Dorian Wallace
Content marketing, besides being a buzzword is an atomic construction marketing tool and with the route to specification changing so dramatically, content is quickly taking the place of traditional CPDs and tradeshows.
But what types of content REALLY drives specifications, and is it even worth shifting your business model to accommodate it?
Why Is Content Marketing Relevant For Building Products Businesses
Content marketing allows building products companies to establish trust with architects, contractors, and specifiers through the act of giving information away for free and with the change in specifier behaviour, content has changed the way building product brands get specified in shocking ways nobody could have predicted 10 years ago.
This May Shock You – Specification Methods
In research conducted by SpecifyBy it found that only 12.4% of specifiers specify products based on the ‘Proprietary’ method - where a specific building products brand is named. While more than 55% of Architects and specifiers prefer to use the ‘Descriptive’ method - where the technical specification and required standards are outlined.
In other words specifiers don’t care who you are, they care what you do and more importantly how well you do it.
How To Reach A Digital First Specifier
74% of specifiers do not know who they’ll specify at the beginning of a project and because of this they open their browser and type questions straight into Google - to find the most suitable building product solutions for their projects requirements.
Keeping in mind 55% of specifiers prefer to select businesses who can clearly communicate their products' technical capabilities online and because of this content marketing is positioned perfectly to do this.
You may be experts in your field, so why not leverage this knowledge in ways that will get you specified – give specifiers what they’re looking through the content you could potentially provide.
So, what types of content ACTUALLY converts specifiers?
Content That Converts Specifiers
#1 Video Content
Video isn’t just a different way to tell the same story, it’s a richer way to tell a bigger story. According to recent studies the human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text based information. Let that sink in...
It’s the perfect medium for explaining complex ideas, and if you want a specifier to understand your product quickly and effectively, explainer videos are perfect.
Remember jump-starting your car for the first? Reading multiple instructions didn’t help much did it? I mean, what exactly does it mean when it says to ‘connect to a positive battery terminal’, sure you could work it out but I bet you’d of preferred the certainty of seeing someone do it before, right?
There’s no difference when specifiers are consuming your content. You can’t expect them to be experts in your specific sector, in fact the average architect and contractor specifies around 5000 products for each project. Put simply – they don’t have the time to get to know your product in the ways you’ve gotten used to. Thus the relevance of explainer videos.
#2 Blogging
To get the most out of your website you must blog about what your potential customers are searching for online.
When you blog regularly, you’re able to build relationships with your customers and prospects. This is because you’re providing value to your readers, and the more you do this the more likely they are to trust you and to convert. Not only that your construction SEO will also increase due to you having more relevant pages ranking in Google.
Not sold? Maybe these stats will convince you.
- Companies that blog enjoy 97% more inbound links than blogless competitors.
- Websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages than websites without blogs.
- B2B companies with blogs get 67% more leads than those without.
#3 Ebooks
The aim of ebooks is to simplify the learning experience. Ebooks empowers your audience to learn at their own pace and convenience, and when selling a highly technically product to a time poor client, being considerate can help streamline your sales cycle and get you specified.
Ebooks also help build your credibility more so than blogs, so if you are trying to establish yourself in construction ebooks can help build that ‘thought leader’ status building product brands are vying for.
Conclusion
There’s an over used marketing proverb ‘content is King’… Let me flip that on it’s head – content is Queen. I play chess a lot and the queen is the strongest piece the board, and not only that but it’s also a quintessential asset to the strongest strategies any player can conjure up.
In the modern day content is your Queen when it comes to generating a dynamic strategy that generates results. With great content you can go on to dominate your sector – like many of our clients. However, without the appropriate use of content you may just lose the game.
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.