For Masonry Contractors – 5 Tips for Improving Your Business With Account-Based Marketing

As a masonry contractor, you’re advertising to a highly specific audience: general contractors and design/build firms who are looking for masonry subcontractors. There may only be a handful of them in your area, you’d probably rather work with some of them more than others, and your competitors are also trying to get their attention – and their business.

To market yourself specifically to the firms you most want to work with and beat your competition, try account-based marketing (ABM). With ABM, you’ll market specifically to the companies or accounts that you most want to hire you, rather than sending out mass marketing campaigns. These five tips will help you increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and generate more business.

1. Learn Who’s Responsible for Making Buying Decisions

Who’s responsible for deciding which subcontractors will be used on a specific project? It’s often not the company owner who should be targeted, but rather the individual project superintendents. You can also target specific superintendents who are known for maintaining a great project environment or getting the job done in a timely manner. Take the time to find out who is responsible for making subcontracting decisions at the construction company, then target them directly. This will help prevent you from spamming every member of the company or targeting your marketing efforts to someone who doesn’t have anything to do with the hiring process.

2. Personalize Your Marketing Communications

What is it that this specific general contractor or superintendent is looking for in their subcontractors? Do they want subs who are able to complete the project quickly and efficiently, or are they seeking the lowest price? Is there a certain type of work that they’re most interested in, such as the ability to build multiple arches? By taking the time to examine exactly what they’re looking for, you can personalize your marketing communications to show how your masonry firm can fill their needs. Don’t just make generalized statements like, “Quality work you can trust” or “We’ve been in business for 25 years.” Be specific about how your skills and experience match your target audience’s needs.

3. Pre-Target Construction Firms

Is there a firm in your area that you’d love to work with? Have you struggled to get your foot in the door in the past, but been unable to make the connections you need? Don’t wait until there’s a big project on the table to put your name out there – pre-target them! Pre-targeting means getting in touch with the firms you’d really like to work with, sharing information about your company and building their trust in you. Look for networking opportunities with these specific companies, including going to industry events and joining common interest groups on Linkedin and other social media sites. Send marketing communications that display the elements they’re looking for in a contractor, and connect with them on a regular basis. These regular communications will allow them to warm up to your company and increase their familiarity with you–both good things when the time comes to make a hiring decision for a big project.

4. Keep Nurturing

Connections won’t immediately turn into sales, especially during your slow seasons. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should forget about your account-based marketing efforts! Keep nurturing those important connections. Send cards or promotional goodies over the holidays, check in via email, or follow other common methods to keep your name out there and increase the odds that when the time does come to make a purchasing decision, you’ll be on their minds. Keep in mind that general contractors often play a long game. They’re thinking about upcoming projects, not about the ones they’ve already started–and those are the ones you need to think about, too. If you have access to industry databases like Dodge Reports, find out what masonry projects are on the drawing boards and start referring to them in your communications. Demonstrate in advance of the bid process that you know how to bring in the best results for the individual project.

Developing an account-based marketing strategy is a great way to connect more effectively with general contractors and help put your company out there for the work you most want to do. Looking for more ways to reduce labor costs and for someone to give you expert bid help on all types of masonry projects? Contact us today to learn how we can help.