For construction companies that have historically and primarily focused on business operations, the notion of taking a marketer’s approach can seem a little daunting. For the most part, construction professionals are engineers, architects, government relations professionals, and skilled laborers who may not have much experience with data and market research. Still, without marketing, you may be missing out on valuable capital. 

If you’re interested in how marketing can improve your construction business, check out our marketing tips geared toward your industry. 

Make Sure Your Contact Details are Everywhere

97% of internet users search online to find a local business. Check various search engines to ensure that your contact information shows up when people look at your company. At the very least, provide a phone number, business address, and email, even if you don’t have a website yet. 

Google

If you’ve already claimed your business, you can add information by logging in to your Google My Business account. If you haven’t claimed your business, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Google My Business sign-up page and enter your business name. Click “Create a business with this name”
2. Choose your business category from a dropdown list and continue through the questions, adding as much information as possible. 
3. Finally, enter your mailing address to confirm your details via a verification letter. 

Bing

Go to Bing Places and follow the steps they have listed to

1. Claim your business and add your information or 
2. Sign in as an existing user and update your business details

Yelp

Since you offer a service, people may search for you on Yelp. Claim your business and add pertinent contact information. Stay up-to-date on reviews and inquiries sent through Yelp, and use the platform to generate new leads. 

Social Media (if  You Have It)

If your construction company is marketing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, add your contact information to your account details. Social media engagement isn’t a marketing necessity for construction companies, but you can use it to reach interested customers. 

Take Advantage of Google’s Local Service Ads

When someone searches for a “nearby” service on Google, ads for certified local businesses will pop up at the top of search results. This type of rich card usually shows a thumbnail of information, including reviews, location, visual indicator, and a contact number. Users who click on these ads then confirm their information and intended services before sending an inquiry directly to the business. 

Organic search results are effective, but they see a noticeable dropoff in clicks when local service ads are present. Google’s local service ads are a paid ad service, but your business will only pay for valid leads, usually between $6-$30 each. 

You’ll need to contact Google to get specific pricing information on local service ads, but you can get a head start on the data work by filling out your entire Google My Business profile. Depending on your industry, it might be a good idea to incentivize customer reviews on your Google profile as well. 

Invest in CRM Software

A good construction CRM can help you grow and manage your business across multiple marketing platforms. Better organize leads, assess new project opportunities, and manage your team. If you’re new to marketing or looking to improve your marketing operations, CRM software implementation will help your operations run smoothly to serve customers better. If you’re able to take on effective marketing strategies, CRM will also help with an influx of new inquiries and contracts. 

Build an Excellent Website

Your website is the front page of your business, so it’s critical to optimize the user experience. 94% of first impressions of a business are related to web design, and construction companies are no exception. Focus on a few key ideas when building or updating your website. First and foremost, do you list your services clearly and coherently? Is it easy for people to understand what you do? Ask yourself these questions and remember your CTA’s. 

Add lots of “Contact Us” links and make sure your phone number is easy to find. If possible, put in a “Gallery” page with photos of past work and add a few case studies about past projects. In construction, you want people to trust you and feel confident about working with you. If it’s within your budget, hire a web designer with marketing experience for your website needs. 

Your construction company can surely benefit from strategic marketing. If you’re struggling to restrategize in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic or you require a marketing team to grow your business, fullfunnelservices can help. With extensive experience in construction across various industries, our team is equipped to handle your needs. Contact us to discuss how a new marketing strategy can boost your business. 

The post 4 Marketing Tips for Construction Companies appeared first on Fullfunnelservices.

It’s no surprise that more construction companies are integrating CRM software into their business model. 

Business owners can use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in a variety of industries. In the past, construction companies have typically invested more into software that helps with estimating, job costing, and basic project management, but in 2019 we saw an increase to 4% of all CRM software being used for construction projects. 

What is CRM for Construction?

Contact Relationship Management (CRM) software facilitates new project tracking, and lead generation and management. For construction professionals, the industry-specific software assists with contact management for your long list of names and businesses.

A construction CRM software centralizes, monitors, and logs each of your bids into projects and allows you to easily manage each project’s progress. Businesses who use CRM’s can also leverage the software to sell or win jobs. 

Benefits of CRM Software for Construction

The obvious benefits of CRM software are organizational. Whenever your business takes on a new project, you have a streamline process of uploading contacts and tracking progress that allows you to focus on the actual work.

From there, your CRM should offer some automation software like scheduled emails that allow you to update your client on the status of their project easily. 

The enhanced organization that comes with CRM integration can make a customer feel more comfortable with the construction process.

