Three approaches to construction marketing: Which applies to you?

Here are three alternative approaches to architectural, engineering and construction industry marketing.  Which applies to you? I advertise extensively. You spend a significant amount of money each month to promote your business with paid advertising in magazines, newspapers, the Web and perhaps television and radio.  You measure the effectiveness of your media, but you aren’t [...]

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Great idea, wrong approach (maybe)

Rarely do I see an example of marketing brilliance and stupidity combined in one place as great and obvious as this ad.  This is not a criticism of the contractor who placed it.  He apparently published the ad on the advice of a consultant and says in the Contractortalk.com posting where he described the advertsing [...]

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The two solitudes of construction marketing — can you cross the divide?

Yesterday morning, on a beautiful spring Good Friday, I took Kashi for a walk in the official federal-government owned dog park in our backyard.  As the dogs jumped, played, and sniffed around (and mine dug a big hole), I chatted with my neighbour who happens to be responsible for marketing for a major Canadian retailer.  [...]

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How to get it all wrong with construction marketing

This posting in Adams Hudson’s newsletter shows how brains and money in this industry are sometimes not aligned: A contractor who had been doing well in the go-go economy, was seeing his agreement renewal rate slip, his closing ratios tilt downward, and his margins erode to get the jobs. “This is the economy” he told [...]

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Consistent marketing: Thinking (again) beyond relying on referrals

The most recent ContractorCity newsletter reminds readers of construction marketing basics, making clear that while referral and repeat business are vital to your success, you can’t simply passively rely on word-of-mouth for your business survival. Referrals from satisfied customers are of paramount importance, and should make up at least 50% of your sales. However, many [...]

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Others’ great ideas (I’m not the only person in the world with a brain . . . really)

Here are some ideas for which I take absolutely no credit. Adams Hudson writes in his regular newsletter that he is in Washington, “talking to a group of dedicated HVAC professionals who are looking to get leads during this warm winter.”  Of course he is speaking about Washington State on the West Coast, because those [...]

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The hard and easy way to market successfully

Here are two questions to put your mind to work: Which works best:   An inbound  call from someone out of the blue, who has heard good things about you and wants you to proceed with a project; or paying a canvasser or outbound seller to attract sales for you? Referred leads from satisfied (enthusiastic) clients [...]

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