Construction Marketing: Making a Plan to Increase Your Business

Contractors are busy, often working 12-14 hour days to get the job done. This leaves little time for focusing on growth. And the truth is, many contractors just don’t know where to start when it comes to making a marketing plan.

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Without the time or expertise, marketing for growth may seem hopeless.

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It doesn’t have to be. Our plan requires only 7-minutes a week, requires no marketing degree, and is so simple that anyone can do it.

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By now, you’re probably thinking this can’t be possible. How can you grow your business in just 7 minutes a week? Must be a scam, right?

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Wrong. Without much effort at all, you can increase your online visibility, making it easier for potential customers to find you. You don’t need to be tech-savvy, either — that’s how simple this is.

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So, what’s the big secret? Reviews.

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Yup, you read right. Reviews are powerful, and the more you have, the better you will rank on Google, which will ultimately result in more interest from potential customers.

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The type of construction work you do and the average length of a job will determine how often you ask for a review, but the process is so quick and easy, you should never spend more than a few minutes at a time.

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Here’s what you need to do:

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Your ‘Google My Business’ (GMB) is often the first glance potential customers have at your business. 

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Here, they’ll find:

• Location map
• Hours of operation
• Contact information
• A link to your website
• Photos of your business
• Customer reviews
• And more

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You’ll be sharing the link to your GMB when you ask your customers for a review, so you need to know how to retrieve it.

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First, type the name of your business in the Google search bar, and to the right of the page, you should see your GMB. From here …

1. Simply click on the small map at the top of the GMB
2. You’ll be redirected to another page 
3. On the left of the page, click the ‘share’ button 
4. Copy the link that appears in the pop-up box

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… and paste it somewhere you can always access it.

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Next, you’ll want to draft an email or text (depending on what your primary form of communication with your customer was). 

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You may want to create a template with a few fill-in-the-blank sections, so you can personalize each message. 

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Your template may look something like this:

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Dear (enter customer name here),

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First of all, I want to thank you for trusting me with your (enter project here) and I’m so pleased to know that you’re just as thrilled with the outcome as we are.

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It would mean the world to us if you left a 5-star review on Google (enter your link here). It only takes a few seconds, but it goes a long way for us.

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Thank you again, and we look forward to doing business with you again in the future.

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Lastly, be sure to respond to every review you get. Engagement is important to customers, and it can also help improve your online visibility.

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Leaving a response also shows potential customers that you value the feedback received from your previous customers.

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Here’s what to do:

1. Respond within 48 hours of receiving the review
2. Thank your customer for the review (good or bad)
3. Keep it brief
4. Make sure it’s authentic and personal
5. Ask them to share their experience with friends and family
6. Share the review on social channels

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Quite simply, reviews on Google improve your search engine optimization, which basically means it will give your website a leg-up on your competitors.

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How do reviews have so much power? It’s like this:

• Customer feedback creates new content for Google to crawl, which helps Google by giving it context about what your business does. When Google is clear on what you do and if your services match the intention of the original search, you’re more likely to get a better position in the search results.
• Positive reviews make you more trustworthy to Google. The algorithms are pretty darn intelligent, and Google is keen on making sure that all searches result in their users finding the information they are looking for. Good reviews give you an edge because ultimately, Google wants its users to feel confident in the recommendations (search results) they get.
• 48% of people will visit a company’s website because of positive reviews. That’s pretty huge for anyone trying to grow their business, especially contractors. 

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If you’re still thinking you don’t have the time to dedicate 7-10 minutes a week to marketing your business, then it’s likely you are doing something wrong.

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Flexbase is a free app that streamlines construction invoicing and project management processes. 
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Flexbase can help you finance your next job. We offer:

• 60 days to pay, 0% interest
• Up to 10x credit limits based on your future invoices and projected business

• No security deposit required

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With our integrated systems, you’ll spend way less time on ...

• Invoice management
• Expense tracking
• Project management
• Compliance documents
• And more

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… meaning you’ll have more than enough time to focus on our 7-minute marketing strategy and grow your business. Join Flexbase for free today.