Contractor digital marketing is not just a singular activity but a combination of various specialized websites catering to specific customer groups. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the foundations of contractor digital marketing.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising for Contractors
One of the most efficient and popular ways to generate leads, increase brand recognition, and close sales is through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. With a PPC campaign for contractors, your construction company can earn a top spot on Google’s search engine results page for a specific keyword.
To achieve a higher position on the results page, you must bid on a popular contractor-related keyword. The duration of your PPC campaign is determined by factors such as the cost per click, your budget, and the number of clicks.
Content Marketing for Contractors
In a market where every business provides similar services, it is essential for general contractors and subcontractors to produce compelling content to distinguish themselves as industry experts.
By creating educational blog posts and contributing to guest blogs for your affiliates, you can reach a wider audience and showcase your knowledge. Optimizing your written content for search engines can also help drive traffic to your most popular products and services.
Additionally, a fun and informative podcast can give a voice to your business. If you have team members with the necessary knowledge and communication skills, consider creating a biweekly podcast that covers new products, techniques, and industry advancements, making building interesting and accessible to your audience.
Insurance for contractors is an essential investment to ensure that you’re protected against any potential liabilities or losses that may occur on the job. As an independent contractor, you’re responsible for your own insurance coverage, which can include general liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation, and commercial auto insurance.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Contractors
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial element in generating sustainable, organic growth for your business’s bottom line and brand recognition. Unlike a PPC strategy, successful SEO positions your business higher on Google’s organic search engine results pages rather than in the advertisements area.
There are several critical steps in SEO that contractors should take:
- Conduct keyword research to identify popular search terms for contractors on Google.
- Use technical SEO to enhance your website’s performance, usability, and security.
- Implement link-building strategies using both internal and external links to increase your domain authority and crawlability.
- Incorporate keywords effortlessly into high-quality content.
- Optimize your website’s meta data to make it easy for Google to index your website.
By taking these steps, contractors can improve their website’s visibility on search engines and attract more qualified leads.
Social Media Management for Contractors
To build momentum and promote new content, contractors should leverage the most popular social media channels. Nearly all successful businesses have an online presence on social media platforms, allowing them to communicate with customers and direct traffic to their websites.
Social media apps can also be used to target new clients who have shown interest in services similar to yours through PPC campaigns. If owners and managers are too busy to devote enough time to social media, they can consider hiring a specialist social media manager to create a compelling online presence that builds the brand.
Having a strong social media presence can help contractors establish credibility and attract more leads, ultimately leading to business growth.
Using Video for Contractor Promotion
Creating attractive visuals through video production can help contractors spread their message, advertise their business, and increase the number of leads that become sales. Fortunately, producing videos is now simpler and more accessible than ever. Contractors can seek assistance from digital marketing companies to write a storyline, create a storyboard, and produce a powerful video.
Once the video production is complete, contractors can upload their new advertisements to popular websites and use them to communicate with current clients through social media posts. They can also launch a pay-per-view video advertising campaign on platforms like YouTube and Facebook to reach prospective clients who have shown interest in hiring a contractor.
By incorporating videos into their marketing strategy, contractors can showcase their work and expertise, stand out from the competition, and attract more qualified leads.
Contractor Reputation Management
Every contractor, even the best ones, may receive negative feedback at times. That’s why it’s important to hire a seasoned digital marketing agency to help manage your business’s online reputation. They can help de-rank bad publicity, reviews, and comments so your business can establish a positive first impression.
Reacting quickly to complaints is crucial. Address conflicts in a way that encourages customers to improve their negative ratings. By entrusting your company’s reputation to a premier digital marketing agency, you can enhance your brand’s reputation and minimize any negative aspects.
Effective reputation management can help contractors maintain a positive image, build trust with clients, and generate more business in the long run.
Contractor Email Marketing
To efficiently and affordably reach a global audience, utilize the power of email marketing. Despite being an older digital marketing medium, it remains highly influential in most industries. However, email marketing now plays a more supportive role in a digital marketing strategy.
Use email to inform your clients about upcoming appointments, discussions, and activities. Email text that complements your video advertising is also a good addition. A thoughtfully designed email marketing strategy can provide your business with the quick boost it needs to achieve quarterly targets.
Contractor Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail and digital marketing have a stronger connection than you might think. With modern computers blending the two worlds so seamlessly, consumers are often unaware of the transition from analog to digital. While an advertising postcard is a physical object, you can still include digital content such as:
- Website URLs
- QR codes
- Links to featured products
- Text codes
Integrating digital elements into your direct mail marketing strategy can increase engagement and improve the effectiveness of your overall marketing efforts.
