For the last 3-4 years, marketers and executives in manufacturers of building products have watched a familiar SEO story play out.

Windows, roofing systems, insulation, and manufacturers of almost any other type of product have seen;

• A busier search results retail space
• Rise of zero click
• Favouritism towards commerce based and huge product listing sites
• Unreliable analytics
• Lack of clear search attribution

Questions are raised about the value of  SEO. Where’s the ROI? Should we spend on it?

AI roll out

In May 2025, the storm got upgraded to a Category 5 Hurricane.

The wide scale roll of generative and AI results directly into the search engines killed click through almost over night.

SEO (or rather AI search) became topical again!

When the reliable search engine traffic ‘rug’ was pulled from beneath every companies feet, it suddenly became very clear that that the cosy shag pile that kept those feet warm (and the enquiries coming in), was perhaps not appreciated as much as it should have been.

Analytics this time, told no lies: a drop in clicks, traffic reductions, key conversion metrics falling.

We saw 20-30% drop in search traffic being pretty typical – even when search visibility looked to remain unchanged.

“Where’s all our visits gone?”
“What are we doing wrong?”
“How do we increase traffic again?”

Architects, contractors, and homeowners ask a question, Google’s AI Overview answers it on the spot, and the click to your previously successful, hard working category page never happens.

Your blog traffic, that you’d invested blood, sweat and tears into, had been steadily growing and building equity. That content was suddenly dismissed to a greater or lesser degree as being worthy of reference or cited. The very content Google has been advocating you needed to satisfy search intent – although highly irrelevant, no longer attributable to your brand.

Your digital ‘helping hand’ that provided vital, expert, accurate information to your technical specification audiences (or indeed the layman homeowner), had been effectively scraped, amalgamated with 10 other opinions and spat out by an ‘intelligent’ bot.

The speed of roll out was a shock to all.

Since last year, the space has been turbulent to say the least. Constant fluctuations. Constant Google testing. Poor click through. No traceability of citations. Zero non-branded visibility in answer engines.

What are the latest Google SERP updates?

Finally! Amongst the clouds of chaos – shines a glimmer of sense.

And although things will never be ‘back to normal’, the latest Google roll out is at least a positive step in the right direction in restoring ‘value’ to the new Position 0 in search engine results pages.

Google has implemented a set of changes that reverse the slow erosion of first page importance.

For an industry that lives and dies by its technical capability, Expertise, Authority and Trust, this is very welcome news.

A summary of changes

Google announced five small but critical tweaks to how AI Overviews and AI Mode handle and display source attribution.

These changes albeit seemingly minor and very subtle are actually substantial and transformative to a brands ability to be seen and gain recognition for the time, effort and money invested in SEO.

Click has potential once again – as it becomes far easier for someone reading an AI-generated answer to see where that answer came from — and easier for them to act on it by clicking through.

Let’s take a look at a real example using a relatively straight forward long tail query…
“what cavity wall insulation is best for extension”

Previously, this would return an answer collated from several ‘trusted’ sources, construct an answer and spit it out at the very top underneath the question with no prominent reference or citation – and certainly no links.

So whats changed?

1. Inclusion of in-paragraph citations

Instead of being buried in a list at the bottom of the answer, citations are now listed ‘inline’ within the text, directly next to the information they support.

2. Hover previews create better brand recognition

On desktop the new hover previews let users glance at a source page before they commit to clicking.

3. Brand attribution

Clearer publisher and brand attribution, so a named source reads as a recognisable, credible entity rather than a generically described link such as ‘cavity insulation’.

4.  Social and Media context

More context on social-sourced and news-sourced content, showing who actually created it. More on this later.

5. People Also Ask

Although ‘People Also Ask’ is not new; suggested follow-up questions are becoming more intelligent and more specific to the original query. These queries feel like a more natural follow on from the original query and in turn they are nudging people to keep researching rather than stop at the first answer. Further questions have also been introduced into Ai chat. Brand visibility is very strong on these typically cited a single source rather than multiples.

Why This Matters More for Building Manufacturers Than It Might Seem

Building product companies have a specific problem that a lot of consumer brands don’t; the buying journey is long, technical, and split across several audiences — architects specifying a product, contractors comparing installation requirements, QS’s trying to find alternatives for their projects, and homeowners just trying to figure out what on earth a U-value even is.

AI search tools have become a shortcut through a lot of that research.

Someone asks “what’s the R-value difference between open-cell and closed-cell foam” or “does this window meet PassiveHaus Standards,” and increasingly they get an instant answer instead of a list of ten blue links.

That’s exactly the kind of query where a manufacturer’s technical content — spec sheets, installation manuals, comparison charts, code-compliance pages — has always been the authoritative source.

