There are many tools you can equip your business with. Every tool that you bring into your business allows you to become more versatile and build an audience in order to grow, manage and scale your business. There are many tools out there, they all perform spectacularly, however they work on an industry to industry basis. Your first goal is to identify where your target audience is, then you can make the decision if pursuing this tool is beneficial to your business. Let’s go through some of the best tools you can use for your business.

‍

#TOOL 1 - WEBSITE

A lot of people think that if they don’t sell products online, then they don’t need a website. This could not be further from the truth. A good website is essential to any business’s marketing strategy. It is the connection between every marketing effort and becomes the businesses true powerhouse - Your social media, your emails, your van livery all point directly towards your website! What is the purpose of a website within the construction industry?

• Brings in Leads & Customers

• If you don’t have one you are falling behind your competitors

• Turns your business into a professional business

• Update visitors and clients

• Builds trust and respect

‍

Regardless of what you do, people are going to end up searching for your business online, it is a necessity that you show up. If you don’t have a website, you’re setting a low standard for your business. However simply having a website isn’t enough; you need to make sure that it’s high quality and professional, this is where you will need a web development team in place. Professionals in this area are experts at creating websites that are easy to use and that converts visitors into paying clients. Get in touch with the team to start your web development journey.

‍

‍

#TOOL 2 - SEO

SEO, short for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the process of optimising your website for Google and other search engines. The art of SEO is rather complex and is ever-changing with regular updates to search engines algorithms (Google’s Brain). There are three main components we want to look out for when it comes to SEO:

‍

1. Search Intent / Relevance Factor. Search engines have the single purpose of satisfying the user’s needs, this means if we search for a Plumber near me, Google’s Brain will swiftly collect all the results together that answers my query and displays them.

2. Authority Factor. Now that Google’s Brain has gathered all relevant results, it will display them, however, that’s not quite it. Google doesn’t just want to show any site as it could be misleading or untrustworthy. That’s where authority comes in, Google uses authority to identify what websites are trustworthy.

3. User experience. Google is able to tell what sites are well produced or are poor & spammy, such as the use of aggressive popups and so on. User experience covers everything from speed, mobile responsiveness and so on. It is a necessity for the success of your site that the user’s experience is perfect.

‍

‍

#TOOL 2.1 - Blogs & Articles

Producing blogs and articles comes under the powerful SEO.

By producing blogs and articles we are able to achieve so much! Producing blogs allows us to target and rank certain keywords or queries and use them to our advantage. For example, a kitchen fitter may produce an article covering what makes the perfect kitchen. This is a popular search query and if the kitchen fitter can rank for it, he can direct all of that traffic directly through his site.

This would all be a part of our marketing strategy, bringing people from A to B is what it is all about.

‍

‍

#TOOL 3 - SOCIAL MEDIA

The construction business is a very visual industry and is based on a lot of trust. In the end, it is an expensive project that the client realistically has no idea how it’s going to turn out. Social media is your tool to close that fear down to a minimum.

Not only can you identify and win new leads through social media but it allows you to build and grow relationships with your customers and audience. Your presence on social media shows the personality and authority of your business. Social media is your best avenue to develop trust and communicate with your audience, releasing updates, answering questions, showing off projects and so on.

‍

‍

#TOOL 4 - ADVERTISING

Advertising has the power to create awareness, the power to convert fresh viewers straight into clients and the power to persuade.

Advertising comes in all sorts, such as social media, search engines, radio, billboards, buses, the list goes on… From where we look, to what we wear, to what we eat, there is advertisement everywhere. But what makes them worthy? A good advertisement is able to connect to the audience that it is presented too. This may be targeting pain points like that leaking roof or selling dreams like that brand new kitchen.

Advertising is the most powerful and effective way to bring an audience of thousands to your business. How can advertising work for you? Let’s just take one of the many examples, Search Engine Advertising (SEA) We can place advertisements on certain keywords that people type in on Google & other search engines. So, in the instance for our kitchen fitter, someone might type in, “Kitchen Fitter near me” - Now we are targeting that very phrase in that very location, it is the perfect match and we have been connected through the power of advertising.

‍

‍

#TOOL 5 - NETWORKING & WORD OF MOUTH

You may have heard “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Many people believe that networking is just selling to everyone you know, but it’s not. It’s more about the development of relationships over time. This relationship allows for trust to be built and maybe they don’t even become a client however they might recommend one of their friends instead.

Here are some tips on how to build your network

1. Attend relevant events  

2. Start networking before you need it  

3. Leverage social media  

4. Let them speak  

5. Do not instantly & constantly sell!  

6. Stay connected - don’t let them forget you.

‍

‍

#TOOL 6 - YOUTUBE

YouTube is becoming stronger and stronger. YouTube has 2 billion users logging in every single month, it is becoming a powerful part of our lives making it easy and simple for anyone to share content!

But how does it apply to the construction industry? You can put your unique twist on it! It all depends on the image you want to portray for your business anyways. Here are some quick ideas.

1. Professional Portfolio - Create a gallery of high-quality videos for all of the work that you complete. You can include testimonials from the client and so on.  

2. Create time-lapses of big projects - Show your audience the sped-up version of your project! This is a great way to visualise the impact of your work.

3. Vlogging - Simply vlogging your process that you do with every project creates a time log and allows your audience to see the real side of what you go through within your jobs.

4. Create funny moments - There are a lot of laughs on-site, creating a reel of funny moments is a great way to connect with your audience on a personal level.  

5. Educate - Take the time to educate your audience, this demonstrates the level of your expertise and develops trust with your audience.

‍

‍

#TOOL 7 - Neighbourhood Cards

This one brings us out of the digital space and works if you are visiting houses or offices a lot, it would be beneficial to invest in the production of some neighbourhood cards.

How do these work?

When you do work at someone’s house, you can run round to the surrounding 20-30 houses and drop off a neighbourhood card which is just a nice visual promotion of your business saying something like “You may notice your neighbour smiling a lot more… That’s because we have done x and so on.

These are so powerful as it is getting your business out there plus it provides proof of your work and how it has affected someone that they personally know. If you list what you do on your neighbourhood cards and they are interested in one of these services, they would speak to their neighbour and it will instantly validate the quality of your service.

Neighbourhood cards are a great thing to carry around with you, they are cheap, simple and effective. Sometimes you may hand the card to someone face to face which is great as you can really develop a relationship from there!

‍

‍

Looking to put any of these solutions into place? Get in touch with Saint Global to day to get a team of marketing experts to stand by your side!