Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Marketing And Brand Building On A Small Budget

Posted by Anonymous on10/24/2006 at 9:46 AM ET 250 Points
I work for a small project management and construction company based in Edinburgh, Scotland. We work for residential and commercial clients managing everything from new build homes to conversions and office extensions. We employ third parties to do the construction work and ensure that the process runs smoothly, that the client receives the best possible services and that the work is carried out to budget, timescales and to a high quality.

I believe strongly in the service we provide and am keen to increase the workload, and consequently the company as a whole, however I have a budget that is next-to-nothing.

I'm looking for creative ideas that will allow me to reach our potential clients, both residential and commercial, and to increase awareness of the services we offer, without spending a fortune on advertising.

Any ideas that you may have would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Avive Asbridge
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on10/24/2006 at 9:53 AM Member
    我认为一个of the most cost effective ways to market your services is through email. I would suggest you look at email marketing companies to help you create a email marketing campaign. They will help you get the contact list you need as well.

  • Posted byReadCopyon10/24/2006 at 10:54 AM Accepted
    Research the market well, I know people in the construction industry, and I would have thought that they do this Ok by themselves already, but I may be wrong!

    COST EFFECTIVE MARKETING:

    Public Relations - Get some good PR and testimonials for yourself, and get them to relevant industry publications and send them direct to potential clients.

    Online - Get a website, get it well optimised for search engines, and great usability. Get yourself listed in Directories.

    Email - As elizabeth suggests, get a good prospect list and start to work it, emails are costs effective, but difficult to get a good 'call to action' (i.e. i.e. call you) from them.

    Cold Call - Dumb name, it's never really cold! Go through your list of prospects and call them. NOt a hard sell, be focused on what you want to achieve (face to face visit!). Get into your prospects mind, what do they want? Make the emotional connection.

    Direct Mail - Some DM can be VERY cost effective, find an agency that will do some great creatives and low cost print. Note: I can highly recommend Key Compostion in Northampton (01604 620565), they have never failed me.

    Presentation - Once you get the prospect interested, make sure you have a good sales presentation to really promote yourself. I cannot stress enough that this MUST BE a GREAT presentation, break the mould and think about the structure of your presentation differently.

    If you need any offline help on any of this, in particular the online stuff or the presentation then get in touch or post a project (//www.369da.com/ea/pfh_addco.asp).

    The very best of luck.

    Andrew
    black and white marketing
  • Posted on10/25/2006 at 4:51 AM Author
    Thank you for your suggestions so far

    Elizabeth - Thank you for your suggestion however I worry that email marketing has lost its impact. I have considered it in the past but worry that it will not be an effective use of time


    Andrew - Thank you for your comprehensive advice. I have dabbled in a couple of these areas. Until I began working for the company the only method of advertising used was yell.com. This brought in enough work to keep the company going. Since I began working for the company I have updated our website, begun putting together a targeted mailing campaign, which I intend to follow up with telephone calls, and am in the process of adding the company to as many directories as possible.

    I cant help feeling that there must be something outwith the structure of everyday marketing that could diffferentiate our company in terms of the way we market. Possibly I am expecting too much, and the marketing done to date has certainly improved awareness, but I am curious to know what others would do in this position.


  • Posted on10/25/2006 at 4:54 AM Author
    Dr Bob - Thank you for introducing me to your Process Powered Marketing - You have managed to simplify what is essentially a complex issue. I will have a look at your website. Your advice is much appreciated.
  • Posted on10/25/2006 at 1:59 PM Accepted
    Avive,

    许多公司必须小预算和工作y, like you, find it very difficult. There are, however, a couple of workable, realistic avenues you can take that will put you in a position to take advantage of new opportunities. Unfortunately, in a forum I can only give but a brief answer, but hopefully it will be of some help:

    One: learn the art of generating referrals from your clients and prospects. There isn't a more potent or cost effective method of business generation. Unfortunately, referral generation fails for most people because they haven't learned how to make it work. The traditional advice of "do a good job and ask for referrals" has been proven for decades to not work well. One of the primary reasons is that people tend to look at getting referrals as a single ACT done after the sale has been completed. In reality, effective referral generation is a PROCESS that starts the second you meet a prospect and continues throughout the relationship. However, if you learn how to develop the proper relationship with the customer, you can get lots of highly qualifed referrals to companies that need and want your services from virtually ever client you have--current and past. Check outhttps://www.powerreferralselling.comfor some help on learning the referral generation process.

    第二:你使用大量的第三部分ies who subcontract to you. Some of these companies, if not most, will be small; a few will probably be quite large. Think about taking some of your largest and most trusted subcontracts and forming a marketing partnership (marketing entity, not legal) where the expenses and the leg work are shared for a common goal. Arrange the partnership so that the larger companies absorb virtually all the cost and you absorb the time and energy investment. If you pick your partners well, you can enhance your visibility and reputation off of your partner's while generating the resources you need to make a bigger splash.

    Obviously, both of these would require a massive answer to really detail the workings, but this might give you something to consider.

    Paul McCord
  • Posted on10/26/2006 at 2:02 AM Member
    You might want to co brand some fast moving consumer goods.

    You need to reach more and more customers- tie up with retailers of construction material,paints etc from whom you will get your customers- run a contest which generates excitement in these retail outlets.

    An idea could be to run a "Guess the cost" of a project of yours-print pamphlets/ handbills with an office extension blue print and then ask shoppers to fill in the cost for completion of that project down to the nearest decimal. The closest bidder wins a hamper of goodies from the retailer.

    Run a "Build your House" contest along the same lines for retail customers.
  • Posted byReadCopyon10/26/2006 at 1:54 PM Accepted
    btw, just wanted to add to the email campiagn idea, think twice before attempting to do an email campaign to Businesses.

    Businesses (and you know it yourself) get loads of emails, and the majority of them get deleted rather than read.

    emails, especially to businesses have major flaws:

    1. likely to get deleted
    2. the presentation of the email is usually out of your hands (corporate email systems can change your text or remove images!)
    3. if it doesn't get to the right person first time, your message may get forwarded and a) you have no idea who it was forwarded to b) you have no idea what the original recepient wrote to the next recepient.

    Stick to telephone or very creative DM

    Good Luck

    Andrew

    ps. If you want to talk about getting better at bringing in business then get in touch.
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