How to use Social Media for your trade or construction business

Blog by ConX

For a lot of the construction industry, social media is a new tool for advertising and interaction that you may know nothing about. If you fall into this category or are just getting your social media channels up and running, here’s a look at some of the social channels and a few tips to help you get started.

Facebook for fun

Facebook is great for interacting with other industry professionals, posting funny pictures and photos of your projects, getting your business out there and posting your own blog (when you’re ready).

Facebook can be a great tool for targeted advertising, when starting out it is a good idea to get some advice on how to target key words and industries to get the most out of your dollars.

Depending on thee results you want, you can can set up a business page or promote your business from your own personal profile.

Instagram to show off your work

Instagram is ideal for posting regular photo’s of your work and the projects you are involved in. It is important to use #hashtags to reach your target audience and be easily found – for instance if you post a photo of some carpentry work the hashtags #carpentry #carpentrylife #sydneycarpentry are all good ones to help reach others in the carpentry industry.

Similar to facebook, you can do this from a personal or business account. If you want to get really technical, you can set up a business account and track what posts get the most engagements with views, likes etc.

Twitter to connect and stay informed

It’s good to use Twitter to interact and connect with other trades, contractors and future customers. Following people and businesses will keep you up to date with what’s happening. Like and share other peoples posts and comment to get a conversation going. More often than not they will follow you back and thus a relationship is formed.

A tweet is max. 140 characters, so if you’re not big on reading or writing but enjoy staying up-to-date, it’s the channel for you.

Linkedin to be serious and network with the big end of town

Linkedin is a great place to network with bigger contractors in the industry. You can publish posts on Linkedin, similar to a blog post, and share it with your network to become a subject matter expert. For example, if you’re a brickie, you could talk about the shortage of bricklayers and the tools you use to find them.

Don’t get stressed thinking you need to be everywhere, the channels you use depend on what your business goals are and who it makes most sent to get in front of. You don’t need to be a jack of all “social media” trades – better to master one.

Remember – social media is a fun way to interact with others in the industry and the more you use it the more links there are to you and your business which builds your reputation online.

Good luck with it and have fun!!