Contractor Social Media Marketing: Do's and Don'ts

Social media has become more important to the daily marketing routines and regular client interactions of businesses large and small. As far as contractor social media marketing is concerned – let's go over what you should (and should not!) be doing when representing your company online.

Contractor Social Media Marketing DO's

• Post On A Regular Schedule - Sharing your content on a regular schedule and and with frequency is a great way to stay in front of your audience and retain top-of-mind awareness.
• Share Pictures Of Your Work - On social media, visual storytelling is incredibly important. Every day you are on the job, take a picture of what you're doing. Over time, you'll build quite the library of easily shareable, completely unique bits of content.
• Share Pictures Of Your Company Life - The pictures you take don't have to be restricted to your "on-the-job" time. Is it an employee's birthday? Did you just complete your 1000th service call? Get some new wheels for the office? These behind-the-scenes style images help to humanize your company by putting a face to the name.
• Find The Social Media Platforms That Fit You - If you're a small company, you don't have to have social media accounts on every single available platform. Focus on the ones that perform the best for you and that you enjoy working on the most. As you find success, you can continue to grow your social media presence.
• Share Locally Relevant Content - The power of boots-on-the-ground social media is that you know what is happening and what works in your community better than anyone else. Sharing local content, posting about neighborhood events, and being present in your community via social media is a great way to solidify your status in the community as a whole.
• Spend A Few Bucks On Social Media Advertising - You don't have to spend large amounts of money on social media advertising to perform well. With Facebook Ads, you can send just a few dollars to build your following of potential customers. Especially powerful when growing your following on the cheap, consider bolstering your numbers with proper social media advertising.
• Have A Unified Theme And Voice - Part of social media is determining how your company and your brand will present itself. Visually, your social media accounts should have a unified theme – with profile art, cover art, and colors that match your branding. The tone of your posts (how you write and refer to yourself as a company) should also follow suit.

Contractor Social Media Marketing DON'Ts

• Ignore Social Media - We're past the days where people can ignore social media. At a bare minimum, claim and create your accounts to ensure that your business contact information is correct. Otherwise, you can muster up the ability to post once a week on Facebook to keep at least a basic presence. Contractor social media marketing is important enough to be worth the effort.
• Overshare - Just like your Aunt Bertha and her Facebook post about her bunions, sometimes too much information can be a bad thing. Your business social media account should be about business and what's happening within the community in relation to your business. Unless it is what your business is about, it's best to to keep away from hot button issues. Just like grandpa said – "Never discuss politics or religion at the dinner table or on your business Twitter account". Keep your activity professional.
• Start Or Egg On The Fight - Closely related to the problem of oversharing, don't start or find yourself in the middle of a fight on social media. On the internet, things tend to heat up quickly. People say and do a lot of things they normally wouldn't in the real world. Don't start any fights or egg on fights – this includes replies to comments or replies to reviews. Everything lasts forever on the internet, so before you give in to the trolls or blast off that quick snarky reply – take a breather and think about whether or not your business should always be remembered for that one comment you're about to post. Negative experiences should be deescalated by taking the fight from the public eye to a more civil forum like a personal email or phone call with all interested parties.
• Feel Obligated To Post On Every Platform - You should still keep a wary eye for new social media trends, but don't feel like you have to Snap and Tweet and Insta at every opportunity. If you have to stretch to add that content to 16 different social platforms, chances are your content will be a little thin on quality anyways.
• Waste Cash On The Wrong Ads - If you planning to dip your toes into the world of social media advertising, remember that effective advertising requires planning. Promote your best content and have a clear goal in mind; whether you would like to get more Page likes or clicks to a specific link, make sure that the content you are promoting is visually appealing and generally interesting.
• Buy Likes, Followers, Or Links - No, no, and no. The purpose of building a fanbase is to have a quality field of potential clients to communicate with on a regular basis. Buying likes and followers who are not in your area do you absolutely, positively no good whatsoever. In fact, considering that social media posts only get served to a percentage of your overall fan base – you reduce the likelihood that actual users will see your content if you buy tons of useless fan activity.
• Only Push Sales - Think of your own social feed. Would you want to actively follow a company if all they did was try to sell sell sell? The allure of social media is that provides a way for users to find interesting, relevant content for consumption. You can still pitch your services, but combine it with a healthy dose of topically appropriate images, information, and video.

If you're afraid you don't have the time or chops to take care of your own social media accounts, then consider Footbridge Media's social media marketing – now an integrated part of our complete contractor marketing services!

About Chris Lonergan

Chris Lonergan has over 12 years of contractor marketing experience with Footbridge Media. With a background in web design, print design, content creation, and online marketing, Chris is focused on providing quality marketing and business solutions in the construction and service industries - helping small business owners to more efficiently manage their companies and grow their operations.

Chris Lonergan has previously contributed to and/or been featured in PM Magazine (Plumbing & Mechanical | Contractors x Engineers), theNEWS (ACHR - Air Conditioning | Heating | Refrigeration), Service Roundtable's blog, inPAINT Magazine, the SMB Marketing Agency Show, and the Green Industry Podcast. Chris is also a past SGI/CertainPath breakout session presenter.

About Chris Lonergan