How To Shine On Social Media As A Construction Business!

Social media is being used by some of the top UK building contractors in a variety of ways to communicate with their stakeholders, promote their brands, and generate leads. However, did you know that Construction is one of the LAST industries to embrace social media? Many Construction businesses are still not taking full advantage of social media, and they’re losing out on prospective clients to their competitors. Here are some of the best examples of social media in the construction industry, and some tips on how your construction business can shine on social!

What type of content works best?

People use social media to be informed, educated and entertained. Just posting about your services will not generate many results. Instead, opt for more engaging forms of content.

Inform

Sharing project updates is one way to engage with your audience. As you know, construction projects can be complex and time-consuming, so contractors need to keep their stakeholders updated on progress. Posting photos and videos of your projects at key stages will help keep everyone up to date. It also builds anticipation for the finished project!

Here, Balfour Beatty has shared an update on their HS2 progress. This is a great way to keep their connections and key stakeholders up to date on their progress, as well as inform the public of updates.

Educate

Providing educational content is crucial. Contractors can use social media to share educational content about the construction industry as a whole, as well as content specific to their specific services. This could include blog posts, infographics, or videos. This content helps to position you as an expert in your field and potentially attract new customers.

Here, Equans are providing educational content on their work towards zero carbon in the North East. This is educational to both their clients and local people in the community, as it helps update and detail the work in their communities.

Entertain

Video content is not going away. Why not showcase the great work that your employees do on-site or take your audience behind the scenes of the day-to-day running of your business? Using video is a great way to connect with your audience, and put a face to your brand, which otherwise may seem distant.

Morgan Sindall do a great job of entertaining their audience through engaging videos of their employees and “day in the life” style videos, showcasing work on site. This is engaging for both potential employees and their clients, who will want to see the progress of projects.

What platforms should my business use?

For Recruitment

TikTok and Instagram are great tools for engaging both potential employees and new apprentices. Whilst older people do use these platforms, the primary audience is Gen Z. The next generation is heading into the workforce, so providing them with engaging and exciting content about construction is a key way to decrease the labour shortage.

To Connect With Clients

As a business, you should have a presence on LinkedIn. This allows you to connect and stay up to date with your clients, suppliers and other key stakeholders. Your messaging and content will be slightly different here as you will want to update them on project progress and display the social value you are giving back to the community. Facebook is a great way to connect directly with these local communities and grow your brand to a wider audience outside the construction industry itself.

For Business Updates

Finally, Twitter/X and Threads are great ways to provide real-time updates for clients and stakeholders.

The bottom line…

Overall, the top building contractors are using social media in many different ways. It’s important that your goals for social media are clearly set, and that your content is tailored to reach the correct audience. This way you can connect with your stakeholders, promote your brand, and hopefully generate more leads.

Here at Marketing Elect, we specialise in marketing the construction industry in an engaging and educational way. If you want to know more about the work we have done, get in touch!