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The construction industry is slow to change. Slow to adapt new technologies. Slow to leverage new platforms. And slow to act. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can act fast. We can implement fast. We can work fast. And today I’m going to show you how. I’m breaking down my top 10 construction marketing trends for 2024. My tenth trend is something that everyone should avoid at all costs.

Every time I log onto LinkedIn, I see a new executive, Project Manager, or Superintendent posting content on their personal page.
This excites me because it helps us bring more awareness to our industry and their company and positions them as an expert in the industry.

If you want to hop on this trend in 2024, keep these three tips in mind:

1. Build your personal brand yourself. I’ve noticed some executives in construction pay for a ghostwriter to create their content. This isn’t unethical, but I don’t think it helps you in the long run. The best personal brands create their own content.
2. Write about what you are most passionate about and have the most knowledge in. This will help you create the best content.
3. Document when you feel like you can’t create new content. Instead of creating new content, document your journey in construction. This will make everything 10 times easier. Sharing your lived experience is something no one can take that away from you.

After posting meme content on LinkedIn for the past 6 months, I noticed that memes are a great way to get the most engagement and reach new audiences.

But before you post memes, make sure you follow these three tips:

1. Make your memes about the area of construction you’re in. If you are a project manager, make it about project management. If you’re in safety, make it about safety. If you’re an executive, make it about leadership.
2. Don’t only post meme content. I see people who get “hooked” on memes because of the engagement compared to their other content. But that isn’t a great long-term strategy unless all you want to be a meme account.
3. Don’t pitch or sell through your memes. I’ve seen ConTech companies do this where they make it about their product, and it falls flat. Instead, focus on creating your memes about a problem in the industry. That has a better chance of getting more engagement.

People fear AI replacing their job, so what do they do? They avoid it. That’s the wrong approach. Instead, consider AI a tool to help 10X your content output. Doing more with less.

Here are three ways you can use AI for your marketing:

1. Brainstorming ideas for social media posts, blog articles, or YouTube videos.
2. Repurposing video content into blog content by leveraging your transcript.
3. Editing your written content to correct grammatical errors and spelling.

Social selling is the process of connecting, nurturing, and selling to potential clients. This usually happens on their content or in your DMs.

Here’s how you can leverage social selling without coming across as spammy:

1. Engage with their personal and company content regularly.
2. Share helpful content on your profile, and IF they like your content, shoot them a DM to see what resonated.
3. Share helpful articles, tips, or videos you believe they’ll find valuable.
4. Then “soft” pitch them to see if they want to connect over coffee or lunch. If it doesn’t work, keep doing steps 1-3. Give, give, and give some more.

If I never see a “We’re hiring” social media post again, I’ll be a happy camper. The construction industry has one of the biggest labor shortages right now. And there are soooooo many recruiting companies helping contractors find talent. So a simple “we’re hiring” post won’t cut it anymore.

Instead, focus on creating these three types of content to help improve your recruiting efforts:

1. Post about the incredible projects you’ve completed, are currently working on, and have in the pipeline.
2. Post about the types of people who do really well at your company and why.
3. Post how you’re proactively improving your culture from the office to the field.

Here’s what most contractors do: They hire a video company to create a brand video, culture video, or hiring video. And never create another video again.

Video content continues to grow on all social media platforms. But the good news is that you don’t have to get fancy equipment to make quality video content.

Here are three short-form video ideas your construction company can start creating today:

1. Walking up to a Project Manager and asking them about the project they’re working on.
2. Asking your CEO a question like, “What’s one piece of advice you would give a new hire just starting in our company?”
3. Recording a quick 60-second job walk with your Superintendent.

ConTech companies usually don’t have a problem with their product. Where they get stuck is around building awareness for their product in a non-salesy way. Most ConTech companies don’t have big awareness channels. So, instead of creating their own social media content or publishing ads, they’ll find the right construction creator to partner with them on their go-to-market strategy. This is good news for those building a strong personal brand in construction right now.

Social media algorithms change. Google is doing away with cookies in 2024. And organic reach continues to die down.
Building an email list by creating a valuable and actionable newsletter will be a great way to collect emails and have direct access to your audience. And here’s the kicker: It’s 100% free.

Here are three newsletter ideas you can start today:

1. Curating and recapping the most important construction industry news.
2. Posting thought leadership about your trade and company.
3. Sharing lessons learned from project successes and failures.

Like I said before, there’s a labor shortage. And there’s less and less younger generations joining the trades and construction industry. So building on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts will be incredibly important in 2024 and beyond.

Here are three content ideas you can post on these platforms:

1. A recap of a fun industry, association, or company event.
2. Interviewing your people in the office and on job sites about their roles.
3. Funny office interactions or videos to show the playfulness in your company culture.

Here’s what I see on LinkedIn too often: Someone starts building their brand. They begin to gain traction and get more and more recognition and awareness. Then they think, “I wonder if I can make money from this” and they begin posting about a product or service. Then, their audience begins to notice that they aren’t sharing the helpful, insightful, and entertaining content they once did and stop engaging.

Why does this happen? They monetized too early. The best content creators wait as long as they can before they monetize. Do what Gary Vee suggests: Give, Give, and then ask. The longer you delay your ask, the bigger it can be. DON’T monetize too early.

And there you have it! My top TEN construction marketing trends for 2024. Instead of being one step behind every industry, we can now lead the charge in construction with these marketing trends.

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