How to Make Your Construction Business Look Good on Instagram

Do you have a construction company? Are you on Instagram?

You must be wondering what benefits you might get from Instagram since it's mostly populated by teens? Well, according to a Sprout Social infographics, 33% Instagram users fall under 30-49 years age bracket, which is the primary the target group for construction firms.

Another bit of research suggests that Instagram has emerged as the second most popular app after Facebook.

Apart from that, there is another reason for construction companies to invest their time and resources on Instagram. According to Buffer, Instagram posts receive a significant number of higher engagement compared to their Facebook counterparts.

If these stats are motivating enough to start Instagram for your construction company, let’s quickly see how to do it like a pro.

Complete your Instagram business profile: If you already have an Instagram profile, convert it into a business account first. And if you are setting your Instagram profile for the first time, sign up for a business profile directly. And don’t forget to complete your profile by adding a proper bio and links.

Most of the construction companies think that they might not have enough photos to market on the channel. But Instagram works a bit differently. It’s a platform where you can be at your creative best and talk a lot about your business through photos.

So, let’s see some innovative ideas to market your content on Instagram.

1. Promote your upcoming projects: Promote your upcoming projects is one of the things almost all construction companies do on Instagram, however, presenting it in an eye-grabbing way is the key here.

Let’s take an example from LafargeHolcim

They not only show interesting images directly from their construction site, but also present them in the picture-perfect way.

2. Use relevant hashtags: Instagram has an amazing tool, called hashtags for you. Use them to reach your target audience and to increase post engagement.

Let's see how hashtags on Instagram work.

Look at a Ghilotti Construction Company Instagram post.

They use lots of hashtags with their posts. These hashtags are clickable and searchable. So, any people who search for related hashtags such as #happynewyear #construction or #california, can see their posts with these hashtags.

Instagram allows nearly 30 hashtags with a post. However, many users may find it spammy. So, try not to add more than 11 hashtags with one post.

3. Make use of Stories: Instagram stories are a wonderful way to showcase what's going on in your business. There are several Story stickers that can be used to communicate with your audiences as well.

It’s an excellent tool to talk with your audience 1 to 1, because when a user replies to your Stories, it goes straight into your inbox.

Stories last for 24 hours but you can keep them forever on your feed by adding them to your highlights. And it allows a great branding opportunities. Let’s look at an example from Willmott Dixon's Instagram highlights.

They have highlighted their charity works, jobs, interiors of their projects and a hashtag #AllSafe. Let’s click on #AllSafe.

So, whenever your followers click on these highlights, they will be able to view your past Stories.

Let's look at another great example of branded Instagram Story highlights from Balfour Beatty.

4. Create engaging content: Create great content for your audience. Post photos that address their questions, doubts or simply entertain them. Remember, your Instagram posts don’t have to be about your work all the time.

Like BASF, you too can share tips and trivia for your audience to engage them more with your posts.

5. Showcase offline activations: Be it an event or campaign or conference, never miss a chance to talk about your offline activations on Instagram. Let’s see how Laing O'Rourke is doing it.

Instagram Live is a great tool to show live coverages of any event. Do employ it, if possible. You can easily go "Live" through Stories. Click on your profile picture to upload a story and then select Live. Simple!

6. Show your fun side: Just because you are into a serious business, it does not mean your photos should always be serious and professional.

Let's see how Hoffman Construction Company is adding a personalized touch to their content by simply portraying the festive mood into their organization.

Adding a fun side is also a great idea to show even contractors have a sense of humor. Look at a post by ISG.

7. Appreciate your associates: Showcasing your employees and their thoughts can get you some of your most engaged content on this platform. When you talk about an employee on social media, you show great respect and appreciation for him/her. These photos get immediate recognition and a huge number of shares.

Here is an example from DPR Construction.

8. Make lots of videos: Videos engage people more and also allow you to talk about your business in details. You can make videos about almost anything. Give a tour to your project, show a latest technology you are using, or simply make a fun video with your employees. The scope is sky-high.

Laing O'Rourke frequently posts videos on their Instagram feed. Some of them feature their products while some simple offer tour to their projects.

EMBED THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE:

Or simply engage like BAM Nuttall does.

EMBED THE LINK HERE

9. Curate content that talks about you: Re-post images that other people share about you on the platform. This is one of the most efficient ways to show how big your community is. Turner Construction Company does this quite often.

Free tools like Repostapp and Regrann can help you reshare an Instagram post on your feed.

10. Share links: Instagram does not allow adding clickable elements with a post. For this reason, sharing link with a post may go unnoticed. However, your Instagram bio is that one place where you can add any link. Add your website link, the link to an ongoing campaign landing page, or simply the link where you want your followers to end up.

For example, Hoffman Construction Company shared their website link in the bio.

You can also share the link of your latest blog post in the bio like Cat Construction Products.

The choice is yours!

11. Share your history with your audience: Your followers on Instagram also want to know where you have come from. For a construction company, it gives an opportunity to connect with their new-age audience on this platform. .

Educate your audiences about your company history, past achievements that you are proud of, former employees that you value, or tell them about an important milestone for your business like BASF did here.

12. Show how you are better than your competitors: In this fast-paced competitive age, if you can’t show why you are better than your competitors, you are lagging behind. Let’s look at two examples to understand how to put yourself one step ahead of other players in the field.

The first one is from Willmott Dixon. Here the construction company talked about a latest technology that they use to give a tour to their buildings.

And the second example is from Turner Construction Company. Here the construction firm shows how they are different from others by showing off an achievement.

13. Tag big Instagram construction accounts: There are hundreds of Instagram business profiles that are dedicated to construction companies. Here are some of the top ones.

Tag them with relevant posts. For example, if you are posting something funny, consider tagging Construction Memes. If you have posted a photo of a completed project, you can tag Sky High Architecture. Tagging these profiles may help you get more eyeballs from their huge follower list.

Some of these profiles give a chance to get featured on their feed. Follow the example below.

In this case, all you need to do is add the designated hashtag with your post to help them see your photo easily.

14. Stay fresh with different kinds of content: Instagram is one of those apps that offer many content creating options to present your content in a different way. Try some of the others as well - Boomerang, Layout, Giant square, Hyperlapse, Superzoom, Focus etc. can help you create content for the platform.

So, what are you waiting for? Start today and don’t forget to share your experience with us. You never know your construction firm may also get featured in one of our future blogs. Till then, Happy Instagramming!

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