With more and more people going online and turning to search engines for help finding the paving and excavating services they need, digital marketing for excavation contractors has never been more important.

Every paving and excavation company depends on leads to survive—no matter where your business is located or how long you’ve been completing excavating and paving jobs for your community. Without a dependable way to generate excavating and paving leads, your business won’t survive for long.

However, if you implement a digital marketing strategy that attracts new customers and regularly generates excavating and paving leads for you, that’s a good way to:

  • Get more high-paying excavating and paving jobs
  • Increase revenue for you and your crew
  • Grow your excavating and paving business

We know why lead generation for excavation contractors is important, but how can you do it affordably and without taking up too much of your time? The answer is digital marketing for excavation contractors. If you’ve ever wondered how to get excavating jobs or how to get paving jobs, follow the steps below to turn your business into a marketing machine.

Digital Marketing for Excavation Contractors: Top 5 Tips

1. How to Get Excavating Jobs With Excavation Website Design

If you haven’t invested in paving website design or a custom website for your excavation company, yet, one of the best things you can do for your business is to create a website. A website acts as your excavating and paving business’s online storefront—it’s an essential part of a strong online presence and gives your potential excavating and paving customers a place to:

  • Learn more about your excavation company
  • Read about the excavation and paving services you provide
  • See your service area
  • Get in touch with you about potential excavating or paving jobs

Without a custom website for your excavation company and professional excavation website design, how are your ideal customers going to find your business on Google? How will they know where to contact you? They won’t, and they’ll likely use one of your competitors, instead.

Without professional paving website design, your business might as well not exist at all. The solution? Digital marketing for excavation contractors. Excavation website design makes up the foundation of most excavating and paving marketing strategies, so don’t let your competitors get out ahead of you. Invest in paving website design and start generating more local excavating leads. Townsquare Interactive can help!

2. Send Direct Mailers to Get More Paving Leads

Here’s another excavating and paving company advertising idea that’s stood the test of time: direct mailers. Compared to most email inboxes, old-school mailboxes are seeing a lot less action, which means your letter or postcard with your excavating and paving ads is much more likely to be seen and read by your target customers.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, direct mail has an average cost per lead of $51.40 for a general mailing list and $54.10 for postcards. Compare that to what you’re paying on average for local paving leads from other sources to determine if this is a viable solution for you.

3. Canvass an Area to Get Excavating Leads

Canvassing an area to generate local excavating leads might seem like an old-school marketing tactic, but consumers are more likely to work with a business when they can put a face to the name. If you want to give canvassing a shot, follow these four simple tips for the best results:

  • Always be polite and courteous, even if you don’t get a positive reaction.
  • Set a goal for each interaction: set an appointment, get their contact information, or make a sale.
  • Have a script ready, so you’re better prepared.
  • Follow up with potential customers after getting their info.

Also, make sure you have plenty of business cards to hand out! Even better if they’re fridge magnets—they’re much less likely to get thrown out.

4. Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to Get More Paving Leads

A good PPC and SEM campaign is one excavating and paving company advertising idea that’s been proven time and again to generate quality paving leads.

While Google is the most popular search engine for these types of campaigns, thanks to its widespread popularity, don’t sleep on Bing. PPC and SEM are great ways to bring in both residential and commercial excavating leads.

Still on the fence about PPC and SEM? Check out these stats:

  • For every $1 spent in Google Ads to post your excavating and paving ads, you could make an average of $2.
  • About 41% of clicks on a search results page go to one of the top 3 paid excavating and paving ads.
  • More than 85% of people use the internet to find local excavating and paving companies.
  • Visitors who come to your website via PPC or SEM are 50% more likely to convert into customers.

Sounds good, right? And with PPC, you only pay for the clicks your excavating and paving ads get, making it a great option for excavating and paving companies that are marketing on a budget.

5. Get More Excavating Leads Through Facebook + Instagram Advertising

Still wondering how to get more local paving leads for your business? Excavating and paving company advertising on Facebook and Instagram can be a cost-effective method, provided you put the right excavating and paving company marketing strategy in place and know how to navigate the ad builders on these platforms. Social media marketing is often included in digital marketing for excavation contractors.

You can target your ideal excavating and paving customers by their location and other pages they’ve liked—including your competitors’ pages.

Displaying excavating and paving ads to this audience has the added benefit of creating and boosting awareness of your business. If people see your logo and your excavating and paving ads all over the place, they’re more likely to remember you when they need excavating and paving services in the future.

6. Use Local SEO Services in Your Excavation Marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO for paving companies) is still king in the digital marketing space. It’s what will move your excavating and paving business to the top of page 1 on Google and keep it there. If your campaign is robust enough, SEO for paving companies alone can generate the majority of your local excavating leads (but we still recommend reading the rest of these excavating and paving company advertising ideas)!

A good first step is setting up your Google My Business account. From there, you can advance to backlinking and content marketing. If you’re worried about doing it correctly, it’s always a good idea to let an expert in SEO for paving companies get you up and running.

