Social media can feel overwhelming. With so much noise and so many platforms, where do you start? The truth is that a great social media strategy can transform how you connect with customers and help you grow your contracting business.

 

Social media platforms' reach and accessibility are unprecedented. They connect businesses with a vast audience in real-time. Besides their broad reach, social media platforms also serve as valuable tools for businesses to listen to what their customers say about their brand, competitors, or the industry.

 

Social media allows for active engagement. Construction companies like yours can post questions, respond to comments, and forge stronger customer bonds. Unlike traditional marketing channels, it's a great leveler. All businesses – whether big or small, have equal access. This means smaller companies can compete effectively against their larger counterparts.

 

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Topics: Marketing Tracking, Construction Marketing, Systems And Processes, Contractor Marketing, Winning Teams, Construction Systems And Processes, social media for contractors

Raising prices can be a sore subject. Many construction business owners like you assume doing so will spell the end of your competitiveness. But by not raising prices, you're simply letting inflation and your suppliers' maintenance of your margins quietly eat away at profitability. The bottom line is that costs will always rise long-term - at least with inflation.

That means you have to pass on the costs to your customers or consume those costs yourself to the point where one day, you'll have to either suddenly raise prices or accept the eventual failure of your business.

The worst thing you can do is avoid measuring your costs by sticking your head in the sand. Cost rises will catch up with you eventually, so take action to maintain your margins.

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Topics: Marketing Tracking, Construction Marketing, Construction Accountant Who Listens, Contractor Marketing, Contractor Tips, Pricing Jobs, How To Raise Prices

When you go into business as a tradesperson, you often focus on performing your trade to the best of your ability – as it should be. With time, the quality of your work will speak for itself, which is the most valuable testimonial of all.

Before the internet was commercially available, just as many experts advised contractors about the layout and design of yellow page ads and which books to spend money on, I say you spend money because that is what it was - Marketing.

Many of us who owned and operated construction companies spent thousands of dollars on these experts. Based on their recommendations, we spent tens of thousands of dollars annually in full-page yellow page ads as close to the first position.

 

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Topics: Marketing Ideas For Contractors That Work, Marketing Tracking, Construction Marketing, Construction Accountant Who Listens, Contractor Marketing, Contractor Tips, Inbound Marketing For Contractors

Construction contractors like you are primarily in the "Hurry Up" and "Wait" zone.

• • Hurry up and answer the call from the customer. 
  • Wait to make the appointment. 
  • Hurry up and get to the job. 
  • Wait for the customer to come home to be available. 
  • Hurry up and create the proposal. 
  • Wait for a decision. 
  • When the client says "Yes," it is - wait for the Job Deposit.
  • Wait to Start The Job

This Hurry Up and Wait for activity makes it hard for the contractor to schedule other jobs. Many contractors only hold a place open for the client once a job deposit has been received. 

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Topics: Construction Company, Marketing Ideas For Contractors That Work, Marketing Tracking, Construction Marketing, Contractors Emergency Marketing Plan

If you're serious about getting the best value you can for your marketing budget, you'll need to develop a marketing plan. Many contractors are having challenges adapting to this ever-changing economy. Trade contractors who rely on the same general contractors they did a few years ago to supply jobs to bid on are finding it more difficult to recover and find work.

 

It appears that history is repeating itself. Instead of yellow pages, I see many well-intentioned people with their minds and hearts in the right place with a lot of really great ideas on what works and fails in social media. I certainly don't know what works for every contractor; however, what I do know is that every construction company is unique, and what works for your competitor may not work for you.

 

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Topics: Marketing Tracking, Construction Marketing, Construction Accounting, Marketing, Contractor Marketing, Contractor, Contractor Tips, Contractor Operating Tips

Today's Social Media Marketing Hype

Last Century's Yellow Page Ad Hype

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Topics: Market Tracking, Marketing Tracking