Unconventional marketing strategies to make your company stand out
Want to make your construction company marketing actually work? We share 10 proven ways to stand out from other contractors and win better projects – from smart automation to creative partnerships. Watch now to learn how successful contractors are using these strategies to attract their ideal clients and boost profits.
Topics we cover on this week’s episode:
- 00:24 – Contractor Success Forum Overview
- 01:27 – Marketing Evolution in Construction
- 03:00 – CRM and Marketing Automation
- 05:25 – Industry Leadership & Niching
- 06:40 – Strategic Partnerships
- 08:38 – Referral Ecosystems
- 12:38 – Brand Storytelling
- 14:04 – Job Site Events
- 14:17 – AI in Marketing
- 15:59 – Customer Feedback
- 17:37 – Marketing Strategy Discussion
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Wade Carpenter, CPA, CGMA | CarpenterCPAs.com
Stephen Brown, Bonding Expert | SuretyAnswers.com
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TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] WADE CARPENTER: Is your business marketing falling flat? Are you struggling to bring in contracts you know your company deserves? In the competitive world of construction, standing out requires more than just great work It demands next level marketing strategies that push boundaries. How do you get out of the sea of sameness?
Today, we’re diving into bold, unconventional tactics that can help contractors separate themselves from the pack. This is the Contractor Success Forum, where we discuss financial strategies to help you grow a more profitable construction business. I’m Wade Carpenter with Carpenter Company CPAs, and joining me as always, my co host, Stephen Brown with McDaniel Whitley, Bonding and Insurance.
Stephen, I’m sure you’ve seen countless construction companies struggle to get good contracts. Is it just me or do all marketing efforts of contractors seem the same to you?
[00:00:49] STEPHEN BROWN: Wade, I can just tell you when the internet came out, everybody that built a web page put images of projects that they had never done before, but that look cool. It was a nightmare for me as an insurance agent when an underwriter would look up a contractor’s website and say, ah, according to the website, they do this, they do that. And you just look like an idiot.
One of my favorite stories is an interior painter that put up high huge water tanks, as if they painted those. In industrial tanks. Everything that insurance companies do not want to insure or want to charge more for. Bridge painting, stuff like that.
The days of early marketing for contractors, it was all about networking. Who you knew and your reputation, that was everything. And now you were talking about, I like the phrase you use about getting ahead of the rest of the pack.
If you’re running a road race and everybody is sticking together and then you need to pull ahead of everyone else and how you do it.
And Wade, I can just tell you that when you see a marketing effort from a construction company that is outstanding, You never go back from it. Once you experience it, it’s a visual, it’s emotional, it’s powerful, it’s factual. And by the time you finish getting an understanding, you are so comfortable with that construction company that you’re ready to do business and you may not have even met them yet.
But you just like them and you admire the work that they’ve done. They’re showcasing the projects that they’ve completed in the past, but also the people that they have, the company culture. We’ve got a lot to unpack in this episode. So go ahead, Wade.
[00:02:34] WADE CARPENTER: We talk about that sea of sameness and everybody does content marketing. I hope they’re not putting stock images of construction on their websites anymore. I’ve never thought about that from an insurance standpoint, but I can see how people would be doing that.
And I know you’ve told me some stories about one painting contractor that was in the newspaper for a bridge construction, if I remember the story, but that’s not quite the same thing, it’s like you got them in trouble with their insurance company.
I was trying to think outside the box when we were coming up with these things. And, some of the things that people do, if they’re doing exactly what everybody else is doing, you’re going to get what everybody else has got.
I just want to throw out some off the wall ideas. Some of them not so off the wall. I’ve seen some of them work very well.
Use an advanced Customer Relationship Management system with automations
[00:03:18] WADE CARPENTER: But, the first one I was, going to talk about, having advanced CRM system, Customer Relationship Management and Marketing Automations.
The technology today to be able to see and track your customers and what they’re doing, even tracking leads, knowing about them before you even talk to them. That can go a long way when you start talking to them.
The marketing automation, there’s a lot of things we can talk about with that. But, like me, I do some research. When somebody books a call with me, I try to find out as much as I can on their LinkedIn or, their website and those kinds of things. But, getting to know your customer is one of the things we’re going to talk about today.
So somebody contacts you about wanting to put in a bid, and you do some kind of research on them and you find out that they like dogs. And you send them a customized proposal and talk about their dog, Fluffy. I don’t know what their dog’s name is, but hopefully that’s making sense. But if you can personalize that to them, they’re going to remember that.
