The construction industry has a marketing problem. Some companies are not even aware that they have a marketing problem, which just compounds the situation.
Marketing involves much more than printing up business cards and putting ads in a newspaper. The modern consumer is bombarded by information from a wide range of sources every waking minute – from print media, internet, television, radio, emails, texts, social media, and snail mail. Unless a message applies to their unique situation and is compelling, they will tune it out.
From websites, blogs and social media to videos, emails, digital ads, press releases, brochures, and bids, your company has an abundance of marketing options. Whether those marketing efforts are designed to maintain your existing customer base or attract new clients and employees, you need to tailor your message to that specific audience. To that end, it’s important for construction marketers to learn the prospect’s language and use that in the marketing efforts.
Another, and very valuable, way to make your message compelling is to share your success stories and draw your audience into those stories. A compelling story does not describe how great you are. It describes how you helped your customers look great.
Relating a compelling story is challenging and complicated. Your story needs to be positioned to connect with your specific audience. Marketers need to map their story to address the real, expressed needs a customer has. It does not really matter what you think or assume is important to your prospects. What matters is what they say is important to them. To find that out, it is helpful to listen more to what your prospects have to say.
When marketers are trying to tell a compelling story, they need to first understand the pain points their audience is facing.
Contrary to the way many of us marketers were brought up in the industry, we in the construction company are not the hero of the story we are telling. Rather, we are the guide that helped customers solve the pain points and problems they were dealing with. When striving for success, it is your company’s obligation to meet people where they are, not where you want to appear. Basically, it is your job to help them get to where they want to be, not the other way around.
This is why it is critical to take time and listen to a customer’s description of their problem(s). An immediate response is not as important as understanding where they are coming from and relating to them.
In order to change the narrative of the construction industry for the better, companies need to learn how to better share their stories about how they have enabled their customers to be the hero in the story. When construction companies share stories with a unified voice, a more accurate portrayal of the industry can emerge.
Bridging the Gap Podcast episode 122 features a roundtable discussion about construction marketing in light of today’s demanding marketplace and non-stop, cluttered messaging.
Resources
