Construction Industry Marketing: How to Set Marketing Goals

The best marketing for construction companies positions your brand as an expert and guides your prospects through the entire sales funnel–from initial problem exploration to signing the final contract. Construction industry marketing differs from other industries in a number of ways, including the long sales cycles and wide array of decision makers that make marketing more complex. We have years of experience developing and executing digital marketing strategy for construction companies, and we’ve put together a series of blog posts with tips and best practices. In this article, we’ll go share insights on how to set marketing goals and create the foundation of your strategy.

Building a marketing strategy for construction companies

Your plan should be comprehensive, but also flexible–as you start actually creating content and launching campaigns, be prepared to iterate and rethink parts of your marketing strategy depending on what tools are most successful in practice.

The cornerstone of your strategy should be your goals. Without clearly defined goals, it will be impossible to determine which digital marketing tactics will achieve the results you’re looking for, or track progress via your KPIs.

Setting marketing goals for companies in the construction industry

A good construction industry marketing strategy defines your goals and creates an overarching vision for your company’s growth and future. Every plan should begin with a clear explanation of what your company wants to achieve. These goals should be specific, measurable, and actionable–go beyond just “we want to increase our revenue,” and determine the particular aspects of revenue generation that best fit with your digital marketing strategy. For example, “generate 5 new leads per month via paid search” is a better goal than “increase web traffic,” because it is inherently tied to a course of action and a marketing tactic, and there is a clear definition of success.

When it comes to setting goals, remember that quality is more important than quantity. Getting a million people to like your LinkedIn post is great, but unless some of those million people end up contracting with you for a construction project, it doesn’t increase your revenue or improve your bottom line. Therefore, your goals should center around the quality of the leads that you generate rather than just the number. Marketers refer to numbers that do not drive the company forward as “vanity metrics.” Vanity metrics are numbers that look good and make you feel good, but in the end do not help the company achieve its broader organizational goals.

Companies make investments in marketing in order to generate revenue, so always remember that your goals should create a return on that investment. Brand recognition, page views, and social media engagement are nice, but you can’t take them to the bank. Create goals that will help your team maintain focus on what actually matters: converting prospects into paying (and hopefully repeat) customers.

Another technique for establishing your marketing goals is to think through the entire sales funnel. The construction industry sales cycle is long and complex, and your goals should take that into account. Set different goals for the different components of the sales cycle: what impact do you want to make on prospects who are just beginning to research potential construction projects? What percentage of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) do you want to convert to paying customers? How will you measure your ability to stay in contact and nurture existing clients?

Do your research

As you’re defining and refining your goals, remember that digital marketing strategies should not be built in a vacuum. Don’t just think about your business in isolation–think about how it is positioned relative to your competitors and the needs of your customers, and develop goals that can fill gaps and give you a competitive edge. Analyze the market–the more research and data you collect, the more comprehensive your digital marketing plan will be and the better you will be able to justify your marketing investment.

What’s next?

After setting your goals, you’ll establish the data metrics you want to track and the specific tactics you’ll need to implement to meet those goals. At ZAG FIRST B2B Marketing, we’ve designed and executed robust marketing strategies for construction companies, architects, general contractors, and many other industry stakeholders. If you want a digital marketing partner that will help you achieve real business growth and a positive ROI, we’re here to help.