Understanding the construction marketing process
New clients ask me to explain the construction marketing process often. At Conach, we break it down into three areas of business development when creating a program for a client: marketing, lead generation, and sales. Now that seems simple enough. And it would be if these areas of business development didn’t overlap because of the tight integration a successful program needs.
Adding to the confusion is that many professionals use these terms interchangeably, and many companies claim “marketing” in their names when they offer sales, design, or a type of advertising. It’s no wonder prospects and clients need clarification. Here’s how we define the three areas of business development at Conach:
Marketing
In the construction marketing process, marketing is about developing the strategy to grow your company. It starts with your brand to correctly represent your company visually and with messages that connect and educate prospects with reasons to choose you as their contractor.
Next is determining the various factors of the lead generation campaign, including sales territories, target markets, advertising channels, sales material, and budget. Finally, you set the metrics you’ll use to judge the plan’s success and adjust it accordingly.
Lead generation
The lead generation campaign in the construction marketing process employs different tactics to gather qualified leads, build brand awareness, and garner referrals and repeat business from current clients. We have found channels effective for construction clients include outdoor signage, advertising, social media, trade shows, networking, and digital marketing.
Sales
Once a lead comes in, it goes to the sales portion of the construction marketing process. This part begins with following up on leads to classify their interest and potential timeline. Because of the long sales cycle with most construction projects, nurturing prospects is essential. Without establishing this relationship, the prospect may not consider you when it’s time to submit a proposal. When the potential client is ready, it’s time to present the proposal and conduct sales meetings. Of course, all of this effort ideally results in winning the bid.
The melding of the construction marketing process
While I’ve separated the areas, they must overlap to be effective and grow your book of projects. The more the people responsible for these functions communicate and work toward a common goal, the better the results of your construction marketing efforts.
About the Author
Paul Kowalski (or Pappy as he is called around the office) spent over two decades working at other agencies before opening Conach Marketing Group in 2008. The early part of his career was working with Fortune 500 clients at different agencies. However, working with smaller clients was his preference. This choice was because of the impact on a client’s business growth and forming closer, personal relationships.
About Conach
When he was creating Conach, his goal was to bring those Fortune 500 strategies along with years of B2B marketing experience to small business marketing clients. As a result of focusing on business to business marketing, Conach specializes in construction marketing, financial marketing, and industrial marketing. Even though we are in Mid-Michigan, Conach provides marketing services to clients across the country.
For more information, visit conachmarketing.com or contact us or call 989.401.3202.