followers or readers do not get bored of your content. Facebook is a platform for marketing any type of products due to its huge followers and users. Publishing videos and pictures of your upcoming and completed projects will help you gain a lot of eyeballs.  It can also include latest  news and trends related to construction in order to interest the clients.

5. Adopting a mobile first marketing strategy: Use of mobile phones is maximum in comparison to any other electronic devices. That is why Google has made its mobile algorithm as its primary algorithm for ranking websites. This does not only mean that your websites are mobile friendly but the mobile campaign you run for marketing should also use SMS marketing, lead generation, marking  personalized mailers etc. Hence all the mediums of marketing available on the phone should be utilized in an effective manner.

6. Emerging technology of mobile apps: This is still not that popular but definitely very useful. Mobile apps are revolutionizing the construction industry because of its varied features and uses. Integrated mobile solutions are available to manage all types of construction activities which includes drawing designing, budgeting, material calculation, project coordination, quality assurance etc. Companies which evolve with technologies will survive and one who does not embrace them will lag behind

7 Automate digital marketing: Managing all your work manually is not possible  and you cannot continue doing your work in the tradition manner. Switching to automation will ease your life. Writing email sequences and ensuring that feedbacks received are tracked, social media updates on different platforms to be scheduled, integrating messaging with your website. Using CRM software will help keeping track of all the leads generated and will ensure that nothing is missed out

8 Create immersive and interactive experience: Interactive experience are fast replacing the old methods of site visits and sales pitches. Today is the world of Virtual Reality. There are companies who specialise in this type of marketing and you can employ one of them as per your budget  These companies provide plug and play solutions to create interactive walls, floor or screens at the booking offices or construction sites. These will help you kick start your bookings. It is for you to decide how you want to utilize these services to the best

 9  Utililse multi channel marketing: Multiple options available for marketing and any medium used is called marketing channel. Customers can shift from one channel to another in a blink of an eye. They might have seen your add on Facebook, might visit your website for further details and read your reviews somewhere else. Thus it is necessary for you to remain present on all the channels in order to track the customer and his need

10  Solicit genuine customer reviews: Online customer reviews hold as much importance and relevance as the reviews given in person. Customers now trust online reviews equally unlike doubting them before. Additionally, customer reviews shown in Google search results are in the forms of star ratings to help your business look more attractive than companies without reviews.

Thus to summarise the above points. There are ample of options available for marketing your work but it definitely needs time, money and understanding to utilize the best option as per the need of customers. But you need to ensure that not just by giving money to a digital marketing agency will help you get desired goals but you need to keep a track of the results and keep changing the strategy as per the changing trends.

A dedicated team needs to be employed who keeps a watch on the development in different areas and as to which medium is working well and which not. This team should be responsible to put forward the time to time results in front of the top management and strategise the further course of actions accordingly Digital marketing is a MUST platform which if utilised in a proper manner will do wonders to your business and if not then will lead to loss of money.

Never the less the old methods of distributing brochures and pamphlets in the news paper, hoarding etc holds its importance but if both the forms are combined will lead to excellent results. Catchy names of the building and amenities offered are in trend.  A team of people to manage all these important aspects will help you avoid any kind of mess and achieve desired results on every project you undertake