[00:04:19] STEPHEN BROWN: Sure. No, I get it. I think, remembering their dog Fluffy’s a great way of making a point that sticks in people’s mind. That’s what you do in marketing. Right?
[00:04:29] WADE CARPENTER: Right. And taking that beyond that, if, like I said, if you know your customers and you’re putting them in like a customer relationship management system, and you start to see patterns. You start segmenting. We can talk about niching and stuff like that.
But if you can segment, this is what my ideal customer is, and deliver these targeted messages to what their particular pain point is, that can go a long way.
And I know we were talking about picking your contractor, even though they’re not the lowest bid, that hopefully people are not just picking their contractor from the lowest bid. But they want quality work. And establishing some trust before you really get going, that can win the bid.
[00:05:09] STEPHEN BROWN: Especially in construction, the old adage is the lowest bid may not be the best bid. Now, it could be the best bid, but again, going in there to get business just by pricing it really cheap to get your foot in the door is not as powerful as good marketing and good networking.
[00:05:25] WADE CARPENTER: The point is knowing your customer and being able to talk to them, speak their language.
Just like you and I can speak to a contractor after years of doing this.
Customer Journey Mapping
[00:05:35] WADE CARPENTER: The other part is, taking that to the next level, what they call customer journey mapping. I don’t really deal a lot in the residential side, but several years ago I had one that was building custom log homes.
They had gone through this is what the whole process is, and, explaining some of the nuances of log homes and stuff like that. But the whole process, what do they go through in trying to figure out how to pick options and things like that.
Understanding where your customer is coming from, where they have no idea what’s involved, and mapping that customer journey out for them so that they know you understand the process they’re going through and, you can relate to them.
[00:06:15] STEPHEN BROWN: I think right off the bat of a ballet Memphis new facility. The architect and the contractor were able to go in there with the board and express their visions and their abilities, based artistically. That’s the building that they wanted. That was the building that they got.
[00:06:31] WADE CARPENTER: Again, taking this to the next level, if you can give them personalized emails or targeted ads, knowing who your customer is, that just speaks directly to their needs. Again, I’m sure we could probably come up with several ideas, but let’s continue on.
We were talking about niching down or doing something that you’re really good at. And when you become, an industry leader and industry influencer on LinkedIn, YouTube, wherever it is. I’ve seen some people do it like just for HVAC or plumbing. We’ve got one that has actually been out there on YouTube explaining how to do shower doors.
That goes a long way, I think, to building that trust in somebody. And, if you can speak to their particular needs, they’re going to trust you a lot more than anybody else that’s just going to send you a blind bid.
[00:07:17] STEPHEN BROWN: I get it.
Showcase your expertise with real examples of your work
[00:07:18] WADE CARPENTER: So we had talked in several episodes and things like that, which again, if you’re an industry influencer or whatever, and you’re showing a project you’ve done. We were just talking about this, you can show the progression of, this is ground up, and we built this, and then now we’ve got a beautiful building.
All these home improvement shows, they show the before and the after. It’s amazing if you go out there I know I watch some people building things in the desert, or there’s one guy that I watched that has these machines that mulches trees. Or there’s a guy that cuts grass for overgrown yards and stuff like that, and it’s it’s amazing what people will sit there and watch things come together.
[00:07:58] STEPHEN BROWN: I know exactly what you’re talking about. Even taking that further, besides showing what you’ve done on other projects to create the vision that you’re selling to someone. Those artist renderings on a public project that are on a easel standing in a municipal building with beautiful people in a plaza and attractive cars, they’ve always fascinated me. I could stare at them for hours.
But they’re creating an emotion, they’re creating a vision and that’s something that you have to do in marketing as well.
Offer an exclusive report or giveaway
[00:08:26] WADE CARPENTER: Yeah, and again, taking this partly to the next level, then, if you become a thought leader in doing that particular thing, can you give them an exclusive report or a giveaway? Trends in construction, whatever your niche is. What do you need to know?
And honestly, I remember this particular custom builder that, a lot of times when you get a custom builder, if you’re dealing with like a homeowner, you got people that don’t know this stuff and they will sit there and change their mind over and you have change orders. And it runs the cost up and runs the project timeline up.
He did something like, this is what you need to know and this is how we need to approach this. Because they were trying to cut down on all this time they were going back and forth and making decisions over and over. If you can give somebody this is the how to build this type of thing, I think that would be some great marketing.
[00:09:18] STEPHEN BROWN: Well, it’s like you were saying, Wade, about the shower door video. It’s the same about new technology and new construction materials that you can highlight. Masonry Contractor, a customer of ours, has a video of robots laying bricks. That’s fascinating to non builders.
