Considering marketing your asphalt paving business? Unsure about how to go about it? You might have questioned the necessity of a website, wondered about the importance of a Facebook page, or have a goal to rank number one on Google.
Having launched an asphalt business in 2018 and subsequently assisting asphalt contractors in boosting their online presence, I’ve garnered insights that can catapult your business’s growth. Whether you’re launching your business or looking to enhance the marketing of your existing asphalt company, this guide is for you.
In this series, I’ll guide you through the basics of your asphalt business’s marketing and branding. We’ll delve into essential marketing strategies every asphalt contractor should be aware of.
Topics we’ll tackle include:
- 4 Channels For Acquiring New Leads – this article
- Setting Up Marketing Basics for Asphalt Contractors
- Implementing Your Marketing Tools: Securing Your Initial Contracts – Coming soon
- Tactics for Effectively Promoting Your Asphalt Business -Coming soon
Before diving in, I’ve got two points for you to remember:
- As a business owner, your role includes sales and customer relationship management. Today you may spend most of your time in the field, or you may be transitioning into an office role. But inevitably, lead generation will be the lifeblood of your business. Thus, it’s vital to understand. Trust me, as you enhance your proficiency in these areas, you’ll observe your business thriving exponentially. Success hinges on your ability to generate leads, promptly respond to calls, and dispatch bids efficiently. These sales and marketing dynamics will form the foundation of your business’s success.
- As you look through this article, it’s natural to think, “This seems overwhelming,” or “This might break the bank.” Just remember, the journey to successful marketing can be taken in incremental daily or weekly steps, and it doesn’t always require a massive investment. Start small and scale up as you go. But, do remember that hiring marketing help is smart in the same way that it’s smart for a parking lot owner to hire a professional line striper to paint their lines, rather than attempting to stripe their parking lot with a bucket of paint and a roller.
Four Effective Channels to Secure Asphalt Maintenance Leads
Regardless of where you stand in asphalt business journey, you should understand who your target audience is. In general, you have 4 distinct customer types: home owners, business owners (parking lot owners), other contractors, and the government. A strong asphalt business most likely relies on revenue from each one of these customers.
Each of these customer types has different priorities and needs. They also go about finding asphalt contractors in different ways and through different channels, therefore it is important to have a strategy to engage with them as they want to be engaged!
In a marketing sense there are four main ways (aka channels) to engage with these audiences:
Traditional Marketing and Sales
Traditional marketing encompasses strategies like distributing mailers, displaying signs by completed projects, door-to-door promotions, and cold-calling. These methods not only get you face time with your customers (a pivotal factor in understanding their needs) but also foster strong community relationships that are made far easier when you meet in-person.
Online Lead Generation
This includes digital platforms such as websites, Facebook, other social media channels, paid advertisements, and SEO. We’ll delve deeper into the intricacies of online lead generation in subsequent sections.
Sub-contractor Collaboration
An effective approach to ensure immediate cash flow is by partnering with larger contractors who subcontract work. Many large paving or construction firms frequently receive inquiries for smaller projects that don’t align with their scale or service offerings. If you can build a relationship with these companies not only will you receive great leads, but you’ll learn a lot from their experience!
Public Bids
Most government projects are advertised publicly, with exceptions for projects under specific values. These bids can be found in local newspapers, government websites, and other public data sources. Stay attuned to these and study these opportunities as they not only provide significantly sized contracts but also grant insights into the market dynamics.
While each channel offers distinct advantages, a holistic business strategy involves leveraging all four. This diversification ensures a consistent revenue stream, irrespective of market fluctuations, by catering to varied audiences.
Most asphalt contractors start their business by focusing on homeowners and small business proprietors. These two market segments are not only relatively easy to tap into but they also hold significant potential. The rest of this guide will focus on reaching this particular group with traditional marketing and online marketing techniques. If you can form a robust brand presence within these segments you will pave the way to strong future growth!
Check Out The Next Article In This Series!
