In short
To market building products to trades, work with the way they already buy: from the merchant they use, on the word of other installers, and on how much time a product saves on the job. Be in stock and easy to find, show the product going in, answer price, fit and warranty questions plainly, and help installers sell the job to their own customers. Contractors buy differently, through approved supplier lists and project proof. Advertising works best once those basics are in place.
On this page
Market building products the way trades already buy them. Installers choose what their merchant has in stock, what other installers rate and what saves time on the job. So the marketing that pays is being easy to get hold of, showing how the product goes in and answering price, fit and warranty questions plainly, long before you spend on ads.
A word on where we sit. We Are SMC works mostly with trades and construction firms, the people on the other side of your counter. If your main route to market is getting products specified by architects, that is a specialist job with its own playbook (CPDs, specification libraries, technical literature), and one of the building products agencies in our round-up of UK construction marketing agencies may suit you better. This guide is for merchants, manufacturers, distributors and plant hire firms whose buyer is the installer, the builder or the contractor’s buyer.
Our founder, Steve Mark, started out on your side of the counter. He ran uPrint, a print and design business selling to trades businesses, from 2006 to 2014, and has spent the years since helping trades and construction firms grow.
Two things from those years shape everything below. Trades want plain speaking from the people who sell to them, and to be treated as business owners, not the stereotype of the bloke in a van. And plenty of them have been burned by suppliers and agencies promising the earth, so straight answers on price, stock and fit win more trust than any amount of polish.
Who actually decides what gets bought?
Most building products have more than one buyer, and each one wants something different. Work out which of them matter for your range before you spend anything.
- The installer picks the product on most domestic jobs and plenty of small commercial ones. They want it in stock, quick to fit and unlikely to bring them back for a callback.
- The merchant’s counter staff recommend what they know and what sells. If they cannot answer a question about your product, they will steer the installer to one they can.
- The homeowner sometimes asks for a brand by name, but more often goes with whatever the installer recommends.
- The contractor’s buyer on larger jobs works from an approved supplier list and a price. Credentials and reliable delivery count for more than brand.
- The specifier writes products into a specification. Vital for some ranges, irrelevant for others.
Plant hire is simpler. The builder, the groundworker or the contractor’s buyer decides, and availability, delivery times and a well-kept machine decide it for them.
Why most building products marketing misses the trades
Most of it is written for a marketing department, not for someone with a van full of stock and a job to finish by four. The questions an installer actually has are practical:
- Will it fit what is already there?
- Is it in stock near me today?
- How long does it take to fit, and what do I need to fit it?
- What goes wrong with it, and who sorts the warranty claim?
- What do I make on it compared with what I fit now?
Glossy brochures, award logos and feature lists answer none of those. Trades want plain speaking and no jargon, and they want to be treated as business owners rather than the bloke-in-a-van stereotype. Many have been burned by big promises before, so specific, honest information wins over a slogan.
The marketing that works, in the order we would do it
The early steps cost little and make everything after them work harder.
1. Be in stock and easy to find
Availability is marketing. If your product is not at the merchant the installer already uses, or your website does not say who stocks it, the sale goes to whatever is on the shelf.
- Keep a stockist finder that works on a phone, and keep it current.
- Make sure your listings on merchants’ own websites carry the same specs, photos and documents as yours.
- Tell installers when stock is back. A short message to trade account holders does more than an advert.
2. Win over the counter, and keep reps useful
Counter staff recommend products all day long. Give them a reason to recommend yours: a short training session, a one-page sheet on what it fits and what it replaces, and a named person to ring when an installer asks something awkward.
Trade counter mornings work when there is something worth seeing. A bacon roll gets people through the door. A demo of a fitting that saves them time on every job gets them buying.
Field reps are expensive, so point them at the accounts that matter and give them something worth leaving behind. A rep who turns up with the answer to the problem an installer had last week does more than one with a new brochure.
3. Show the product going in
Short install videos answer the questions installers actually have, and video is the fastest way we know to build trust with a trade audience. Film a real installer on a real job rather than a model in a studio, and keep each video to one task.
Put them on YouTube as well as your own site. YouTube is the most-cited website in Ahrefs’ tracking of Google’s AI Overviews, which matters more every month (more on that below). If you do not have the kit or the time, that is the kind of work our video production team does.
4. Answer the awkward questions on your website
The approach we use for trades works for suppliers too: publish honest answers to the questions installers and their customers are already searching for.
- What does it cost, fitted and unfitted?
- What goes wrong with it, and how do you avoid it?
- How does it compare with the product it replaces?
- Who is it not right for?