As with pretty much all of the recent changes AI has brought – almost none of it changes how indexing or rankings work.

But Google’s latest changes make it more likely that when your content is the source behind that answer, the person reading it actually sees your brand name and clicks through to confirm the details, check technical information.

“What changes is how visible (and how ‘clickable’) a citation is once your content has already earned a place in the answer.”

Stuart Dinnie, Managing Director

How to help get better citations in search and AI?

The opportunity is ever changing but what we have been saying for years still rings true. Good SEO fundamentals remain. To make sure you are making the most of the opportunity, follow these simple rules…

1. Unique, authoritative, well structured content WILL win in the end.

   Technical depth becomes a visibility asset, not just a support resource. Content that used to live quietly in a resource center — U-value tables, fire ratings, wind load charts, warranty terms — is exactly the material AI systems reach for when they need a precise, defensible answer. The more clearly that information is organised, the better a company is set up for citation.

2. Purchase intent is important

   Even for those who don’t sell directly. Don’t let dealer, distributer locator and installer pages go stale. With clearer attribution and hover previews, a “find a dealer near me” style query has a better shot at surfacing your locator page by name, rather than a generic aggregator.  These pages are prime candidates for local and ‘where to buy’ style AI answers — accuracy and freshness matter here as much as on your core product pages.

3. Brand recognition

   Publisher attribution was built with news outlets in mind, but the same principle of showing users which brand is behind the information, benefits any manufacturer whose name becomes familiar through repeated, credible citations across contractor and architect searches. Use guest case studies

4. Guest content and link building

   Brand and product mentions across a more diverse domain profile are even more important. As AI looks for multiple sources, latest information, you need to make sure your brand is being regularly referenced to be in the conversation.

5. Double down on digital PR and Media

   The current economic stagnation of the construction market means reputable media outlets seem to be struggling for sales. Their offer is not weaker right now. Its stronger. If you are not investing in good quality coverage supplied to reputable news outlets you are missing opportunities for citations beyond your own website.

6. Keep authorship and expertise visible

   If a technical document was written or reviewed by a technical expert, product manager, or building science specialist, say so. It strengthens the credibility signals both users and AI systems look for.

7. Increase Organic Social activity
   
   ‘Social sites’ such as Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn are being heavily cited in answer engines. Ironically, ‘user generated content’ is being seen as important regardless of the individuals knowledge or capability. To leverage, partner with independent writers, bloggers and other industry experts who are both active and happy to talk about your brand or product positively.
8. YouTubeDo not underestimate the power of YouTube. This platform combines the 2nd largest search engine with genuine user generated content. The perfect combination for ‘non-robot’ created content. Its no wonder a YouTube clip appears in every 1st result page and is being featured as a citation in almost all answer engine queries.

Keep Calm, Carry On

Google is signalling that it wants AI search to be a gateway to trustworthy sources, not a replacement for them.

For manufacturers, that’s good news specifically because your strongest content has always been the technically led, hard-to-make up kind — exactly what AI systems need to reference and exactly what these attribution changes are designed to make more visible.

The fundamentals haven’t changed: original, well-organised, expert-backed content still wins.

What’s changed is that when it wins a citation, more people are likely to actually see your name — and click.

What next?

If you’d like to talk to us about how to increase search rankings and AI visibility, give us a call.

The post Google’s latest SERP updates – a glimmer of sense appeared first on Pauley Creative.

What if Joey did construction marketing?

Looking for a new construction marketing agency? It can be a bit painful wading through dozens of websites to try and create yourself a shortlist for follow up.

Whilst there are oodles of companies that have a handful of construction customers, there are only a few agencies who truly know the industry like the back of their hands.

I’ve never really understood that phrase, as the back of my hand is quite detailed (and hard to be an expert in). Joey knows though.

Anyway, I’ve digressed.

To help you on your way in selecting an agency, we’ve helpfully collated a list of who we believe are the top 10 UK-based agencies with strong presence and reputation in construction, building materials and built environment marketing.

These brands have established themselves over the years as the marketing agencies to talk to. Each of them operate slightly differently and have their strengths and their ‘not so strengths’.

The right fit will depend on your goals, how you want to work and most of all whether the fit is “glovelike” (New word).

Ultimately, only by working with them will you find out the “cut of their jib”.

We’ve listed the agencies we hear about when moving in the circles and shadows of the wonderful world of building products and construction.

We’ve also included their positioning statements (as seen in search engines and LLMs) for ease- and a little more about us of course. Hopefully it’ll save you a load of searching around.

