These days, social media marketing isn’t just an integral part of customer-facing industries, but of all industries—including construction, too. According to the Construction Marketing Association, 97% of construction industry professionals use social media. So the reality of today is, just like with any other business sector, folks do their networking on social media. Below are some of the most effective ways construction professionals can leverage social media platforms to boost brand awareness, make more connections and land more customers.

Focus on the right social media channels

There’s no need to develop a dedicated social media strategy for every channel under the sun if most of the target audience isn’t even using those platforms. According to the statistics mentioned above, construction officials mostly use the following five social-media platforms.

• LinkedIn (92%)
• Facebook (85%)
• Twitter (74%)
• YouTube (56%)
• Instagram (46%)

Because LinkedIn garners the lion’s share of construction industry professionals, that’s where business owners want to focus the majority of their efforts. The benefits of this platform are straightforward: LinkedIn is a good place for B2Bs to go to generate leads and connect with fellow professionals within a particular industry.

For those in the construction space, LinkedIn offers a platform where contractors can stay up to date with what other companies in their purview are up to, as well as post job opportunities and stay abreast of industry news. To that last point, consider blogging on LinkedIn Pulse, a site feature that aggregates social media content and publishes it in a targeted news feed. Construction professionals can publish a blog on the topic of their choosing and LinkedIn then tailors the content to specific readers, so authors know they’re reaching your target audience.

As for Facebook, it’s good to create a business page because it’s a convenient and easily accessible way for the audience to get practical information about the construction business such as location and contact details. Contractors can also quickly respond to queries from clients and customers via Facebook Messenger. And, of course, Facebook’s ad engine is still formidable—any marketing strategy should include at least some Facebook ads, ideally optimized for local search. Contractors should also invest in advertising on LinkedIn and Twitter, too.

Speaking of which, maintain a Twitter account. Believe it or not, this platform is good for more than just broadcasting pity witticisms. For example, contractors can use Twitter to maintain an ongoing conversation with their audience, discuss construction trends, share useful tips, connect with industry thought leaders and influencers, and more. Using hashtags to announce Q&As with members of your company or special guests is another idea. Contractors can even live tweet from construction industry events and trade shows to effectively reach their target audience in real time and keep their brand in the forefront of potential clients’ minds.

Consistency is king

There are a few ways to do content marketing right, and many ways to do it wrong. One glaring pitfall is being sporadic in publishing social media content. Post and tweet regularly so the audience knows it can count on a certain amount of content at regular intervals.

There are no hard and fast rules as to how often contractors should post, although a good rule of thumb is to shoot for two to three times per week. Remember to mix up the post topics and give the audience a wide array of useful content. Topics include:

• Industry news;
• Trending topics;
• How-to tutorials;
• Q&As; and
• Site pictures.

To help make a plan, adopt a social media calendar to continue providing great content on a regular basis for the target audience. Experiment with scheduling until determining the times of day when publishing new posts garners the most engagement. Typically this is during weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with Wednesday and Thursday afternoons seeing the highest engagement levels.

videos

There’s no getting around the fact that video is the dominant medium in the online world. Statistics even state that this year, 80% of global internet consumption will be video content. The quickest and most effective way to raise your social-media video marketing game is to create a YouTube channel and make uploading videos part of the content calendar.

Believe it or not, the construction industry allows for some creative and engaging video content (think time-lapse videos of your various building projects). For branding purposes, it’s also good to put a face to the company. Whether the owner appears on camera as the head of the operation or someone else is designated to fill that role, having an authoritative and consistent presence by someone representing the brand is one of the best ways to build that brand.

Conclusion

As times change, companies must adapt to those times. Today’s audiences, regardless of their interests and the industries they work in, are on social media. Contractors must meet them where they are and commit to a serious social-media strategy, and they'’ll find it’s their brand that’s on consumers' minds—not that of the competition.