If your business does home building or renovations, you can send real-time notifications and updates to your clients from a single source. Plus, CRM software keeps track of deadlines and monitors new selling opportunities online to keep your business moving forward.

In 2020, Google saw a 50% increase in home improvement searches, so there’s truly no better time than the present to make CRM software one of your company’s selling points. 

Features of Construction CRM

CRM software gives your business a few different advantages in the construction industry. First and foremost, you’ll have access to a project management platform that’s easy to use and carries you from the initial bid to the final payment. You should have the ability to integrate your other platforms like G-Suite and Salesforce. 

Most CRM platforms have a high level of customization and even assist with new sales and growth for your business.  

4 Exceptional CRM Options for Construction Marketing

To qualify as a Construction CRM, a product must do the following

• Aggregate and manage contacts and data in a centralized database
• Track & capture leads 
• Have the ability to filter, organize, and assign leads or contacts
• Facilitate communication between project and team members

Below are our recommendations:

BuilderTREND

BuilderTREND is designed to meet the needs of residential construction professionals. A few primary features include: Plan Markup, Leads CRM, Bid Requests, Proposals and Estimating, Daily Logs, and Budgeting

Benefits: 

• Focused on finding you more business opportunities with specialized lead management capabilities
• Pull from historical data to quickly send accurate estimates
• Members stay connected and informed through the scheduling feature
• Great user experience and flawless presentation tools
• Direct messaging for employees through the platform
• Easily track your status on different projects and send automated emails to keep clients informed

Drawbacks:

• The Free Trial subscription still requires payment upfront. If you wish to cancel, you have 30 days to get your money back
• The search function could be improved
• Price

Price:

• Free Trial
• Core Subscription: $299/month (Limited features)
• Pro Subscription: $499/month (Access to advanced features)
• Premium subscriptions are also available  (Get access to customization)

Procore

Procore Construction Management Software features include Contract Management, Project Management, Quote Management, Sales Management, Scheduling, and Time Management.

Benefits: 

• Optimized for construction; managing RFI’s, punch lists, inspection reports, and more
• Excellent at managing approval workflows and gives visibility to the client
• Document sharing and data management that’s easy to access
• Pending items dashboard

Drawbacks:

• The System network is a bit slow
• The system isn’t optimized for subcontractors
• High implementation cost

Price:

• Project Management Plan (unlimited): $375/month
• Project Management + Financial Management plan (unlimited): $549/month
• Custom bundle plans are also available through Procore Sales

Unanet

Unanet features include Client Tracking, Forecasting, Quote Management, Sales Management

Benefits:

• All-in-one platform for management and proposal automation
• Manages personnel as well as contacts and projects
• Good customization capabilities 
• Cash flow projections

Drawbacks:

• Could improve the User Interface, as the platform is a little outdated
• Lots of training required to use the platform

Price:

• Full User plan: $70 per user/per month
• Read Only plan: $10 per user/per month

JobNimbus

JobNimbus is a web-based construction CRM for general construction services. A few features include: Lead Tracking, Tasks, Activity Tracking, and Estimating Tools. 

Benefits:

• Specialized features for businesses that offer service in roofing, restoration, remodeling, solar power, painting, flooring, window, and door installation, deck and patio work, and landscaping
• An automated project management system that guides you through projects
• Automated progress update emails sent to clients
• Price

Drawbacks

• Some user experience shortfalls that could be improved on
• System speed can be a bit laggy
• The practicality and ease-of-use may not work for larger companies who need more features

Price:

• Free trial
• Basic Subscription: $25/user/month
• Pro Subscription: $35/user/month
• Advanced Subscription: $75/user/month

How to Choose a Construction CRM

Now that we’ve looked at some common choices for home builders, what features should you look for in a CRM? Below are several items and questions to consider:

• Is there a plan that fits my budget and needs?
• Will my employees have trouble using it?
• Does it integrate with the other platforms I’m using?
• Are all of my basic needs met? 
• Can I add additional features to meet any future needs?
• Does the CRM company offer training?
• How will I handle technical issues and deal with CRM support?

Construction CRMs and Marketing

Depending on the size of your company, managing your CRM can be challenging in and of itself. Marketers do the job of CRM’s every day with their own businesses, managing relationships with their customers and seeking out new projects.

Fullfunnelservices is an expert in marketing for construction companies and can help manage your CRM and marketing, so you have time to focus on your business itself. 

CRM marketing aims to improve and optimize customer relationships to drive customer loyalty, retention, revenue, and customer lifetime value.

If you’re interested in expanding your business, adopting these strategies is an almost necessary step. fullfunnelservices can help determine your needs and find the best fit for your business when looking for a CRM software solution. 

