Construction Marketing: Essential Steps to Grow Your Trades-Based Business in 2025

Building a solid, foundational marketing program is the first step in growing your trades-based business.

QBC LLC is a multi-scope, multi-million-dollar construction firm in DeForest, Wisconsin. We’re here to help other trades-based business owners learn how to build, scale, and thrive by sharing our own experiences.

1. Branding Round-Up

Do you have multiple versions of your logo floating around?

When I took over as the head of marketing for QBC, we had four different logos representing four different brands, only one of which anyone in our region recognized. It took me exactly 30 seconds to realize we needed to get our brand hierarchy right and settle on one logo to represent our company. If it sounds confusing, it was.

The entire purpose of branding is for your company to be immediately recognizable to clients and prospects. If you confuse with your branding, you lose.

Choose one logo version, select consistent brand colors and fonts, and apply these across every touchpoint—from your website to job site signage and business cards. Consistency in branding is crucial.

To aid in brand consistency, create a simple one-page brand guide to share with employees and vendors. Download QBC’s brand guide here for an example. This guide will help people understand how your brand should look and feel at all times, across all mediums.

Every visual aspect of your brand should align to create a professional, memorable impression.

Key takeaway: Branding is more than a logo—it’s about establishing a unified look and feel for everything your clients see. When a client sees something from your company, they should instantly know it’s from your company.

2. Messaging That Sets You Apart

A well-crafted story about your business separates you from competitors and builds interest and trust in your company’s services.

While you do need proper grammar and spelling, you don’t need to be a professional writer to write great copy. Just be authentic and stand above the noise in your niche.

At QBC, we like to say, “We get sh*t done” as an example of how we stand above the noise. While that tone isn’t right for every business, it resonates with our target audience.

If you write in a way that lets your prospects know you understand their problems and know how to guide them to the right solutions, your messaging will convert.

Writing for search engines (SEO) is an entirely different story. Reach out for a cup of coffee and a chat about SEO, or better yet, sign up for our free newsletter. We’ll cover SEO for construction companies in depth over the next few months.

Cheat code: We recommend reading Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller and using the SB7 Framework to structure your messaging. You’re welcome!

3. Investing in a Professional Website

Your website is usually the first thing a prospect sees when they research your company. If it looks outdated or doesn’t reflect your brand’s quality, it’s costing you business. Hard stop.

A well-designed website with clear navigation, a mobile-friendly interface, engaging copy, and optimization for local SEO will bring in more clients and pay for itself.

Choose a web platform that allows you to edit your site with minimal assistance, so you’re not tied to an expert to perform simple updates.

Ensure your website clearly states your services, values, and contact information within the first few seconds. Be so crystal clear that a third grader could figure out what you do in 3 seconds or less.

Remember, a well-executed website is foundational to all other marketing efforts.

Pro tip: At QBC, we chose Webflow for our content management system (CMS). Webflow is easy to update for non-technical users and has an amazing look and feel.

4. Consistent Social Media Presence

Social media is still necessary.

Why? When you’re making a purchasing decision and you check a company’s social pages only to find their last post was three years ago, do you buy from that company? Nope.

Consistency is key: Post once per week with clear, relevant, and visually appealing content, focusing on quality over quantity.

There’s a lot to know about managing social media campaigns properly. We aren’t pretending social media is easy, but we’re saying it’s necessary.

In the trades, social media can serve in one, some, or all of the following ways:

• Show your company is active and relevant.
• Highlight recent work to attract new clients.
• Recruit skilled talent by showcasing your company culture.
• Generate leads through targeted social media campaigns.

A true lead generation campaign on social media requires a deeper discussion. Want to know if social media lead generation can work for your business? Reach out today for some free, no-strings-attached advice.

Follow QBC’s social pages to see how we use Facebook and Instagram for recruiting and LinkedIn for lead generation. We’ll follow you back!

5. Adopting a CRM System

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform is essential for growing your business and keeping both your prospects’ and clients’ information straight.

A good CRM allows you to manage relationships, nurture leads (think email drip campaigns), and keep your contacts organized.

You can also use CRM tools like landing pages to launch lead magnet campaigns, like a free white paper or checklist, which attract email sign-ups and keep your pipeline full. Owning your data (email addresses) is an absolute must if you intend to grow your business in today’s day and age.

At QBC, we work with a certified HubSpot partner. There are many other CRMs on the market, but we love the scalability and functionality of HubSpot. Want to chat about CRMs? We’ve worked with several over the years—let’s discuss where you are in your growth and what makes sense for you.

Advanced strategy: Implement sales enablement programs that automate your cold outreach, nurture prospects, and convert leads into loyal clients. The right CRM can be the powerhouse behind streamlined client management and efficient follow-up.