For hardscape professionals looking to scale their businesses, understanding effective marketing is no longer optional—it’s essential. Brian Basik, Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Hardscape Marketing, brings a unique perspective to the hardscaping industry and offers a new option of a career path in the industry.
An Unconventional Journey to Hardscape Marketing
Basik’s career didn’t start in concrete or pavers. Or even in marketing, for that matter.
“I kind of have a weird career path,” he said. “I went to the Air Force Academy for my undergraduate degree and then I was in the Air Force for a number of years.” Following his military service, Basik spent over two decades in corporate America, leading sales organizations for a Fortune 15 company.
His entrance into the home services industry came in 2016 when he purchased a small pressure washing, roof cleaning, and window washing company in Fort Myers, Florida. Despite his experience running large organizations, he said, “It was absolutely the hardest job I’ve ever had, but the best job I’ve had.”
What began as a $250,000 operation transformed under Basik’s leadership.
“We doubled it every year,” he said. “That was our goal—to scale the company.”
This growth strategy paid off, with the business reaching impressive numbers before he sold it in 2021.
Finding a Marketing Gap—and Filling It
During his years running the home services company, Basik discovered that quality marketing help was hard to find.
“When I first had the company, I couldn’t afford to outsource the marketing, so I had to do the marketing myself,” he said. He learned everything from Facebook ads to traditional marketing tools.
Later, when he could afford outside help, he was disappointed by what he found.
“I looked at marketing companies that I could hire and I couldn’t really find anybody that was good,” Basik said. “They were condescending like I didn’t know what I was talking about. They cared more about clicks and impressions than they did about leads, which is what I really cared about.”
This experience sparked an idea.
“I thought, if I ever get out of this business, I may get into marketing because it shouldn’t be this hard,” he said.
After selling his company in 2021, that’s exactly what he did, launching Polaris Marketing Solutions focused on marketing home services.
The Power of Niching Down
Once Polaris started seeing some success, Basik was challenged by his business coach to focus on a specific niche rather than serving all home service businesses. After analyzing his client roster, he realized something important.
“As I looked at all of my companies, I looked at the ones that I thought I was actually doing the best with, and they were hardscape folks,” Basik said. “We were killing it.”
This insight led to the 2023 launch of Citadel Hardscape Marketing, specializing exclusively in marketing services for the hardscape industry.
“I get what it’s like to have to have crews and trucks. I’ve lived that life and I understand exactly where they’re coming from. So that makes me a little bit unique,” Basik said. “A lot of the people in marketing, they don’t get what it’s like to worry about filling up your schedule and having crews and jobs and leads and all that other kind of stuff. I’m excited to be in this niche.”
Education as a Core Value
Beyond running his marketing agency with his team of specialists that focus on SEO, website development, and other tools, Basik has positioned himself as an educator on the power of marketing for the hardscape industry. He wrote a book, Cementing Success: How to Double Your Business by Unlocking the Power of Your Internet Marketing, hosts a podcast, leads webinars, and speaks at events put on by industry associations like the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA).
“My goal is to just educate, to be a huge resource for the industry,” he said. “…I think everybody intuitively knows they need to market. But they are wondering if I invest in this, what am I going to get in return?… We can have conversations around that and helping them understand how to build a portfolio of assets that will continue to feed their business.”
Basik said that some of his clients have even seen a 30-to-1 return on their marketing investment.
“If you look at what these guys are trying to accomplish, they’re trying to get some freedom, financial freedom. They’re trying to build their company. They’re trying to make sure that they get a good return on their investment,” he said. “…We can help put in place the processes to do that. It really helps you accelerate and scale your business.”
Basik takes particular pride in seeing his clients succeed. He highlights one client who grew his business to over $1 million in sales last year and is on track to double that this year.
“Coming alongside businesses like that, that I get to see them grow, get to see him get excited… I’m proud of that,” he said. “I want to work with the guys that want to make a difference. And that’s not only in their own lives but in their communities or in the world.”
Opportunities for Aspiring Hardscape Marketers
Marketing professionals in the hardscaping industry play a key role in connecting the right products and services with the right customers. For aspiring hardscape marketers, Basik sees vast opportunity in a sector that’s evolving rapidly.
“The breadth of hardscape is huge,” he said, noting that the industry encompasses not just contractors working with residential customers, but also wholesale suppliers, manufacturers, and a growing range of specialty services.
Basik encourages aspiring hardscape marketers to ask themselves which segment of this diverse industry aligns with their skills and interests.
“As you think about where you want to be, pick a niche, and then kind of go as deep as you can on that niche because it’s just so wide—you can’t be all things to all people,” he advises.
As a start, this might mean choosing between B2B (Business-to-Business) marketing for manufacturers and suppliers versus B2C (Business-to-Consumer) strategies for residential contractors.
Citadel Hardscape Marketing is a remote business and Basik hires team members from all over the world. Instead of location, he focuses on talent and a willingness to learn.
“I want to teach them how to do this. If they have a bit of a background in digital marketing, at least understand the basics, that’s fine,” Basik said. “…If they know the [hardscaping] space that that would be a plus. But we can also teach that to them and our customers do a great job of helping explain things as well. There are a million kinds of pavers out there as well and we learn that from our customers. But we want to be experts in those things we can.”
Looking Ahead
In an industry that’s constantly evolving—with new products, techniques, and challenges—Basik said there is unlimited potential for hardscape professionals who embrace marketing, focus on their niche, and commit to continuous learning.
Basik sees a future filled with innovation and increasing specialization. The emergence of AI and other technologies will transform both marketing practices and the hardscape industry itself.
“Just keeping on top of AI is a full-time occupation. That’s going to impact my business. It’s going to impact their hardscaping business. You’ve got to have a culture of learning because this is going to go fast in the next couple of years,” he said.
“…I want to be a good resource for my customers, who really rely on me because there’s so much changing in the industry. It’s my job to keep on top of what I’m doing so that I can be a valuable partner for these guys.”