New products, new ability to make glass that’s almost structural in its scope. New ability to provide spans. What if a client wants a green project? What if they want you to be sourcing your materials as ethically as possible? You’ve got to be able to pinpoint that niche and sell yourself as being the best decision to do what they want to accomplish.
[00:09:57] WADE CARPENTER: Thinking about where your customers are, don’t just go try to be the best of the HVAC contractors, go where, if somebody’s out there on Facebook complaining about my air conditioning went out. I don’t know. But where are your customers? That’s the only point of this.
Consider strategic partnerships
[00:10:14] WADE CARPENTER: Moving on to the next part of this. Think about some partnerships, bold partnerships or strategic joint ventures. Maybe you’re a sub and you partner with a general to do specialized type of work. Or maybe a lumber supplier.
[00:10:30] STEPHEN BROWN: Or a design build type project where you bring in an architect.
[00:10:34] WADE CARPENTER: Right, but going to do a joint seminar or something like this is what you need to know about building this type of building. That kind of thing I think can be another great way to get in front of some people that are, maybe your target market is.
Do community projects
[00:10:48] WADE CARPENTER: This is not direct, but we’ve talked about doing some community projects, just for the exposure. And, if you have some kind of high visibility thing that, you’re out doing in the community, that gets in front of people. And it may take some time. Maybe you contribute a little bit of materials or something like that. But if you can get on some of these projects that gets out in the community, that can be some great exposure for you.
Again these are just different ways we can possibly get out there and maybe get in front of some people that we normally wouldn’t get to.
Build a referral ecosystem
[00:11:21] WADE CARPENTER: Now the next one, we all talk about referrals and everybody likes to think about getting a referral, but, I’m thinking particularly like what I would refer to a referral ecosystem.
Several years ago I had a I still work with them, but a general contractor. that had their subs that were pretty set. And they usually would do all the pre construction meetings as, job meetings. But part of their meetings, they started like going around and saying, I’ve got this type of contract and I know they’re going to need a a plumber on this one, or electrician.
And they were basically created a little ecosystem of referrals between them. They’re not competing. They work on the same customer that you are. You don’t have to compete with them because you’re not in the same industry Join forces.
[00:12:06] STEPHEN BROWN: That’s a great point. We at the Memphis Builders Exchange, Wade, we have private plan rooms that you can start and join the ability to invite different people to partner with you on a different project to start brainstorming and meeting and talking about How to obtain and market and get a project before it starts.
And also a private plan room for a general contractor that wants to bid a job and wants to deal specifically with only the people they want to invite.
[00:12:34] WADE CARPENTER: I think that’s a great way to do that, as well as moving on to the next one.
Storytelling through your brand
[00:12:37] WADE CARPENTER: We all talk about branding. You think about storytelling through your brand, and that sort of goes back to some of the things we were showing like, this is our project, this is where maybe you want to walk through how we got to this project, or the steps to get there. Telling that on YouTube or something like that.
The big thing now is drone footage. If you can do a before and after using drones and taking pictures and these drones are not that expensive anymore. And people are using them all over construction for many different ways.
I read something where somebody was doing like a flyover regularly and sending that to the owner. This is what we accomplished this week. Giving them updates on what they were doing visually. I remember our first year we had Chad Gill come on here. And he was trying to build a thing where his guys went out every day and took pictures. There’s a lot of systems now that actually will take that and communicate it to your customer. But if you can show them the progress that’s coming together, they feel like they’re involved in it.
[00:13:37] STEPHEN BROWN: Sure. And not just from a marketing standpoint. We’ve said this so many times before, if you can let an owner know ahead of time that you’re having a certain problem, and what you’re doing about it, then they’re a lot more sympathetic and empathetic to your needs. And they feel like you’re communicating with them honestly.
And so their whole demeanor is more open. It develops um, word of mouth about your reputation, that you, there’s no substitute for, Wade.
Host an event at your job site
[00:14:02] WADE CARPENTER: Some of these other things that I had on the list. If you had a event at your job site, construction showcase or something like that. Just trying to show others what you’re– and I know there’s some considerations with that.
AI we talk about all the time on here. But if you are waiting on the phone to ring just because you’ve got content marketing, AI can generate a bunch of leads very quickly. There are ways out there where you can use AI as well as some of these automations to go through and find who your target market is. And I won’t go deep into that, but, AI and automation, I think we talk about all the time.