7. How to Get Paving Leads Through Strategic Alliances

Another smart technique for generating local paving leads is to partner up with the suppliers in your area. That could be Lowe’s, Home Depot, or a mom-and-pop shop down the street. Creating a partnership means they’ll recommend you to their customers and provide a steady stream of local excavating leads. It also means you’ll recommend your advertising partner to ensure the alliance is mutually beneficial. Overall, this is a marketing for excavation contractors strategy worth trying.

8. Content Marketing = Great Digital Marketing for Excavation Contractors

Creating content for your ideal excavating and paving customers is a great way to get more local paving leads. Consider writing blog posts and articles that you can post on your website, and make it easy for your audience to share that content on their social media.

Here are some topic ideas:

  • Signs It’s Time to Repave Your Driveway or Parking Lot
  • Why Excavating Is Better Left to the Pros
  • When Is the Best Time to Hire a Excavating and Paving Company?

Have another content idea? Write it down and turn it into an article to boost your excavating and paving company advertising efforts, then post it on your excavating and paving website!

9. How to Get Paving Leads at Trade Shows

Attending trade shows should be high on your list of excavating and paving company advertising ideas. They not only provide plenty of solutions for lead generation for excavating and paving contractors, but also let you observe your competition, create new business partnerships, find inspiration for new excavating and paving ads and boost brand awareness among potential customers.

To make the most of your trade show experience, make sure your booth provides something valuable to your audience, such as a freebie or another incentive, like coupons, giveaways, contests or something else.

Finally, make sure you’re collecting information from visitors and following up to make the sale. Don’t forget to pass out business cards!

10. Email Marketing Is Good Marketing for Excavation Contractors

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing for excavation contractors, and there’s a reason it’s stuck around for so long: it works. For every dollar you spend on email marketing, you’ll make (on average) a $40 return on your investment.

Because most excavating and paving contractors overlook the benefits of email marketing, it’s a great excavating and paving company marketing strategy for your business. For instance, businesses that stay in touch with their ideal customers via email, regularly sending them excavating and paving ads, generate 50% more sales-ready local excavating leads and spend 33% less money on making those sales. Not bad!

11. Get Paving Advertising Ideas From Your Chamber of Commerce

If you haven’t already joined your local chamber of commerce, attend their next meeting and start networking with other local business owners. In particular, try to connect with property managers—they’re likely to send more local paving leads your way and might even need your services themselves!

12. Comprehensive Digital Marketing for Excavation Contractors Includes Reputation Monitoring

Did you know 85% of people search online to find local excavating and paving businesses? Those same people are also researching your reputation—what are your past customers saying about the quality of your excavating and paving jobs? Were your prices fair? Did you show up on time and do what you said you were going to do?

Offline, you can use word-of-mouth to your advantage. Ask your satisfied customers if they can think of any neighbors, friends, family, or acquaintances who might need excavating and paving services. Give them plenty of business cards to pass around, and ask if you can put a temporary sign in their yard with your business name and phone number.

Online, list your excavating and paving business on review websites and ask your happy customers to leave a review on Google. Doing so makes it more likely that you’ll bring in local excavating leads—and it’s a great way to boost your SEO for paving companies.

13. Give Telemarketing a Chance to Generate Paving Leads

Though telemarketing was once a good channel for lead generation for excavating and paving contractors, many people now block unwanted calls. However, there are still companies out there that will telemarket for you and set up appointments with potential customers. While this is a viable marketing for excavation contractors strategy, weigh the cost and benefits before committing. You might come to the conclusion that it’s more beneficial to invest in paving website design or SEO for paving companies.

14. Use Ad Retargeting for Excavation Company Advertising

Have you ever searched for a product online and then noticed ads for it following you around the internet? That’s retargeting, and you can do it for your business, too.

When a potential customer visits your excavating and paving website and leaves without taking an action (like filling out a form or calling you), retargeting gives you another chance to convert them into a paying customer. They’ll see your excavating and paving ads as they browse the web and be reminded of your business and the services you provide. If they click the remodeling ad, they’ll be brought back to your website, where they have a second chance to turn into a customer. It helps if you’ve invested in professional excavation website design, too!

Whether you want more residential or commercial paving leads—or both!—retargeting is a great way to keep your excavating and paving business in front of potential customers who have already shown interest by visiting your paving website design.

15. A Unique Selling Point Can Help You Get Paving Leads

If you want to stand out from your competitors, your excavating and paving business needs a unique selling point (or USP). That could be your level of service, your experience in the excavating and paving industry, your competitive prices, your reputation, your stellar employees, your workmanship guarantees—anything that sets you apart. Once you’ve figured out your USP, use that selling point in your excavating and paving company marketing materials!

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at how your competitors are generating local excavating leads. What’s their USP, and how can you beat it? What would matter more to your customers and the community you serve. Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Eco-friendliness
  • Specialized services
  • Guarantees
  • Level of service

Does something else set you apart from your competitors? Use it in your excavating and paving ads!

16. Google’s Local Service Ads Mean Leads for Excavation Contractors

Google’s Local Services ads are a type of pay-per-lead ad, and they appear at the top of the search results page. They’re different from SEO for paving companies services, though SEO for paving companies can move you near the top of page one of Google, too!

