If you’ve spent any time online or on social media recently, you might feel like video is taking over. And, in a sense, it is. In 2023, video accounted for 82.5% of all web traffic, making it the most popular type of content in the world. As a result, businesses and marketing teams have been increasingly investing in video content – and seeing results, too. Video has helped marketing teams improve conversion rates, gain new customers, and increase awareness of their brands and products.
Marketing in the construction industry is no exception. Video has emerged as an asset for construction marketing teams, serving as a powerful tool for not only storytelling and showcasing projects to stakeholders, but also acquiring clients, highlighting new and sustainable building practices, and effectively communicating with communities in which projects are being built.
This trend, along with improvements in camera technology over the last decade, means that construction cameras have become an integral part of any successful construction project.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the top reasons that investing in video marketing – and the camera equipment you need to create high-quality videos – is essential for construction marketing teams to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
Video Helps Craft Engaging and Memorable Narratives
The world, and its content consumers, prefer video. In recent years, video content has become the most popular and desired form of content across all digital platforms, in part due to the rise in visual-forward content platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Videos tend to perform far better than other types of content (such as static images or text) when it comes to statistics like engagement. Studies have even shown that people can process and retain 95% of a message when it is delivered by video as opposed to just 10% when delivered by text.
Another reason for this trend is that it’s far easier to tell an authentic and relatable story with video – especially when it comes to construction projects. Any construction marketing team likely knows that it is extremely difficult to communicate the impact, scale, and complexity of managing a construction project from text or even photographs alone. On the other hand, video offers a dynamic and immersive way to showcase the details of a project, enabling marketers to demonstrate the sheer amount of work that goes into a project, as well as the incredible process of transformation that takes place as a new building is constructed.
Telling these stories is particularly important when it comes to communicating with project stakeholders and communities in which projects are being built. Rather than showing stakeholders images of the fully constructed project or telling them about the construction process, you can offer a comprehensive view of each phase of the project. These stories help build buy-in from stakeholders and investors by providing transparency around how their investment in the project was spent. A happy client means that your construction firm is more likely to be hired again for new projects.
Social Media Marketing is on the Rise
Another reason that construction marketing teams should invest in creating more video content is the rise of social media marketing. Approximately 93% of marketing professionals use social media platforms for marketing – and that number is bound to only go up as platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok continue to grow.
Investing in social media marketing can give construction marketers an edge over competitors. Posting regularly helps keep your clients, customers, and community members engaged with your work and informed on the status of projects. This can help build your brand and ensure that you remain top of mind whenever a potential customer or client has a construction need.
What type of content should you post? You probably already know the answer (hint: it’s in the title of this blog). In addition to being more engaging and persuasive, video content also helps unlock a lot of other opportunities for social media. For example, you can take a long-form construction video and chop it up into multiple posts to showcase different phases of a project. Capturing regular footage of your jobsite means that you have a constant source of content that you can use to build a consistent social media marketing calendar. You can also utilize tools such as time-lapse videos to showcase a lot of progress in a short time.
One other reason that video footage is so important is that social media consumers increasingly prefer raw and authentic video. That means you don’t even have to edit your videos to build your following and engagement on social media.
Building Brand Identity and Trust is Imperative
Cultivating trust is crucial for construction companies who want to build strong relationships with existing clients and grow their business. Of course, there are many ways to build trust, including sticking to project timelines, working to stay on budget, and prioritizing proactive communication when things stray from the plan.
However, besides these more concrete practices, there are other impactful ways you can build trust and loyalty with your clients, customers, and community. One major way to do this is by investing in your company’s brand. Ensuring your company has a good reputation is crucial for retaining and gaining new clients.
Video is one of your most valuable tools when it comes to branding. With video, you can provide transparent insight into your construction process, helping stakeholders understand all the moving and complex pieces that go into a project. If something out of your control goes wrong, you can provide evidence to your clients of what happened. Video footage also helps with compliance, too, as it enables you to provide strong and accurate documentation of your jobsite activities. Maintaining compliance on your jobsite is one of the most critical things you can do to build and maintain trust.
Another major way that video can support building trust and brand identity is by helping you to showcase your work. Constructing a project from start to finish is an impressive feat – you deserve to show it off! Raw video footage of your team’s hard work is the best way to demonstrate your team’s skills and expertise. Moreover, consistently posting behind-the-scenes footage throughout the entirety of your project, from breaking ground to completion, is a great way to build excitement in your community about the new construction. This is a crucial and effective way to earn support from local communities who can sometimes be skeptical of new, large projects. It also helps establish your company as a great construction company to work with!
Picking the Right Construction Cameras as Visual Storytelling Tools
If you’re ready to invest in video footage, the next question is: how do you actually capture that footage?
Hint: the answer is construction cameras!
Construction cameras are your biggest asset when it comes to visual storytelling. When it comes to picking the right camera, there are a lot of factors to consider. If you’d like to learn more about how to think about buying the right camera and what questions to ask throughout the buying process, check out our blog!
Cameras enable multiple ways of capturing footage, from live documentation to taking photographs and timelapses, to even capturing a bird’s-eye view of the jobsite via drone footage. You can check out our Instagram for examples.
Best Practices for Posting on Social Media
Once you’ve captured lots of great video footage and pictures of your construction projects, you’ll need to know how to effectively use them to engage your audience and clients. Here are a few tips for optimizing your social media strategy.
- Understand your platform
The first step is to understand your platform, whether it be LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or something else. Each platform has its own set of best practices, including photo and video dimensions, captioning, and best times of day to post. Make sure you research the best ways to engage your audience on each platform and stick to those guidelines.
- Create a content calendar and stay consistent
Consistency is key. In addition to ensuring that you’re posting high-quality content, make sure you maintain a constant presence. This doesn’t mean you need to post every day or even every other day. Create a realistic calendar that you think you can stick to and then…well, stick to it! Not only will this help create a regular cadence for your audience to engage with your content, but it will also help you get into a good habit of posting.
- Use high-quality visuals
Quality matters! If you’re going to take the time to post on social media and invest in brand building, make sure you’re doing the work to create high-quality content.
One way to ensure that you’re capturing high-quality images is to make sure you’re using the right cameras. We recommend investing in high-definition cameras, such as 4k or 1080p resolution to get the best visuals.
- Promote on multiple channels and platforms
Promoting your content is key to reaching new audiences and growing your following. Experiment with posting on different channels and platforms to see where you might gain traction. In addition, if you go through the effort of creating a piece of content, see if you can make it work on different platforms. This will help you get the biggest bang for your buck with each piece of content you create.
Summary
Video footage – and construction cameras to capture that footage – has become an integral piece of any successful construction project. Videos help you tell authentic, transparent stories to your stakeholders, clients, customers, and community members about the process of building your project. With video, you can build your brand identity and trust, market yourselves to new clients, and gain the support of the communities in which you operate.
Great video footage needs great cameras. TrueLook is here to help you with your camera needs. Learn more about our camera offerings here.