But if you’ve got a lead and you’re bad about following up, a lot of people tell me they are. Automate it and have these high touch interactions with them before they become client, as well as after they become a client. And we were talking about the photos.
The project kicks off and you just have an automated thing that says, hey, we kicked off today, this is what we’re doing. And maybe you take your project reports, throw them in AI and say, this is what we accomplished this week. That’s very different from what most people are doing. And when people see that and they know they’ve been taken care of. I heard a story and this is not in construction, but I heard a story last night actually.
They were doing accounting work, and this was a friend of mine, a CPA that was taking over and trying to get their tax return done this past week with the extension deadline, and they hadn’t already done their stuff from 2023, and they’d already paid them, and they moved on to my friend.
But he was telling me this particular brand, they loved the people, but they weren’t doing the work. So they moved on and they were still singing their praises, even though they didn’t do the work. I think that’s an extraordinary story, but it goes to the point where, satisfied clients are going to tell other people that you’ve given them a great interaction and you’ve taken good care of them. And that word of mouth can go a long way.
That sort of goes to my last real point. Getting feedback after you’re done. If you did a good job, the automated satisfaction survey goes out. And quite frankly, I’ve seen several of these systems where it’s sort of cheating, but it’s okay. We sent out a survey, did you score us a three out of five? We’re not going to send you, but we score us four or five out of five? Hey, thanks for giving us this review. Here’s our Google review. Go out there and give us a great review. And so they’re a lot more likely to give them a good review than somebody that’s trashing them. I’ve seen systems that are built that way and it’s really a little sleazy if you ask me, but I understand it.
[00:16:33] STEPHEN BROWN: Well let ask you a question. If somebody gives you a compliment, can you say, can I quote you on that? And then post their picture with the quote, or is that unethical? Because, if you ask a customer, can I put a video camera in front of your face and you give me a testimonial, most of them are not comfortable doing something like that. But you’ve got to create the marketing content.
[00:16:54] WADE CARPENTER: I’ve actually done some of that stuff too, because people are not, they don’t know what to say. So asking them a question, what did you like about this, and let them say what they will, and I think that’s a great way to get testimonials. I didn’t have that on the list, but I think that is definitely something that people should take advantage of.
Mm
[00:17:10] STEPHEN BROWN: Then ask them if you can quote them and then send them a copy of what you plan to use and ask their approval before you post it, right?
[00:17:17] WADE CARPENTER: Absolutely.
I’ve seen some people say, this is what I think that we hope you say about us, and okay, would you say we’re on time, or we do quality work, or whatever it is. You write some kind of starter for them, and you’d be surprised sometimes that will work as well.
But anyway, the whole point of today was let’s think about marketing in a different way if it’s not working for you. So Stephen, what do you think? Any thoughts? Did we accomplish that purpose today?
[00:17:41] STEPHEN BROWN: I think so, Wade. We’ll have to hear from our listeners or the final judge of this content. But what I like is your intentionality in this topic. You have to be intentional and you have to think out of the box a little bit about how to pull ahead of the rest of the pack, and how to do it effectively.
I think your comments that you made today were right on the money of how people need to think. It’s amazing sometimes how, if you don’t think of something and you don’t try something, then it’s never going to work. You’re going to be running with the pack, right? And in the construction industry, there is so much more.
You might say, I’m a sub, I got more work than I know what to do with. Yeah, but are you doing the work that you want to do? Are you making the profits you want to make? Are your workers happy with the work that you’re doing? Is all this communicated or do you even care? So the term marketing is almost like telling a contractor that they’re going to start doing a new accounting system or implement something that is not their first nature of a contractor.
It may or may not be. So again, you want to find someone that can help you accomplish your goals and you want to be specific in targeting what you want to target. Wade, I’ve seen your marketing efforts for Carpenter and Company just over and over again. Getting the best people you can find, getting help accomplishing the vision.
And the more you know about marketing, the better you can market. A lot of people don’t understand that. There’s so many fundamentals to marketing that professionals understand that you need to understand to grow your business in the direction you want to.
[00:19:21] WADE CARPENTER: I think that’s a great summary of what we were talking about. And again, that was my thought, if you’re taking everything that comes through your door, but it’s not necessarily as profitable. You may have all the work you want, but are you chasing the right work? so I hope that made our listeners think about it a little bit today.
If you’ve got thoughts or questions about today’s episode, we would love to hear from you. Share your ideas, feedback, or topics you want us to cover in the comments below. Thanks for tuning into the Contractor Success Forum. For more resources, take a look at the show notes. If you found value in this episode, make sure to like, share, subscribe.
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