Contractors must adapt to stay competitive and profitable, especially in today’s evolving digital landscape. Marketing is a vital part of any construction business—and we all know it’s time-consuming.
In my design-build company construction2style, I utilize software and artificial intelligence tools to help streamline processes, drive growth, automate marketing, and enhance client experiences.
Digital Marketing Automation Tools
By automating repetitive tasks like email marketing, social media posting, and lead management, you can focus on those necessary tasks that an AI can’t, like strategic planning and client engagement. It can also improve overall efficiency and produce better results.
Let’s dive into the standout tools we love and use at construction2style: Jasper.AI and Descript.
Jasper.AI
What It Does: Jasper.AI is an AI content generation tool that creates human-like text based on prompts. It’s incredibly versatile and can be used for anything from drafting emails to creating social media content and blog posts.
Why We Like It: We love Jasper.AI for its ability to quickly generate high-quality content that resonates with our audience. It’s intuitive, and by using this tool, we cut our newsletter time and costs up to 75%.
How We Use It: We use Jasper.AI to draft our social media posts, blog articles, and email campaigns. For example, when promoting a new renovation project, Jasper.AI helps us quickly create compelling narratives that highlight the project and the craftsmanship involved. This content has led to a noticeable increase in engagement and inquiries from potential clients.
A LOOK AT JASPER.AI'S INTERFACE
Descript
What It Does: Descript is a powerful tool for editing videos and podcasts. It uses audio transcriptions to make editing process faster. You can edit your video and audio files as easily as you would edit a text document.
Why We Like It: Descript stands out for its simplicity and efficiency. It allows us to produce polished video content and podcasts without needing advanced editing skills. The transcription-based editing saves a significant amount of time and makes the process more accessible.
How It Helps Contractors: Video content is a crucial aspect of modern marketing. For contractors, showcasing projects through videos can attract more clients and demonstrate expertise. Descript makes it easy to edit project walkthroughs, client testimonials, and educational content.
How We Use It: We use Descript to create and edit project walkthrough videos and client testimonials. For example, after completing a home renovation, we film a walkthrough and use Descript to edit out any mistakes, add captions, and ensure a polished final product. This has significantly improved the quality of our video content, leading to increased viewer retention and positive feedback from clients.
We’ve seen tangible results in engagement and client inquires after using these tools. They are invaluable for any contractor looking to elevate their marketing efforts and connect more effectively with their audience.
DESCRIPT IS AN AI-POWERED AUDIO AND VIDEO EDITOR, HELPING CONTRACTORS CREATE HIGH QUALITY DIGITAL CONTENT FASTER
Tailoring Automation Strategies to Your Company
I get it. Automation can be intimidating when you think about losing that personal brand touch. A successful digital marketing automation strategy for your business should include personalized communication and targeted messaging.
Tools like Dubsado for customer relationship management (CRM) and Rank Math SEO Plugin for optimizing website content are particularly beneficial.
Personalized email campaigns, automated follow-ups, and customized content can significantly improve engagement and conversion rates. There’s always a way to use automation without losing your connection—if you’re using the right tools and doing it the right way.
Dubsado
What It Does: Dubsado is a comprehensive CRM tool designed to manage customer relationships and automate processes. It offers features like personalized email campaigns, automated workflows, invoicing, and detailed client management.
Why We Like It: Dubsado excels in maintaining a personal touch while automating routine tasks. What makes it unique is that you can initially set up the communication sequences in your own voice. This way, every email and message feels like it's coming directly from you, preserving that personal connection.
How It Helps Contractors: Dubsado automates funneling clients to the right place, providing them with needed information without a back-and-forth.
This is especially useful for frequently asked questions or common project updates. By doing the upfront work of setting up personalized communication templates and workflows, you ensure that your clients receive consistent, on-brand messages while freeing up your time for more critical tasks.
DUBSADO CAN AUTOMATE MARKETING WORKFLOWS
Using Dubsado for Initial Lead Responses: When a lead comes in, Dubsado helps us manage the initial communication efficiently. The first email back is automated through Dubsado, thanking the potential client for reaching out and asking a few key questions to vet the project. We ask for photos, drawings, more project details, and whether the project is a remodel or an addition. This initial vetting process helps us gather important information upfront, allowing us to better understand the client's needs and streamline follow-ups.
Doing It the Right Way: Using Dubsado correctly means investing time initially to craft detailed, personalized communication templates that reflect your tone and style. These templates can then be used to automate responses to common inquiries and project updates.
For example, you can set up a workflow that sends a follow-up email after a project milestone or a thank-you note after a job is completed.
Rank Math SEO Plugin
What It Does: Rank Math is an SEO plugin for WordPress that helps optimize your website content for search engines. It offers features like keyword recommendations, content analysis, and automated SEO improvements.
Why We Like It: Rank Math makes SEO accessible and manageable, even for those without extensive technical knowledge. It guides you through the process of optimizing your content, ensuring that your website ranks higher in search results and attracts more organic traffic.
How It Helps Contractors: For contractors, having a well-optimized website is essential for attracting new clients. Rank Math helps ensure your content is seen by the right audience by improving your search engine rankings. This means more potential clients finding your services online.
Doing It the Right Way: To use Rank Math effectively, integrate it into your content creation process. Start by researching keywords relevant to your services and incorporating them naturally into your content. Use Rank Math’s suggestions to improve readability and SEO scores. Regularly update your content based on performance insights provided by the plugin to maintain high rankings.
Using automated tools can actually be more personal. They increase those personal touches with clients and enhance your online presence by sharing more about your business.
If you want to dig further with me in person, I’ll be talking about this very topic live at the Women in Residential + Commercial Construction Conference 2024 in Phoenix, AZ from September 18-20.
Morgan Molitor is the co-founder of construction2style (c2s), a dynamic design and build firm, alongside her husband Jamie. From a modest blog beginnings, their journey evolved into a thriving design + build firm, construction2style. They expanded with Neon Lion, a dynamic media company, and championed second chances through resilience2reform. Over nearly a decade, Morgan's commitment to transformative design, media, marketing, and community impact shines through. With a background in fashion merchandising and marketing, she manages content creation, marketing, brand partnerships, and leads interior design and styling at c2s. Her passion for community over competition is evident in initiatives like online courses and the national Contractor Coalition Summit.
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