Content marketing has gotten traction and it’s stealing market share from traditional advertising. This is a foreign concept for most in the construction industry, unless your job involves marketing.
So why should contractors care if they distribute construction equipment, move dirt or build towers? Because it represents a pendulum shift in the way marketing works in today’s world. Traditional advertising is taking a back seat; buyers are more sophisticated and it takes a bit more effort to earn their business.
THE NO FRILLS DEFINITION OF CONTENT MARKETING
One of the most widely accepted definitions comes from Joe Pulizzi, the pioneer of content marketing:
“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Don’t get too hung up on the concept itself. Like any movement with multiple parties jockeying for position, there are many interpretations and agendas. Instead focus on why content marketing is getting traction, the changing expectations of buyers and how it applies to the construction marketplace.
A DEPARTURE FROM TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
The construction industry spent decades solely focusing on interrupting prospects, which was the very nature of traditional advertising. Contractors ran ad after ad, telling prospects why their services or products were the best.
That was fine, because we were living in a world where information wasn’t as readily available as it is today—not to mention everyone was looking at the same magazines. Today, people do a Google search and find out whether the market agrees with a contractor’s assessment of its offerings before they even call or email a salesperson.
What happened to traditional advertising? Perhaps buyers became numb to the number of options available and unable to distinguish between them. Or, maybe they became jaded by disingenuous and, in some cases, outright false advertising. The stage was set for content marketing.
SERVE UP CONTENT TO SERVE YOUR MARKET
Creating valuable content is another way of serving your market. Contractors may say: “We’re going to make them pay for that information.” That approach worked 20 years ago, but here’s the thing: This is 2019 and customers can find out virtually anything they want with a Google search. In fact, it’s possible there’s a YouTube video explaining how they can do the job themselves.
It’s time to start looking at creating valuable content as a way to differentiate a construction company in the marketplace by sharing expertise. Contractors may balk at that, but what if the competition doesn’t? Might the extra points they score win them the business? Should contractors be willing to take that risk?
TIMES HAVE CHANGED, SO TOO MUST MARKETING
The truth is the term content marketing may not exist in 20 years, but it still signifies that the market has changed. The internet has given customers access to information that was once protected.
There are lots of folks with agendas predicting the death of certain marketing techniques because it serves their own personal agendas. Advertising always has and always will exist, although the approach might change. Content marketing and advertising will continue to coexist.
The way that your audience shops for your product or service has changed. So, too, must contractors’ strategies. Content marketing is that strategy for now.
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