Leigh Simpson
With the end of the year on the horizon and countless marketing plans are being finished off, ready for budget approval. You may want to check whether you are taking advantage of the latest trends for construction marketing to leverage your marketing ROI and cost-effectively increase web traffic, leads and sales.
Here are some of the latest developments and technologies that could make all the difference to your business in 2018.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is here to stay, and it is not stealing your job! Used properly, AI can automate the mundane, repetitive tasks that get in the way of your sales and marketing activity. Responding to common information requests, lead nurturing and enquiry follow-ups can now routinely be automatically carried out without the need for teams of salespeople, freeing them up to actually sell.
Coming very soon is chatbot manned helpdesks and email assistants that draw from your knowledge base to provide your customers with answers 24/7 so that you never miss another sales opportunity.
Facebook Advertising
Move over LinkedIn; Facebook is now targeting the B2B space. With 1.6 billion users compared to LinkedIn's 460m, it is clear to see that Facebook has a clear reach advantage.
On average, Facebook holds 98 pieces of data on each user, which allows them to identify your ideal potential customers simply from a sample of your existing customer's email addresses. How? Facebook does a "like me" analysis which finds users with the same jobs, geographic and behavioural markers as your existing clients, creating a target audience aligned to be receptive to your marketing and promotional activity.
Facebook advertising is highly cost-effective too, making trialling this channel a must-do for 2018.
Augmented Reality
Simulate your latest designs for the architect or client to view in situ through their iPhone or tablet. Imagine showing how a building would look with your cladding, floor covering or glazing systems in place, looking from every angle and perspective.
This must be a sure-fire method of closing more deals and improving your sales conversion ratios.
Integrated Websites
Major advances in technology have heralded the arrival of a new breed of CRM systems. Integrated with email systems and websites, they track the engagement of your prospects and customers with your business at every opportunity.
Imagine being able to see every page your customer had read on your website in the last two weeks, what pages of your technical literature they had looked at and when they opened your latest quote.
Armed with this information, marketing can track which campaigns are generating sales, better understand your customers buying journey, and your sales team are able to plan precisely how to structure their sales approach and timing one to one basis to improve sales conversion and revenue.
Smart Dynamic Websites
How about a website that changes its content depending on how you found it, your previous viewing history or the stage you are at on a specific sales opportunity.
Personalising the user experience for your customer makes so much sense. The content will be far more relevant to them at that precise moment. You will be easier to deal with, and it will build your credibility, earning trust in their eyes.
Innovatively and subtly, you will be making the whole experience of working with you easier for your potential customer, increasing the likelihood of closing that sale.
This technology is here now and is proven. Integrating your website with your CRM system makes all of this possible and provides quick wins in terms of cap-ex payback and revenue growth.
Video Content
If you are not doing video now, then you need to be planning to do so. The outlay can be less than £200 to rig up your smartphone with the correct add-ons and a professional microphone.
Once you are kitted out, you can quickly produce valuable content on your site to show how the product is installed, call out great design ideas or product features, and generally create a closer connection to your marketplace.
Don't worry about high tech, professional editing and slick production values. Think about your audience, and if they can relate to your DIY efforts, they will take notice and engage in finding out more about what you do.
With Google estimating that over 80% of content will be video by 2020, you need to act now, or your customers will be engaging with someone else's video and buying from them.
Need Help?
It's not too late to add a few of these to your 2018 marketing plan.
Why not book a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our Construction Marketing Experts to see how you can accelerate your sales growth.
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.