1. Pauley Creative

Don’t let the name fool you. We’re certainly not focused on creating pretty pictures.

Pauley Creative are a business growth agency focused on building products / building materials marketing and specialist contractor marketing within the construction sector.

We work with Uk based business as well as global and Pan-European brands.

As a fully ’employee owned’ trust (EOT) business, getting results for customers means more than just a 9-5 job for our people.

We are a unique collection of marketing specialists across SEO, PR, Technical Content.

And watching your business grow is why we get out of bed.

https://www.pauleycreative.co.uk/

(pssst, you are already here but you can get in contact here >>)

2. Fabrick
An award-winning B2B marketing & PR agency working exclusively in construction, property, architecture and the built environment.

https://www.fabrick.agency/

3. CIB Comms
We are a multi-award-winning, full service B2B agency specialising in construction PR and marketing.

https://www.cibcomms.co.uk/

4. Ridgemount
A full-service construction marketing & PR agency with over 30 years of experience. They emphasise strategic, creative, and digital capabilities for firms in construction, architecture, and related fields.

https://ridgemount.uk/

5. SLG Agency
Based in Manchester, SLG describes itself as a strategy-first marketing agency for construction and industrial brands. They focus on insight, branding, and impactful marketing initiatives.

https://www.slg.agency/

6. Construction Marketing Experts
Based in London this agency offers digital, creative and PR services tailored to the construction sector.

https://constructionmarketingexperts.co.uk

7. Harris Creative
A full-service UK construction marketing & PR agency with over 35 years’ experience. They operate especially in northern England and specialise in seamless campaigns for construction clients.

https://harris-creative.co.uk/

8. Purplex
Full-service digital, creative & PR agency for the building products, home improvements, construction, property and professional markets.

https://www.purplexmarketing.com/

9. Liz Male Consulting
Liz Male Consulting: PR and communications for innovators and change-makers in construction, property and the built environment.

https://www.lizmale.co.uk/

10. Lesniak Swann
A marketing agency focused on the built environment.

https://lesniakswann.com/

The post Top 10 Construction Marketing Agencies in UK in 2026 appeared first on Pauley Creative.

In the intricate world of building insurance, loss adjusters play a pivotal role, acting as the critical link between insurance companies and policyholders following a claim. Understanding the persona of a building insurance loss adjuster is crucial for construction solution providers looking to cater effectively to their unique needs and challenges. For many building service providers that offer remedial work in the commercial or residential space, the loss adjusters is a key marketing target to influence. This blog post aims to provide a detailed overview of this key figure in the insurance landscape.

The Building Insurance Loss Adjuster

A Building Insurance Loss Adjuster is a specialised professional tasked with assessing and settling insurance claims related to buildings and construction. These individuals are often employed by insurance companies but operate independently to ensure a fair and impartial assessment. Their expertise is not just in construction and property but also in legal, financial, and insurance policy matters, making them invaluable in the aftermath of damage or loss.

What is a Building Insurance Loss Adjuster’s Goal

The primary goal of a Building Insurance Loss Adjuster is to ensure that all parties involved in a claim—the insurance company and the policyholder—are treated fairly and equitably. This involves making sure that claims are settled in accordance with the terms of the policy and that all assessments of damage are accurate and just. They aim to facilitate a smooth, efficient claims process that minimises disruption and resolves satisfactorily for all involved.

What does a Building Insurance Loss Adjuster’s job role include?

The job role of a Building Insurance Loss Adjuster involves several key responsibilities:

• Assessing Claims: They inspect the property damage, determine the cause, and assess the extent of the insurance company’s liability.
• Documentation: They document evidence, take statements, and compile comprehensive reports on findings.
• Expert Coordination: They may coordinate with construction professionals, engineers, and architects to evaluate damages and repair needs accurately.
• Negotiation and Settlement: They negotiate settlements with policyholders and authorize repair or replacement works.
• Advisory Role: They advise policyholders on the steps to take following a claim and help explain the intricacies of their insurance policies.

Educational Background

• Bachelor’s Degree: Many loss adjusters start with a bachelor’s degree in a related field such as construction management, architecture, engineering, or business. A degree provides a solid foundation in the principles that will be applied in their work.
• Specialised Courses: There are also specialised courses and certifications focused on insurance, claims management, and loss adjusting that can be beneficial for those looking to enter the field.

Professional Qualifications and Certifications

• Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA): In the UK, becoming a Chartered Loss Adjuster by earning qualifications through CILA is highly regarded. CILA offers various levels of membership, from Student to Fellow, with the Certified status being a recognized professional standard.
• Certified Insurance Professional (CIP): Offered by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), the CIP designation can also be relevant for those looking to advance in the insurance industry, including loss adjusters.

