Two Changes to How We Manage Our Client's Social Media Accounts

We stay aware of social media trends, but more importantly, we compare them back to our clients and keep in mind your bigger goals. There’s a lot of jargon in marketing, but we’ve found the most success in applying good common sense.

Always Remember Your Target Audience

Common sense tells us that, as a business in the construction industry, your target pool of clients is small.

No. 1: They have to live locally.
No. 2: They are homeowners, which automatically means there’s a level of affluence, right?
No. 3: The decision to work with you will be once in a lifetime or a handful of times at most.

(Note: The same theory can be applied to our clients in commercial work, like local developers or property managers)

When we narrow down how many people actually add up to (dozens or hundreds at most), why would we spend hours each day managing your social media account? Why would we try to gain a huge following and create content for followers internationally? Most of these people described above are not spending time on social media, and if they are, it’s to follow family and friends.

So, why are we even on social media with your business?

Let’s look back to the pool of people that you work with: local, affluent homeowners. How much will they spend if they work with you? Thousands of dollars if you’re in architecture or the trades. Millions, if you’re a General Contractor. Do you think there’s a chance they’re going to do a little digging? Maybe a Google search or poking around your website or social media accounts? One hundred percent, yes.

Our Social Media Strategy for Construction Companies

And there you have our strategy for your social media. Our first and most important goal is to create accounts that give your potential clients an immediate snapshot of who you are and what you do. We also provide them with a level of trust, credibility, and professionalism. Of course, a referral will always be the strongest influence. That referral will then prompt your potential client to do a little more research before deciding who to hand their money to and who to have a two-year relationship with. Your accounts better be looking top-notch.

IT WOULD BE A SHAME FOR A GREAT BUSINESS TO LOSE A POTENTIAL CLIENT WORTH THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE OF AN UNPROFESSIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT.

Our second social media strategy goal is to keep you top of mind in the industry. Construction industries overlap. You see this with architects, real estate, landscape, flooring, and plumbing. Each is a crucial gatekeeper that could influence your next referral, and we want to stay connected with them. If they come across your accounts, we want them to say, “Damn, there they go again. Those guys do good work.” 

So, how does this affect the changes we are making to your social media management?

No 1: We are going to start a 3:1 ratio. Posting content for three weeks, then engaging and growing your account for one week. This means a real human on your account, following and commenting on other relevant accounts in your community. Right now, commenting on someone’s post (not a direct message, not a like, not a follow) is resulting in people taking notice of you. That will change, and so we’ll keep pivoting with the trends.

No. 2: We are going to stop using hashtags. Hashtags are a search tool that people use to find posts they are interested in. For example, if we use hashtag #homebuilder on your photo, and someone else comes along and searches #homebuilder -- your post will come up in their list, along with the other thousands or millions of posts with that tag. It’s time for us to admit that your client mentioned above is not using hashtags to find their home builder. We knew they weren’t all along, but we used this tactic to help grow accounts and bring in new followers. Upon reassessing, we would rather get the same result but from followers who are more on your radar. Not a lumber yard in South Dakota. Also, hashtag lists look ugly and spammy in posts which doesn’t fit with our goal to make you look professional. 

You might still have some questions… 

QUESTION:

I thought you were already posting, commenting, and doing all the engagement things. Aren’t you supposed to do it all? 

ANSWER:

For the majority of our clients, the strategy has always been to create an account that builds credibility and evokes a feeling of professionalism so they are inclined to take the next step and work with you. Not to build an online fan club. Our time and your budget are more effective elsewhere.

QUESTION:

So, if you don’t spend a lot of time managing your social media, what are you doing?

ANSWER:

The strategy above still takes time. We are creating or finding professional photos, writing captions that are accurate and relevant, and posting twice weekly on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, all while responding to comments weekly. In the rest of our time, we continue to write articles, create monthly emails, design graphics, and arrange photo or video shoots. Plus, those random tasks and projects that come up as we go. For some of you, we’re also working on business development to help bring in fresh leads.

QUESTION:

I feel like people talk about how important social media is all the time. Are we missing out on something?

ANSWER:

We should clarify we don’t think social media is irrelevant to business marketing. Some businesses have made multimillion-dollar companies with social media as their only marketing channel. These decisions on how we manage your social media have to do with what makes sense for this industry and, specifically, your business. If you owned a clothing company and sold online, our social media strategy would look nothing like this.

Want to learn more about our approach to social media management?