Your core communication strategy
Does the proverb “the cobbler’s children have no shoes” describe your marketing strategy? Are you stunting your growth by not investing in your brand? We get it. Putting the client first without a dedicated plan for your own company frequently equates to placing ourselves last on the list of priorities. However, investing time in your brand and capturing your organic growth potential takes discipline and intention. Content marketing is the core of an inbound strategy, but it takes consistency, time, and quality storytelling to execute. Thankfully, we’re in your corner with tactical support and applications that can develop more leads, create better engagement, and increase credibility for your built environment brand. By investing at least monthly in these four core communications strategies, you can build the foundation for growth and prepare your company for further RevOps opportunities.
1. Blogs—starting the SEO buffet
It’s safe to say customers are not typing your URL in their browser, even if they know it by heart or see your company truck on the road. We all use search engines, the #1 source of web traffic, hands down. So how do you write for humans and search engines? Simply put, blogs. Blogs significantly increase your website's index pages, creating a broader net for search engines to capture. The more related keywords in your posts, the more credible your site becomes to SEO and, in turn, the more clicks to your webpage.
Organic leads through search engine traffic are one of the primary reasons to blog. As you develop your core communication strategy, blogs can also be a great starting point to build content for your social media campaigns, newsletter, and overall thought leadership in the industry. Your blog articles live long after their initial publication date, and the investment of time pays for itself in the content you can reuse, link to, and feature for many posts.
2. Case studies—third-party proof
Hubspot reports that “90% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year, and 82% of consumers read online reviews.” Businesses in the built environment conduct the same research type when looking for a new vendor, partner, or contractor. Providing quantitative and qualitative outcomes on a silver platter will increase your brand credibility and context for a prospect in an industry that thrives off of referrals and due diligence. Case studies that you develop and feature are your “online review” and give background for future customers.
Case studies are also simply more content. Just as a mentioned benefit of a blog, a case study can be linked in your newsletter and social platforms and featured as a blog post. Just one a month can feed multiple marketing outlets and increase SEO.
If a case study seems daunting, consider starting with a project gallery on your website that showcases your company’s work. Your project gallery could be custom work done by a manufacturer, a unique supply challenge you met as a distributor, a job well executed by a contractor, or a unique challenge you solved as a service provider. Include the technical details of the job, your customer, and relevant photos showing your work in action.
A bonus benefit of case studies is the opportunity to establish further your preferred customer profile—the first pillar of the RevOps Manifesto. A prospect could see themselves benefiting in the same ways as your case study client. Case studies open the door for you to duplicate the formula and establish yourself as an expert in the industry.
3. Email newsletter—hello again
Keeping up with a monthly email newsletter keeps you on your and future clients’ radars. When you take time to intentionally inform, connect, and celebrate your clients and your brand, you’re building a relationship. As David Hieatt states in his book “Do Open: How a Simple Email Newsletter Can Transform Your Business,” “Newsletters are one of the most cost-effective ways of talking to your customer that business can ever have... With skill, strategy, and methodology, they become one of the most effective instruments in your digital toolbox. They build community. They build your brand. And they relentlessly build long-term growth.”
Your newsletter's content builds each month from your blog or case study and industry news relevant to your customers. Adding links in your newsletter to your most recent blog posts drives traffic to your website and encourages your clients to share.
As you build upon your core communications strategy, consider tweaking your newsletter for segmented audiences such as customers and leads. You can reuse most of the same content but personalize the messaging to each audience.
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4. Social media—#necessary
If your goal is to grow leads and increase engagement with your brand, then social media is a tool you need to embrace. Social media can challenge businesses in the built environment, but it also provides immense potential. While not every platform is appropriate or worth investing time and energy in, engaging in at least one will strengthen your brand credibility and create another channel for client interaction.
Consider LinkedIn if you’re starting from Day 1 on your business social media journey. Compared to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, LinkedIn is the preferred social media channel for B2B marketers. With twice the lead-generation power of Facebook or Twitter, a strong presence on LinkedIn helps grow your professional network, gives third-party credibility through client interaction, and attracts the attention of potential customers, partners, and employees.
What do you share on your LinkedIn profile? What blog post did you write this month or perhaps your newest case study? Maybe provide a link to your company’s newsletter? Do you see where we are going with this? These core communication tools feed each other and have additional benefits beyond the primary intention.
Make the Shoes
You have the expertise. You have the materials. Let’s get started by adding the intention and the tactical strategy. If you struggle to be your own advocate, now’s the time to invest in an opportunity to become one. At Illumine8, we’re excited to celebrate your brand and bring resources to help you grow. Contact us today for a Business Review. This 30-minute session will give you an actionable plan to begin your growth plan.
