Over the past several years, the world of digital marketing has grown by leaps and bounds. The available advanced targeting capabilities with search have made it possible to become highly precise with who sees your messaging.
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Advanced Search Targeting Capabilities:
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Keyword Targeting –
People are targeted based on a created keyword list made up of relevant keywords. When using search, those who search for things containing your keywords will be targeted with your ad.
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Location/Language Targeting –
Only those within a specified geographical region(s) or who speak a specific language will be targeted with your ads.
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Device Targeting –
Ads are served to people based off of what device they are using while performing the search.
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Audience Targeting –
An audience is built and targeted based on past web traffic behavior with information gathered by Google Tags and/or cookies.
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In addition to the targeting capabilities offered, tracking data offered by Google Analytics allow you to tailor what you are doing by seeing what people are searching for and actually clicking on.
Even with these capabilities and tools at your disposal, the question remains –
Can you reach the construction industry with search ads?
Take a look around you. It’s almost impossible to go five minutes without seeing someone looking at their phone or pounding away on a laptop. Technology has become ingrained into our lives and occupations, and the construction industry is no different.
Everyone is online now, including those you want to reach in construction. Can search be used to effectively reach them online? We’ll take a look and try to answer that question using information gathered from the Equipment World 2017 Reader Profile.
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Knowing how contractors behave is the key to reaching them.
Over 43% of those surveyed in the Equipment World Reader Profile have been in the business for more than 30 years.
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Source: Equipment World 2017 Reader Profile
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And over 60% of those identified as either owner/president or upper management. So, what right? That means these are the people who have the purchasing power you’re looking for, and they have an awful lot of experience. They know exactly want they like and want.
We know the construction industry is online (who isn’t these days?), but the key to reaching them is knowing how they behave and what steps they take when they are looking to buy equipment.
A huge part of digital marketing is the effective use of social media, direct emails, and newsletter campaigns. While these are all great options and have proven their value over time, they all have one thing in common. They require you, the marketer, to actively seek out your audience. That’s where search ads have a unique advantage. Search ads are built around the idea of serving ads to those actively seeking out a product, thus displaying the intent to purchase.
When we look at the self-reported data from the Equipment World Reader Profile we can also learn something about what actions contractors and other in the construction industry take when they become aware of or interested in equipment.
For instance, after seeing an article or advertisement in a magazine, 11% tried to find the supplier on social media. What exactly does that tell us about their behavior? People who see something interesting in a magazine are following up by going online.
The key advantage search offers is that your target audience is actually actively seeking something out. So, if they’re already looking online for more information, how do search ads fare?
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Is search the key to marketing to the construction industry online?
People who are actively searching for you or a product you offer show that they have clear interest in what you have. Responding to the question: What action have you taken in the last 6 months after reading an article or advertisement in a construction magazine?
Most, 64.5%, reported that they performed a Google search to find out more about the product or service.
Google search was the number one answer, even beating out going directly to the supplier website, which ended up with 58.4%.
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Source: Equipment World 2017 Reader Profile
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What does this tell us? When a piece of equipment catches their eye, they do exactly what most of us do when want to know more information. They Google it. Search ads are the perfect way to capture this audience.
Depending on how well you’ve managed to optimize your site, landing pages, or other online content you may be able to snag some of these potential buyers with SEO, but . . . with so much competition out there, the only way to guarantee your company is front and center is with paid search ads.
This guarantees you a prime spot in the sponsored results. Since the user is actively searching for something you have, you have a great chance of them clicking and seeing what you have to offer. Using the combination of SEO and paid search gives you an edge in a crowded marketplace.
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Need help reaching your construction target audience online?
Knowing you can reach a certain segment of the population is one thing, but putting it into practice is something else entirely. SEM and SEO take time and experience to get good it. Randall-Reilly, as a Google Premier Partner has valuable experience with SEM, SEO, and search targeting, which combined with our industry knowledge from our Equipment World and Aggregates Manager brands, means we can get you off to the right start and help you make sure the contractors find you.
Make the most of Google search, paid ads, and SEO to reach the audience that is right for you.
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Need help with your SEM?
Contact us to schedule your consultation.
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Need help with your SEM?
Contact us to schedule your consultation.
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Need help with your SEM?
Contact us to schedule your consultation.
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Need help with your SEM?
Contact us to schedule your consultation.
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