Top Marketing Tips for Contractors
As a contractor, taking your digital marketing game to the next level can help your business expand even further. By establishing an online presence, you can attract more customers and increase your client base. Investing time, money, and effort into creating various forms of web content can benefit your business in multiple ways. Developing a well-planned digital marketing strategy can help you connect with clients worldwide.
- Create an original blog
Starting a blog for your company is a great way to expand your online presence and reach new customers. Many potential clients may not have much knowledge or experience in the industry, so providing informative blog posts can help establish your credibility and expertise.
Your blog can feature instructional videos, product and service promotions, and company news and updates. Fortunately, starting a blog has become easier as technology has advanced. Anyone with a computer and internet access can start and maintain a blog.
To stay ahead of your competition, engage potential customers with your blog content. Make sure your blog reflects your unique style, features relevant content for your industry, and attracts more readers. Use blog icons to make your blog more visually appealing and easy to navigate.
- Share Unique and Compelling Content with Your Target Audience
Creating a platform to distribute your content is just the first step; you must also keep it active and up-to-date. To make your business more visible and attract potential customers, you need to publish interesting, informative and educational content on your website or blog. By creating and sharing relatable content, you can increase the number of visitors to your site.
It is important to post the right kind of information on your internet channels to encourage people to talk about your business. Publishing quality content can also improve your website’s SEO, increasing its visibility on search engines.
Content marketing is becoming increasingly important every year. Make sure to take advantage of this by publishing evergreen content that will stay relevant for your target audience.
- Increase Your Online Presence
To improve your services, engage with your customers on social media. Establishing a social media presence provides an opportunity to answer potential clients’ questions, showcase your skills, and understand what they seek in a contractor.
You can maintain your marketing efforts on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, through affordable advertising that directs users to your website. To promote your brand, services, and products on social media, you can partner with well-known influencers.
Sharing informative content on social media can encourage readers to like and share it, extending your reach to a wider audience. You can also keep your social media followers updated with news related to your contracting company.
- Showcase Your Work with Before-and-After Pictures
Sharing before-and-after pictures is one of the most effective ways to market your contracting services. Clients often look for contractors with an active online presence. By showcasing completed projects on your digital platforms, you can give potential clients a clear idea of what to expect when they hire your services.
Using before-and-after pictures can be a powerful marketing tool. When you take pictures before starting a project and compare them with the final result, the impact can be significant.
- Highlight Customer Testimonials and Reviews
Sharing customer feedback is an excellent way to demonstrate the quality of your services to potential clients. You can post testimonials and reviews on your blog or social media feed to provide new visitors with insights into your services. After providing services, you can ask clients for ratings and reviews, and seek their consent before sharing their comments online.
Integrating reviews on your website’s homepage can help build your contracting company’s credibility. Many prospective clients choose contractors based on the feedback and ratings of previous clients. To further demonstrate the quality of your services, you can even share actual quotes from satisfied customers.
- Make Your Contact Information Visible to Everyone
It’s important to include your contact information when setting up a blog or social media accounts for your contracting business. This will allow visitors to get in touch with you for inquiries or appointments by providing your address and contact details on your online platforms.
Your website’s homepage should be visually appealing and user-friendly, giving a great first impression to new visitors. Your contact details should be easy to find on the homepage to ensure that potential customers can quickly reach out to you.
There are various free design templates available for different website-building tools. Create a website for your contracting business that reflects your personal style and preferences to attract more customers.
- Start a Weekly or Monthly Newsletter
Newsletters have become a crucial aspect of digital marketing for contractors. By launching a weekly or monthly newsletter, you can establish credibility and authority for your business. With reliable software that automatically sends emails to your clients, you can set up your newsletter delivery system.
Sending out monthly newsletters to clients has several benefits, including:
- Improving customer engagement
- Updating customers on new offerings or services
- Directing more traffic to your landing pages
- Increasing social media followers
Make sure you share valuable content in your newsletters that is relevant to your industry and target audience. You can also include promotions, discounts, and other incentives to encourage clients to continue working with your business.
- Create Educational Videos
Creating educational and instructional videos for your contracting business can expand your audience and increase your online presence. YouTube is extremely popular. It offers a platform for businesses to showcase their products and services. By producing online how-to videos for users, you can demonstrate your expertise and competence to potential customers.
Posting informative videos can also generate customer interest and increase your view count. To attract viewers, create engaging titles and thumbnails for your videos. A well-produced, concise video that showcases your services can pique the interest of potential customers and encourage them to contact your business.
