Are you a contractor and wondering how you can reach your online customers? Have you built your website, but still struggling for sales and leads? Are your current sales contributing enough to your year-over-year business growth? Are you getting projects? If the answer to all these questions is no, then maybe you’re missing a strong contractor advertising and marketing strategy.
According to an online study, 45% of businesses in the contracting industry are growing. In other words, half of most contracting businesses are stagnant or failing.
With all of the emerging online marketing strategies it seems that there are so many ways to reach your potential clients, but where do you start? One thing to keep in mind is that most homeowners are going online to look for reputable contractors simply because it’s convenient. It’s known that there are nearly 700,000 online searches done for HVAC, general contracting, and plumbing services every month.
You might be curious to find out the best way to engage those users with your services. Well, the one-word answer is, digital marketing.
Effective contractor advertising and marketing efforts can help you generate sales. If you are looking for the best contractor advertising and marketing strategies, then here is a list of top ways you can opt for and contributing to your industry.
Below are some tips and strategies you can follow to increase the number of leads you get every month and ultimately reach your sales goals. Continue reading this article, because we have a lot to share with you.
7 Best Contractors Advertising Strategies and Marketing Ideas
Did you know contractors now have more opportunity than ever? Through an effective advertising strategy, you can now reach more people than ever before. New methods are constantly emerging, and businesses are adopting them as they come. If you want to remain competitive, then you need to consider the following online marketing strategies for your contracting business.
1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization
Do you know what SEO is? It stands for search engine optimization, which is implemented to gain organic (free) traffic to your website from search engines.
Over 93% of online experience initiates with a search engine, and more than 47% of people click on the first three listings in the search page. So, it is essential to reach at least on the first page of google to be considered by customers. For that, you need to optimize your website and local listings that can make a huge difference between customers calling you or calling your competitions.
Benefits of optimizing your website and local listings have a lot of SEO benefits, like:
- You can define your services and area of services
- Can reach a larger audience of potential customers
- Can get contractor leads for your services using specific targeted keywords
- Also, you can improve the quality of leads.
You need to make continuous changes in your marketing strategies because Google algorithms are constantly changing. So, it’s up to you to outperform your competitors and build a strong organic SEO services strategy.
2. Google Business Listing and Maps SEO
Aside from ranking your website on the first page of Google, it’s also important to consider ranking your Google My Business listing. Google My Business is an excellent opportunity for your business to get advertising for free.
When consumers search for a local contracting business, you’ll see map listings show up. These are Google My Business listings. Showing up for local searches is a great way to attract customers to your business.
Additionally, this listing enables you to post important business contact information like hours of operation, photos, reviews, and posts, etc.
SEO for your business works simply by leveraging Google’s ranking factors so that your business website will be at the top of the list of websites a user sees when he searches for a contracting service. So, yes, SEO an essential contractor advertising strategy that can help you to increase sales and generate leads.
3. Google Ads for Contractors
Here comes another effective contractor marketing and advertising business strategy— PPC aka Pay Per Click. These are ads which appear above organic results in the search engines. These ads work on a bidding system. Just like website pages, PPC advertisement analysis work on keywords. When a Google user types in the keywords, it triggers the most relevant advertisements.
Like mentioned above, PPC for contractor marketing works on a bidding system, but the highest bid won’t necessarily show up first. Google uses an algorithm similar to their organic algorithm to determine which ad is the most relevant and user-friendly. Although Google Ads can cost more than Facebook ads they can be more effective since buyers are actively searching for a service. There’s no doubt that if you’re ready to grow you’ll need to invest in marketing and advertising to grow your business.
How Google Ads Works
The way the Google Ads bidding system works is that you choose a keyword, and then decide how much you want to pay every time someone clicks on your ads. You can set the daily marketing and advertising budget you’d like depending on how fast you want to grow your business. That’s why a lot of businesses like it because it helps you control your budget.
Once the ad is running, you can begin earning qualified leads. It helps you monitor your ads and see which keywords are working. PPC is an effective way to boost your leads. Although Google Ads can be expensive on a Cost Per Click basis it can be well worth the investment. Just make sure you have a solid event tracking system in your Google Analytics so you have known where the leads came from and you can calculate your ROI.