These excavating and paving ads get about 13.8% of clicks—that means if 50 people in your area search for excavating and paving services, at least 7 of them will click one of those excavating and paving ads and turn into a excavating and paving lead. How much more money would you make per month with 7 more excavating and paving jobs?

17. Make Helpful YouTube Videos About Paving Projects

YouTube is a popular platform, so why not use it to your advantage? Make an account (it’s free!) and start posting helpful excavating and paving videos. The videos can document your day-to-day activities, follow a job from start to finish, or illustrate the different facets of excavating and paving potential customers might not think about. These videos will build your credibility as a excavating and paving expert and make it easier for viewers to see that you know what you’re doing and build trust.

In the video description, include your contact information and a link to your website so they can learn more and contact you!

18. Co-Market With a Relevant Business

Co-marketing means you’re teaming up with another small business to share lead generation opportunities. For example, you might want to partner up with a construction company or property manager and offer a discount to customers who use both of your services. In the end, this kind of combined marketing can lead to many more opportunities for lead generation for excavating and paving contractors.

19. Increase Referrals to Get More Excavating Leads

Referrals are a great way to capitalize on word-of-mouth excavating and paving company advertising. Offer your existing customers an incentive to refer their friends, families and neighbors to your excavating and paving business, and give them a discount in return. Since people are far more likely to use a business that a friend recommends to them, this is one excavating and paving company marketing strategy you shouldn’t pass up.

20. Create a Paving and Excavating Facebook Group

Having a dedicated Facebook business page for your excavating and paving business is a must, but creating a group page for your business is a good idea, too. Post helpful content (maybe something you wrote for content marketing!) and interact with group members to start building trust and brand awareness in your audience.

21. Take Pictures of Completed Paving Jobs

A picture can say a thousand words, so make sure you’re taking before-and-after photos of every excavating and paving job you take on. It’s a great way to show the quality of your work, and it gives you great content to post on your excavating and paving website and social media. It’s basically free excavating and paving company advertising.

22. Hunt for Local Excavating Leads on Craigslist

Craigslist might seem like a dated suggestion, but tons of people still use it when they need to find someone for a excavating and paving project. Take a quick scroll through the classifieds and see if anyone is looking for a excavating and paving contractor. Write down their names and numbers, then get in touch with them to discuss the project they have in mind and schedule a consultation. More often than not, people searching for excavating and paving services on Craigslist are ready to work with you and pay for your services right away.

23. Use LinkedIn to Attract Commercial Excavating and Paving Leads

LinkedIn is more than a great place to establish yourself as a excavating and paving expert and excavating and paving business owner—it’s a great place to generate local paving leads. How? Do a search for local businesses and property managers you can connect with and talk about the excavating and paving services you provide. Even if they don’t want to recommend your services to their customers, they might need their business remodeled.

24. Send Out Press Releases About Your Paving Business

Press releases are a great way to share new and exciting developments about your excavating and paving business. Are you offering a new service? How about a discount for repeat customers or those who refer their neighbors? Write a press release that outlines these new items and send it off to your mailing list to start generating local excavating leads.

25. Don’t Pay for Excavating Leads if You Don’t Need To

We’ve talked about using Home Advisor and Angi for leads before and concluded that both should be used with caution. While they might deliver a lot of local paving leads to your business, the quality of those leads often isn’t up to par. Whenever possible, you want to attract quality local excavating leads that will turn into paying customers. All too often, lead generation services like HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List just don’t deliver on quality. You’re likely to spend your time chasing down bad leads instead of talking to good ones.

Consider investing in digital marketing for excavation contractors (including excavation website design and SEO for paving companies) instead of wasting money on bad leads.

26. Use a Storm-Tracking App to Find New Excavating and Paving Leads

This idea might seem a little out of the box, but if you’ve been wondering how to get excavating jobs or how to get paving jobs in a way your competitors might not have thought of, yet, it’s a good option. Keep an eye on storm-tracking apps and watch out for bands of severe weather and areas that are impacted by flooding.

Oftentimes, storms leave severe damage in their wake. Business owners and homeowners are likely to need excavating or paving services to mitigate flooding damage or to repair washed out areas. So, after a storm rolls through, canvass that area or start calling around to see if anyone is in need of your paving and excavating services.

27. Sign Up With Townsquare Interactive to Maximize Your Excavating Company Marketing Budget

Paving website design isn’t the only element of an effective marketing for excavation contractors strategy, but it is the most important. One of the best things you can do for your business is to make sure the custom website for your excavation company has everything it needs to continuously generate local paving leads using the steps above.

Adding other elements to your marketing campaign, such as search engine optimization (SEO for paving companies) and reputation monitoring, can strengthen your excavating and paving company marketing strategy and help to bring in even more local excavating leads.

The team at Townsquare Interactive specializes in creating excavating and paving company marketing strategies that generate local paving leads for businesses across the country. All of our paving website designs feature the elements mentioned above, and our dedicated marketing specialists and teams of experts can provide personalized suggestions for how to take your marketing for excavation contractors strategy to the next level.

Click the button below and fill out the form to learn more about our excavating and paving company marketing packages and jumpstart your excavation website design.

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