Posts Categorized: Construction Marketing

5 ways construction companies can use online video

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Following on from my previous post on 5 reasons why construction companies should be  blogging, we now look at how construction companies can use online video and in particular YouTube as the tool of choice.

Online video usage and consumption is on the increase. Fact. Forrester Research recently reported that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page search ranking than traditional text pages. So, if you want to get some of your content onto the first page of Google very quickly then make sure it’s a video.

A quick search on the web for ‘Rainwater Harvesting Systems’ returns a mix of video, image and text based results. This is called ‘blended results’. What I want to point out here is that the video on the left (circled below) is produced by a company called ISW (Innovative Water Solutions) and yet they don’t have a single text or image based listing on the first page of Google, but the video is there driving traffic to the YouTube channel and then if viewers are wanting to know more they then have to option to visit the company website.Read More

5 reasons why construction companies should be blogging

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This is the first in a series of posts which aims to inspire you, the marketer for your construction company, on how you could use social media platforms and tools such as Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to connect, engage and educate your audience and enhance your brand to meet business objectives.

This post was recently updated in April 2015

Firstly, let’s get one thing straight.

Your marketing efforts should always be geared towards business objective(s), goals and targets (K.P.I’s). Why are you doing it? The last thing you want to do is step into the world of public opinions and customer conversations with a blind eye and make a complete hash of things. If you haven’t read Social Media Metrics by Jim Sterne then we suggest you do.

Jim writes that the big 3 business goals for social media are:

1) Increase revenue
2) Lower costs
3) Improve Customer Satisfaction’.

These 3 goals are all that matter in the long run and the goals/objectives which I will relate to for each channel.Read More

It’s not about you

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Your web site shouldn’t be about you – it should be about your prospect and customers. The average technical and trade website visitor is only interested in what benefits them as a business – they are self-centred. So your content language should not be concentrated on “our” and “we” but instead “yours” and “you”. The age old attitude of ‘my website is a shop window for my business’ is still present today, however, the prospect looking through the window no longer wants to know about you as much as  the need to know WIFM…what’s in it for me? Providing value through your content is what makes the difference.

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Government sector lead the pack in email marketing

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A recent email marketing benchmark report published by Sign-Up.to shows that the Government sector is performing the best against 23 other sectors for open and click through rates for email campaigns during Q1 and Q2 of this year. The Government sector is currently achieving open rates of 35.60% which is a significant increase on 2009. This is due to the General Election earlier this year which, for the first time, saw various other marketing channels used alongside email. We saw many parties utilise social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels to attract the ‘online savvy’ audience.

The worst performing sector was the Property sector, dropping from 13.11% to 9.58% open rate in 12 months and this could be due to the current housing market climate we find ourselves in. However, we have to also look at the ‘engagement’ levels for each sector which is measured by the number of clicks to open (Click to open rate) and the Government sector is currently achieving a click to open rate of 25.51% whilst the property sector comes in at 9.23%.

The industrial and manufacturing sector does not fair to badly, with open rates of 19.88% and a click to open rate of 16.87% is around about the average reported during Q1 and Q2. However, the unsubscription rate is slightly higher than average and this could be due to irrelevant information being promoted to the recipient and also the value proposition within the email or campaign itself.

Here is the table for the Government, Industrial and Property sectors for Q1 and Q2 of 2010 of email marketing benchmark report:

email marketing 2011 report

Don’t just put your brochure content online

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Way back, when the web was new, building product suppliers could be forgiven for merely copying their brochures and putting them online. Since then expectations of your web site’s content have changed vastly, so cutting and pasting your brochure copy simply won’t do.

When someone visits your web page they expect to find the information they seek immediately. They won’t want to be taken through an introductory paragraph of self-congratulatory spin, nor enjoy a portrait of your smiling chairman. No, they want to cut to the chase, to find the product they’re seeking, to find the relevant supporting information and to make contact easily.

Here are 6 tips for writing content for your website:Read More

Link to Success

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If you understand the importance of links – and anyone contemplating social media marketing simply must – then you will also appreciate that creating good quality content is the key to the whole exercise. We discussed this in the last edition of My Digital Insider which looked at Social Media Marketing for construction companies. As the social media network becomes more and more part of our daily activity and the lines of communication between business and personal life become less distinct, so the opportunities for your staff to create these links increases. Which means that – as long as those engaged in link creation understand the dangers of inappropriate or poor quality links – you can share out the job. 

Here are just a few link creation ideas. You probably wouldn’t want to use them all, but this does provide a useful checklist if only to remind you that the presentation your MD gave to his chartered institute could be posted to his social networking profile or the video demonstrating the installation method of the  ‘pour and roll’ roof membrane product for a major project would look great on YouTube for prospects and customers to view.

How important is marketing to Main Contractors when it comes to product specification?

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For many construction product manufacturers, achieving product specification early on in the complex design and build process is a key sales and marketing objective. Early involvement from product manufacturers allows the education and collaboration process with Specifiers (Architects, lead engineers, designers etc), a key influencer, to become easier and to ensure the best product is specified for the job/project whilst also providing the manufacturer with the ability to better manage the process and ensure there is very little room for a change in specification.Read More

How are the Top 15 House Builders using social media?

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Yesterday, I did an analysis on the top 15 construction companies and how they utilised their social media profiles to enhance brand perception, improve customer service, educate and engage with the rest of the construction market.  This analysis follows the same format and criteria but this time focuses on the top 15 house builders within the UK. Again, I used the data produced by The Construction Index.

I analysed the Twitter profile for each house builder and checked to see if they were actually Tweeting and engaging with their followers, LinkedIn profile to see if they had a company page and had set up their own groups to build little online communities and finally Facebook to see if they were targeting and engaging with consumers who were looking to buy a new home. I also viewed their corporate websites to see if they had links to their social media profiles from their homepage, had analytics installed, incorporated a blog within their site and finally if they had an RSS or email feed available for keeping up with the latest news.Read More

How are the top 15 construction companies using social media?

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Read our 2015 update of this post here.

One of the top questions when embarking on a social media marketing strategy is “Where are my prospects and customers hanging out?”. I originally wanted to focus on very niche markets, pick a handful of companies and analyse their profiles in order to then report on how they are embracing and utilising social media channels to enhance brand perception, improve customer service, educate and engage with the rest of the construction market.Read More

Creating effective campaign landing pages

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For many marketers, targeting the right people involved at each stage of the long and complex, design and build process can be difficult to develop, implement and measure. Using inbound marketing channels is becoming much more prominent within the marketing mix and it goes without saying that well thought out campaigns can work wonders.

Our expert digital marketers have answered the question: ‘How will landing pages bring my audience online?’. Looking at how creating highly targeted landing pages with relevant content and a clear value proposition, will give you more qualified traffic and in turn, increase your campaign conversion rates and overall marketing success.

As marketers begin to realise the massive benefits of integrating offline approaches with online activities you will quickly learn how you too can evaluate your campaign performance. Find out more now, click creating effective landing pages and start to boost your marketing campaigns.