What do insurance loss adjusters need from construction solution providers?

Building Insurance Loss Adjusters require tools and services that enhance their efficiency and accuracy in claim processing. Key needs include:

• Detailed Reports and Estimates: Accurate, detailed construction reports and cost estimates for repairs or rebuilding.
• Technology Solutions: Advanced techniques for assessing structural damage, estimating costs, and managing claims.
• Speed and Reliability: Fast response times and reliable service for assessments, repairs, and construction work.
• Compliance Knowledge: Up-to-date knowledge of building codes, standards, and regulations to ensure compliance in repair works.

What publications do they read?

To stay informed and ahead in their field, Building Insurance Loss Adjusters frequently turn to a variety of industry publications, including:

• Insurance Journal: For the latest in insurance news, trends, and policies.
• Claims Magazine: Focused on claims management and adjustment practices.
• Construction Week: Offers insights into construction industry developments, technologies, and best practices.
• Property Casualty 360: A comprehensive source for property and casualty insurance news

An example building loss adjuster persona

James is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in the construction industry. He holds a degree in Quantity Surveying from a reputable university and has worked his way up from a junior role to his current position. James is responsible for managing all costs related to building and civil engineering projects, from the initial calculations to the final figures. He seeks to minimise costs and enhance value for money while achieving the required standards and quality.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities of an insurance loss adjuster

• Preparing tender and contract documents, including bills of quantities with architects and engineers.
• Performing cost analysis and cost control.
• Advising on procurement strategy and contractual claims.
• Measuring and valuing work done on site.
• Liaising with clients and other construction professionals.

What are the Building Insurance Loss Adjuster’s challenges

Loss Adjusters face several challenges in their role:

• Balancing Interests: They must navigate the fine line between the interests of the insurance company and the expectations of the policyholder.
• Complex Claims: Some claims involve complex legal, technical, or construction-related issues that require deep expertise and careful analysis.
• Time Pressure: There is often pressure to resolve claims quickly, which can be challenging with complex cases or when coordinating multiple parties.
• Keeping Up-to-Date: The constant evolution of construction techniques, materials, and regulations requires ongoing education and adaptation.

Preferred Channels of Communication

• Industry publications and news sites for the latest trends and insights.
• Professional networking events and conferences.
• Online forums and webinars for continuous learning and networking.
• Email newsletters that provide value without overwhelming his inbox.

Marketing strategy to target the building insurance loss adjuster

Understanding the persona of a Building Insurance Loss Adjuster offers valuable insights for construction solution providers aiming to serve the insurance industry. By aligning their offerings with the adjuster’s needs and challenges, providers can position themselves as indispensable partners in the claims adjustment process.

For a particular client of Pauley Creative the loss adjuster is a critical persona to raise awareness with. Having worked with the business for over 2 years, what tactics would Pauley Creative recommend to target the building loss adjuster?

1. Create High-Quality, Educational Content

Develop comprehensive guides, articles, and whitepapers that address specific challenges and questions Building Insurance loss adjusters face. Topics could include the latest trends in building materials, updates on building codes and regulations, or tips for efficiently processing claims. This content should be designed to rank well in search engines (SEO), making it easily discoverable by building loss adjusters looking for information.

2. Utilise SEO Best Practices

Optimise your website and content for keywords and phrases that Building Insurance Loss Adjusters are likely to search for. This includes technical SEO to improve site speed and mobile-friendliness, on-page SEO to optimise for relevant keywords, and off-page SEO to build backlinks from reputable sites in the insurance and construction industries.

3. Engage on Social Media Platforms

Identify which social media platforms Loss Adjusters are most active on (LinkedIn might be particularly relevant) and engage with them there. Share your educational content, participate in discussions, and connect with industry groups. Social listening can also help understand their needs and challenges better.

4. Email Marketing Campaigns

Develop an email newsletter that provides value through industry updates, tips, and insights specifically relevant to loss adjusters. Personalisation and segmentation can increase engagement by tailoring content to their specific interests and needs.

5. Webinars and Online Workshops

Host webinars and online workshops on topics of interest to loss adjusters, such as the impact of new construction technologies on insurance claims or case studies on complex claims. This not only positions your brand as an authority but also provides a direct channel to engage with this audience.

6. Leverage Video Content

Create video content that demonstrates your solutions’ value or educates on industry topics. Videos can range from tutorials and case studies to interviews with industry experts. Video content is highly engaging and can be distributed across various platforms, including your website, YouTube, and social media.

7. Influencer Collaboration

Collaborate with influencers and thought leaders within the insurance and construction industries. Guest blog posts, co-hosted webinars, or social media takeovers can help reach the loss adjusters audience through trusted voices.