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If people don’t find what they’re looking for or feel you can fulfill their needs, they’ll head back to their Google search results and keep looking. So, when Google search is a person’s primary means of finding products and services, it’s pretty important to have a great website. 

If you’re in the construction industry, your expertise might not cover website development. However, with the help of a web developer and an online marketing team, you can still get the online leads and traffic to grow your business. Here are a few things we suggest when it comes to building a website for construction companies.

The Components of a Good Construction Website

There are a few basic components you’ll need when building your construction website…

Services Pages

People will want to see exactly what you do so they can decide whether or not to contact you. Most people reaching out to a construction company have a specific project already in mind. Perhaps it’s a homeowner looking to start a bathroom renovation or a real estate investor looking to start a new housing project; whatever services you offer, make sure they’re covered. 

If you’re interested in SEO (you should be), you can use different landing pages to talk about your different services. Someone might not realize that the service you have listed actually covers exactly what they need, so the more descriptive you can be, the better. 

Company Summaries

Consumers want to get to know you before giving you their business. An “About Us” page is a great way to tell people who you are and what you represent as a company. Some people want to work with small local companies, while others want big corporations with thousands of completed projects and large teams of engineers and builders. Giving people a sense of your company culture is a great way to see if your wants and needs are aligned.

Adding a mission statement or unique value proposition (UVP) is also a great way to make potential customers feel as if they know you and your company a little bit better. 

Case Studies

Like any service company, people want to know that you’ve done your job well in the past. Case studies are a great way to showcase previous experiences with happy customers and may even be that extra push needed to get a potential customer on the phone. Start with two or three completed projects that went particularly well, and use those as examples of your work. After all, 61% of online consumers have made a purchase based on an online review. Extra points if you can get those previous clients to give testimonial reviews on Google or provide their contact information if potential customers want to ask about their experiences. 

Links to Social Media

Another factor to consider is making your business feel more approachable. People want to feel like they know you and your business, and a great way to do that is through social media engagement. Posting photos of completed and in-progress projects are both great ways of creating content, but you can also use social media to show your team. People will feel connected to you and your business when you provide social links on your website.

Cohesive Branding

Don’t be careless. A cohesive branding strategy shows that you value your work and go the extra mile to make it perfect – a message potential customers want to see in their construction company. Good, professional photography, consistent design, and an interactive and responsive website tell customers that you do excellent work from start to finish. 

Awards and Accolades

Don’t forget to mention any awards and accolades. Even if it’s just one or two, listing awards is a great way to add more SEO content to your site while telling people that you run a recognized business. 

Blogs

Writing blogs that use keywords, internal and external links, and meta descriptions will get your blog ranking on search engines. The more content you have for Google to look at, the better it understands your business, and the more likely it will be to suggest your site to people searching for construction services. Write blogs about things related to your business to draw traffic from people looking for construction advice.

Email Newsletter Lead Generation

A good rule of thumb for any business is to accumulate as many contacts as you can. If someone visits your website, they must be at least somewhat interested in your construction services, so try to get their email address to stay in contact for newsletters or future lead generation. They might not use your services now, but it could be possible in the future.

How to Build a Construction Website

If you have no clue how to build a website for construction companies, you’re not alone. There are tons of online resources that make website building easy. You’ve probably heard of WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix, to name a few, but keep in mind that building a website from scratch takes time. If you have the money but don’t have the time, you have a few other options:

Build the Site Yourself or Hire Someone

If you have the time and patience but want to save some money, you can use a website builder to create your custom site. You’ll have tons of premade templates to choose from, and the whole process is meant to be made easy. But keep in mind that building a good website takes lots of time, and different companies can reuse templates. If you don’t have the capacity to devote yourself to your website design and want to be more unique online, hiring a developer might be the right choice.

Companies like fullfunnelservices offer website-building services that take the pressure off you. They’ll handle all the SEO and work with you to ensure your site is getting the traffic you want. Of course, this option is more involved financially, but the lead generation benefits make it well worth the money. 

Optimize Your Site

Perhaps the most important reason to consider hiring an outside developer is SEO. A marketing company can handle all of your optimizations, so the cost tends to be higher for their services. If you’re taking the time to create your own site, make sure you are doing all the right research regarding Google search and lead generation online. Ensure you’re up to date on optimizing mobile responsiveness, SSL certificates, keywords, Google Analytics, and more. 

There are plenty of pros and cons to building your own construction website, but having a good online brand is an essential part of running a successful business in 2021. Don’t waste anymore time without an online presence! 

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