Including social media in a marketing plan is essential for most companies these days. But social media for construction requires an industry-specific focus, and all the available options can make getting started daunting. That’s why here we break it all down for you: why exactly social media content for construction companies is important, a step-by-step plan including using the best social media platforms for construction companies, best practices and more. Let’s dig in.

Click on a link below to jump straight to the section you’re most interested in:

• Why is it important to have a social media strategy for construction companies?
• How to get started with social media for your construction company
• Social media marketing best practices for the construction industry
• Start posting with these construction social media ideas

Why is it important to have a social media strategy for construction companies?

What is social media for the construction industry?

It involves posting photos, industry news, company updates, entertaining clips and more on popular social media platforms. These kinds of posts won’t cost you anything beyond time. It does not include paid ads for our purposes here, although that certainly can be a viable part of any social media strategy for construction companies.

Do construction companies need social media?

If they want to maximize their success, yes — and not just to get the word out but to provide customer service as well. In fact, according to a recent emplify report, consumers given only one choice tend to prefer social media to engage with a company, rather than email, phone or in-person visits. And as many as 68% of consumers use or want to use social media after a purchase as well as before and during. Moreover, 98% of respondents to a Sprout Social survey planned to make at least one purchase through social shopping or influencer commerce in 2022. So social media for construction is vital to any business looking to succeed in the building industry.

Does it work for construction companies?

Yes, if executed well, social media content for construction companies can work in the following ways:

• Raise brand awareness
• Improve a website’s search ranking
• Be a communication channel with clients and potential clients
• Generate leads
• Provide networking opportunities

How to get started with social media for your construction company

Following these five steps would make for a great start to a social media strategy for construction companies.

1. Define your goals. See the five potential benefits in the previous section. Which resonate most with what your business needs right now? If your company is brand new, it might be all of them!

2. Define your audience. This will help all of your marketing efforts, but when it comes to social media it’s particularly important. Why? Because people in different demographics tend to use different types of social media the most. Knowing the typical age, income range, and family status of the clients that would be a great fit will help you figure out where they hang out online.

3. Evaluate platforms. The major platforms for social media marketing for construction companies are Houzz, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. You also might consider Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and Snapchat depending on the audience you defined in Step 2. Whichever you decide to go with, make sure a) it’s a platform your audience uses regularly and b) you don’t spread yourself too thin, because the idea is to post regularly to create a feeling of consistency and reliability, and because you’ll want to respond to any and all comments. Start with just one or two. Of course we recommend Houzz first and foremost, as it has 65 million users (and counting!) and offers plenty of opportunities to showcase your projects and interact with potential clients. 

4. Start posting! While you do want to focus on posting your best project photos and otherwise create professional-looking feeds, don’t get too caught up in making everything look “perfect.” According to Bazaar voice CEO Zarina Lam Stanford in a Forbes article, “Authenticity is one of the best means in building your brand equity among shoppers.” See below for best practices and plenty of content ideas!

Bonus tip: The sooner you get started, the sooner you’re likely to see results — and the sooner you’ll have data to analyze to create an effective social media strategy.

5. Analyze. Like any good PR strategy, measuring results should be a priority for your social media efforts. Looking at the data and comparing the results from different platforms and different types of content will point you in the right direction in terms of where to focus your efforts. Many platforms offer their own analytics, and you can also use third-party software that aggregates data from different platforms in one place.

Social media marketing best practices for the construction industry

Following these will help ensure that you get the best results for your social media efforts.

Review what your competitors are doing. Keeping an eye on the postings of your competitors can help inspire your own and help you figure out what type of posts will work with your audience. Look at both the types of postings and how they’re performing — note the number of likes, shares, views or whatever other metric the platform uses. Also remember to review the best practices for each platform you choose to post on.

Post frequently and consistently. Aim for a minimum of two postings a week to start to create a feeling of momentum as well as reliability. Vary the types of posts, both to keep things interesting and to reach different types of users, and be intentional as opposed to putting something up just to put something up. Remember that these directly inform people’s impressions of your business, but also, “meaningful” posts can perform better with algorithms.

Plan content in advance. When you come up with construction social media ideas you like, jot them down in a calendar. This will allow you to fit the creating/posting efforts into your schedule, and it will also reduce the stress of trying to come up with something on posting day.

Interact with commenters. This is just as important as the postings themselves, because it makes people feel seen and heard, which is important in building trust and a great reputation. Also, responding builds the number of interactions on your post, which will boost your status with most algorithms — especially those that prioritize showing posts based on popularity. And the quicker you respond, the better! 

Tag collaborators. If any photographers, videographers, artists or anyone else was involved in whatever you post, it’s a great idea to tag them — on many platforms, you’d type the “at” symbol (@) followed by whatever the person’s handle is. This will help you avoid complaints from collaborators, but it can also boost your own posts because anyone following those people might check it out, and the collaborators might repost and/or tag you back in their own content.

Leverage your network. Social media for construction is a numbers game, and the algorithms don’t care if your followers are famous or your next-door neighbors. So go ahead and ask everyone in your network — friends, family, staff, subcontractors, vendors — to follow your account. (But don’t take it personally if they don’t.)

