Building product companies face a significant hurdle when marketing to architects. Connecting with architects is vital as they hold the key to shaping architectural projects and specifications, but they aren't easy to reach through traditional marketing channels.

This is where CPD comes in.

A QUICK RECAP OF WHAT A CPD IS… 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) refers to the ongoing process of learning, developing skills, and improving knowledge in one's chosen profession. It is an essential part of personal and professional growth for construction professionals as it allows them to hone their skills and knowledge, and stay up-to-date with the latest developments in their field.   

An effective CPD can enhance the professionals’ competencies, improve their job performance, and advance their career prospects. But as a CPD provider, you’ll also earn a role as a trusted advisor and have a higher chance of getting your products specified. 

Here are all the Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to CPD creation.  

A lot has changed since the pandemic.  

Even though the pandemic period is over, it seems that some changes are here to stay.  

As remote work and video conferencing are becoming more prevalent and establishing a new norm, we are seeing increasing demand for online CPD. 

Many businesses don't understand the full potential of CPD.

They have KPI’s for their sales team to deliver x number of CPD’s per year. Or they have a goal to get RIBA approval. Or they have a series of slideshows hosted on their website.

But most companies don't have a CPD educational program delivered over multiple channels despite the fact that this has massive potential to drive sales.

Professional success is an ongoing journey with no end.

As the world and technology evolves at rocket speed, especially throughout the last decade, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is how professionals maintain their skills, knowledge, and understanding to remain up-to-date with industry best practices and stay on top of their game.

For those operating in the architectural and design space, CPDs play a pivotal role within each professional’s career path.

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is needed more than ever within the construction industry. With evolving regulations and a global push for more sustainable and ethical practices, architects are leveraging CPD to seek out the latest industry developments in the construction environment.

Recent research from the construction media index shows that 48% of architects attend a CPD because it is relevant to one of their current projects. This can be interpreted as indicating their interest in a specific product or system. 

But truth is, it’s probably a bit more complicated than that.

Ever heard of the saying,

‘All roads lead to Rome’?

Nothing could be truer for CPD. There are numerous ways that building product companies can provide educational value to their audience of building professionals, aside from the traditional ‘lunch and learn’ you may be accustomed to.

CPD is any activity undertaken by a professional that has improved and informed their practice.

This gives you abundant opportunities to establish yourself as a trusted adviser within your niche/area of expertise.

In this blog, we explore seven different activities – all of which could be classified as ‘CPD’.

Creating a Digital CPD offering can be an effective way to engage a wider audience of decision-makers within the construction industry. Yet, this transition will require you to closely consider your tech stack.

An effective tech stack (i.e. the technologies you use to build and run a project) doesn’t just help you deliver your CPD in an easier way, it can influence the perception of your company – from how professional you’re perceived to be, to how efficient you’ll be to work with.

In this post, we highlight the essential and must-haves, to get your digital CPD off to the right start.

RIBA-approved CPDs hold significant weight within the construction/building product space. And if your aim is to increase specification and awareness amongst the architectural landscape, then a RIBA CPD is most definitely a consideration to add to your marketing mix.

Here are the facts:

• The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is home to 44,000 Chartered Architects
• Architects who are part of the RIBA must undertake 35 hours of CPD per year
• CPD points are based on self-reflection
• RIBA CPDs are worth double points

If you’re new to CPD or unsure of what direction to take with your CPD, this post covers the reasons why you should (or, indeed, shouldn’t) consider RIBA CPD as part of your strategy.

As the built environment in the UK adopts a stronger commitment to the environment, it is the moment for building product manufacturers to step forward and ask themselves how they are contributing to this commitment. Most often than not, building products are designed with the environment in mind. It is key to be able to communicate that to architects and specifiers looking for more environmentally friendly solutions.

Your CPD event has been delivered. Congratulations! You might be tempted to sit back and relax, waiting for the results to come through but… That would be a mistake! Whilst incredibly efficient, CPDs are not magic tricks, and very rarely will they get you leads on their own.

You need to work for it.

CPDs have been a great way to market your building products to architects and specifiers and provide professionals with career development. 

However, with the drastic changes to the industry due to the Grenfell tragedy and the rise and continuation of Covid, we have all had to adapt rapidly to continue meeting the expectation of specifiers.

