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Social Media as a Business Tool in the Construction Industry

We’ve all seen the proliferation of social media usage for consumer brands like Coke and Nike, and many of us have Facebook accounts, or even check out Twitter from time-to-time, but did you know that social media can be used as a tool for your construction business?

Twitter can be used to receive information or to push out information to your potential customers. Currently on Twitter, you can learn about relevant business topics: everything from updates on legislation that affects your tax status, to announcements about the latest project delivery methods are being shared on Twitter. A good way to start gathering this information is to find journalists or associations that write about construction issues and following their Twitter account, and then see who they follow. When using Twitter to push out information about your company, remember to make your content relevant and helpful or interesting, not just a way to push out ads.

Facebook has seen some major change rollouts with the page layout options. Now you can include visual representations of what your company is about in your profile picture. You can also create custom tabs for people to see when they visit your page for the first time. Use this as a place to tell people what they can expect to get out of "liking" your page. Remember some basic rules of polite conversation when using Facebook: Don’t make everything all about you. Don’t just talk about yourself. Don’t ask a question and then ignore the answer. This is a place for building a relationship with your existing and potential customers, so humanize the page. You can also ensure activity on your page by asking questions that have simple answers such as "What is your favorite construction site mobile application?" rather than something that has a long, complicated answer like "What makes for a successful building project?"

LinkedIn is a place that many in the construction industry are starting to take advantage of. With LinkedIn, it’s all business, all the time. Only business-related content is appropriate for LinkedIn. Because of this, there are many different groups that you can join that will have relevant, helpful forum discussions where you can post questions, provide advice, or just listen in on the conversation. Remember, the more you participate, the more credibility you build within the community, and the more likely you are to get referrals.

Social media is not an end-all-be-all fix to business communication problems, but it is a robust tool to be taken advantage of. Make sure that if you are starting a social media presence, that you think seriously about what you want to accomplish with it, and then do your research. Take the time to see what other companies are including in their profiles, what you like, and what you dislike. Once you have a solid plan, take action. Just make sure that you’re willing to commit the time and thought towards each social media platform before you start. In the world of online community conversations, there’s nothing worse than talking to a blank wall.