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5 Ways to Brand Your
Construction Company
and Make More Sales
A brand is the promise of an experience.
WALK INTO A STARBUCKS AND YOU KNOW YOU’LL BE SURROUNDED BY HIPSTERS
AND OVERPRICED BUT DELICIOUS COFFEE. GO TO DISNEY AND EXPECT TO
EXPERIENCE “MAGIC.” SHOP AT WHOLE FOODS AND YOU CAN ANTICIPATE
LOCALLY-GROWN OR ORGANIC PRODUCE—AND PRICES TO MATCH.
But branding doesn’t stop at nationally
recognized chains. Creating a construction
brand prepares your potential clients
for an experience they’re willing to pay
for.
1. SET A BUDGET.
When you’re deciding how much money to
spend on a brand, know that you get what
you pay for. A home made logo probably
won’t be of the same quality as a professional
design. Professionals suggest that
you spend 1%-10% of your overall revenue
on marketing—and branding is only a part of
that budget. But there are other ways to budget
your firm’s brand.
You could make a branding plan to be executed
over the year and create a budget to solely
meet those needs. But this method doesn’t
have a lot of wiggle room if an unexpected
opportunity comes up and you need collateral
materials to promote your business.
You could also try to determine how much
your competition spends—and then match it
(though figuring out what they are spending
may be difficult if not impossible depending
on your access points).
No matter how you arrive at your numbers,
looking into your company’s finances and
determining what you can spend will directly
affect how successful your branding campaign
is. Setting a budget will also give you
a clearer sense of guidelines as to what you
are willing to invest in—and what you aren’t.
2. DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
KNOWN FOR.
You want to be known for being experienced
and of high quality, but not necessarily
cheap. Ron Roberts explains why:
What should you hope your brand stands for?
• yProfessional
• yReliable
4 | Building Entrepreneur
• yTrustworthy
• yFair
• yWell managed
• yGood quality
Good value
Note that I didn’t list low price. You really
don’t want the reputation for being the low
price provider as that reputation inevitably
leads to low margins. You want to be selected
for the reasons listed above. The last one,
good value, covers the price angle.
You want to work with people who understand
value. You don’t want to work with
people who only understand price.
In other words, you want your brand to uphold
the values of your company without
cheapening your product.
So how do you do that?
MarketingDonut suggests that you should
“think of your brand as a person.” You’re
creating a character, a personality, a placeholder
for your business as a whole—the
approach should be as holistic as possible.
MarketingDonut adds, “Our personality determines
how we behave in different situations,
how we dress and what we say.” That
“personality” should be written down for
all workers to see and adhere to, especially
when working with a customer.
You don’t want your business to act bipolar;
consistent positive experiences are the key to
getting repeat customers and quality online
reviews. Once you have your business’ personality
defined and written down, take the
time to document “if-then” scenarios. How
do you want your company to act in given
situations, like a frustrating change order or
with a new client that was referred to you
by a previous one? The more you document
expectations, the better your brand will stay
predictable and uniform.
Once you’ve defined your brand’s “personality,”
move on to the visual aspect of branding.
3. CHOOSE A LOGO THAT REPRESENTS
YOU.
Make it clear that you are a construction
company and hint at the kind of construction
you do. These are elements you want to be
sure are included in your logo design.
And choose colors that you will be comfortable
working with for a long time—they will
come in handy soon.
Consider using lower cost options like Fiverr,
99Designs, and ODesk for competitively-priced
logos. For businesses with bigger
budgets, you can look for a local branding or
advertising firm.
Your logo only does well if it actually gets
people to call your firm or leads to recognition.
Make sure to include your company
name in your logo. Connecting your
name with your logo will mean prominently
pairing the two whenever you have the
chance—on your stationary, on your trucks,
and even on your work outfits. Make your
brand synonymous with your name, and
happy customers will start attributing great
work to your firm.
4. STORM THE INTERNET.
Once you’ve figured out your brand, it’s time
to build a website around your logo. Choose
the same and complementary colors to further
accentuate your brand. Set up social
media to drive traffic to your site, and blog
about construction to boost your company’s
SEO. Your website will often be your first opportunity
to make a good impression on a
potential client, so invest well in it.
Also, encourage your happy customers to review
you on Yelp, especially for remodelers.
Clients will be far more comfortable with a
construction company that has a history of
doing good work as opposed to one that is
known for its terrible customer service.
5. CHOOSE YOUR SUPERSTAR.
After setting up your logo and your website,
consider marketing your best team members.
People want to hire experts, and they’re
willing to pay for it. Having a branded expert
on the team guarantees your customers they
will have access to someone they trust.
They write, “Being the expert in their industry
is much more powerful than being a
generalist in your field.” So take your best
people and send them to trade shows, advertise
them on flyers, and set up their own
social media accounts for your business. As
a bonus, it makes those team members feel
important, leading to more job satisfaction.
Originally appeared on Capterra, www.capterra.com,
Article written by Rachel Burger