Bleeding edge or leading edge

Do you need to bleeding edge to be leading edge in your marketing strategies?

By "bleeding edge", I mean, far at the tip of risk --testing untried and new concepts, soaring to the heights of creativity and accomplishment to get it right?

The answer is, unequivocally, "No".

Most construction industry marketing is in the dark ages compared to other industry sectors. "Relying" on word-of-mouth, or (far worse), conventional public bidding opportunities, most people in this industry have marketing strategies which might have been common in other sectors a few decades ago.

So, to keep ahead of the crowd -- to be leading edge -- in this industry, we only have to emulate tried and proven methods of other industry groups.

To make the point crystal clear, consider that the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), the association representing marketers in this industry, only started in the mid 1970s.
Surely, marketers representing other industry groups had their own associations long before then.

You don't need to create a new wheel, or even reinvent an old one, to be successful at construction industry marketing. Just learn from, and copy, the best practices of other industries, and you'll be much closer to success.

The Design and Construction Report is not the first online magazine. But it is the first for the industry. Leading, not bleeding, edge.

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Trust, "scams" and the Great Game of Construction Marketing

Bruce in the PSMJ Resources Blog uses the story of the late Walter Cronkite's influence in ending the Vietnam war to validate the power of trust in marketing. Meanwhile, a few days earlier, Matt Handel in Help Everybody Everyday posts a couple of videos of Brian Brushwood's presentation at SXSW Interactive 09 with a rather direct title "How to Scam Anybody". Bushwood explains how scammers -- and marketers -- use psychological manipulation techniques to influence results, and get what they want.

For many of this blog's readers, of course, Walter Cronkite is some old figure from the past. You may have been a little kid when he disappeared from the little screen (the picture I've used is of his broadcast announcing the Kennedy assassination), or weren't even born yet.

As I'm 56, I certainly remember pulling an all nighter (at age 16) watching Cronkite comment on the 1969 Apollo moon landing.

Conversely, Bushwood looks like a kid to me. But he's having fun poking holes in the assumptions people have and perceptions of what is right and what is effective. He is disarmingly trustworthy as he shows us how to play tricks with our friends (and clients). Of course, he also is on television -- web television, that is.

As you review Bruce's blog and Bushwood's videos, here is some food for thought.

• How important is "being on television" (as yourself, not some artificially concocted "advertisement") effective in building trust? Just for fun, I prepared for this blog a brief video clip of myself. (But if the video isn't good, should you really use it? I looked at what I had prepared for this blog and, thought, "No way do I want people seeing me that way." If you want to see some really bad video, you can look at this link, however.)

• How much time do you spend following the cliches of marketing and sales, without realizing the real focus should be on the quality of your business relationships? If you can't truly earn and sustain your clients' trust, ethically, you won't be in business long. And if you engage in unethical "tricks" to manipulate people to earn the trust, you are a con artist (and maybe should join Bernie Madoff in a federal institution.)

• In 2009, how much more control -- and choice -- do both you and your current and potential clients have over the marketing process and relationship-building channels, than you would have had in 1969? Of course, then, as now, you could attend "Networking Events", but could you build the whole relationship-development process in online forums and with blogs like this one?

You may notice I've framed these points as somewhat rhetorical questions. Thankfully, the science and art of marketing in the construction industry has progressed far in the last 40 years.

After all, when Walter Cronkite had enough trust-generating power to influence the decision to end the Vietnam war, the association representing architectural, engineering and construction marketers, The Society for Marketing Professional Services, didn't exist. Now it has more than 6,500 members in chapters in most major U.S. cities (and one in Toronto.) Marketing has certainly advanced far and fast in this industry.

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Measuring?

In the midst of a rather overwhelming collection of responsibilities and tasks, I have a story due on Friday for the SMPS Marketer on the challenges of metrics within AEC marketing. The time researching this story (and preparing the bi-weekly newsletter) resulted in my failure, for the first time in more than a year, to post an updating blog entry yesterday.

Nevertheless, the metrics story is proving interesting, because the indications are that virtually no marketing in the field is calculating even the simplest metric -- the "hit rate", that is, the number of successes you achieve in RFP/tender bids, or for that matter. Sally Handley (right) told me that she perceives only 10 per cent of marketers are bothering.

This fact is one level not surprising, but on another is truly disturbing. If virtually no one in the industry is measuring how well they are doing, how well can anyone know the answer to the question: "Are your marketing initiatives effective?"

There are some good reasons for this measurement failure.

Lead times are long. It is hard to capture information for something now that you will only see results 18 months to two years from now. You need to put effort into gathering data without immediate results.

Many marketers neither have the budget nor management support for measuring results.

Some of the most important marketing achievements are truly hard to measure with validity. For example, if you network, does "collecting a business card" count; or is your success developed though the subjective process of relationship development. (I shudder to think of the limited immediate benefit of blogging and writing for The SMPS Marketer, but I know these activities indeed are productive, over time, in hard business, but equally if not more important, new opportunities for growth.)

I've gathered loads more insights from the interviews today and will share them in future blog entries.

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The most effective option for reaching business decision-makers

In a previous posting, I outlined some of the challenges of marketing in the business-to-business space, where decision-makers are few and far between, shielded by gatekeepers, and subject to influencers often outside your visibility or control.

In that posting, I offered some suggestions including speaking, writing, and community service, but left out perhaps the single most valuable resource available to you -- membership and participation in relevant associations.

First, you should consider and engage with the association that parallels this blog's focus, The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS). The association name more accurately should read: "Society for Marketing Architectural, Engineering and Construction Services" because this multi-chapter organization is focused within the AEC industry, with training resources, conventions, chapter meetings, professional staff and consultants, and a powerful network both online and off.

Second, and a fundamental of business-to-business marketing, you should engage with associations relevant to your clients' own interests. The power of the relationships and connections you can achieve this way cannot be underestimated. Consider this email I received yesterday from Chase, who is on the board of directors of the Barrie Construction Association, within the service area of The GTA Construction Report and Ontario Construction Report.

He spent the day at the association's golf tournament, as a volunteer. (I have removed the names of specific clients for obvious privacy reasons)

Met two advertisers today for two current features . . . and will follow up next week to confirm ad size.

Also meet with two perspective clients for features. (One) client called me last night when he got my message I would be in town for the tournament if he wanted to meet. We did today while he was playing golf, (and are) meeting next Wednesday while I am back in town for BCA Directors meeting.

Also met a new member. . . who wants to do a feature for our August issue . . . Projected revenue from this trip is roughly $4000 ($700 for July and $3300 for August).

Since our business is publishing and selling advertising for the construction industry, not surprisingly, we engage with associations serving the industry. And you can find marketing value within your own relevant trade associations, especially if you are working in other communities and connect through the association's referral network. Your own trade association may also be able to reference you to consultants and other service providers who are familiar with your industry (like us!)

But the really powerful association-based marketing occurs when you reach to your client associations. Can you connect with property managers, builders, developers, school district superintendents, hospitals, and the like? Yes, if you find the right association(s) and get involved.

Note this is not a quick fix. It takes time to build trust and relationships, and you will have an uphill battle if your competitors are already in the space (for their relationships will be well-developed and truly hard to dislodge).

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