Rich Newsome
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’.
#1 On-Demand CPD
The rise in remote working has paved the way for the development of on-demand CPD. In its simplest format, building product manufacturers could use their existing slide deck (used for in-person CPD), create a script and obtain a professional voice-over. This could then be converted to a video format.
On-Demand CPD offers myriad benefits to the building product manufacturer, saving significant time and cost in travel when compared to its traditional counterpart. This format can also expand your reach since participants are not restricted to time zone or location.
#2 Lunch and Learns
At the height of the pandemic, the future of lunch and learn sessions were uncertain, much like any face-to-face activity, but we are seeing more and more establishments playing host to the traditional lunch and learn sessions.
Nothing beats human interaction, and lunch and learns are a great opportunity to network and allow participants to see and experience products first-hand.
Research carried out by the NBS would suggest that there still is a desire to learn in a face-to-face format, but the vast majority of individuals are accessing CPD remotely:
This survey suggests that they are, with 91% (94% of architects) accessing digital CPD, while almost half (47%) continue to undertake CPD in person.
The Changing Landscape of CPD: RIBA CPD Report, 2022.
#3 Webinars
Webinars are a convenient way to deliver CPD in a live environment. Much like on-demand sessions, you are not limited to a location since anyone can access the event, wherever they are in the world.
However, the success of your webinar is entirely dependent on how well you promote the event. Your marketing infrastructure needs to be firing on all cylinders. We’re talking email campaigns, social media and even paid ads to get your event in front of the right people. When done effectively, this could be the difference between 10 people attending your webinar and 100.
Of course, webinars don’t have to be promoted events. An architectural practice may request a remote, webinar-style session since many establishments work in a hybrid structure. Remote CPD sessions can be beneficial to both parties involved.
Overall, webinars are a great way to open the doors of your traditional CPD to a wider audience.
#4 Short Courses
Condensing large subject areas into smaller, bitesize chunks is a proven successful approach to enhanced learning. Short courses afford participants the ability to complete sessions as and when it’s convenient for them.
Many platforms can help you create your own ‘academy’ of short courses, one of them being Teachable.
#5 Training Events
Taking your CPD offering one step further, you could present at a training event. Events that last more than a day have a significant point weighting for architects and can go a long way in achieving their statutory 35 hours’ CPD.*
Presenting at an event is usually an invite or application-only basis, which is a consideration.
You may also decide to host your own training event, which could double up as a great networking opportunity, too.
*35 hours CPD is a mandatory requirement for those who are part of the RIBA. This does not reflect requirements for other establishments.
#6 eBooks & Whitepapers
Reading industry literature is also a recognised form of CPD for architects and something that shouldn’t be neglected as part of your overarching content marketing strategy.
Providing your audience with access to a free eBook or whitepaper is an excellent way to add a unique perspective to a topical conversation, whilst establishing yourself as an industry thought-leader in a particular area.
Alfresco Floors’ Guide to Building Fire Regulations, for example, has achieved a significant number of downloads since its original release in 2020 and has been used by numerous building professionals to help inform best practices around the safe specification of external flooring materials.
#7 Blogs & Articles
And last but by no means least, we have blogs and articles. You could class these as ‘industry literature’ like eBooks and whitepapers. The main difference between blogs and eBooks is that the former is a much shorter form of text, making them more digestible and freely accessible.
Blogs are an easy way to get your voice heard. When done effectively, your blogs could help deepen understanding for your audience of specifiers.
Conclusion
All items in this list are underpinned by one thing: a strong content marketing strategy, based on providing value and building trust with your audience. In other words, Inbound Marketing.
If you’d like to discuss your CPD strategy (or any element of your content) with an expert here at Insynth, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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.