Very few manufacturers will publish an article on the common problems with their own product and how to avoid them. The one that does becomes the name installers trust. Keep spec sheets, install guides and warranty terms one tap from every product page, and make sure they are readable on a phone on site.
5. Help the installer sell the job
The installer has to sell your product to their own customer. Make that easy for them:
- customer-friendly explainer pages they can send before a quote
- good photography they are allowed to use on their own website and socials
- warranty documents a homeowner can understand
If you run an installer scheme, spell out what installers get from it, for example a listing on your website, a longer warranty or enquiries passed on, and keep the listings up to date. An installer who wins work because of you will tell other installers.
6. Feed the word of mouth
Trades lean heavily on word of mouth, for their own work and for what they fit. Installers talk on site, at the merchant and in trade Facebook and WhatsApp groups. You cannot buy that conversation, but you can feed it: look after installers properly when something goes wrong, answer questions in public, and ask the ones who rate you for a review or a short clip of the product on a job.
7. Advertise once the basics are in place
Google Ads on product and stockist searches can work well, and LinkedIn can reach contractors’ buyers by job title. Do not run ads into a weak website with no reviews, no photos and no video, though. You will pay for clicks that go nowhere.
Getting named when trades ask AI
Installers and homeowners now ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI “what is the best product for this job?” and get an answer without visiting a website. When asked to recommend a local tradesperson, ChatGPT mostly reads out directories and lists rather than businesses’ own sites, a pattern our guide to getting found on AI covers in detail.
There is no equivalent study for building products yet, so treat this as a direction rather than a fact. The places that list and compare products are likely to be where an assistant looks: merchants’ websites, trade press round-ups, comparison articles and YouTube. Being present, accurate and well reviewed in those places is part of the job now.
Selling to contractors is a different job
Main contractors and bigger builders buy through procurement. Price matters, but so does being on the approved supplier list, having accreditations and insurances in order, and delivering when you said you would.
Marketing to them looks like this:
- case studies from real projects, with names and values where the client agrees
- a credentials page that is current and easy to verify
- staying known to buyers and site managers between orders, not only when a package is out
Our page on construction and civils marketing explains how contractors get onto supplier lists themselves. It is worth reading from the other side, because the buyer judging them is often judging you as well.
What to stop doing
Some of the most common spend in supplier marketing does the least.
- Buying a database of tradesmen to email. Under PECR, sole traders and some partnerships are treated like individuals, so you generally need consent before sending them marketing emails. Bought lists also land badly with people who have been burned before. Build your own from trade account holders who opt in.
- Posting on every platform. Pick the one or two where your trade customers already are, and post things they find useful.
- Exhibitions with no follow-up plan. A stand costs a lot. The value is in the conversations you follow up the week after.
- Reporting on likes and impressions. Followers do not order stock.
How to tell if it is working
Traffic and followers are proxies. What counts is the order book. Track the numbers closest to money:
- trade accounts opened and stockist enquiries
- sell-through at the merchants who stock you (ask them)
- installer scheme sign-ups, and how many are active
- sample and quote requests from contractors
- the answer to “how did you hear about us?” on every new account
Where to start
Pick your main buyer, fix availability and your product pages, then film a handful of install videos. Everything else builds on those.
If you would like a second pair of eyes first, our free Website & AI Readiness Audit is open to suppliers to the industry as well as trades and contractors. It looks at your website, your Google presence and how AI tools see your business, and comes back with a practical 90-day plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to market building products to tradespeople?
Start with availability and information rather than advertising. Make sure installers can find your product at the merchant they already use, see how it goes in, and get plain answers on price, fit and warranty. Then help them sell it to their own customers. Advertising works far better once those basics are in place.
Should a builders' merchant invest in social media?
Only on one or two platforms where your trade customers already are, and only if you can post useful things on a routine you can keep: new lines, stock news, short how-to clips, branch events. Trades scroll straight past adverts. Posting everywhere because you feel you should is a common way to lose hours for nothing.
Is it worth buying a database of tradesmen to email?
Usually not. Under PECR, sole traders and some partnerships are treated like individuals, so you generally need their consent before sending them marketing emails, and plenty of trades work that way. Bought lists also tend to perform badly with people who have been burned before. Build your own list from trade account holders and installers who opt in. The ICO's guidance on electronic marketing has the detail.
Do I need a specialist agency to market building products?
It depends on who your buyer is. If you mainly need products specified by architects and consultants, a building products specialist will know that world well. If your buyers are installers, builders and contractors, look for people who understand how those businesses choose suppliers and can show you work that reached them.
