Marketing Strategies for AEC and Construction Industry

Posted on: December 14, 2018, By: Bhagwati Pathak

Marketing and promotional activities today have become a quintessential part of any business. This business can be AEC, Construction or Engineering Outsourcing Companies. Each of these businesses are driven by strong and business-oriented marketing strategies. It is very important to have a solid web presence, Industry presence and a portfolio of projects that can be presented to business prospects. Any plan that makes our presence felt around is a marketing strategy.

Marketing strategies typically includes Social Media Marketing, Promotional activities, Pay-Per click, tele-marketing, Direct Marketing, Trade shows etc. We can also include SEO and SEM as one of the very strong tool for our kind of Industry. We can work wonders with content marketing and targeting specific target audience through Mass mailing, bulk email tools etc. Let us look at a few aspects of marketing for CAD Services and BIM Modelling, AEC consultancy and Construction.

User-Friendly and content oriented website:

AEC and Construction Industry’s most prominent marketing tool is website. The website needs to be extremely specific, content rich and loaded with project portfolio for client to see specific examples of work. The website also should have informative and project specific content with user friendly navigation and call to action buttons handy for clients to inquire. Websites can also have links for case studies, presentation for clients to download and view them.

Content Marketing:

This is the buzz word in today’s marketing scenario. Some of the most important way for marketing content is blogging, Social media sharing, forum discussions etc. are some of the content marketing techniques. Apart from this, marketing team can also focus on adding their own company blogs on website that can further boost their services. Informative content can help in gathering widespread readers and interested content can attract readers across all genres who may think about your company for their services. Specifically today CAD and BIM Service providers use external blogsites etc. to add informative content for readers to know more about our industry. Blogging is a wide term and we shall read about it more in the coming segment.

Blogging

Blogging is an excellent technique to boost your networking arena. Many AEC companies, CAD and BIM companies or construction companies make use of blogging to provide information on latest trends and techniques, service information and many other innovative strategies can be easily presented through blogs. You can continue to update and post new articles, case studies, short content snippets etc. on the blog to bring your competitors and business prospects attention to your services. Blogging is an excellent indirect marketing technique to generate leads. Your website can be gain great ranking and improves your standing in the world-wide web improves extensively with the help of blogging. Adding new content to your website through blogs etc. can be extremely beneficial for your SEO strategies.

Social Media

Social media marketing is a great strategy which permits a company to directly approach and communicate with potential clients, business prospects and vendors to accomplish projects when required. Companies today rely on social media for 45% of their business. Through social media marketing CAD Service providers, BIM companies, AEC companies, Construction Companies etc. can generate hot leads who can provide huge business opportunities. Linked-In is a classic example of social media marketing platform.  Such platforms help in increasing extensive web traffic. Other platforms include Twitter, Face book, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest etc. it is very critical to post on a regular basis as inactive accounts does not give a good public impression. More active you are more opportunities you get.

SEO:

Search Engine Optimization is the most critical marketing tool as we can get direct inquiries through this tool. Most the end users or business prospects do not go beyond the first page and most importantly first 5 results. Hence having a strong SEO positioning is very important rather most crucial of all other strategies. It is important to have keywords that have good search volumes, user navigation, fresh and unique content that gets updated frequently etc. Constant review of website Review your site to make sure it’s search engine optimized, maintain consistent citations, and update your page with new content frequently. Though content is king in SEO, in the Architectural and Engineering fraternity “Seeing is believing”. It is important that all the CAD Drafting, BIM Modelling, Architectural 3D rendering projects etc. are displayed effectively along with suitable alt tags, meta description etc. Call to action buttons (CTA) also needs to be prominent with excellent and strong presence in all pages with critical content. CTA act as a key benefactor in indulging the client and entice them into clicking on the call to action button.  Content that consist of the contact form or button will create more opportunities for lead generation.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Apart from organic SEO pay per click can be a great tool for marketing for AEC, construction companies and BIM outsourcing companies. Though it is an expensive strategy it can provide you with good inquiries provided the right segment is targeted. The searches yield good results and in some areas it does supersede search engine results compared to organic SEO.

Effective PR Machinery

It is very important to have an enthusiastic and active “PR Machinery” working on letting out news items or latest updates. New project completion, latest achievements, events, celebrations etc. can be posted and marketed to be active on social media. The articles, blogs or snippets do not have to always be related to information, technology. They can be content which give out information that are not direct service marketing. Such content help in establishing a positive brand and keeps us in news all the time without directly focusing on marketing or sales all the time. Efficient PR skills help in focused brand building and creates a strong market presence.

Testimony and word of mouth

“Let the work speak” is a true statement in the construction industry.  Providing quality deliverables can help you attain excellent client testimonial. These testimonials can be used for marketing extensively. This is one of the most trusted methods and can lead to a great referral chain. When a similar business endorses your work, the result is more positive than before. Testimonials can be posted on websites, social media platforms etc.

Conclusion

It is very important to keep updating the marketing strategies and promotion campaigns based on the latest trends. AEC firms, Construction companies, CAD and BIM companies should be proactive in marketing their core capabilities, software skill sets etc. Great content, testimonials and project portfolio when presented currently establishes trust amongst clients.

There are many CAD and BIM companies in India are working with prestigious AEC and construction companies based on their solid presence on internet. These companies have been successful in putting their best foot forward and build their brand in a positive manner.

Written By:
Bhagwati Pathak

Bhagwati Pathak is an Executive Director at Tesla Outsourcing Services. Technical Project Management, BIM, Client Management, and Leadership are her forte. With an expertise in BIM and a flair for writing, her articles provide a direction to contractors, sub-contractors, engineers, and architects in employing the right methodology for an Architectural, Structural, or MEP CAD / BIM project.