As a contractor or head of a construction business, much of your work likely takes place on location or at the office — overseeing job sites or conducting meetings with clients. But while you may be used to having your boots on the ground (literally), it’s just as important to maintain a virtual presence in order to grow your business.
Facebook marketing, just one aspect of social media marketing, is a low-lift way to gain new clients, establish your brand voice, and share success stories. If you aren’t yet on Facebook — or you’ve been neglecting your page — read on to learn how Facebook marketing can bolster your business.
What Is Facebook Marketing?
Facebook marketing is a way to share information on the social media platform about your business to potential customers, without putting any payment behind your posts. You can also engage in social media advertising, which involves spending money to highlight your services on the platform.
However, since there are many aspects of these social platforms that are completely free for businesses to use, it’s recommended to begin by experimenting with organic (not paid) posts.
Facebook has a wide range of ways in which you can establish yourself as a business and create different posts to attract customers and showcase your brand.
While you may think that the construction business is not the right “niche” for Facebook, in reality every type of business is the right fit for social media. Facebook has millions of users and is a great platform for fostering a hyperlocal community, which means that new customers in your region are right at your fingertips.
Why Facebook Marketing Is Beneficial
There are tremendous benefits to setting up your business on Facebook. The best way to start is by creating a Facebook page for your company. Rather than a profile for an individual person, this page will represent your entire business and allow you to include links to your external website, hours, location, and other relevant information. This page will be a main hub of future posts such as photos, videos, or text-based updates that you share with your Facebook community.
By creating a Facebook page, you have complete control over your brand voice. Whereas on other online platforms (like review sites), your business is at the whim of customer perception, on social media you have the power to control your own narrative. You can choose to highlight success stories, share positive customer feedback, and restrict or delete certain comments or users.
Facebook is also a great way to connect directly with customers. Through public comments as well as private direct messages, customers can engage with your business at any time. You can preset customer service response messages for when you’re offline as well, so that nobody ever feels ignored or overlooked.
Finally, Facebook groups are a great way to get involved with the construction community in your region. Groups are both public and private, and exist around all sorts of shared interests. Your Facebook page can join these online groups and participate in discussions, share photos, and recommend services — all excellent ways to meet potential clients. Simply search by keyword within the Facebook “search” function to get started on finding groups relevant to your interests.
How to Get Started with Facebook Marketing
So, without spending any money on paid advertisements, how do you market your business on social media? If you’re starting from scratch, it’s best to take it slow so that you aren’t overwhelmed with online activity.
Build out your Facebook page with plenty of relevant information, and add high-quality photos (and videos, if you can!) that showcase your services. Make sure that your location is featured, so that you aren’t interacting with potential customers in the wrong geographic region. Similarly, only join groups that either overlap with your business’s interest or location.
Next, set a schedule for yourself so that you are regularly checking on your page and posting updates. You don’t need to be aggressive. Try to check in on potential messages and comments once a day (it should only take a few minutes!). See if you can post a new photo once a week, and mix up the types of media that you share with your followers.
Everything you share should be authentic and true to your overall brand voice, since you aren’t operating as paid advertisement. You’ll have better success at this organic marketing strategy if you regularly share relatable content that speaks to your audience, rather than logging on periodically to plug your business.