Business Analytics: Proven Strategies That Benefit Your Contracting Business

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Business analytics are used to interpret data within companies. They fall into four categories: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive. When used together, they identify patterns and turn them into information you can use to better understand your audience.

You can use analytics to see what marketing campaigns work, personalize your content, and gauge how new tactics are performing. These strategies benefit every business, and that includes contracting

A huge part of being a contractor is making connections. It’s the second step in the process after getting your contractor’s license. If you don’t have your license yet, you need to acquire it immediately. In some states, like Tennessee, you can face fines for unlicensed work.

To obtain a contractor’s license, you must pass the licensing exam. An exam prep and practice course is available to help you prepare, and it comes with a money-back guarantee if you don’t pass on your first try. Sign up today so you can avoid any legal issues in the future.

Once you have your license, you can go back to focusing on building connections. You need a strong network of contacts and clients to succeed in the industry. Analytics can help you engage new contacts and clients and strengthen relationships with existing ones. 

Each connection you make represents a new business opportunity. So let’s talk about how you can use proven business analytics strategies to benefit your contracting business. 

Turn Collected Data Into Meaningful Actions

Collecting data is the easy part. There are thousands of data analyzing tools out there that can tell you who is interacting with your content and when they’re interacting with it. The hard part is knowing how to turn that data into meaningful action for your contracting company.

Measure What Matters: Numbers Don’t Lie

First, you need to measure what matters. 

• What brings people to your website?
• What makes them leave?
• What are potential clients looking for?
• What landing pages need to be improved to keep people on your website longer, and encourage them to choose your business?

Analytic data allows you to answer these questions and address the issues they represent.

For example, let’s say potential clients are leaving your website because it’s unclear how much you charge. You know that that’s what’s happening because your analytic analyzer tells you that people leave the site after searching “prices” in your search bar. Once you know that that’s why they’re leaving, you can add a price page that gives them a rough estimate of what to expect.

Adding that page is an example of taking a meaningful action based on the data you received. Or, on your services page, you can leave a statement saying “for pricing, call ____.” This creates a personal connection between you and potential customers by having them call your business for pricing information because, in most cases, pricing varies depending on the parameters of the work each customer wants done.

Make More Of What Matters: Giving Customers What They Want

Once you’ve measured your data, you know what potential clients do and don’t want. 

Let’s say that customers are always visiting your home construction page, but don’t ever check out your commercial construction page. That’s an indication that it’s time to consider what type of work your business usually gets. If most of your bookings are for residential work, then it might be time to shift the focus of your business to just that area.

Analytics allow you to give customers more of what they want from you. Pay attention to what the data is telling you, and don’t waste money trying to fight it without a very good reason.

If you do need to shift your customers’ attention to a different area, take the elements that work for your areas of success and apply them to the section you want to improve.

Define Your Audience: Proper Marketing to Your Targeted Demographic

Your demographic is picky. They know what they want, and if you want to succeed, you have to give it to them. You need to know who your average customer is and what marketing appeals to them.

Are they part of the video generation? Do they respond well to reviews? Are they only concerned with the hard facts and numbers? Business analytics can help you identify your demographic and show you what they respond to.

Let’s say that you post a video and a spreadsheet on your website at the same time. The video is a quick virtual tour of a completed project, showcasing the unique construction you did. The spreadsheet is a breakdown of what you spent and how much a similar project would cost.

A few days later, you notice that the video has thousands of hits on your analytics page, while the spreadsheet only has a few hundred. Both posts are bringing in traffic, but one is drastically outperforming the other. At that point, you’re not going to delete the video right?

Of course not! That would be defying your demographic. They clearly want that kind of content, and now that you know that, you can give them more of it. While it may seem like the obvious answer, many companies spend time and money every day creating content their customers don’t want because it’s what they’ve always done.

Be smart, and let the analytics guide you to what works for your business.

Analytics are incredibly beneficial to your contracting business, but only if you apply them correctly. Use these and other proven strategies to keep your business on track and reaching the right audience.