Marketri, LLC (Philadelphia, PA) is a full-service provider of customized, results driven marketing solutions for small to mid-sized B2B companies in the architecture, engineering, and consulting (AEC) sector.
We sat down with Marketri’s president, Debra Andrews, to discuss how to best market your firm in today’s changing, increasingly mobile environment.
1) You state that the AEC industry has been relatively slow to embrace marketing as a strategic weapon. Why do you think this is so?
From my experience in working with AEC firms, they tend to be very sales and business development driven and not focused on marketing. I believe they feel that personal relationships and having the lowest bid drives new business, and that marketing doesn't play a role in either. This may have been the case before the era of modern marketing, but now potential purchasers can read authentically helpful content from your competition.
They can view their experience online, check out their recommendations and endorsements on LinkedIn, view impressive photography on Pinterest and more. What some firms don't realize is that their marketing savvy competitors have entered the "sales cycle" through effective marketing without having that personal relationship in place.
2) Why is technical knowledge so necessary for effective communications in the AEC industry?
Within the B2B marketplace, in which AEC firms participate, sales of products and services are complex, meaning the price point and the consequences of bad purchases are higher. The ability and willingness of AEC firms to share their technical knowledge through marketing communications is extremely important to gain the trust and confidence of a potential buyer.
3) What are some of the most successful marketing campaigns you have run for AEC companies?
Marketri worked with a civil engineering firm to help it become the area's leading resource on sustainability ("GREEN"). Through inbound tactics (including blogging) and outbound programs, consisting of article placements, speaking opportunities and hosting a "Sustainability Summit," we were able to successfully brand the firm in this area.
Debra Andrews is founder and president of Marketri, LLC. With more than 20 years of marketing and business development experience, she ensures that clients have successful, proactive, targeted marketing strategies to reach and exceed their marketing goals. Debra earned an MBA in marketing and a B.S. in finance from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is former chair of the Professional Marketing Forum and the founder and past member of the B2B Professional Alliance.
In PSMJ's complimentary report, AE Business Development Study: How Today’s Most Successful AE Firms Keep Their Clients Happy and Win New Work, we asked a range of questions relating to firms’ business development efforts, including: If firms have a full-time business development staff and how it functions, and how they train their full-time business development staff. Then we overlaid that data against firms’ financial performance, proposal performance, and client satisfaction, i.e. their business development effectiveness.
For more advice on AE marketing, following is a list of related blog posts:
14 Marketing Resolutions AEC Firms Should Make in 2018
4 Challenges Every AE Marketer Needs to Meet