Recent findings have revealed that 42% of self-employed workers within the construction industry rely heavily on social media sites to advertise themselves and scout new business.
Carpentry, plumbing and painting & decorating emerged as the trades most likely to advertise their services successfully over social media.
The new study, carried out by business insurance website www.constructaquote.com, polled a total of 2,958 self-employed construction workers aged 25 and over. Participants were evenly distributed across a range of different construction trades and had worked within the industry for at least seven years prior to taking part in the survey.
Asked whether they have successfully set up social media pages to advertise their business and services, just over two fifths (42%) of respondents said they had done so. Of these participants, the majority (91%) use Facebook to advertise, with 24% using Twitter, 14% using Instagram and 9% using YouTube. Those using social media to secure new clients spent around 40 minutes per day updating or checking their work pages.
Of the 58% of self-employed construction workers who admitted to not using any social media to advertise their professional services, the majority (68%) claimed they do not have the time to dedicate setting up and maintaining pages, with 21% confessing that they are not confident enough with the technology to create an online profile.
When relevant workers were segregated into different trades and asked to reveal, on average, how many clients got in touch with them through social media in a typical month, answers were revealed as follows:
- Carpenters- 12
- Plumbers- 11
- Painter-Decorators- 7
- Landscapers- 5
- Fencers- 4
When asked what the most effective method to attract new clientele through social media was, the most common responses given by relevant respondents were:
- Images/videos of previous work– (74%)
- Honest reviews/comments from previous clients- (64%)
- Active engagement on local groups/pages- (48%)
- Promoted posts and social media ads- (32%)
- Regular status updates to existing followers- (16%)
Lyndon Wood, CEO and Creator of constructaquote.com, said,
“As a self-employed individual, using various social media pages to build on a brand and extend its reach and reputation to a new audience is an extremely effective means of marketing. Not only is it cost-effective in terms of set up, but it can also prove to be a great way to showcase your skills and the praise you’ve received from past clients in the form of reviews.”
He added, “The fact that three fifths of those polled in our study are not yet using social media to engage with potential clients and commissions could highlight how many workers are wary of how business pages on Facebook and Twitter work. This assumption could not be further from the truth, and I would hazard a guess that if those three fifths of respondents took the leap and started advertising their skills and services on social media, they would never look back!”
