How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Contracting Business

Grow your contracting business by following these easy steps on Facebook and Instagram

Having social media business pages enables business owners like yourself to easily grow your contracting business. These accounts will help you to establish a custom online presence in communities where your past and potential clients already spend their time. Whether you have already created pages or you are looking to start from scratch, business pages allow your audience to easily find your company, increasing the credibility of your business.

Sweeten, a service that connects qualified general contractors, builders, and remodelers with homeowners and design professionals with renovation projects, offers this guide to help you establish an online presence. When speaking with clients, frequently referenced sites include Facebook and Instagram. Pulling together cohesive messaging and showcasing past projects on these platforms can help give your firm a leg up. Ready to grow your business’s presence on social media? 

Facebook Updates to Grow Your Contracting Business

Establish your profile

Before creating a Facebook business page, you must establish an individual profile on Facebook if you do not have one already. You can use an existing individual profile to create a page for your contracting business or start a new individual profile specifically for the purposes of setting up your company page.

Keep in mind that there is some overlap in login information between company pages and individual profiles, so if you want team members to have access, it may make sense to start an individual account that is solely for business purposes.

Create your business page (or clean it up!)

Once you’ve established an individual profile, “Create a Page” for your business. Upload a Profile Picture and Cover Photo — pages with cover photos typically get more page likes and visits! Choose photos that showcase your work and that you’d be proud to have potential clients see. This is where you want to show your best work.

If you already have a profile, take some time to remove any content or posts that don’t support or strengthen your business profile. A good gut check is to ask yourself, would I show this photo to potential clients? If the answer is no, take it off your business page.

Describe your services

Description: Write a brief description that will appear in the search results. This is where you can let people know why they should engage with your business and what neighborhoods you operate in. What are your specialties and in-house capabilities? How will you help clients achieve their goals? Evaluate this description once a year and consider using it across your online profiles including in your Sweeten company description! 

Use quality pictures that showcase past work

You should choose 3 or 4 projects (like you did to join Sweeten!) that showcase your strengths and the beautiful work that your company does to get your business page started. In general, post valuable content that will resonate with your audience.

Do you have an awesome project underway? Post photos of in-progress projects or completed projects so your audience can get a taste of your work experience. Pick a few photos and write up a few sentences to describe the scope of work that you accomplished for each project. Again use that gut check, if you wouldn’t show the photo to potential clients — don’t upload it to your page.

Promote your page

You now have a Facebook business page that will give potential clients a feel for your firm. When people like your page, it’s easier for others to discover it. Use your other channels like your website or Sweeten profile to promote your page. You can even connect it with your firm’s Instagram account so you can update both simultaneously. Linking the page can be one way of minimizing upkeep, but remember to check in on the account at least every 6 months to make updates and add new photos of recent work.

Instagram Updates to Grow Your Contracting Business

Establish your account 

Use the Instagram app as there are many features not available on the desktop version of their site. Pick a username or “handle” that represents your business. Try to use some combination of your company name or initials and keywords for the industry (think “home,” “remodeling,” “GC,” “contractor,” etc.)

Whether you just signed up or already have a handle, switch the account to “professional” and review the privacy settings to set your account as public so potential clients can easily find your account. 

Define your business and a company bio

Add your company name so clients can identify or search for your firm. Write a brief company bio and try to stick to the 150 character limit. Include where you are based, and highlight your firm’s strengths, goals or accolades. 

Fill up the grid

Pick at least nine photos that you are the proudest of to get your profile off the ground. Once you’ve filled up the initial grid, you’ll have a great base to build off of. If you already have an account, consider deleting any posts that don’t support the services you are trying to convey.

Provide captions for your photos

Write a short caption for each posted photo to let clients know why that photo is significant. Don’t be afraid to use hashtags in the caption or tag other accounts in the photo. Engaging with other accounts through hashtags, tags, and comments can help others find and follow your account. You can also add geotags so potential clients can see the general location of any projects that you post. These features can be edited or updated at any time, so they’re ideal you’re looking to refresh old posts with photos.

Follow others in your industry

Start with @sweeten_home on Instagram and then follow any industry contacts that you might have, including designers, architects, subcontractors, or showrooms. Not only will this help you stay current on industry news or events, but it will also inform your explore page, which Instagram generates to help you find new accounts. 

Follow these steps to enhance your social media business profiles and you’ll make great progress to grow your contracting business online.

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Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog, Sweeten Stories, for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.