Any business within any industry can benefit from content marketing. If think that's quite a bold claim, look to AutoTrader as evidence. If you were being unkind, you'd say the website is in essence a used car dealer, and nobody would take the advice of a used car salesman without a pinch of salt. Yet AutoTrader dedicates hundreds of pages to advice articles, as well as regularly ensuring it updates its motoring news section.
It does so because it recognises the benefit of offering insight in return for a page visit. They know that the visitor may well go on to explore the rest of the AutoTrader website. After all, if they're looking for advice on whether or not they should negotiate when buying a used car, there's every chance they're in the market for a new car.
Now, if content marketing can work for the used car industry, then we'd like to think the construction industry stands a chance of making it work.
Without wishing to state the obvious, where is it that specifiers, engineers and building users now first look to when in search of some specialist advice? The Internet. If you can create content with enough winning features, there's nothing stopping those in need of advice landing on your website.
If you think the chances of that happening are too slim, build up a following on social media and share your content there. In fact, sharing your content via social media is a must – it's often where customers make up their minds these days.
Let us offer you a place to begin. Here are three tips to kick-start your content marketing campaign:
1. Start by news-jacking
News-jacking – the process of injecting your brand into a topical story – can be as clever of simple as you like. In its simplest form, you would take a current news idea and input your opinion. That could come in the shape of a few quotes, or carving out a new angle to the story. However, the more effective examples of news-jacking tend to be a little more creative – think the white and gold dress (or it is black and blue?) from earlier in the year; brands had plenty of fun with that one.
2. Test different posting times
Research will tell you that there are specific times in which you should be posting your content on social media. Buffer, for instance, says that engagement rates on Facebook are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays and 32% higher at weekends, while Twitter found that 81% of users are more likely to be on the platform during their commute home. In reality, however, posting according to research won't guarantee you clicks and shares. Use trial and error to find out when potential construction sector clients are logging on.
3. Remain patient
Not everything you create is going to generate the sort of traffic you envisaged – not straight from the off, anyway. It's likely you'll quickly come to the conclusion conclusion that content marketing is going to require some serious work and persistence.
Whatever sphere of construction of the built environment you're active in, the very fact that you're considering content marketing for your company already puts you ahead of the curve. Just you wait; when the rest of the industry finally plays catch up, you'll already be well set with a back catalogue of content to call upon.
Want to learn more about how you can build quality sales leads through inbound marketing for the built environment or the construction sector, download our free E-book here.
