Social Media in Construction – 2018 Survey Results

Survey Results

The Construction Marketing Association conducted a national survey to identify the effectiveness of different social media approaches of architectural/engineering/construction (AEC) professionals. To better understand social media usage and trends in the AEC industry we asked the following questions:

  1. Do you employ social media in your marketing program?
  2. If yes, do you manage social media marketing internally or outsource?
  3. What social networks/outlets do you employ?
  4. Have you utilized paid advertising on the following networks?
  5. Rank the following social networks/outlets based in their effectiveness in achieving results.
  6. Rank your top goals/objectives for using social media.
  7. Rank actual outcomes from using social media.
  8. Which category best describes your company?
  9. What is the approximate size of your company?

Do you employ social media in your marketing program?

100% of respondents use social media.

 

Social Media Construction Usage

If yes, do you manage social media marketing internally or outsource?

94% of respondents manage social media marketing programs internally, while 6% outsource.

Social Media Construction Inhouse vs Outsource

What social networks/outlets do you employ?

LinkedIn is the most popular social network used (98%) by construction professionals, followed by Facebook (96%), Twitter (78%), YouTube (61%), and Instagram not too far behind (59%). Forums is not used by any of the respondents.

 

Social Media Construction Networks

Have you utilized paid advertising on the following networks?

Almost half (49%) of respondents do not use paid advertising while the other half do. The top networks that respondents leverage is Facebook (49%) and LinkedIn (22%).

 

Social Media Construction Paid Advertising

Rank the following social networks/outlets based in their effectiveness in achieving results:

According to our respondents, Facebook is the most effective social network for success in the AEC industry.

 

Social Media Construction Effectiveness

Rank your top goals/objectives for using social media:

Over half of A/E/C professionals use social media to build brand awareness. The second ranked goal was tied with improving sales leads (22%) and increasing website traffic (22%). Improved search rankings is not a top goal, but it doesn’t trail to far behind for our respondents.

 

Social Media Construction Goals

Rank actual outcomes from using social media:

The majority of respondents (70%) have achieved greater brand awareness through the use of social media. Although not a top result, increased website traffic wasn’t too far behind with 56%. The social media network with the least results was sales leads (51%).

 

Social Media Construction Results

What category best describes your company?

 

Social Media Construction Company Types

What is the approximate size of your company?

 

Social Media Construction Company Size

 

Thank you to all that participated in our annual survey and attended the 2018 Social Media Summit. Want more construction marketing tips and information? Attend our next webcast: Construction Lead Services – Insights and Trends. Click here to learn more or register. Missed the Social Media Summit, click here to watch now.