Construction Marketing: A Beginners Crash Course For Nailing Instagram.
So.
Turns out you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
I’m looking at you, my Insta-phobic trades.
What’s that?
“Social media is just a fad.”
“I don’t have time for new platforms.”
“Think of the children.”
As tempting as it is to ostrich and stick our head in the piles of leftover brickies’ sand, turns out we can’t avoid the Instagram invasion.
Nearly a billion monthly users.
500 million scrolling stories a day.
So, it’s time to embrace the change.
Swallow our pride, ask the teenage niece for help setting up accounts and face the exciting new frontier.
Time to start marketing your skilled construction services ONLINE for lead generation.
Who woulda thought it? 🤯
Now look, I get it.
The mere thought of socials sends most old school Trades or business newbies into panic.
“But I can barely send an email without accidentally embedding my browsing history...you expect me to be an INSTA INFLUENCER?”
Pipe down.
No one said anything about influencing.
Yet.
And put away the preparatory whisky.
This crash course is a NO JUDGEMENT ZONE! 🥃🚫
I’m talking practical, hands-on steps to dip your work-boots into Instagram marketing for Trades without faceplanting.
We’ll cover the basics.
Simple setup.
Effortless post ideas.
No-nonsense approaches for even the most unglam of our Trades services.
So grab a brew.
Give those thumbs a good stretch, and let’s get scrolling.
1. Work Out your Ideal Client for your construction marketing.
Before you open the Instagram app.
Before you take another breath in fact.
Yes, we’re that serious.
The SINGLE biggest thing you will ever do for your construction business – and future ‘You’ will be super thankful for…
Work out your Ideal Client.
What is an ideal client?
⭐️ Your Ideal Client is the person who wants exactly what you provide and is willing and able to pay for it.
Simples.
Get the full low-down here as to why working out your Ideal Client is the single biggest thing you will ever do for your construction marketing.
🎯 Target.
This allows you to create targeted Instagram posts that will speak directly to the clients you want. By focusing on a specific audience – your ideal clients - you can create content that is more likely to resonate with them and attract their attention.
💰 Better return.
By focusing your efforts on the people who are most likely to buy your services, you can get a better return on investment on Instagram (be that time or money) because you will help convert more of the clients you want as you are posting about what they want to know from you in ‘their language.’
❤️ Brand Loyalty.
When you target your ideal client, you are more likely to attract customers who are loyal to your brand. These customers are more likely to recommend your services to friends, family, client or business contacts and continue to use your services in the future.
📈 Competitive Edge.
By targeting a specific audience, you can differentiate yourself from competitor Trades who are not targeting the same audience. This can give you a competitive edge over other Trades.
Otherwise this happens.
Alex is a decorator.
Imagine that Alex posts a picture of a small, box room that he just finished decorating.
He thinks it's a great post because the room looks cosy and inviting.
His whole Instagram feed is full of small rooms that he has decorated.
Nurseries, baby rooms, home offices.
But Alex’s ideal client are people who live in large mansions who want to decorate their spacious rooms with luxurious and extravagant designs.
And have multiple rooms that want decorating – as well as external works.
Do you think Alex is going to attract the larger scale client with an Instagram feed showcasing box rooms (not that there is anything wrong with that work if that’s your ideal client!)…
No.
Because when those people come across his page they are simply going to think he does not do/cannot handle that kind of work… because it’s nowhere to be seen on his page.
Us mere-mortal clients aren’t mind readers.
You have to tell us what you want us to know.
You need to position yourself as the expert for the exact kind of work you want… and Instagram can CERTAINLY help your construction marketing for that.
But it means cutting the posts of the work you DON’T want.
The moral of the story.
Always work out your ideal client before posting anything on Instagram, or you might end up making your construction work look small and insignificant.
2. Optimise that bio blurb on your construction Instagram Profile.
Before eye-catching visuals, your Instagram bio makes first impressions.
Use that 150 characters to spell out WHO you help, WHERE you operate, WHAT problems you solve.
Save the 40 years experience for paying clients to coo over on site.
Use your bio to attract your ideal client.
Lean into your niche if you have one.
“@ChestersCarpentry - Bespoke carpentry services for high end London residential projects”
And don’t forget practical details.
Contact info, hours, link to booking systems.
Treat it like prime digital real estate.
⭐️PRO TIP.
Add clickable links to your bio to funnel visitors seamlessly to contact forms on your website, galleries, payment portals.
Clever stuff.
3. Create a well branded Instagram Profile for your construction marketing.
Right, now the fun branding stuff.
Channel your inner interior designer.
Now you have your Ideal Client in mind, time to brand up your pages to their liking.
Choose a simple, consistent colour scheme and elements that gel with your wider visual identity.
Got vehicle graphics?
Pull colours from there.
Use the same logo badge across platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn etc) in the profile image.
Make connections in followers minds.
Add Story Highlights to showcase credentials, services, projects.
