Contractors know the feeling: They roll onto a new site, shake hands with a superintendent or inspector they’ve never met and immediately feel the sizing up. For years, those first impressions happened face to face. Now, they often happen online before anyone arrives on the jobsite. This creates both opportunities and challenges when trying to make a good first impression.
“It may feel one-way,” says Mike Simon, creator of the Dirt Perfect YouTube channel and owner of an excavating business in Derby, Indiana, “but you still have to build a relationship with your audience so that when you show up, they feel like they already know you.”
The shift has raised the stakes for how contractors present themselves online. Authentic, jobsite-based content shows a company’s standards, crew and work approach.
Every contractor has a story. The question is whether people are hearing it from the company itself or piecing it together from somewhere else.
AUTHENTICITY CREATES FAMILIARITY
Many contractors assume social media requires carefully planned campaigns or highly produced videos. The creators who have built successful construction brands online often take a different approach: they document the work they're already doing.
Amy Underwood, a plant operator in Scotland known online as "The Digger Girl," has attracted a following by bringing viewers into the cab with her. From muddy jobsites to routine excavation work, her videos offer an unfiltered look at life behind the controls of heavy equipment. Her advice to contractors is straightforward: "You have to be you,” she says. “Do not try to be anyone else.”
The Dirt Perfect YouTube channel was built around a simple idea: Invite people see construction work in action. Mike’s videos put viewers in the middle of excavation projects, equipment challenges and routine jobsite decisions, creating the same familiarity that develops when someone spends time alongside a crew.
"The best compliment we always get is, ‘You guys are exactly what we saw online, you're exactly how we thought you were,’” Mike says.
When done right, social media becomes an extension of a company's brand. Matt Stanley, founder of Raised on Blacktop and a member of the American Pavement team, says his company's recognizable red trucks, meticulously maintained equipment and family-centered culture appear regularly in its content to show the business behind the projects.
VISIBILITY SUPPORTS RECRUITING AND GROWTH
For many contractors, social media has evolved from a marketing activity into a business development tool.
Content is most valuable when it shows the company as a whole, says Taylor White, director of Ken White Construction and owner of PriTec Management. By highlighting the company’s people, culture and quality of work, potential clients get a clearer sense of who they’ll be working with and what they can expect.
Brian Dietz, owner of Bob Dietz & Sons, Inc., began sharing his company's story in part to attract employees during a period of labor shortages.
The effort had a much broader impact. By sharing the company's story online, Brian raised its profile far beyond its local market, connecting with industry partners, equipment manufacturers and prospective employees. That visibility led to a role as a John Deere brand ambassador and opportunities to collaborate on equipment development projects.
START WITH THE WORK YOU'RE ALREADY DOING
Every contractor has a story. The question is whether people are hearing it from the company itself or piecing it together from somewhere else.
Contractors do not need a production team to start building a stronger online presence. They can just start sharing the work already happening around them.
- Show the process: Document projects as they progress, not just after they're finished.
- Highlight problem-solving: Share challenges your team encounters and how they overcome them.
- Feature the people: Introduce crew members, operators and field leaders who help make projects successful.
- Showcase equipment and technology: Give a closer look at the tools, machines and innovations that drive the work.
- Capture company culture: Whether it's a family business, a long-standing team tradition or a commitment to quality, show what makes your company unique.
Most importantly, stay focused on the purpose behind the content: to help customers, recruits and partners better understand who you are and how you operate.
"One of the biggest mistakes you can make is just posting to be posting,” Mike shares. “There's got to be a purpose or a reason behind it."
Take a deeper dive into construction content creation and brand building in the session, Building a Construction Brand Online: Tips From Top Content Creators, by purchasing On Demand Education Access from the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 show.
PHOTO CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK/VECTORFUSIONART
