LINKED IN = A POWERFUL PROMOTION TOOL FOR THE TRADE AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
If you’re thinking about starting a LinkedIn profile but you are umming and ahhing because you’re in the trade and construction industry then keep reading! LinkedIn is a powerful marketing platform that assists in marketing your business including fantastic B2B opportunity. There are two profile types that you can create, a personal profile and a business page.
LinkedIn opens doors for networking to a huge amount of potential clients. Keeping both profiles up to date with the latest information means that when someone engages with your profile and the content is of interest to them you’ll become a valuable resource. LinkedIn is a great lead generator if you spend time posting valuable, entertaining or educating content as well as time engaging with others, especially in your industry.
Having a LinkedIn Company page will increase your exposure to very targeted potential clients and industry related experts. If you spend regular time posting and engaging this will help your SEO, in other words help you move up in google searches as well as being found in LinkedIn searches.
POSITION YOURSELF AS AN INDUSTRY EXPERT
Positioning yourself as an expert in the trade and construction industry will help build your credibility and go towards gaining your clients trust. One way you can do this is by utilising the “Recommendations” feature. Having colleagues, suppliers, clients and other industry related acquaintances recommending you for specific skills or offerings. In the construction industry for example if you may be endorsed for starting and running a new business, project management skills, team building or other important job related or interpersonal skills you may have. The more recommendations you have the more potential leads you can generate.
Another way you can build trust in potential clients is to display your accomplishments. These could be both personal or professional, have you won any small business awards? Worked on large commercial construction sites or other awards perhaps that will help provide an overview of why you are industry experts.
CONNECT, COLLAB & NETWORK
You can also use LinkedIn to connect with and build quality business connections. New suppliers, outsourced professions or other forward thinking people who may help grow your business. One easy way you can do this is through joining industry related groups such as ‘Construction & Building Materials – Professional Group’ which has over 43,000 members or the ‘Construction Safety Group’ with over 17,000 members. Joining different groups is a free way of getting your content out there or learning what other construction and trade businesses are doing and how they are promoting their brand.
UNIFORMS? WHAT TO WEAR FOR LINKEDIN IMAGES
Make sure that your LinkedIn profile is a recent image of you that is clear, friendly and reasonably professional looking. If you have a uniform that you wear for your business often then wear this in your image. You can also create a branded header image that promotes your business. LinkedIn is a professional social media platform so presenting yourself as such is
On your LinkedIn Company profile page you can share images and video footage of your employees. Ensure that they are wearing branded uniforms that are clean (ish or as close to as possible), are wearing safety items if needed. You can read our article on employee uniforms here.
There seems to be little competition on LinkedIn for the trade and construction industry so if you start building your profiles and connections now then you may be able to stay ahead of the curve. Repurposing content is an easy way to easily integrate into the platform. Video also does incredibly well on LinkedIn but make sure you keep your Tik Toks to Tiki’s Tok, if you’re posting on LinkedIn the content should be relevant for the audience.
Most of all have fun! Social platforms are exactly that, places to be social. Have fun networking for your trade or construction business! You can follow our founder and CEO Jeni O’Brien on LinkedIn here , she would love to connect with you!
There will always be ups and downs in a business, whether it be due to an economic downturn, industry shifts or simply the rate at which technology is changing. You can still afford to keep up with marketing your business, and promoting your brand, without blowing out the expense line of your P&L.
Here are 5 ways to market and brand on a budget.
Reduce, Don’t Remove.
Tough times are the worst times to cut your marketing altogether. You still need to raise awareness of your brand and continue to stand out in your marketplace. But you can work with a reduced budget, rather than cutting your marketing budget entirely.
In many marketing tactics, whether it be advertising, branding or promotions, there are cost savings available if you pre-order and buy bigger quantities. However when cashflow is tight, it’s worth pulling back and ordering enough to get you through the immediate future. You can always ramp up again when things start improving.
To use an example in our industry:
You used to buy 12 months worth of caps because you got a great rate per unit, the more you ordered. Forgo the unit rate price and look at the total value. Cash is king in tough times so reduce the quantity that you buy with the outlook that in six months time you would have recovered.
2019
2020
PRODUCT – caps
Qty: 500 Unit Rate: $9.00
Qty: 250 Unit Rate: $10.50
TOTAL VALUE
$4,500.00
$2,625
$1,875 benefit
Get creative with your brandingon printed items
Your logo might be two colours but you can achieve a great looking product with a variation to your branding. Cost is often worked out by number of colours and number of locations. Reduce either one and you will receive a better price. Reduce both and you get money back to your bottom line.
2019
2020
2020 reduced qty
PRODUCT – water bottles
Qty: 500 Unit Rate: $6.30 Setups x 2 colours x 2 locations $140.00
Qty: 500 Unit Rate: $5.65 Setup x 1 colour x 1 location $70.00
Qty: 250 Unit Rate: $6.10 Setup x 1 colour x 1 location $70.00
TOTAL VALUE
$3,290.00
$2,895.00
$1,595.00
$1,695 benefit
Different Sales Funnels – Research new advertising methods. Investigate partnerships that you could form that would be of mutual benefit – without money exchanging hands. Maybe you share a target market with a contact that you could run co-branded advertising, or you sponsor their event for them to sponsor yours. Perhaps you could work to build each other’s audiences via social media and collaborations. Get creative.
Co-Brand Uniforms
Are your uniforms looking a little tacky?
Don’t let your business suffer with a bad reputation or a perception of being unprofessional. Ask a supplier to co-brand your uniforms and pay for 30% – 50% of your uniform cost to have their logo on the shirts as well. An example of this would be an electrician partnering with Haymans, an air-conditioning company asking Daikin to co-brand or a plumber asking Reece.
Seek out Graduates
Graduates need the experience and you need the more cost-efficient labour. Win Win! Source a 3rd year marketing student or graphic design graduate to help you keep up to date with your social media posts, websites, advertising layouts. These times are tough, but the work and experience graduates can get by working part-time or as sub-contractors as they study will set them up well for the long-term. Just remember that working with interns does take some of your time, to support them and teach them. But it can be well worth it in the end.
Look at different sales funnels
Research new advertising methods. Investigate partnerships that you could form that would be of mutual benefit – without money exchanging hands. Maybe you share a target market with a contact that you could run co-branded advertising, or you sponsor their event for them to sponsor yours. Perhaps you could work to build each other’s audiences via social media and collaborations. Get creative.
Look at your overall marketing strategy
Now more than ever, it’s time to look at your marketing activities, analyse your metrics and analytics, and focus on the activities that are bringing the greatest results. Your branding needs to be strong, consistent and professional, so that your customers are exposed to your brand and your messaging consistently.
