5 Reasons Your Trade And Construction Brand And Marketing Isn’t Working.
It’s infuriating, isn’t it?
You’ve been working on your Trade and Construction marketing.
Doing everything you think you should be doing.
For weeks.
Months.
Maybe even years.
Spending time.
And money.
Yet it doesn’t seem to be working.
You’re either not getting enough leads.
Or you’re working through lots of time wasting enquiries.
Your marketing just doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.
F*#$.
I thought marketing was supposed help build my Trade and Construction business…
I hear you cry.
We see the same mistakes Trade and Construction businesses are making on their marketing over and over.
And over again.
So we thought it might be helpful to share with you why your brand and marketing might not be working.
The top 5, most frequent reasons we see on the daily.
How many of these are you doing?
❌ 1. Stop jumping straight into designing a website for your Trade and Construction marketing.
If I had £1 for every time a Trade and Construction client came to me and said, “I’ve started a business and I need a website for my marketing.”
I’d be very rich indeed.
*Perhaps a business venture waiting to happen for me.
When we start a new business and we begin to think about marketing, our minds often jump straight to ‘I need a website.’
I’d love to tell you why this is a pointless thing to do.
🛑 You’re creating a website for your Trade and Construction marketing for the sake of it as you believe that is what ‘marketing’ is.
When actually there is so much more to it.
There are so many other things your trade and construction business need to make sure you have in place in your brand and marketing before you even begin thinking about a website.
For example.
You want to start building a website with a web designer.
Great.
But what high quality photos will you be using?
What testimonials do you have to place around the website?
What video will be featured on your homepage as an introduction to your Trade and Construction business?
More importantly…
Have you worked out who your ideal client is and who you are building your website for?
The groundwork (as I call it).
Because there is no point spending time, money and energy building a website when
a) You don’t have any of the important content ready (as mentioned above)
b) You are just throwing content on there – showing photos, videos and testimonials of the work type that isn’t what you want – that doesn’t appeal to your ideal client.
Don’t get me wrong.
Websites are BRILLIANT for your Trade and Construction business.
EVERY Trade and Construction company should have one in my opinion.
Because…
✅ They provide a reference to refer clients to find out more about you.
✅ Help upsell various services your offer in your business.
✅ Convert clients when they see your experience and workmanship.
✅ Can be built upon as your business grows over the years.
✅ Eventually helping bring enquiries to you.
However.
There is no point building a house if you’re going to build it on quicksand.
Same with your website.
If you haven’t got the right foundations in place – knowing your ideal client that means you cherry pick the exact words, photos, videos and testimonials that feature on your website – then your house is going to sink.
It's not going to stand the test of time.
❌ It can position you as unprofessional if not executed right.
❌ Help you attract the work and clients you really don’t want.
❌ You can waste serious amounts of time and money having to then redo it.
My advice?
Don’t start with a website if you’re looking to work on your brand and marketing.
Start with working out who is your ideal client and what service is it they want from you and that you want to provide.
This will then help you shape what your website needs to contain and look like… even if that means in the future.
👌🏽
❌ 2. Avoid shiny object syndrome – replicating marketing ideas just because you see your Trade and Construction competitors doing it.
Possibly one of my favourite ‘do not do’s.’
This is when a trade and construction client come to me and says, ‘I need a video’ or ‘I need a brochure’.
So, I say to them why do you think you need that?
And they say because John (their competitor) has just got one or upgraded his.
Let me help you save lots of time and lots of money right now.
🛑 Just because you see your Trade and Construction competitors updating something or doing something new in their marketing doesn’t mean that is the right thing for your trade and construction business to do right now… or even ever.
Read that again.
Your competitor - let’s say a fellow plumbing and heating business for example - they offer similar services to you.
But they may in fact have a very different ideal client.
Let’s say your plumbing and heating business caters for homeowners.
That is your ideal client and your ideal market.
Perhaps you’ve built a name for yourself in the ‘homeowners’ market, particularly first-time buyers.
Let’s say that another plumbing and heating business (that you believe to be your competitor) does offer domestic plumbing and heating services but is looking to work with more schools.
If that fellow plumber is looking for introductions to school business managers or headteachers for example, he may very well (or should be) showing up a lot more on LinkedIn and creating videos for these types of clients.
If YOU are looking to work with homeowners and find that your ideal client spends more time with the likes of Facebook and Instagram, could mean that FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM is where you should be spending more of your time.
Not necessarily LinkedIn.
So if you started spending your time on LinkedIn, you may well find that you aren’t reaping the fruits and leads you are after – compared to if you kept your focus on Facebook or Instagram.
It’s easy to get side-tracked with what our competitors look to be doing.
And feel we need to follow in their footsteps.
But what we need to remember is that our ‘competitors’ have their own strategy in their business and their own version of who their ideal client.
Which is likely more different to your Ideal Client than you think.
By getting struck down with ‘shiny object syndrome’ as I like to call it, means that what you end up doing is stop focusing on your own business and plans, and end up taking up someone else’s.
This means you end up spending more money in areas that won’t necessarily have a big impact on your business.
It also means you are more likely to be spread very thin.
Because whilst you are trying to get all your own ideas into action - and perhaps you’re working with a brand of marketing agency like us - you’re also trying to work on all these ideas to do one up on your competitor.
