Setting Goals for Social Media Marketing in Construction: Establishing the “Why”

February 10, 2020

“Why on earth am I doing this?” A question many construction companies ask themselves about the efforts they put into social media marketing. A lot of people say, “Because my boss told me to.” AKA the delegation method. I also hear a lot of people say, “I want to be part of social media. I want to be part of their world.” Something I call The Little Mermaid theory.

But when I think about goal setting for social media marketing, the goal needs to have a why behind it — for example, what problem are you trying to solve by being “a part of their world”?

By doing social media, the fluff reasons (i.e. “My boss told me to.”) aren’t really going to get you where you want to go. And please know, I’m not trying to sell you on the idea of doing social media. I assume because you’re here, you’ve already decided you’re doing it. We just need to know what problem you’re trying to solve so you can build a plan to actually solve it.

Establishing why you’re doing social media is the first step towards setting your goals. And without goals, it’s really tough to build your social media plan and evaluate it so you can make better decisions in the future.

Some common problems I hear:

People don’t know I exist.

The challenge, you’re not reaching out enough. Here’s where good old-fashioned branding can go a long way. What’s great about social media is posting content there is a lot like running a print ad, only people can actually interact with it and you can track the ad performance to see if it’s working.

I need more business. 

You may have a website specifically designed and constructed to woo clients, but your courtship doesn’t have to stop there — your potential clients are out on social media, too. 

Positioning yourself as a thought leader on these platforms by talking about the steps you’re taking to advance your process or where you want the industry to go. You can also pair your social media plan with your blogging efforts and post updates about big projects in the works — all great ways to catch the eye of a key decision maker in your target market. 

Hiring is a challenge right now.

New hires can be really tricky to find, and most of the websites I see out there for construction are built to woo potential clients, not employees. That said, you can certainly buff up your website with a robust Careers section to attract more of this target market, but if that’s not quite in your website budget right now, there are ways you can communicate with potential hires through social media.

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Post high-quality, engaging content showing off your company culture, communicating your awesome benefits, or even bragging about the awards your company is receiving for all the quality work you do. Telling your story in this way will not only (further) inspire prospects to work with you, but it will also get you in front of the types of hires you want where they already are — on social media.

Past clients are one and done. 

For commercial construction, this is likely not a problem you’re trying to solve. But if you’re in residential construction, especially remodeling, keeping in touch with existing clients is really important. Why? Because once people get the remodeling bug, they typically have it for a while, and so the home projects just keep rolling. 

Ideally, you’ve got some type of “Follow us on social media!” invite plucked somewhere into your process, so many of your clients are part of your audience. Take advantage! By sharing company news and helpful tips and highlighting new projects you’ve got in the works, you can stay fresh in their minds. They’ll see the awesome things you’re doing and think, “I want that, and this company can deliver it for me.”

We’ve got good things going on, but nobody knows.

Again, sometimes it’s all about creating a buzz. Unfortunately, publications don’t pick up press releases like they used to. Notify them via social media about all the cool things you’re doing. 

You can also give back in this way by following organizations you support and associations you’re involved with, even nonprofits in your community. Show your support of these organizations and causes with posts that include images of your staff volunteering at their events or at their job sites. You can also share those organizations’ social media posts on your social feed to get them in front of people that they haven’t already met.

The numbers don’t lie.

The reality is: people follow brands on social media. Millennials engage with brands monthly, Generation Xers buy from brands they follow. And 30% of people do business with the competitors of brands that ignore their social messages. 

My point? It’s worth the effort to create an effective social media marketing plan if you want to solve any of the problems outlined above. Figuring out your “why” for doing it will help you with setting the goals you’d like to reach by doing social media and with connecting to the clients and employees you want to work with.