Why Does a Construction Company Need PR?
We’re often asked this question by product manufacturers. The simple answer is that the more times a company can make connections with the marketplace, the more likely a customer is to choose their product or service over another.
And it just so happens that PR has proved to be seven times more effective at doing this than advertising.
Within the construction sector, customers can range from a homeowner refurbishing part or all of their property, through to an architect specifying for a large infrastructure project. Either way the principal remains the same – the more times that they read about your product or see it in the press or online, the more likely they are to understand how it can help them.
There are some great examples of how PR has helped construction companies. One of the most recent is Grand Designs, the Channel 4 programme, which has done wonders for timber frame buildings. Now, whether it’s a contemporary glue-laminated or traditional oak frame, most self builders wouldn’t consider any other construction method.
The timber frame manufacturers that have managed to appear in these programmes often see a tripling of enquiries and visitors to their website from appearing on just one programme.
Here’s another example. How many times have you watched Dragons’ Den and thought: they’re not really looking for an investment but are just appearing for the PR value. Cynical, perhaps, but it just shows the power of positive media coverage.
The challenge, of course, is how to make the most of the PR opportunities available. For that you need a PR company that really understands the construction sector. Stands to reason, really, as there are so many different routes to market – through specifiers and architects, via builders’ merchants, direct to homeowner, local authority, DLOs and many others.
If a PR agency doesn’t understand these sectors then they are hardly likely to be effective at getting across your products’ features and benefits to a specific market sector.
Here are five good reasons why construction companies need PR:
- Increases awareness – PR is a cost effective method of making sure your products get noticed in a crowded market
- Influences preference – the more likely a customer is to recall your product, the more chance they have of choosing it over another
- Improves SEO – well written, persuasive editorial as part of a planned PR campaign can easily be adapted for use as online blogs. And, if you regularly monitor your Google analytics, you’ll have already seen how blogs are one of the best ways of maximising traffic to your website.
- Longer shelf-life – unlike adverts which have a short lifespan (they appear for 4 weeks and then are gone), PR (press releases, articles and blogs), because they usually appear online as well as in the magazine, stay around indefinitely. That means they continue to enhance your search rankings well into the future.
- Generates goodwill – particularly important as part of a community engagement process. Many of our clients see it as ‘money in the bank’ – when their company faces a real crisis in the local community, such as pollution or a fire, they already have well established lines of communication. That way they can keep everyone up to date, quicker, including all the relevant authorities and local press.
Construction firms that use PR effectively are able to punch above their weight by getting their products in front of the maximum number of customers. It is therefore one of the most cost effective ways of increasing awareness of a product or service. Because of that, an increasing number of companies are using it as an integral part of their marketing communications campaign.
For more information on construction PR and how the Dragonfly PR team could help your business, call 01709 300130 or email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk.