Digital Marketing Success: How One Concrete Company Does It
The myMarketing Cafe membership is comprised of a great group of male and female entrepreneurs, from many diverse industries, and different countries. By design, the cafe was created to serve as a resource center and network for small business owners. So, on this connection Thursday, I am sharing about a company and their digital marketing strategy and why it works. We can all take away ideas and apply them to our own business marketing.
The company is Northern Concrete Construction, Inc. and it’s based in Denmark, Wisconsin. The men behind the marketing are Mike Ausloos and Matt Kapinos. Connect with them here on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Here are five takeaways from the Northern Concrete Construction digital marketing strategy.
#1. Use a Strategic Web Design
The Northern Concrete Construction website definitely passes our design test. The site is clean and inviting, and designed for user experience. The homepage slider provides an illustration of the quality of work you can expect and the diversity of services they offer. The slider images are high quality images, which affects a visitor’s first impression. (Skewed images and low quality images affect the user experience, it leaves the same impression as wrinkled clothing at a business meeting). The site is very easy to navigate and the information on each page adds value to the consumer as they begin the buying journey.
#2. Link with Digital Marketing Channels
Each page of the Northern Concrete Construction website includes important marketing components, like calls-to-action and links to more information, and they gently move the customer along the buying journey. While each service page describes the particular service, information about other services is presented along the sidebar. A detailed layout like this is important, because if the visitor isn’t on the page they need to be, they can quickly get to where they should be with one click.
Northern Concrete uses a variety of social media channels, and content on their channels captures the company culture and the client experience. The content for each social media channel is unique and fits with what users of the channel expect. Their social media channels are prominently featured at the top of each webpage for easy engagement and they integrate content from social media channels appropriately on relevant web pages.
#3. Focus on Customers by Humanizing the Brand
Northern Concrete is deeply involved in community efforts. Their genuine concern for the causes they support is apparent. They share about the causes and current community projects on the company blog and social media channels. They do this on a personal level that truly resonates with readers. Personalized content like this helps humanize the brand, which builds customer loyalty and trust, and boosts team morale. (Read more on personalizing your company brand here.)
#4. Demonstrate Expertise and Loss Aversion
The About Us page tastefully presents awards and recognition of the quality of work customers can expect from Northern Concrete. What is most impressive to me, is publicly posting the company mission and values. I can see the company leaders believe in employee development and in taking the steps necessary to remain a leader in the industry. This strategy strengthens the visitors loss aversion, it emphasizes the loss of not using this company’s service.
#5. Integrate List-building and Lead Generation
With the website and social media channels, Northern Concrete effectively does what I think is one of the most important strategies for growing your business: list-building. They have integrated list-building tactics strategically into the marketing channel mix with a goal of engaging with the audience. The content the company uses is designed to foster relationships and provide something of value to visitors. They offer different ways to engage, such as a newsletter, email list, or requesting a free estimate, so visitors can choose what is most meaningful to them depending on where they are on the buying journey.
Both Mike and Matt agree that digital marketing is not a substitute for person-to-person sales, but definitely believe that their efforts have made attracting and winning new business much easier. “Our long-term goal is to continue to grow personally and professionally, and to put Northern Concrete at the top of the list when people both locally and abroad think about concrete–thought leadership. We’re not there yet, but we keep working at it every day,” says Mike.
Is the strategy working? You bet! Recently, Mike received a call from an out-of-state competitor who invited Northern Construction to partner on a large project. When Mike asked why he chose Northern Construction, the competitor said they liked the professionalism exhibited through the company website and other channels.
