Online marketing in the construction sector

Recent research shows that 84% of construction companies indicate that they want to sell 100% online in the future. Selling online goes further than just building a B2B webshop or B2B website. Among other things, there must be product descriptions, content must be written and all information must be kept up-to-date. In addition, online marketing must also be carried out since without all the work is for nothing. Just like all sectors, the construction sector is forced to go along in the digital revolution, provided they don’t want to lag behind the competition. But how do you go along with online marketing in the construction industry? We would like to give you some tips.

Online marketing in construction

Competition in the construction sector has only increased and for this reason it is becoming increasingly important to distinguish yourself. Online marketing plays a crucial role in this. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to imagine that if you want to buy a product it is not possible to order it online. Even the largest and most custom made products can be ordered over the internet without personal contact. Today, people even find it suspicious if a company cannot be found online at all.

Selling online is comparably more difficult in the construction sector than other sectors. Some construction companies sell large and heavy products, others sell things that can be sent by post. Also when selling large products B2B online marketing is important. Think of making offers to generate leads, writing professional content or making instructive videos. It’s a fact that 95-98% of professionals first orientate themselves online when searching for a product before making contact. Construction companies are becoming more and more involved because they are afraid to lag behind competitors. Which is understandable since this is an automatic consequence.

Standards in the construction sector and online marketing

The construction sector is still working to reduce failure costs and improve mutual cooperation. Information technology plays an important role in this. The aim is to move the construction sector towards a standard, a common language that should make the digital exchange of construction information easier. These are for example, common databases where article data is shared and stored.

The increasing automation of construction and the growing use of information models also make a standard important. Construction companies are therefore also obliged by the government to digitise. However, research shows that SMEs still lag behind other sectors when it comes to digitisation. 56% of the SME Online Monitor 2017 respondents do not consider online marketing important. From our own SME research we see that more and more B2B companies choose to outsource their online marketing. This is understandable given that around 500,000 searches are linked to the construction sector every month.

The construction sector still misses many opportunities online. If your business is well organized online, this also ensures the automation of the processing of orders, for example. This leaves you time to gain more insight into the online traffic of your company. Online marketing in the construction industry is part of the total digitisation.

B2B Webshop

The percentage of the number of construction companies with their own webshop is expected to double by 2019. First of all, it is important when starting up the webshop that you have insight into your complete customer data so that it can be linked to the e-commerce system. Survey respondents indicated that they still found this a challenge. Nevertheless, this is extremely important. It is also important to find the right platform to run the webshop and to know the end user well. Research has furthermore shown that construction companies that already have a webshop are increasingly focusing on new technologies to optimise the order process.

Benefits of online marketing in the construction sector

Good online marketing always brings benefits. Think of more online traffic, more leads and therefore more customers! There are still many opportunities in the construction sector, which is why you can respond well to them. Some of the advantages of marketing in the construction industry are:

  • Automate order processing: If you sell construction products online in a web shop, all orders are carried out automatically. You will automatically receive a notification of a sale. If your online marketing is good the website does the work for you. No more manual orders you lose time on instead everything is processed automatically.
  • Increase brand awareness: Good findability in Google results in more clicks. The more people click on your website, the more people know about your company. Online marketing is therefore crucial for increasing brand awareness.
  • Not lagging behind the competitors: As indicated earlier, 56% of SMEs in the construction sector do not believe in online marketing. However, it is expected that construction companies will want to sell 100% online in the future. A two-fold battle that you have to respond to. If you now perform good online marketing you will not lag behind competitors.

A Tip from Jelba

Carrying out online marketing of your construction company is not always easy. Online marketing is all about the overall process. A website with a lot of content but that loads slowly or is badly designed will not lead to much in the end. But we would like to give you a tip what we consider very important and with which you can already distinguish yourself from most construction companies. Focus on writing content!

There is a lot of knowledge in the construction industry that is not so obvious. To read informative content is always appreciated, especially if it gives the reader valuable knowledge. Transfer your knowledge via content, preferably via a cornerstone article. This is an article of at least 900 words (without introduction and conclusion) that is highly appreciated by Google. Google sees this as valuable content from which a lot of information can be extracted. The more text, the more knowledge.

Curious what we do in terms of online marketing in construction?

We are active in online marketing in the construction sector! Choosing a good B2B marketing agency for your online marketing is not something you do every day. There are a lot of questions you should take into account when making a good choice. Do you need more explanation? Or would you just like to see some practical examples? Feel free to contact us.

Do you have additions or comments about online marketing in the construction industry or do you have examples you would like to share with us? Let us know and send an e-mail to collega@jelba.nl.

Online marketing in other B2B sectors

Read more about the state of online marketing in logistics and transport, find interesting information about online marketing in industrial sector and find out what the opportunities are in terms of online marketing in the agricultural sector. Jelba’s experts will be happy to talk to you about this.

Do you have any comments or are you curious what we can do for you? Do not hesitate to contact us without obligation.

Finally

The goal of all our customers is to achieve more turnover via the Internet. We ensure that they succeed in this mission. If you are a B2B company, we would like to provide insight into your online opportunities without obligation. And give you advice on where you stand in relation to your competitors. Click here to request this scan