Creating a professional online presence can be a lot of work, but the rewards are worth it. Follow along to learn how to make social media one of your most valuable assets!

Choosing the Right Platforms

It all begins with choosing the right platform. Thankfully, there’s plenty of consistent data for builders and contractors regarding this. 

If learning how to choose the right social media platforms sounds interesting, our Facebook and Instagram Growth Guide would be an excellent read. 

However, if you prefer to skip to the end, we’ll happily tell you that there’s no doubt in our minds that you need to have an active Facebook business page and Instagram professional account. The ideal customer demographic for most builders and contractors uses these platforms daily, so you should utilize them to your advantage. 

Quality Photo Content

As a builder in the construction industry, you work hard for a living and are proud of the projects that you complete. The photos you take for social media posts should convey these characteristics to the viewers. Bright, crisp images will instill trust in your audience and show them you care about showing people your finished products. 

The good news is that even amateur photographers can create great social media posts. Bear these questions in mind when shooting a photo: 

1. Is there good lighting, or is the subject of your picture too dim to capture properly?
2. Is it clear what the picture is of?
3. Is the picture in focus?
4. Is there debris, garbage, or other unsightly things within view?
5. If people are in the photo, do they look comfortable and natural? Are they acting appropriately?

Asking yourself those questions will help you develop an eye for a good photo when it’s in front of you. And since many photos can look underwhelming initially, you can download a free editor app like Snapseed to get each one just right. The preset filters will likely work for your needs, but playing around with the settings and creating your own filters can be a lot of fun. 

Building Trust

Because you’re working on your customer’s most significant asset, where they spend their life, a trusting relationship between you and the client is the key to successfully finishing. A well-run social media presence can aid in establishing this trust with people you’ve not yet met.

One of the most impactful ways to do this is to post positive client reviews on social media. This helps your followers see that people with similar stories to theirs have been delighted by your company’s work. 

Speaking With Authority

Authority is parallel with trust. Ideally, your clients will see you as an authority in your industry. 

The best social media strategies include regularly posting valuable, educational content that teaches your followers things they need to know to see their project successfully finished.

Your followers might be asking questions like the following:

1. How long does planning, designing, and building my dream log home take?
2. Which HVAC system will be the best choice for my needs and budget?
3. I want a ranch-style home with a finished basement. What type of lot should I be looking for?
4. How close to my property line can you build my dream addition? 
5. What maintenance should I do around my house to prepare it for the cold winter months?

The answers to these questions may be obvious, but they won’t be to your ideal client. By giving them the answers to the questions they’re already asking or thinking, you’re proving to them that you are an authority they can trust to solve their problem. 

Answering the Tough Questions

As you’re building a strong social media presence, you will inevitably face tough questions and comments from customers like these:

• How much does it cost to buy your product or service?
• Mary from such-and-such says that you never called back after she left a voicemail.
• Why aren’t you available immediately?
• How come my order isn’t ready yet?

Having phrases like these on your business page sucks — but they’re opportunities in disguise. Learn to reframe them that way, and you’ll turn even the worst comments into a chance for redemption.

When faced with tough questions or comments, there are two ways to make the best of the situation:

1. Respond with a comment along the lines of, “We’re so sorry about ‘XYZ.’ Sending you a message right now.” Then, send them a message to learn more about the situation or provide the answer to the question.
2. Respond with a comment answering the question/tough statement. “The prices of our packages are all different and change based upon customer preferences. Would you like to be connected with our Customer Success Team to discuss the packages and options available?”

Whichever you pick, the key is always to do something! People will notice how you respond to tough questions and comments. You never know when a potential customer is watching — perhaps not even the person who made the original tough comment!

Actively Engaging

Much more goes into effective social media growth than simply putting a post up and forgetting about it. The real beauty of social media is engaging with your followers!

Someone should regularly monitor your page’s comments and messages to ensure you’re engaging promptly with users who take the time to engage with you. However, this doesn’t mean you must pay someone to sit and play on Facebook all day. It could be as simple as asking your spouse to watch for notifications or checking your accounts on your lunch break.

Active engagement shows that you care, which matters a lot to someone considering giving you a large portion of their life’s savings.

Consistently Posting

You must consistently attract and convert new clients through social media successfully. 

When you set aside time to post every week and are willing to do that week after week, you’ll begin to reap the benefits of a strong social media presence. That said, Facebook knows it can be challenging and time-consuming to post daily, so they created a free tool to do a lot of the heavy lifting for you called the Facebook Creator Studio.

In the Creator Studio, you can schedule your posts ahead of time to be posted on the day and time that you specify. You can even push content from Facebook to Instagram with only a few clicks, allowing you to do double the amount of posting at once.

The best Facebook and Instagram growth strategies include posting every day. We suggest using the Creator Studio and scheduling Sunday through Saturday on Facebook. Then, use the “Crosspost to Instagram” button and schedule those identical posts in the reverse daily order on Instagram. 

If you cannot create enough time or content for daily posts, then you can schedule Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Facebook and crosspost those same posts to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday on Instagram. It’s less than ideal, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

Your social media presence will most likely be small at first. But staying consistent with it will produce exciting results down the road. Giving up will only erase all the effort you’ve previously put into it. 

Putting All the Pieces Together

You’ve decided that you should be active on Facebook and Instagram. You know the basics of taking good photos and editing them to perfection. You understand the opportunity to build trust with your audience and create authority for your brand. You’re willing to answer the tough questions, actively engage with your followers, and post consistently.

Now, it’s your turn to combine this and make it work for your business!

To learn more about Power Marketing’s Social Media services, click here!

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