Talking to colleagues, you have heard about the incredible opportunities linked to content marketing for contractors, and you have gradually started to wonder whether these new digital tools can also help you and your company.
If you, too, have asked yourself this question – like thousands of others before you who have shown interest in marketing for construction companies – you have certainly come to the right place: In this article, we will not only explain the advantages of content marketing for you as a contractor (or for your company), but we will also show you the first steps to take to create highly impactful and relevant content that will attract a large number of potential customers and valuable leads to your company. In any case, the answer is yes: contracting businesses also need content marketing.
A clear definition
Before we explain how to exploit content marketing for your business, be it a construction company or any other type of customer, we must first clarify what we are discussing.
Content marketing is the particular branch of marketing that deals with the creation of highly engaging content to excite your target audience, gradually leading them to become more and more attached to the brand and to perform specific actions, such as a purchase or the choice of entrusting the management of a complex project to a contractor or similar figure. Content marketing can have a direct impact on the sales cycle of any company.
The Different Types of Content Marketing
Content marketing (and inbound marketing) can express itself in excessively numerous forms: social media posts, blog posts, a newsletter, an advertising campaign based on storytelling, a brand book to be disseminated virtually and offline to commercial clients, or valuable content shown on your website.
Regardless of the form in which it will be shared with your target audience, the essential thing is that your content marketing efforts carry the purest essence of your brand, clearly explaining what you do, how you do it, and why.
Nowadays, to be truly effective – as well as adapting to the rules of search engine optimization – content must be seen as small parts of a bigger story. This perpetual brand narrative unfolds on social media, in email communications, and offline through brochures, information magazines, and similar creations that tell the brand effectively.
Why Content Marketing Can Be Useful for Contractors
As a contractor specializing in the building and construction industry, your main goal is to get as many returns as possible, possibly large-scale projects that contribute considerably to increasing your reputation in the industry.
It is insufficient to circulate one’s name among specific, well-defined categories of people to achieve these results, relying on the antediluvian word of mouth and other forms of traditional marketing. Nowadays, you also have to create online high-quality content through an ambitious content marketing strategy, demonstrating to the world all your competence in the construction industry and attracting the attention of the right people, or at any rate of all those who might rely on you to do a certain job.
The Essence of the Content Marketing Strategy
Every successful content marketing strategy starts with defining the main objective, with the full knowledge that ‘increasing Facebook page followers’ is never a real objective. This rule applies to every email marketing campaign and is the basis of the most common marketing tactics.
It would help if you were as specific as possible, identifying your target audience and prospective customers precisely and understanding with equal precision what you want to achieve from them with your contracting company. A concrete goal for a contractor wishing to reposition himself in a different market could be this: to attract the attention of North Dakota construction companies dealing with luxury villas.
Once you have identified your business goals and target audience, you can start taking concrete steps to create the most suitable content to attract qualified leads.
First steps
It may seem trivial, but the first step in these cases is to create a website that best describes who you are, what you do, and why you do it and also specifies precisely your values, mission, and future goals.
Even in the age of social media, in a historical phase dominated by the power of visual communication, the website continues to be an exceptionally useful weapon for content marketing strategies.
The website can host some specific content – such as blog posts and generic blog content – that will help you position yourself in the best possible way among the results of Google’s search engine, attracting your potential customers and inducing them to take specific actions, such as asking for a quote, subscribing to your newsletter or contacting you by phone to make an appointment.
Typically, customers take these actions only after encountering outstanding content that has engaged them emotionally, convincing them that you are the right person for their new business project.
For example, a content marketing tool for your site could be a blog post as a guide, how-to content, or even helpful content focusing on a particular aspect of your work. At the end of this article, you should include a precise call-to-action, such as:
- a link to request a quote
- a phone number to call
- or an email address to forward inquiries
If your content creation is effective, all your potential customers will immediately decide to contact you after reading it, even if only to ask for information. From this point of view, a good content marketing plan is always the first step towards winning new customers or accessing a new slice of the market.
Content Marketing on social media
In addition to the website – which should be regarded as the main reservoir of your content – an effective content marketing strategy can also be initiated on social media, creating interesting and persuasive content that leads customers to contact you or entrust their project to you.
For this, you need to identify precisely which social platform best suits your specific needs the channel most frequented by your potential customers, and then commit to consistent content that can attract quality leads. It would be best if you never devoted yourself to managing too many social media channels simultaneously: a contractor with active profiles on Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, and other traditional marketing channels could seriously risk wasting too much energy for nothing without achieving any specific results.
A good content marketing campaign can also be carried out with three optimally managed channels by choosing which platforms to rely on. In the case of a contractor belonging to the construction business, being a predominantly B2B-based sector, the ideal channel to achieve your content strategy goals could be LinkedIn.
The Usefulness of LinkedIn for Contractors
The first step in creating a quality personal profile on LinkedIn is to carefully enter your personal or business information, particularly in the area describing your job position.
To be found by the potential client – in addition to posting a professional profile picture – you will also have to explain who you are and what you do, making the most of SEO strategies to include as many keywords as possible related to your sector in your profile. With your account, you can also participate in discussions or activities of groups in your specific industry, demonstrating your expertise in the field and prompting other professionals to click on your profile to find out who you are (and perhaps send you a request for a quote).
Blog posts on your site should also be shared on LinkedIn, which is undoubtedly the best platform for this content. This social media also represents one of the best platforms for contractor advertising, especially if you decide to rely on the premium version and all its potential. In this sense, advertising on LinkedIn is the most vital for contractors.
Other Platforms, Other Content
In addition to LinkedIn, identify two other social media where you can regularly place your relevant social media content – high-quality images, posts, and quality videos. Still, without overdoing it, social media channels are not there to dissipate your energy but to find new potential customers and achieve your goals through a marketing mix specifically designed for you.
In the case of contractors in the construction sector, two other platforms that could prove effective in a content marketing strategy could be Instagram and Facebook, which, at a later stage, can also be used as excellent advertising tools for managing one’s online growth and reaching one’s conversion goals.
Content and social media marketing strategies are almost always linked to precise editorial plans, with detailed indications of the social media posts to be published and the type of content to be shared. With the support of your content creator or content marketer, you should, therefore, create a content calendar full of exciting content for Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, perhaps choosing to publish the best photographs of construction projects or informative videos dedicated to a particular topic (even current affairs). You can reach even more potential customers by sponsoring the best-performing posts with a well-orchestrated advertising strategy.
Before Leaving
Identify your content marketing objective for contractors, choose your platforms, and start creating quality content that will persuade your potential customers to trust you and no one else. These are the fundamental pillars of a good content marketing strategy and are certainly within your reach.
However, Creating content marketing plans for contractors on your own can be very difficult. For more valuable information on the best digital marketing strategies for your business, we recommend often visiting ContentGo and registering on our platform of digital marketing experts. The first step to the future success of your business can start right here (you are almost there).
Meta description: Yes, that’s right, contractors need content marketing, too. Find out how to select the right platforms and create appropriate content for your target audience, increasing your business volume and reputation online and in search engines.
