Email Marketing for Construction Companies: Tips and Tricks of the Trade

Most of us get dozens, if not hundreds of emails per day — and, if we’re honest, most of them are left unread. But if you are the one sending out marketing emails, the last place you want to be is in your recipient’s spam folder. So, how do you avoid that and improve email marketing for construction companies?

If you find the right potential customer, they will be looking for useful content that stands out — and if you create that content, they will not only open emails but engage with it. The construction industry, like many others, is in an era of marked evolution, necessitating adaptable email marketing strategies to engage prospects and maintain client relationships.

We have decades of experience with email marketing campaigns for contractors and construction businesses. We know what works and what doesn’t (and with TopBuilder email marketing, the data is there to back up those insights!).

Here are five tips for effective email marketing tips and strategies that will get you higher open rates, and more importantly, higher conversion rates.

1. Identify Your Email Campaign Target Audience

Think about the last time you interacted with a marketing email. Why did you do it? Nine times out of 10, it’s because it was relevant to you. What makes email marketing work is targeting the right people with the right information. But how do you do this? With list segmentation – ways to sort your potential customer list based on everything from business relationships to geography.

A lot of customer relationship management (CRM) platforms offer this feature, but the ways to sort potential construction projects are pretty different from how you might sort other types of customers in a general CRM. For example, a CRM designed for construction will have built-in categories for business relationships like general contractors, vendors, building owners, real estate brokers, and property managers.

Sometimes, you just don’t have that much information. If you are short on info, start by breaking the groups down into three categories: prospects, current customers, and past customers.

2. Focus on Customer Goals and Challenges

There are few things as annoying as someone trying to sell you something that you have absolutely no interest in. The key to starting on the right foot is making sure the focus is not on yourself or your business—instead make sure to focus on their construction business goals, challenges, and successes.

Statistics show this is true: open rates go up by 26% when emails are personalized to customer needs. A well-crafted email marketing campaign tailored for construction companies can significantly enhance engagement. But how do you do this? A great way to figure this out is by asking yourself a series of questions.

Once you’ve decided on the segment you are emailing, consider the following questions:

• Is this group experiencing a problem or need help with something?
• What is the problem? What do they need help with?
• Can you help solve this problem?
• What is the product and/or service that will solve it?
• What is the best way to explain that value/benefit?
• Do you have proof of the value/benefit you provide?
• If yes, can you send the reader to something that shows that proof?

Answering these questions lets you keep the focus of your email on the prospect or customer and their needs. Certainly, bring in proof of past successes in your business to show that you’re the right choice for their solution — but don’t make performance the primary focus. Effective email marketing efforts, especially when automated and managed properly, ensure that your communication, voice, and positioning are always aligned with customer needs, enhancing both engagement and ROI.

3. Include a Call-to-Action

Okay, so you’ve figured out what your potential customers need and have a pretty good idea of how you can help them. Once you’ve shown the benefit you can offer, you need to give them a specific next step.

Email campaigns are highly effective for lead nurturing, improving customer engagement, and driving sales for construction companies. Monitoring these campaigns, segmenting for personalized messaging, and using automation tools can significantly enhance your marketing efforts.

Email marketing is not the place to be indirect. Keep your call-to-action (CTA) simple — set up a call, visit a website, or join a mailing list — and place it right after you’ve shown your value. You might think it’s pushy to be that direct, but keep in mind that you’re not asking them to make a decision right now. It’s a small ask, so don’t be hesitant about making it. Email service providers play a critical role in maintaining good sender reputation and ensuring your emails reach recipients’ inboxes.

4. Craft a Strong Subject Line

The average open rate for emails in marketing is around 21% — meaning that nearly 80% of readers don’t get past the subject line. You need an interesting and concise subject line that covers all the content in your email. That’s a pretty tall order, but we’ve got the experience to help you get your open rates well above average. Tracking key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your subject lines and overall email performance.

In addition to subject lines, topic sentences are important — the first key sentence of the email that explains the main benefit you offer or the problem you will solve. Avoiding spam triggers in your subject lines is essential to ensure your emails pass through mailer daemons and spam filters and get to inboxes. Overly promotional language and poor sender reputation will negatively impact your email delivery.

Write the email before crafting a subject line. You can’t summarize something if you don’t know what it is. Also, take your time – don’t be afraid to write a whole lot of lousy ones. Aim for 10 to 20 options, knowing that some of them will be awful, but there will be a few good ones in there, too.

For your topic sentence, keep it direct, simple, and easy to spot. Formatting is a great way to do this. A topic sentence buried in a wall of text is not going to stand out, but TopBuilder’s branded email templates let you easily highlight pertinent information.

5. Be Concise

Finally, having a well-defined email marketing strategy is crucial. Be as concise as you can. People are busy. Aim to capture their attention, demonstrate your value quickly, and give them a clear call to action.

Once you are done writing the email, read it out loud. Do you sound like you are beating a dead horse? Are you including details that don’t matter? Be brutal and cut out everything inessential. Contractors and builders don’t like to waste time at the job site, and they don’t want their time wasted with bloated messaging. Remember to save your initial draft, after all, because marketing and business development are more than just email. Topics you elaborated on but were left on the cutting room floor may very well be useful later in the sales process or for future messages.

At this point, you’re almost ready to send. If you make sure you connect to the right person, focus on your reader, have a clear CTA and an interesting subject line, you are off to a great start. And with the right automation tools, you can streamline the entire process to save time and money.

Email Marketing Campaigns Software Solution

From building stronger customer relationships to generating leads, effective email marketing is an investment that pays dividends. It’s not easy, but the good news is you don’t have to do it alone! With an email marketing automation tool that integrates with your construction CRM, you can easily create, send, and track beautifully designed and targeted emails. Learn more about Topbuilder email marketing.