This blog talks about 5 top tips for a great CPD to help you kick start your CPD adaptation.

As the “new normal” establishes itself, an emphasis is being put on the “new”.

The world is becoming used to new ways of behaving and performing activities, including learning. A rise in digitally delivered learning has put the future of CPD into question.

With that in mind, we have summarised the results of 4 reports on CPD published during 2021 to understand the past, present, and future of CPD in construction.

Selling to architects is challenging. To start with, there are only approximately 57,000 architects in all of the UK. A relatively small market. Then, it’s difficult to stand out. Architects don’t like getting pitched on products.

We hear you. We’ve been there too. Just what is CPD?  

Continuing Professional Development (or simply CPD) refers to an activity an individual takes part in, with the primary goal of developing their professional knowledge and learning.  

Most commonly, CPD’s took the form of formal courses or conferences which are deliberately tailored to a chosen area of growth.  

But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a massive selection of other activities which can also fall under the banner of CPD – Any learning activity can contribute towards your CPD hours, whether it is being delivered in a structured or more informal way.  

While you might roll your eyes at the thought of hosting Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or trying to encourage architects and specifiers to sign up to your latest online construction course, it’s all for a good reason.

Helping you ensure best practice continues in the construction industry, CPDs are a fantastic means of educating your prospects on changing regulations, product updates or the latest news in your particular sector.

Though your prospects might see it as the least important thing they need to do, there are considerable benefits in encouraging attendance to CPDs that can make significant changes to the construction industry.

In this blog, we discuss what a CPD is, why they’re so important and discuss how you can make the most of your next online CPD, ensuring architects and specifiers are taking advantage of fast-moving technology in the construction sector.

As new initiatives like the Building Safety Bill are implemented within the UK construction industry, architects are expected, more than ever, to help maintain and improve standards in the built environment, encouraging construction professionals to continuously upgrade their knowledge and facilitate collaboration between trades.

A post written by architect and friend of Insynth, Paul Iddon ARB RIBA

Online construction courses have seen their popularity exponentially raising in the last year. Accessible for a bigger audience, building product manufacturers are now able to increase their brand awareness and reach more people within the industry through digital CPDs. These online construction courses offer helpful content that construction professionals can access from their own home.

Taking part in online construction courses and industry specific CPDs has become a requirement for members of many professional institutes such as RIBA, asking specifiers to undertake a minimum number of hours of Continuing Professional Development (yes, that is where the acronym CPD comes from!) every year so they stay up to date with the latest construction advancements.

Digital CPD within the building product and construction industry has grown in popularity since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Providers, like RIBA CPD, have seen exponential growth in uptake as more and more specifiers seek to gain their CPD points remotely.

If you’re a building product manufacturer, you’d have undoubtedly considered the benefits of shifting your CPD to a digital format.

As with most things ‘digital’, simple, efficient and economical benefits can all be gained.

However, choosing to become a CPD provider for an authorised body such as The RIBA is another consideration entirely.

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and is the term used to describe the professional learning activities available in multiple industries to develop their learning and abilities.

As a building product manufacturer, it’s useful to understand exactly what architects want out of a CPD, in order to create and provide one that meets those requirements. If your CPD is valuable, engaging and memorable, the greater chances you have of your building products being specified.

Updated June 2021. To view the original post, click here. 

Many key members of your target audience will be chartered members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

As you’ll be aware, The RIBA is a professional body for architects who are primarily based in the UK. Members of the institute will have obligations to fulfil, including allotting a set number of hours to the undertaking of CPD each year.

In this post, we take a closer look at the RIBA CPD requirements and uncover what this means for your building product business.

Read on…

As part of our blogging series on what to expect from your construction marketing in 2021, we tackle the subject of CPD webinars and why they will remain a crucial driver in your marketing strategy for next year.

If you’ve read any of our previous posts, you will see that we’ve blogged extensively on digital CPDs, so if you want to learn more, explore your options, find out requirements, etc, click here.

Let’s dive in…

Over the past few weeks, we’ve blogged extensively about the digitisation of your CPD sessions.

In this guide, we aim to tie everything together, outlining:

• What digital CPDs are and why you should consider one
• Effective formats for digital CPDs
• CPD webinars
• How to make a CPD
• What to talk about
• How to get accredited

And some handy tips along the way.