Create a Construction Marketing Strategy and Stick to It
Many construction companies invest in Google Ads, so costs will be somewhat high. Just be sure to create a marketing strategy and stick to it. Effective construction marketing typically includes some form of paid advertising. PPC advertising can be a great asset to your business when done right.
4. Facebook Ads With a Compelling Offer
Facebook advertising is another popular way to boost your business and reach potential customers. You can set up your business page, and run Facebook ads to target a specific audience of a particular region. You can consider setting a Facebook advertising budget for your contractor marketing company that would allow you to:
o Create highly engaging ads with target audience members to gain likes and leads.
o Boost your posts to a bigger audience on Social Media
One important note with Facebook ads is that I’ve met many people who say they don’t work. Facebook ads can be more effective in some industries but if you’ve tried the platform and didn’t receive any results it doesn’t mean the entire system doesn’t work. Each social media network is different so keep that in mind.
The great thing about Facebook ads is these are relatively easy to set up. You can choose a budget for your business ad to run. You can even stop running it after your entire budget has been used. If you notice your ads are going great, you can increase your campaign budget. Always make sure to use attractive images, and write engaging content for FB ads, and offer discounts on purchases.
Example Facebook Ads for Contractors
5. Instagram for Contractor Advertising
Instagram is not only for celebs and influencers but for businesses as well. Instagram marketing is great for contractors marketing. But on average, users miss 70% of the posts in their feed? What’s the main reason? Maybe your posts need Instagram ad boost to increase your visibility and brand awareness. You can get the advantage of paid ads. When it comes to Instagram advertising for contractors advertising and contractor marketing, there are 4 factors for success.
4 Keys to Success with Social Media Ads for Contractors
- Consider your contractor marketing messaging and create engaging content
- Provide a high-quality image that conveys your message
- You need to target the right audience for effective contractor marketing
- You need to boost your ads with organic activity properly
Example Instagram Ads for Contractors
6. LinkedIn Marketing for Contractors
Creating a business profile of your company on LinkedIn can help you win customers, but it requires a bit of strategy.
Since LinkedIn is a professional platform it’s most effective for B2B companies. This doesn’t mean it won’t work for your contracting business.
LinkedIn users are a very specific demographic. 49% of LinkedIn users earn $75,000 per year or more (source).
The process for LinkedIn advertising is the same, just like Facebook. You choose your ad format (content ad, or text ad), target audience, budget, etc.
LinkedIn is a professional platform where millions of professionals have their profiles and earning through advertising and making relationships. LinkedIn is another advertising platform to consider to grow your contracting business.
7. YouTube Ads
The video ad example above is not a contractor but hopefully it get’s ideas flowing if you’re considering running YouTube Ads.
Just like Google, YouTube is another big platform where you can reach a big user base. Yes, you can advertise your business here by displaying advertising to attract customers. Your YouTube ads will be connected with Google Ads account. There are various marketing options available to choose between:
1. In-Display Video Ads
2. In-Stream Video Ads
3. Overlay In-Video Ads
4. Remarketing Video Ads
8. Pinterest for Contractor Marketing
Pinterest offers a big opportunity for contractors advertising marketing. Companies can create boards that would be appealing to the audience, like remodeling boards with projects pictures. They can create a board full of repair and restoration projects.
FAQ’s
1. How Do I Advertise My Contracting Business?
It’s simple! You need to bring your business online. It’s important to build your business as a brand, like there should be an attractive logo, etc. Then invest time on social media marketing, SEM and SEO to reach customers.
2. Where Do Contractors Get Clients?
Contractors get clients both online and offline. In the online world, contractors need to reach customers through advertisement. There is much pay per lead platforms like HomeAdvisor but in our experience, it’s best to grow and develop your own brand without depending on companies to provide leads.
3. How Can I Grow My Construction Business?
You need to build a committed team and invest in your business. You need to be selective and get the word out. Always play to your strengths and work on your weakness. Additionally, work hard to keep the quality high.
4. How Do I Market Myself as a Contractor?
Connect with others on social media, polish your skills and display them on social media platforms. You need to have a strong web presence by creating a blog and share your work there. Additionally, just brand yourself, and present as a professional to others.
