The team at Pauley Creative yet again experienced a great atmosphere at Ecobuild this year, with exhibitors finding different ways to showcase their products and engage with target audience members. The exhibition area was packed full of innovative new products to interact with, as well as conference talks that addressed key issues to broaden our knowledge as an industry.
Following on from our video interviews at last years event, we thought we’d take the opportunity to introduce our faithful blog subscribers to new building products on the market, find out exhibitors’ thoughts on the show, review their current marketing tactics and gather a wealth of event tips for fellow construction marketers. We also revisited previous interviewee’s from last year to find out some of the key changes that have impacted their construction business over the past twelve months.
In addition to this, we were fortunate enough to interview Managing Director of Ecobuild Martin Hurn and Head of Marketing Christine Williamson, who both gave us an invaluable insight into the planning that took place behind the scenes this year, and what changes fellow construction marketers can expect to hit next years show.
So without further ado, here are the top 5 key insights Pauley Creative gained from Ecobuild 2018:
- Whilst last year we found that face-to-face marketing was still one of the most popular marketing tactics for exhibitors, this wasn’t mentioned at all at the show this year; it’s clear to see that construction companies are really starting to feel the pressure in gaining visibility in an ever-crowded marketplace and as a result of this, are turning their efforts towards online marketing tactics in the form of…
- Social media, SEO and PR. Many of the exhibitors we interviewed such as Kemper System, Addagrip, Moore Concrete and Wavin all mentioned platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook being a key tactic for improving online visibility and overall engagement. While Moore Concrete used social media to engage followers with videos of their factory and ongoing projects, Wavin used Twitter for keeping a constant stream of communication with their audience throughout Ecobuild, with the hashtag #futureofdrainage. Kemper also sought the benefits from press advertising, while Indigenous have focused their strategy on SEO to maximise their online presence.
- We also found that Ecobuild exhibitors are starting to realise the importance of integrating event marketing into a structured marketing campaign with specific goals and objectives, some of which had Ecobuild planned a good 12 months before attendance to ensure maximum success. After all, an event such as Ecobuild should involve different tactics for maximising visibility before, during and after the event. Wavin also emphasised the importance of incorporating a CRM database to track success and follow up with leads after the event, which leads us onto…
- Expectations with gaining leads. Joss Thomas at Indigenous and Roger Critchley at Addagrip mentioned to us the importance of setting expectations for events like Ecobuild – while leads may not happen overnight, these events open up future opportunities for construction businesses to nurture potential prospects. Moreover, by looking at these events as a structured, integrated campaign, your business will maximise the chances of receiving leads through pre-launch and post-launch tactics.
- The importance of audiences and targeting the right personas was an interesting topic and was mentioned in several conversations. Bauder acknowledged that the audiences at shows such as Ecobuild are slightly different to others, and as Bauder are about specification selling, Ecobuild provided them with the perfect opportunity to engage with specifiers. This demonstrates that exhibitors are starting to become more aware of what shows they should be exhibiting at in order to gain access to the right audience groups. It’s also about enhancing your brand reach to the next generation of architects, designers and builders that attend these shows and thinking ahead rather than depending on existing contacts.
Ultimately, we found that many construction businesses are beginning to branch out and are taking the next step to improving their online brand presence.
To find out more construction marketing insights gained from Ecobuild 2018, browse our range of interviews below…
Pauley Creative look forward to reviewing next years show and evaluating how ‘Futurebuild’ will provide further opportunities for exhibitors to market their products and services.
For more information on improving your own construction marketing strategy, check out the range of services we provide – from content marketing, rich media, strategy and planning, website development,customer research and much more.
Of course if you’d like to speak with a member of our team directly, don’t hesitate to contact us on 01908 671707.
