Marketing to the Construction Industry

For the last three weeks, I have been overseeing the prospect of marketing our new construction lead generation web platform to construction contractors. It is pretty apparent to me that there are some hurdles we need to overcome. Some of the initial roadblock we are finding are:

1. Inertia. Construction is still a widely word-of-mouth industry, thus it is often difficult to convince contractors that there is a good reason to advertise on the Internet.
2. Getting an Audience. The construction contractor is a very busy individual by nature and hard to pin down. Also, the fact that exist in a world of “brick and mortar” (no pun intended) is completely contrasted with the ones and zeros world of the Internet — we run in different circles.
3. Holding an Audience. Contractors live in a constant world of wheeling-and-dealing. There are constantly selling, and they are constantly being sold to. This can make them a wary and impatient audience for our pitches.
4. Fear of the Unknown. A lot of the contractors seem either overwhelmed by the prospect of Web advertising, or know so very little about the Internet that is difficult to even begin a conversation with them that involves the Web.

So far, we have taken a pretty typical approach in trying to get the message to the contractors. We started with a Web and local print media PR campaign. Next, we started running radio ads on local classic rock stations. And, just recently, we have launched a comprehensive pay-per-click campaign on Google, targeting local contractors and their potential clients.

It’s slow going. Some people have advised me that it is just a side effect of the ecomnomic times, but I really don’t think so. I believe that we just haven’t found our avenue which will allow us to properly communicate to value of our product to construction contractors. Regarding the “economic times” argument, here is a quote which I find my self constantly referencing:

“It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

John Quelch, Marketing Your Way Through a Recession, Harvard Business School, March 3, 2008

Well, time to log off and analyze some more Ad Words. Please chime in with any ideas or comments you have for me regarding marketing to construction contractors.

Josh Groves
President
jobtrio.com
Profiles and reviews of California contractors.
“Let’s get to work!”