As in other industries, the world of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) is relying more and more on online/digital means to prospect for new clients. You can’t expect your business development staff to only attend conferences and networking events to build your company’s brand and get invited to respond to RFPs.
This is where content marketing can help, as it’s a tool used to gain the trust of potential clients, have them understand your firm’s areas of expertise and move them down your sales funnel. According to Jump Factor, AEC firms that generate more than 50 percent of their leads online grow on average at least 250-500 percent faster than their competitors.
Following are four tips for AEC firms to get started on content marketing:
1. Provide value. Is your content useful to your target audience? It’s okay to give away your advice for free. The content should help solve your prospective clients’ problems and is worthy of your their time. For example, what are ways that a municipality can acquire grant funding for its projects? How can a utility company save time and money by using the latest GIS software? Remember, quality over quantity.
2. Define success. How will you measure your content marketing efforts? Besides new leads and clients, look at metrics such as views, shares, etc. You should strive to improve those numbers over time. Use tools like Google Analytics to generate the data that indicates how your content marketing is performing. In addition, create sign up (lead generation) forms to help track sales conversions.
3. Change it up. Don’t just write standard blog articles. Content marketing comes in different forms, such as whitepapers, infographics, videos and listicles. Keep it fresh for your audiences, who many range from developers to city engineers. Experiment with different lengths and different authors, too.
4. Make time. You have to fully commit to making the time for content marketing to have any success. Allot 1-2 hours to brainstorm and create a monthly editorial calendar. Ask your subject matter experts to spare one hour each month to help you produce content. Expect about four hours to research, write and edit one piece of content a week.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers architecture, engineering and construction companies services related to advertising, public relations, email marketing, tradeshow marketing, content marketing, public involvement and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.
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INTRODUCTION