Make what you do in your Trade business easy for us to understand.
And don’t forget linkable buttons to booking systems for instant lead generation.
3. Use hashtags for your Instagram construction Marketing.
What’s that?
Hashtags are for boozy hen dos and bouji celebs?
WRONG.
These cheeky little symbol strings help clients find you in crowded feeds and explore pages.
Just like when you type words into Google and then it shows you the most relevant websites.
It’s Instagram’s version of SEO.
So use them.
Build location-based communities:
#ManchesterBuilders #LiverpoolConstruction
Flag specialisms and skills:
#LoftConversions #StoneMasons
Surf trends to grab indirect interest:
#NewBuild #DIYDisasters #BuildingProjects
Just don’t go OVERboard.
Strategic clusters of 5-10 per post look most natural.
Though Instagram currently allows up to 30.
Instagram stories are a feature on Instagram that allow Trades to post photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours.
It’s awesome.
They are shown at the top of the Instagram app, and users can swipe through them to view stories from the people they follow.
Stories are a great way to share more casual and behind-the-scenes construction content with your followers, such as short videos or photos that show your process of the current job you are on or the before-and-after shots of your projects.
You can also add text, stickers, and other fun effects to your stories to make them more engaging and interactive.
Though don’t get too carried away.
The stories feature is a great way to keep your followers engaged and interested in your business, as well as to show off your personality and creativity as a Trade.
The beauty being that it disappears after 24 hours.
So it doesn’t need to be super-duper polished.
It's still a reflection of your brand, so you should still be mindful what you put in your stories but it can definitely be a bit more raw and rough round the edges than say your website or your Instagram grid.
You can afford to be a little more light-hearted.
Plumbers.
Posting a story of a clogged toilet with the caption "Monday mornings be like..."
Carpenters.
Posting a story of a crooked shelf with the caption "Nailed it! ...not."
Decorators.
Posting a story of a paint-covered dog with the caption "Who let the dog in the paint can?"
You catch our drift.
When you know your ideal client, you can judge on the level of light-hearted personality you bring to your brand.
If in doubt over whether an ideal client would like a story… then don’t post it.
Always be sure what you post is going to go down well.
It’s never worth risking your brand.
Stories will help…
✅ Increase your visibility: They appear at the top of Instagram making them highly visible to followers. Great way to keep your Trade business front of mind.
✅ Increase Engagement: Instagram Stories for your Trade are a great way to engage with your followers. You can use polls, questions, stickers and ask followers for feedback.
✅ Allows us to see behind the scenes on site: Great way to help build trust much more quickly.
5. Interact with your community as part of your Instagram construction marketing.
Think of Instagram as one big Trades networking event where conversations flow freely.
Even if it is virtually.
Follow industry players, potential partners and new connections.
Like and comment on THEIR posts too - not just your own.
Share user-generated content featuring your projects.
Re-gram happy customer Boomerangs (that’s looped short videos for those not in the know). 😃
Run polls and questions.
Endless community engagement chances.
Reply to ALL comments and DMs promptly - open direct communication channels from the start.
5. Plan effortless post ideas as part of your Instagram construction marketing.
What to post eh?
Where do we start?
Here’s a little secret.
Authenticity trumps staged influencer shots on Trades profiles every time. 🤫
Document work in progress.
Share on-the-tools moments.
Clients want to see REAL Trades plying their skills.
Warts ‘n all.
Short Boomerang clips of materials being unpackaged, work commencing, tidy finishing touches.
Before and after project pics - tyre tracks to new driveways.
Grey shells to gleaming open kitchen extensions.
Repurpose your existing communications too.
Snippets from email newsletters on recently won tenders.
Alert small businesses to new legislation updates.
Well there we have it folks.
No-fuss foundations for Instagram success.
Still feel a bit green about the digital stuff?
That’s what I’m here for.
Slide into my DMs for 1-on-1 assistance turning sweat and mortar into online marketing sass for savvy modern Trades. ⛏💵
Let’s build your brand AND bank balance brick by virtual brick! 🧱📲
You can follow me here.
⬇️ Construction Marketing: A Beginners Crash Course For Nailing Instagram Rundown:
1. Work out your Ideal Client.
2. Optimise your Bio blurb.
3. Use hashtags.
4. Embrace Instagram stories feature.
5. Interact with your community – including your ideal clients – on Instagram.
6. Plan effortless Instagram post ideas.
🛠 Need a little more help nailing your Trades and Construction Instagram Marketing?
Course you do.
First. Let’s work out where you are with all things Marketing.
Got 3 minutes?
Take our Trades Quiz to discover how you score with all things ‘Off The Tools’.
We have heaps of tips, tricks, and hacks for your Trade and Construction business in our cheat sheets, videos and ideas waiting for you on the other side… i.e., your results page.
So, you can improve your score. And NAIL your Trade and Construction business.
Nice.