By the time prospective customers begin actively looking for architects, contractors or design-builders, they are often already pretty far along in the buying process. Unfortunately, this is precisely the point where many builders first begin marketing to those prospects. Understanding how to get in front of prospective customers earlier in the buying process and using that head start to build the kind of trust required to close the sale is essential to significant growth in today’s construction market.
Customers will often choose the companies they are most familiar with, which usually means industry leaders will get the majority of new business by default. This isn’t good for smaller, growth-oriented companies. Overcoming this hurdle requires building brand awareness earlier in the buying process and more frequently than competitors, as well as building trust with prospective customers.
Fortunately, that doesn’t always mean spending truckloads of money. Search engine optimization (SEO), social media and third-party sources offer unprecedented power, both in terms of reach and targeting.
SEO
With SEO, the key is to target the type of keyword phrases that a prospective customer might search for long before they begin looking for an architect, contractor or design-builder. Self-promotional content is not going to cut it here—it’s essential that digital content answers some important questions that prospects have throughout the planning and buying process.
This could take place weeks or even months before they even begin searching for a design or building partner. This is a powerful opportunity to establish brand awareness, and more importantly, begin to build trust—long before most competitors have entered the picture.
Topics that meet this criteria might include:
- construction trends (e.g., sustainable building, open vs. flexible office plans, etc.);
- architectural and engineering topics, as most projects require their certification before construction can begin; and
- local business and employment trends because the success of any project depends on adapting to the regional economy.
Social Media
When it comes to social media, a combination of organic posts and paid advertising can present a message tailored to a specific audience based on certain criteria, such as their employer, job title or interests.
It’s true that no one goes to social media sites with the intent of buying a product or service; rather, they go there to connect, engage and be entertained. However, the fact that they are there offers a tremendous opportunity to build awareness and trust early in the buying process.
The key today is to understand exactly who the ideal customers are, and target them with a tailored message. For architects, contractors and design-builders, some examples of ideal customers could be developers, real estate investors or franchisors/franchisees.
To get in front of these people:
- use paid ads to target fans of Facebook pages of trade organizations that serve developers;
- participate in construction and development-related groups on Facebook and LinkedIn; and
- share articles and videos on a Facebook business page that developers might find valuable, such as industry trends, new laws and regulations or even their own content.
Inspire Trust Using Third-party Sources
A company’s website plays an important role in all marketing efforts, but it’s often viewed with some degree of skepticism because it’s subjective. In contrast, third-party sources, such as local media and news publications, industry/trade publications, and even reviews on Google My Business and Facebook business pages, are generally perceived as more objective and credible.
Being cited in third-party publications requires a fair amount of work because a relationship must first be established with a contributor or editor, and there must be something newsworthy to warrant a mention or feature story. Reviews on Google My Business and Facebook are usually much easier to earn because that is often a simple matter of providing exceptional work and then asking a customer to post a review.
Citations in third-party publications play two critical roles. First, they help put a company in front of prospective customers earlier in the buying process. This is essential in outmaneuvering larger competitors to earn new business. Second, they help strengthen trust, which is critical as the customer gets closer to making a decision.
Reviews also help develop trust by leveraging social proof—in other words, prospective customers tend to be more trusting of a company when they can see that other customers have had a positive experience working with them. This is especially true if they recognize the names of customers who have posted positive reviews for that company.
