Inbound Marketing For Contractors

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound Marketing is a marketing strategy focused on getting found by customers. Using highly targeted and informative techniques such as Lead capturing websites, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, blogs, white papers, and other online marketing channels that your customers have become accustomed to using when seeking construction services.

In traditional marketing (outbound marketing), companies focus on finding customers.  These techniques are generally not targeted to a specific person or group.  They include cold-calling, print advertising, T.V. advertising, direct mail, and trade shows.  In some instances this type of marketing is also referred to as ‘interruption marketing.’

Technology is making these traditional techniques less effective and more expensive. Caller ID, DVR’s, email filters, and tools like RSS are making print and display advertising a secondary option for most contractors. It’s still possible to get an effective message out via these channels, but it tends to costs more than inbound techniques.

Instead of interrupting people with television ads, and Inbound marketing alternative would be to create videos that potential customers want to see.  Instead of buying display ads in print publications, a contractor might create an informative blog that people subscribe to and look forward to reading. Instead of cold calling, a construction business owner may create useful web content and tools so that prospects contact them looking for more information.

The most successful Inbound Marketing campaigns have three key components:

• Content – Content creation is the core of any Inbound Marketing campaign. It is the information or tool that attracts potential customers to your website or your construction business.
• Search Engine Optimization – Search engine optimization makes it easier for potential customers to find your content. It is the practice of building your site based on strategies that maximize your ranking in search engines, where most of your customers begin their buying process.
• Social Media – Social media marketing amplifies the impact of your content. When your content is distributed across and discussed on networks of personal relationships, it becomes more authentic and nuanced, and is more likely to draw qualified customers to your business.

Instead of hammering your message into a crowd over and over again, contractors now need to attract highly targeted customers to their business.

Construction Marketing and Inbound Marketing Campaigns

Inbound marketing encompasses email marketing, blogging, social media, link building, magazine articles that cater customer interests, and online videos.  It’s digital content catered to the construction services consumer that starts the conversation.  Inbound marketing strategies are the way to lead construction marketing campaigns that get you noticed.  And you get noticed ‘naturally,’ as opposed to outbound’s ‘hammering’ approach.

Inbound marketing is critical for contractors working with a limited marketing budget, and is very effective in establishing you as an authority in your field of expertise.  It’s also a great tool for larger construction companies with a more flexible budget.  They may even decide that select aspects of their business will exclusively be marketing through inbound methods.

This type of marketing also requires you to really understand and research your target audience.  Your customers want to be educated and engaged.  With search engines and easy access to information, they are more savvy about construction services, products, and their needs than they ever have been.  All you need to do is provide the information they desire in a way that starts the conversation.

How Build Marketing Is Helping Contractors with their Inbound Marketing

Build Marketing is HubSpot certified.  Hands down, HubSpot is the single most powerful content management system used to create websites.  Their marketing technology is based on helping consumer based businesses execute their inbound marketing and internet marketing strategies and tactics.  We can help you utilize this powerful service or we can employ Inbound Marketing strategies through your existing website.

Inbound marketing is a continuous process that evolves with your company.  With time and effort construction businesses are finding that with the right mix of Inbound and Outbound strategies they are pulling in customers while pushing themselves above their competitors.  Let us help you get there!