Read on!

Are you thinking of hosting a CPD in webinar format?

Webinars offer a wide range of benefits that the modern construction product business can - and should - be taking advantage of.

Today we’ll be giving you a step-by-step guide on how you can effectively host your CPD webinar, as well as some key considerations to help you along the way.

When it comes to RIBA CPD submission, there are several factors that are mandatory in order to gain approval.

In this post, we’ll aim to give an overview on what those essential elements are. This will be useful for anyone who is thinking of digitising their current CPD or creating a new one from scratch.

Don’t forget to head over to our CPD services page, where we talk you through our step-by-step CPD creation strategy to help you get approved with ease.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) has been a successful route to market for Building Product Manufactures and has become a vital part of architects’ and design professionals’ career development.

The rise in remote working, however, has prompted us all to think a little differently about how we deliver CPD to a wider audience, since face-to-face interactions are not viable right now.

Digitising your Building Product CPD means that you can deliver helpful content, whilst enabling professionals to access it from the comfort of their own home.

However, it’s not just a case of creating a PowerPoint and talking about the benefits of your products. Creating engaging, educational value is what will set you apart from everyone else.

Read on to find out more.

This is the first question that anyone asks when considering delivering a new CPD session, followed by:

Can I deliver true value?

Will people be interested in what I have to say?

You then may have practicality concerns such as:

Do I have the time?

Is it worth it?

Before you know it, you’ve talked yourself out of delivering a CPD altogether.

Establishing the right topic is the first step in achieving a meaningful, educational CPD.

This post aims to provide some useful tips on how you can decide on an appropriate topic, and hopefully, steer your thoughts of negativity into something that you and your team will benefit from.

Read on!

Maybe you’ve decided to digitise your building product CPD; or maybe you want to create a fresh, new CPD from scratch.

Whatever your aims, you need to ensure that your end-result helps to develop your relationships, establishes thought leadership, and perhaps even leads to specification.

To increase your chances of the above happening, there are some key rules you can follow.

Read on to find out more.

It’s widely known that, for architects and design professionals, CPD is a vital part of career development. Many professional institutes (such as RIBA CIOB, RICS, RTPI, CIAT, ICE, IStructE) now require members to undertake a minimum number of CPD hours each year.

As more companies within construction and building products consider digitising their CPDs to reach a wider audience, many are tasked with the conundrum,

I’ve never digitised my CPD before.

Similarly, those who are new to the world of CPDs may be wondering where, even, to start.

If this is the case for you, our recent series on digital CPDs for your building product/construction company may help you.

Today, we’ll be exploring some essential ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ worth considering for anyone looking to digitise their building product CPD.

Read on to find out more…

As more and more companies within building products and construction embrace technology as a new way of working, digital CPDs are becoming a key consideration for many.

If you’re new to CPDs, or if you’re more accustomed to the traditional, face-to-face style of CPD, this blog sets out to explore how to make your CPD digital, reaching out to a wider audience and increasing your chances of specification.

Before we begin, I should outline that gaining CPD accreditation isn’t mandatory. You can still create a CPD without accreditation. You can still deliver value without accreditation. You can still increase specification without accreditation. CPD doesn't have to come from, be accredited by, or approved by the RIBA, for example, to count.

However, many organisations across all industry sectors decide to gain accreditation for various training courses. This is mainly because it is a recognised approach to learning and almost a ‘seal of approval’ for anyone looking to help educate people on new trends, initiatives or practices.  

For anyone considering getting their building product CPD accredited, this blog sets out to explain the process, the positives, and the considerations.

Many companies within the building products and construction industry are implementing CPDs as part of their core marketing approach. Why? CPDs serve a multitude of purposes.

Chartered members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) are obliged to undertake thirty-five hours of CPD a year. This equates to around 45 minutes per week. Of these thirty-five hours, twenty of them should be based on the ten topics of the RIBA CPD Core Curriculum.

So, what does this mean for building product manufacturers?

Regardless of your profession, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a great way to enhance your personal proficiency, whilst keeping up to date with the latest technologies and trends within your industry.

For those operating in the architectural and design space, CPDs play a pivotal role within each professional’s career requirements.