Contractor advertising ideas to grow your digital presence

Key takeaways

• Start your digital marketing strategy with professional-looking branding elements and a polished website
• Digital channels like content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing can increase traffic to your site and generate leads
• Online reviews are a driving force behind consumers’ purchase decisions

As a general contractor and construction business owner, you’re up against steep local competition, so setting yourself apart from other contractor businesses is a must. To do this, you’ll need a well-thought-out marketing strategy that focuses on promoting your brand online. This guide will walk you through seven contractor advertising ideas to help you find new customers online and grow your business offline.

7 contractor advertising ideas to implement online

There are more than 313 million active internet users in the United States. It’s no wonder why digital marketing must be a key component of your overall marketing strategy. Establishing your digital presence can open doors to new business opportunities. Here’s how to get started.

1. Branding

Professional branding will help you stand out from the competition and improve your marketing efforts. To begin, you need a polished logo and cohesive branding elements across all of your marketing channels.

Your logo will be one of the first things a potential customer will see, so you want it to be well-designed and convey a sense of credibility. Have a consistent color scheme, typography, and other design elements.

You also want to have a value-based message that represents your brand. For example, you can choose to tout high-quality craftsmanship or affordable services. Whichever messaging you choose, make sure you stay consistent across your website, email communications, and social media channels to give your brand a uniform, professional feel.

Not everyone is able to design branding materials on their own—and that’s alright. You can outsource your design efforts to an expert graphic designer on sites like 99designs.

2. Website

A contractor website is one of your most important marketing tools. It serves as your digital storefront and builds credibility for your business.

Your website needs a clean design if you want visitors to take it seriously and explore further. Statistics show that 75% of consumers judge a business’s credibility based on its web design, so it’s important to make the best first impression.

Your business website must also be functional. Split your site into clearly defined sections: list the services you offer, the areas where you provide services, contact information, and details about your company. Make it easy for users to navigate through your site and find the information they’re looking for.

Lastly, your site should be optimized for mobile devices. Nearly 50% of all internet traffic in the U.S. comes from mobile devices, so you want visitors to have a seamless experience no matter what device they’re using. You can hire a freelance contractor on sites like Fiverr to help you.

3. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Almost 90% of consumers begin the purchase journey by researching on search engines. Search engine optimization is the process of adjusting your website to increase traffic and your visibility on search engines.

SEO can be a complex area to master, but there are some easy steps you can take to improve your search engine rankings.

Site speed is a major concern for search engines. Search engines reward you for optimizing your site’s load times. An easy way to increase site speed is by decreasing your image file sizes and compressing them.

Other easy optimization opportunities include optimizing your site for mobile devices (as mentioned earlier), linking to other credible websites, and having other websites link to your site. 

For example, let’s say your construction company is a member of several organizations. Reach out to these organizations and ensure they’re linking to your site whenever you’re mentioned on their website.

There are other optimization techniques, like optimizing for voice search and improving the security of your site, although they can be more complicated for beginners. Many of these optimizations are already done by your website builder or additional web plugins, especially if you’re using common platforms like Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.

4. Content marketing

Another effective contractor advertising strategy is content marketing. It builds brand awareness and draws traffic to your website through the production of content that supports your trade. Two areas to consider are blogging and video marketing.

Blogging is not only effective from a content standpoint, but it’s also an excellent way to draw traffic to your site and improve your SEO. To ensure it’s working at its best, plan relevant content that’s useful to your audience and publish consistently.

Support your blog with thorough keyword research. Use one of these tools to find terms that have high search volume. Then come up with relevant topics like “how to install a door” or “framing window tutorial.”

Aim to help homeowners solve problems on their own. You want to help them even if they’re not your customer (yet). Why? Chances are, you’ll be the first contractor they turn to if they can’t fix the issues on their own.

Video marketing follows the same strategy as your blogging approach. You can create video tutorials solving basic home improvement issues. The difference is that video marketing is much more visual and easy to follow as a homeowner. However, producing videos is more time-consuming and may cost more money than writing blog articles.

5. Online reviews

As with just about any product or service, people turn to online reviews to research businesses before making a choice. Online reviews and testimonials influence the buying decisions of more than 90% of consumers.

Online reviews give you direct access to current and potential customers. You can see what they’re saying about your contracting services—both positive and negative—and respond to their reviews accordingly. For example, a customer could post a positive review praising your business. You’re able to reply and thank them for their kind words and even write something personal to leave a lasting impression.

While negative reviews are bound to happen at some point, remember that you can turn it into an opportunity. Respond to negative reviews in a positive manner and try to alleviate the reviewers’ concerns. Offer any help at your disposal to show potential customers that you go out of your way to ensure a positive customer experience.

You can start amassing online reviews by claiming your Yelp Business Page. Yelp gives you a central location for potential customers to find your business description, contact details, and photos. Claiming your page only takes a few minutes and can dramatically expand your online presence.

6. Social media marketing

Using platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to promote your business is what’s known as social media marketing. It can give you access to valuable leads and networking opportunities. You can connect with your client base, find new customers, and build relationships with other contractors.

Facebook can help you grow a following and maintain a connection with current customers by posting relevant content and promotions. For example, you could create posts that are centered around home improvement topics and then attach a 10% discount for first-time customers. 

LinkedIn requires a different approach. The LinkedIn audience is primarily business-oriented, giving you the chance to connect with other small business owners and general contractors. For instance, let’s say you’re not an expert in electrical work. You can forge a partnership with an electrician who could send referrals your way and vice versa.

7. Email marketing

Email marketing enables you to nurture leads and convert them into paying customers. You can send people in your email list relevant offers, promotions, and content from your blog. These types of emails can give them the extra push to reach out to you when they have a home improvement project.

Lead generation starts with building an email list. You can do so by asking existing customers for their permission to send emails. You can also put an email sign-up form on your website to collect emails from potential customers visiting your site.

As you’re collecting emails, try to segment your list by different target audiences using characteristics like demographics, location, and types of construction projects they’re interested in. For example, let’s say someone signed up for your email list and stated they’re interested in redoing their roof. You can send them a specific email with a coupon for 10% off all roofing services.

You could also offer current or previous customers the opportunity to refer other clients for discounted services on their next project. You can then extend a promotion or discount for those first-time customers.

Taking your contracting business digital

Staying at the top of your game in the contracting or construction industry will require an effective online marketing strategy. Start with a professional logo and claim your Yelp Business Page. Then once you have more time and funds, you can invest in your website, SEO, and email marketing efforts. Follow some of the contractor marketing ideas in this contractor advertising guide to elevate your digital presence and reach new customers in your local area.