In the world of construction, tactics like letter drops and cold calls don’t cut it. The modern builder needs a sophisticated marketing toolkit that encompasses various activities and targets potential clients at several touch points.
At Sea Salt Marketing, we’ve been working with builders for the last 10 years and understand the unique challenges builders face and how this has changed over time. What was working for our building clients as little as three years ago is no longer working. So what can you do?
We’ve put together this guide to step you through the foundational steps you can take to craft a captivating brand and attract a steady stream of qualified leads in this current climate.
Building a Captivating Brand
Your brand is more than just a logo; it’s the story that sets you apart. A strong brand identity is the foundation for all your marketing efforts, attracting clients and boosting sales for years to come.
But where do you begin? Many builders jump straight to logos and websites. We recommend taking a step back and starting with your brand voice.
Developing a brand voice requires introspection. Why did you start your business? What drives you? The answers hold the key to your story, which can be woven into your marketing materials. Themes will emerge, guiding you towards powerful messages that resonate with your target audience. From these themes, you can develop brand guidelines – colours, fonts and, finally, your logo.
Think of your brand as a thread woven through everything you do. It also guides potential clients through your marketing funnel – attracting them, nurturing their interest, converting them to leads and securing contracts. Each marketing activity strategically moves them closer to becoming advocates for future work.
Here are some tips for building a lasting brand:
Start with your story: Don’t get hung up on visuals. Uncover your “why” and craft a brand voice that resonates.
Embrace themes: Explore the common threads in your story and leverage them into powerful messages.
Think funnel: Each marketing activity should move potential clients closer to becoming an advocate for your business, generating your next referral
Invest in your brand: Building a strong brand is an investment. The better you do it, the more effective your marketing and sales efforts will be in the long run.
Strategies to drive marketing leads
According to Hubspot, today’s consumers need up to eight touchpoints before engaging with a company. When it comes to choosing a builder, according to realestate.com, this process can now take up to 22 months, up from 11 months a year ago. This highlights the crucial role of a marketing strategy that targets clients throughout their extended decision-making journey.
Before diving into strategies for generating leads, it’s important to distinguish marketing leads from sales leads. Marketing leads are at the very beginning of their building journey – they’re in your target audience and interested in building, but early in their research stage. They’re receptive to information and willing to trade contact details for valuable content.
On the other hand, sales leads have already engaged with your brand – be it through social media follows, blog reads, email newsletters or other interactions. The goal is to nurture marketing leads into sales leads and then convert clients through valuable content and strategic engagement. You can learn more about the difference between marketing-qualified leads and sales-qualified leads in this blog.
So, how do you attract marketing leads? Educational content is key. By sharing insights, addressing common concerns and showcasing your selling point, you can establish yourself as an industry expert and attract clients who are searching for more information.
Remember, building trust and confidence takes time. By consistently providing valuable information and engaging your audience, you can gently move leads through the funnel, ultimately converting them into qualified sales leads ready for further engagement.
Nurturing leads through automation
Lead nurturing is the process of gently guiding clients towards signing a contract. And in today’s landscape, where the journey from initial contact to signed contract can stretch up to 22 months, strategic email automation becomes your secret weapon.
One of the best lead nurture activities you can invest in is a CRM system or, at the very least, an email automation series that delivers valuable content to prospective clients.
Crafting an effective email automation series requires a five-step approach. The first is identifying the trigger: what action will kickstart the journey, be it downloading a brochure, attending an event or making a website enquiry. A great trigger is understanding where they are at in their building journey through your contact form, and tailoring content specific for that.
Next, you should align the length and frequency of the series with your contact-to- contract timeframe, determining the number of emails required and spacing them effectively. Then, you can do a content audit to leverage existing resources and identify any gaps in your content bank.
Typically, two emails per month over four to 12 months do the trick in an email automation, but the first three emails are generally the most successful. Pack them with your best content – project showcases, insightful tips, answers to burning questions – to maximise engagement.
Once prepared, craft and design the automation, ensuring it seamlessly integrates with your brand identity. While automation works tirelessly in the background, remember to regularly audit and update your content every six to 12 months to maintain relevance and effectiveness.
By implementing these steps, you’ll harness the power of automation, nurture leads, build trust and ultimately convert them into valuable clients, laying the foundation for a thriving building business.
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Ready to build a captivating brand and build your pipeline? Sea Salt Marketing makes building your brand worry-free with our comprehensive digital marketing and branding services. Contact us today to get started.