Link to your website. Make sure your website is mentioned in all of your online user profiles, but also make sure to link to it in every post. Steering potential clients to your website will allow them to get a fuller picture of your business and can help turn the merely curious into the actively interested. Find inspiration for your construction website in our guide.

Link to your social media from your website. It’s generally pretty easy to add icons to your website for all the major platforms, with links leading to your profile. And doing this will add to your following, allow potential clients to stay in touch with you and keep you top of mind.

Invest in great photography. Every project or other photo you post is a direct reflection of your business and forms an impression in people’s minds, so you want to post images that look as professional as possible. Tip: Try Houzz Pro’s new PerfectCapture Photo Service, which matches you with a seasoned photographer in your area.

Use spell-check. Or have someone with an eagle eye proofread your posts. Social media for construction is no different than social media for any type of business in this respect: Spelling errors, typos and bad grammar can work against a polished, professional image.

Celebrate your uniqueness. Bring your distinct personality to your posts to help your business stand out and help potential clients get to know you. For instance, if your business is entirely women- or minority-owned, that can be a basis for your unique spin. Or maybe you have a distinct sense of humor or a tech-forward approach. Whatever makes your business different is worth underscoring in the social media content for your construction company. 

Start posting with these construction social media ideas

These ideas will get you off to a running start, and can help get your creative juices flowing for your own ideas!

• Project photos. Before-and-afters are highly popular; progress photos are great too.
• Time-lapse project videos. These can be fun to watch as well as give people an overview of all the steps of a project and how your company handles them.
• Construction industry news. This is easy to pull from other sources (with credits and links back to the source). Just make sure the news you post will be relevant to your particular audience.
• Announcements of awards or other accolades received. Social media is a great place for tooting your own horn!
• Contest or other giveaway. This can be as simple as a consultation, if you normally charge for one, or T-shirts with your company’s logo, which also act as advertising. Who doesn’t love free stuff? Just be sure to check the platform’s policies regarding this.
• A day in the life. Documenting in photos or video what goes on in the office and out on a jobsite gives people a behind-the-scenes look at your company and helps build familiarity and trust. Of course make sure to get permission from everyone appearing in the post.
• Team member or Employee of the Week profiles. These can be straight-up informative or fun, and can give team members a nice boost in feeling recognized as well.
• How-to tips and tricks. Sharing your knowledge helps people recognize you as an expert, and these kinds of posts are value-added content that consumers tend to love. With social media for construction, the how-to possibilities are practically endless, thanks to the hands-on nature of the work and all the DIY fans out there.
• Client testimonials/user-generated content. Written testimonials can be snippets from written reviews jazzed up with graphics or music, or even full reviews. Also, user-generated content (UGC) is particularly hot and effective right now, so consider getting any happy clients to create a video testimonial to share on your feed. Of course, be sure to get permission to post these; you might even cover all your bases by getting the poster to sign a video release form.
• Livestream info sessions. These are just as hot as UGC and a great sales tool. Spend a few minutes talking about a topic of interest to your audience and then open it up for questions. This is a wonderfully effective addition to any social media strategy for construction companies.
• Other pros’ projects. With permission, sharing other people’s amazing projects can show users a style you love or the type of project you’re aiming for, plus it builds goodwill in the industry.
• Blog posts. Anything written for your own website is terrific fodder for social media. It can be informative, inspirational, funny, or something else. Be sure to link back to the original story in your post!
• Ask followers what they want to see. This will give you a read on the pulse of your audience, build interaction and make potential clients feel seen, heard and valued. Some platforms even allow you to do this in the form of fun polls or quizzes.
• Your company’s backstory. If you’ve got a great story of how your business came to be, share it! It will make your business more memorable and help build that all-important sense of familiarity.
• Collaborate with other pros or influencers. This works especially well when your collaborators already have a sizable following that you can piggyback off of.
• Profile a subcontractor or vendor. Similar to profiling an employee, this builds goodwill and makes the people you work with feel values. Plus it gives people a look at your extended team.
• Community news or events. Maybe a new development has just been approved, or a home you built with a nursery has just welcomed its wee new arrival. Postings about local happenings convey a sense of caring and being rooted in your community.
• Participate in trending challenges. Dance fads are popular, and posts about these tend to get a lot of eyeballs. But many other fads come and go, particularly challenges. Just make sure the challenge or dance fits your brand image and, of course, is legal!
• Your favorite podcasts or other media. A quick recap and why you love it, along with a link to the original media, will suffice.
• “Caption this” posts. Caught a funny snapshot or any image that makes people stop and think? Post it and ask people to caption it.
• Answer frequently asked questions. This can be in video form or written out. Or you can do a livestream Q&A, which people tend to love because it gives them a moment “in the spotlight” as well.
• Company milestones or other celebrations. Whether you’ve just built your 10th house, your business is celebrating its one-year anniversary, or any other milestone is happening, it can make for content with a delightfully positive spin.
• Latest trends in construction. Sharing info on what you see happening locally or nationally and giving your expert take on it can be valuable for your followers.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve read all about social media marketing for construction companies, it’s time to get out there and try it! Remember to be patient with yourself as you get up to speed, and that results won’t be apparent overnight. Also consider signing up for a Houzz premium profile to help your business stand out with highlight videos, reviews and more. It’s the easy way to build momentum for your business and perfectly complements all the construction social media ideas shared here.

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Learn all about branding your construction business