While themes like branding may sound like they’re meant mostly for retail stores and similar product or service manufacturers, numerous business types can and do benefit from proper branding efforts — including contractors. While contractors might go about their branding very differently from how a shop in the mall would manage theirs, for instance, the concept itself should not be ignored if you own or manage a contracting company.
At Contractors School, we’re proud to offer numerous resources to contractors, from assistance with their contracting license exam to several resources we provide for already-running contracting businesses. When it comes to making your business known among the local community and branding yourself in positive ways that will increase your leads and jobs ordered, here are some tips we often provide.
Make Yourself Easy to Recognize
From initial logo design up through several other marketing themes, it’s important to make yourself stand out among other contractors. First off, you want to make sure that your logo is something that will be able to stand on its own — if someone sees your logo somewhere and they’re unfamiliar with what you do, they should at least have an idea about what type of work you do, even if they don’t know your specific name.
Make sure that your business name, logo and other design work you do for branding purposes is memorable. Ideally, the logo shouldn’t even need your business name to be recognized — the shape and colors you use should be enough that people in your area recognize you.
Update Social Media
While social media may have been something of an optional element for branding and advertising themes a decade ago, that’s simply no longer the case. As the world becomes increasingly reliant on Facebook, Twitter and similar sites, it’s important to make sure that you’re updating these pages with relevant information. Social media is one of the most important marketing concepts today because it helps you ensure that everyone around you will see your updates — without helping too much with exposure in other areas.
When you update your social media profiles, be sure to post news about your company — including new partners or anything else that might be available. Doing this on a regular basis will help you provide useful information while keeping your presence in the public eye. Another great use of social media is to post pictures of successful contracting jobs you’ve completed, as these pictures often generate a high level of interest.
Logo Merchandise
For many contracting businesses, a great way of increasing their word-of-mouth advertising is to offer logo merchandise for their customers to purchase. This can include items such as T-shirts, coffee cups and even key chains that feature the company’s branding.
When you do this type of thing, remember that your materials should be durable and useful enough that consumers will want to use them once they’ve owned them — especially if you team up with a local retailer. For example, if you and a local coffee shop team up to offer logo mugs that can be used by the customer, this will increase how many people use your mug every day — which means more word-of-mouth advertising for you.
Some other examples of good merchandise items include:
- T-shirts: These are very popular among contractor companies, and they work well because the person wearing them is often getting sunlight during the day — which means more people see your logo. As the owner of a contracting business, you can even wear your company’s gear around to spread the word.
- Water bottles: Aside from the fact that your logo will be seen by a lot of people around you, water bottles can serve as a regular reminder for what your company does — which might help lead to more calls.
- Key chains: A small item but one with a lot of brand name exposure, key chains are yet another way to help spread the word about who you are.
Don’t Overlook Networking
When it comes to networking, many people think of this as something that only big companies with big budgets can do. However, this isn’t the case — even if you’re a contracting company that’s just getting started and you don’t have a lot of cash to burn through for marketing efforts, you can still make connections that will produce results for your company down the line.
While networking might sound time consuming, it’s important to remember that this is simply meeting people and discussing what you do — something that shouldn’t take too much time out of your day if you’re organized about it (and you should be). Once you’ve found a networking group, make sure you attend their meetings whenever possible — including any mixers they hold. Doing this will help you build more connections faster, which can lead to more customers once enough time has passed.
Vehicle Branding
Finally, because contractors will regularly be driving to and from jobs, they should take full advantage of vehicle branding. As the owner of a contracting company, you can do this by having your name and logo printed on the sides of your vehicles — ideally somewhere where it will be seen from a good distance away.
In addition to your name and logo, you should also include contact information that people might need. By putting this information directly in front of potential customers, you’ll increase the chance of them locating you when they’re ready to contact someone for help.
For more on how to properly brand and advertise your contracting business, or to learn about any of our contractor license exams, continuing education programs or resources for current contractors, speak to the team at Contractors School today.
