Dom D'Angelillo
The construction industry is set to undergo significant growth over the next 12-months, returning to levels that haven’t been seen since before the pandemic.
This makes it a fantastic time for construction product manufacturers to rethink their marketing strategy.
With countless marketing agencies to choose from it can be difficult for construction companies to know where to begin looking and even more difficult to decide on which marketing agency is best for them.
In this blog, we discuss everything that a construction marketing agency should be.
Construction Companies Post Lockdown
The construction industry has had a turbulent couple of years.
From Grenfell and the subsequent change in building regulations to a global pandemic where in an instant, the world just stopped.
According to the ONS, output by the entire industry fell by a staggering 29.8% in the three months leading up to May 2020 and it doesn’t take an experienced construction analyst to work out what exactly that was the result of.
With a recent survey of almost 900 different construction companies conducted, the actual reality of the first lockdown becomes much clearer.
Almost 70% of those construction businesses were forced into temporarily ceasing operation during the pandemic, while over 80% experienced projects being delayed or even cancelled.
However, there is a silver lining.
The Construction Production Association (CPA) published a forecast last month that estimates a 14% rise within the construction industry in 2021, with an additional 6.3% forecast the following year.
Although the CPA suggest significant construction projects like Hinkley Point nuclear power station, the Thames Tideway Tunnel and HS2 are critical components in this annual growth, it’s also important to consider that those projects that were cancelled or pushed back in 2020 are set to commence.
With the number of construction projects returning to pre-pandemic levels, now’s a great time to consider your construction marketing approach.
So if you’re looking for a construction marketing agency, then they need to consider these 5 things.
Responsive To Every Client’s Need
The last thing construction product manufacturers like you want is a ‘one size fits all, cookie-cutter approach.
This is anything but uncommon in the marketing industry.
So, when it comes to selecting your agency, you want to know that a marketing solution is going to be tailor-made for your construction product business.
Marketing agencies for construction companies should be completely responsive and driven to ensure the best possible results regardless of what part of construction you are in.
What works for one construction company isn’t going to work for another. Having that approach to construction marketing is critical for whichever marketing agency you select.
Experienced With The Construction Industry
When looking for a marketing agency, it can be easy to fall into the trap of listening to marketing jargon.
For all the talk of click-through rates, SEO and HTML, construction product manufacturers surely want to hear one thing. Knowledge about the industry.
If a marketing agency is led by professionals from the construction sector and boasts and a team of staff with experience creating content surrounding construction products, you’re marketing is going to hit your audience much stronger.
Put it this way.
Which agency is better for you; one with clients ranging from small coffee shops to clothing brands, or an agency only working with clients in the construction sector?
Diverse & Open-Minded
Even the most dedicated and long-serving member of the construction sector would be hard-pressed to suggest that the industry as a whole is diverse.
The latest data, presented by the CIOB, suggest that only 6% of the construction workforce is made up of BAME employees, with only 2% of the 15% female workforce employed on-site.
What’s more, only 6% of the workforce are recognised as being disabled and almost 60% of LGBTQ employees have experienced derogatory terms.
It would be easy for construction companies to select a marketing agency that reflects them but consider those agencies with a diverse range of employees. Not only does diversity bring a wider range of ideas to the table, a step apart from the traditional means, but it also helps construction businesses reflect society as a whole.
Strong & Consistent With Their Approach
Marketing comes in all different shapes and sizes, from social media advertising to website development.
With so many marketing agencies offering different solutions to your construction marketing queries, it’s important to choose one that is clear and consistent with how they approach marketing.
Insynth for instance is a construction marketing agency that focuses on the ‘inbound’ approach, creating content that answers questions people are regularly searching for.
If we spoke about ‘inbound’ and creating blogs for ourselves and our clients, but in reality only worried about paid advertisement and only focused our efforts on that, it would be a poor reflection.
When looking for a marketing agency for your construction company, it’s important to ensure that they are strong and consistent in their own marketing approach as well as their clients.
Thought Leaders & Building A Legacy For Change
This one connects multiple points, but it’s particularly poignant and something that is certain to make your preferred construction marketing agency stand out from the crowd.
There’s no denying the industry has been under intense pressure over recent years. With the spotlight shone on the industry post-Grenfell, immediate reactions were required meaning that construction products had to be marketed entirely differently.
With that in mind, it’s important for construction marketing agencies to be at the forefront of all the relevant changes, becoming thought leaders in the industry for all of their clients and ensuring industry-wide best practices.
For those agencies who don’t react to the industry, it can make it incredibly difficult for their clients to win more work.
Conclusion
The construction industry has ebbed and flowed over the past 18-months, but it finally looks like there are signs of stability moving forward.
This makes it a fantastic time to look towards a new marketing approach.
But don’t just choose any old marketing agency.
You want to pick one with expertise within the construction industry, agencies with a diverse range of staff from different backgrounds and a company that will craft a solution specifically for your needs.
There is an extensive list of what a construction marketing agency should be, and we’ve only just scratched the surface of what can be provided.
If you’re interested in bringing in a fresh approach to your marketing, speak to our team today.
About Insynth
At Insynth we deliver a predictable flow of leads, customers, and specifications for building product brands through our inbound marketing approach, proven to reach a technically demanding audience.
We use the latest marketing techniques such as construction inbound marketing, to equip building product companies to grow sustainability in this era of digital transformation.
As the only HubSpot certified agency to major in construction marketing. We have a proven formula of bringing a variety of functionalities together including CRM Implementation, Web Design, Sales Automation, SEO, and Email Marketing to achieve your ultimate aim: Growing your business and gaining new specifiers and customers.