It’s no secret word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful ways for any trade business to get new customers contacting you, however, relying completely on this type of marketing is not a clear strategy to scale up and grow your business.
Not sure where to get started? As experts working with businesses in the construction sector providing accounting and marketing services to growing companies; here are our top tips for marketing your trade business:
1. Launch your website
Your website is one of the very first places your customers will look while researching which company to give their job to. It’s basically your 24 hour shop front, legitimising your business, showcasing your past work, and overall showing customers who you are and what problems you can solve for them.
Here’s a list of the most important information to include on your website:
- Business name and address
- Contact details
- Information about you
- Qualifications and professional certifications
- Trading bodies and trading standards scheme you are registered with
- Case Studies/Portfolio (What work you’ve done in the past)
- Customer testimonials/reviews
You don’t need to be a coder to get your website up and running, just like you don’t need to be able to be a plumber, electrician, and bricklayer to make your construction business a success. You know it makes sense to outsource or build a team of experts in their field to get the job done professionally. You can’t do everything yourself.
The ‘For the Trade Marketing’ team have been building and maintaining websites for 20+ years, making it simple for companies at all stages of their growth to get the very most from their online presence. Get in touch to discuss your website.
2. Be visible (clue: it’s all about Google)
Without a doubt one of the most important aspects of marketing in the internet era (after having your website upland running) is to appear on search result pages (Google and Bing) when your customers are searching for the services you provide. Think about whenever you’re doing research on a product or service you need, do you ‘Google it’? If the answer is yes. Then this is probably what your customers do too. So be visible on search.
How to become visible on search as a construction or trade business?
Well it’s not clear how exactly Google’s search algorithm works, but we do know that structuring your website content and optimising the text/copy on the website pages to include keywords your customers are searching for will certainly help. It’s a super competitive art of marketing called “search engine optimisation” or SEO, which can take months if not years to bear fruit. But you shouldn’t worry too much because there are quicker ways to appear in front of your prospective customers without having to spend a lot of time and money on content writing and link building.
This is the most effective way to begin appearing on search as a trade business:
- Get listed on “Google My Business” or GMB.
Whenever you’ve used Google maps to find a local business, you’ll see the business listing with reviews, contact details, photos and reviews – this is a GMB listing and it’s extremely powerful and FREE to use. - Paid search ads, Google Ads, or pay-per-click (PPC)
You can bypass the whole SEO route and pay Google directly to be a top result for your preferred search term.
For example:
If you’re a builder in Newcastle upon Tyne and you’re looking to get customers from the local area, or more specifically more people looking for a new home to be built then you’ll want to appear at the top of Google search for terms like:
Newcastle Builders
Newcastle New Home Builders
Home Builders Newcastle
Best Newcastle builders
With some creativity and science, you can attract some very good leads for your construction company by simply paying Google to get you in front of real customers who are searching with intent.
One of the best parts of PPC advertising is that you can get results fairly quickly and begin to optimise your ad spend to get even higher quality leads.
Good news! Here at ‘For the Trade Marketing” we have an expert team of Google Ads professionals who can cut through the nonsense and start getting your company noticed by customers on search results pages fairly quickly. All you have to do is Click Here to book a convenient time to speak to us about your goals, we’re confident you’ll have leads coming in, lining up work for your crew in no time.
3. Use Social Media
Using social media is one of the most powerful methods for reaching new customers for your trade business – it’s good practice to have a social media posting strategy in place which shows your followers your latest work, how you’ve helped other customers, and provide valuable content to help people remember you when the time comes for them needing your services.
As the world’s most popular social media platform, Facebook is a very good place to start because many people rely on Facebook to locate businesses and to contact them.
Many customers will also wish to contact you via social media channels, so it’s a good idea to have all your contact information up to date and reply to messages quickly.
4. Get Reviews and Testimonials
It’s important to show potential customers that you’ve had other satisfied customers, so getting reviews is a must for any trade business looking to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
Reviews may come in the shape of customer testimonials which appear on your website, they could be reviews on your Google My Business listing, business directories like Yell.com, or on your social media pages.
After completing a job, get in the habit of asking your customer for a review.
5. Send Emails to your Contacts
Email marketing for your trade business is still one of the most effective ways to communicate with your customers.
Whenever you’re collecting emails from customers, make sure to get permission to put them on your contact list. You can also include a sign up form on your website for people to sign up to your newsletter.
A good welcome email for new sign ups should show off your work, brand, and provide interesting valuable content for customers to peak their interest when receiving emails from you.
If you’re targeting existing customers, you need to give them a good reason to come back to you – a simple way to do this could be to offer discounts or helpful advice reinforcing that you’re an expert in what you do.