How Construction Companies can find customers in a Competitive Market
When you’re starting a new construction company or strategizing for an existing one — the competition out there can intimidate you. In fact, it will affect every aspect of your planning, from pricing to marketing and branding.
Fun fact- Did you know that there are over 5000 construction companies in Nairobi alone?
So, how do you win when there’s a lot of competition for products like yours? When your target customers have so many options to choose from, how do you convince them to choose you?
1. Research your competitors ,their products and services
Market research can be conducted in 3 ways- desk research(using existing information from the internet), field research(gathering the information using surveys, questionnaires and other research tools) and by using research companies that will carry out the research for you. I will focus on desk research for this article since it is simple and fast.
So, how do you conduct a quick research for your competitors?
a) Check their website: A competitor’s website is a good starting point for evaluating how well its doing online. How is the user experience? Is it easy to understand what the business offers within the first few seconds? Does it have a unique position that differentiates itself in a way that matters to the consumer? Always try looking at this first impression through the eyes of a potential customer and take note of what you see.
If a competitor has a blog, you should see how often it is updated and what topics they write about. . Check their social media pages. How well does their content resonates with the audience?
b) Digital Advertising: Try searching for various keywords and see if your competitors show up in the sponsored listings on Google. Look for their business name as well. Does your competition have paid search advertising?
c) Social Media: Try visiting their social media pages and see how often customers engage with their content. Start is the most popular channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Have they completely filled out their profiles with nice photographs and compelling text that describes what they offer? Do they have paid social media advertising? Note how many reviews they have compared to yours and how satisfied people are. Look for common complaints that point to flaws in their customer service.Take note of the content people are responding to and use that knowledge in your own strategy.
Once you have looked at all of these factors, you can piece together a clear picture of your competitors and how you can position your construction company against them.
Even the biggest construction companies can’t be everything to everyone.Chances are they have left opportunities open to you. Doing good competitor research will show you those opportunities and help you adjust your strategy accordingly.
2. Build a competitive advantage
Using your competitor’s products helps you understand n where there are gaps, and how your product can fill those gaps. Once you’re armed with that crucial information, you can leverage it to test and iterate your product until it truly fills a gap in the market.
A construction company can create a competitive advantage if it is clear on these 3 determinants:Target Market, Competition and USP
a) Target Market: The perfect knowledge of who buys from your construction firm, what they desire from your firm, and who could start buying from your firm brand if certain strategies are executed is essential for the business to create a competitive advantage over the competitors.
To more effectively target your market, start by breaking the construction market down into the segments that are most profitable for you, given your skillset & resources and that offer a high potential for growth. You could consider the larger segments, primarily:
- Private
- Public
- Industrial
- Commercial
Then focus in on smaller segments, such as housing, public education facilities or commercial office buildings. This makes it easier to fine-tune your marketing message to address the concerns of your ideal clients within each of these verticals.
If you focus on commercial office building construction, you might, for example, adapt your marketing to emphasis your expertise in issues such energy-efficiency for reduced operating costs and features that win higher rents and occupancy.
To further define your target market, segment by geography. Targeting regions with higher population densities, strong economic growth, and an active construction scene can bring you more leads for less effort.
Once you have a clear idea of who you’re trying to reach, you can more accurately determine which marketing channels will reach them effectively. This kind of targeted marketing gives you a better return on your investment than a generalist, scattershot approach.
To learn more about attracting leads through targeted marketing, contact Tech Mechanics Digital creatives.
b) Competition: Your construction firm should have an answer to these two questions: Who is the present competition and who could be a prospective competition in the coming years? What are the production, pricing, marketing and branding strategies they’re using to develop and market their products and services?
c) USP: The unique selling proposition is usually the chief trigger of the competitive advantage and separates the business from the competition. It is the reason why the customers choose your construction firm over others. The USP should be clear to both the business and the customers in order for a brand to create a competitive advantage.
Three strategies which construction firms can use to tackle competition and create a sustainable competitive advantage are: Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus ( segmentation strategy)
3. Get your product and/or service to the customer’s doorstep
You’ve got a new product or service, and you’re confident it fills a gap in the market. You have to literally show them.
This strategy works once you’re truly confident that you’ve got a product and/or service that stands out in the industry, so the time you invest in competitive research is the cornerstone of this strategy. Once you’re there, you can focus on finding opportunities to hook new customers and win loyal fans for your brand by relying on the strength of the product and/or service.
By doing this, you create a network effect that makes your product or service more valuable when more people use it. For example, Crown Paints in Kenya enjoys a competitive advantage over other paint manufacturers because its users are reluctant to try other paints as they trained and are used to using Crown paints.
If you’ve got a good understanding of the competition’s products and services, and you’ve invested time into refining your product to fill a gap in the market, you’re ready to start winning