Which can be exhausting.
Thin.
Focus on your business and your own strategy rather than being side-tracked by shiny objects.
❌ 3. You’re not marketing your Trade and Construction business enough.
Quite an easy one to comprehend.
You’re not doing enough brand and marketing activity in your business.
Period.
No branded vehicles.
No social media.
No website.
No advertising.
No networking.
Maybe you rely heavily on ‘word of mouth.’
Which has a lot of power.
But ‘word of mouth’ relies on individuals.
Who can start recommending other Trade and Construction businesses other than you, at any time.
Get sick.
Move away.
Go to sleep.
Leave the industry.
When you have a well thought out brand and marketing plan, you allow a wider scope of people to hear about you.
It doesn’t matter if it’s 3am and they are researching Trade and Construction companies when they get home from work, people can check out your website.
That contact you have that recommends you and that you heavily rely on to send work your way could move away, or build up an alliance with a competitor.
Or someone in their family begins offering the service you do and they start sending the recommendations to that person to support them.
Brand and marketing is a way that allows people to access you 24/7.
In one way or another.
If you don’t take your brand and marketing seriously and aren’t visible enough at the times and places that suits your ideal client, then your Trade and Construction business becomes invisible.
Imagine if you didn’t have branded vehicles.
They were plain white vans.
The only people on site that knew the name of your business and what you did, was the client.
Yet your vehicle was parked on a residential street with tens if not hundreds of your ideal clients.
All who needed your service.
But don’t know you exist because you have no brand or marketing.
Versus a Trade and Construction company who park in the same street, with a creative, informative branded vehicle with phone number, website details, social media handles, full list of services.
Who is going to get that enquiry?
And the vehicle is just one example.
Of many.
If you’re not doing much, or anything at all, with your brand and marketing you are missing out on business in your Trade and Construction.
Fact.
❌ 4. You’re not being consistent with your Trade and Construction marketing.
Social media jumps to mind easily on this one.
And is a good example for it.
So you start a Facebook page for your Trade and Construction business.
Or a LinkedIn Business Page.
You set everything up.
You start posting some photos of your work every day.
And interacting with other people.
Then you get busy and you start posting once a week.
Which then turns to once every few weeks.
Then once a month.
Until your page has gone silent for best part of a year of more.
What do you think happens to the engagement of those pages?
The chances of people seeing your infrequent posts?
What do you think happens to your reputation?
Do people visit your page and think something has happened as you haven’t’ posted for over a year?
Are you still trading?
Are you just not organised enough to manage your marketing?
Is your inconsistent marketing a reflection of your Trade and Construction workmanship and service?
Brutal.
But all these questions jump to our minds.
Negative questions.
Whereas a Trade and Construction company who is consistently posting on social media...
Or adding blogs to their website…
Or featuring every week in the local publications…
Leads us to believe only positive things.
They are DEFINITELY still trading.
Their brand and marketing is so active, what must this say about the way they run their business?
We’re kept up to date about new services, team members or locations you’re beginning to cover.
We feel like we know your business and we build familiarity with you.
Which means our confidence begins to grow, in that you are the right folk for our job.
Think of it like dominoes.
Everything has a knock-on effect.
And by being consistent in your brand and marketing – whatever it is you are doing for your strategy – reflects what we receive as the service and workmanship from you.
So be consistent.
❌ 5. You’re not marketing in places your Trade and Construction Ideal Clients are.
Plenty of examples for this.
I’ve seen Trade and Construction companies take up offers to feature in local newspapers.
But their Ideal Clients are millennials.
First time buyers who don’t read newspapers.
I’ve seen Trade and Construction companies sponsor golf days.
When their ideal clients are homeowners who you would never find on the Golf course.
Yes.
There may be times when some of these efforts pay off.
I’m definitely not saying they never do.
Your Ideal Client might catch that article in the local paper.
Or have been invited to a Golf day.
But wouldn’t it make more sense to be visible in the places LOTS of your Ideal Clients are.
So that you get more bang for your buck?
So to speak.
Example.
When the football is on, what adverts are usually playing at half time?
Beer.
Cars.
Online Gambling.
Shaving brands.
Why do you think that is?
Because those companies know who their ideal client are.
Mainly men.
Who have interests in these services and products.
And they know that a big chunk of their ideal clients will be watching the football.
So if that’s where their ideal clients are, then it makes sense that they place themselves here too.
In the advertising world it’s called ‘Product Placement’.
But it’s no different to our small to medium businesses.
Look at where your ideal clients are.
What social media platform?
Do they commute to work?
What publications do they read?
What websites do they shop on?
Then it’s all about looking at how you can appear in these spaces too.
Even collaborate and work with those companies and brands.
So you have more chance of your ideal clients coming across your business and your brand getting on their radar.
Talk about a lesson in marketing. 👌🏽
⬇️ 5 Reasons Your Trade And Construction Brand and Marketing Isn’t Working Rundown:
1. Stop jumping straight into designing a website.
2. Avoid competitor ‘shiny object syndrome’.
3. You’re doing enough brand and marketing.
4. You’re not being consistent enough with your brand and marketing.
5. You’re not marketing where your Ideal Clients are.
🛠 Need a little more help nailing your Trades and Construction Brand and Marketing?
Course you do.
First. Let’s work out where you are with all things Brand and 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.