8. Targeted Advertising

Use targeted advertising on platforms like LinkedIn, where you can specifically target professionals based on their job titles, industries, and interests. Tailor your ads to address the unique needs and challenges of Loss Adjusters.

The post Persona of a Building Insurance Loss Adjuster appeared first on Pauley Creative.

We’re excited to share the news of our office relocation. 

For those who don’t know our history, we began our journey as a generic creative marketing agency back in the late 90’s, transitioning into being construction focused in 2010.

The first office location we called home, is Broughton Manor based in Broughton, Milton Keynes.

The office has been host to many transformations for our agency. Brilliant people have come, gone, and the business has changed from a start-up to a cutting edge digital agency with a 20 strong team.

We have now reached a point for Pauley Creative to have another transformation and find a new permanent spot to call home.

With that, we are happy to announce that we have officially moved offices, and at the tail end of 2021 moved to 3a Aspen Farm, Woburn, Sheep Lane, Milton Keynes, MK17 9HD.

The move comes as a result of our progression and growth strategy over the last few years. Despite the struggles presented to us during the pandemic, we have got back on track and are continuing to thrive in the digital marketing space, grow our numbers, and gain new exciting customers. 

From the new space we will maintain our excellent services and industry knowledge, delivering first-class digital marketing strategies, driven by research and insights to our client base. 

Our working office hours will remain the same, so if you wish to discuss your digital marketing strategy and what you can achieve with our help, we are contactable as normal via our website, email: talk@pauleycreative.co.uk, or over the phone on: +44 (0) 1908 671707.

We look forward to this new chapter for the agency and are confident the change will see our agency go from strength to strength.

The post Pauley Creative has moved to a new office! appeared first on Pauley Creative.

There have been several amendments to the rules and regulations on website cookies over the years. It is important to keep up with these updates, as failure to do so can result in legal action against your company.

The rules on storing data and tracking are getting tighter and are now accepted as best practice.

Many will already be aware of the recent updates which make changes to previous e-privacy rules. It states that before using cookies or trackers which store personal data, you must obtain consent from the user.

It gives users more control over their personal data. Allowing them to decide whether a company can track their user-behaviour and link it to their identity.

In this blog, we explain what cookie consent means for businesses, and the potential impact to your website analytics and insights.

Websites often display cookie consent panels, banners, and pop-ups as soon as you enter the site. Immediately giving users the option to consent.

There is no exact formula to getting it right. Some provide multiple options to choose from on the kinds of cookies users can consent to. While others take an all or nothing approach, asking users to ‘allow all’ or ‘reject all’. What’s more important is the transparency of choice for the user.

What cookie consent means for businesses and marketing 

As cookies are now a business issue, not simply a digital marketing one, we recommend sitting down with your legal team to review your current settings and how they conform with GDPR and privacy laws.

Without a cookie policy, your company could face enforcement action from the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) and potentially be fined. To avoid this, and properly manage the risks, some companies will have ‘necessary cookie settings’ selected as a default for the user.

2021 cookie legislation and Europe

Since we left the European Union, UK-based information tracking must follow the rules in the UK’s version of GDPR, ‘UK-GDPR’. It is very similar to the EU’s GDPR legislation, with some differences when it comes to immigration, national security, and intelligence.

However when it comes to gathering data on EU users, the EU’s laws on cookiebots and e-privacy still apply to UK companies. So if you have a global website or you have European customers, it is important to be aware of this.

What this means for your website & analytics 

While user-behaviour data is useful for website owners and marketing departments, there is little information presented to users on what cookies are. Some may not know that they can help to improve user experience, personalisation, and marketing.

The idea of tracking isn’t appealing to the average person. So when presented with a cookie consent pop-up, most will instinctively opt for the ‘necessary’ cookie settings. 

We understand, generally users just want to get on with their website browsing, rather than review the various settings available.

However, a user selecting the most basic cookie settings can have implications for your construction website, as your visibility on their behaviour and preferences will be limited.

This problem appeared on our radar when we noticed, during routine client website checks, that a number of our clients’ analytics accounts had experienced a very sudden and significant drop-off in their traffic. 

Some of our clients saw analytics traffic drop by 30-70%, while others experienced page and UX issues. This can mean potentially missing out on key customers, or even disrupting current campaigns.

This, and any other significant change in your website analytics should be a priority investigation.

What to do if your traffic has suddenly dropped

Without a good reason to do so, people aren’t particularly comfortable sharing their personal data. So going forward, the way we perform website and marketing analysis has, and will continue to change.

With less data to work with and build your marketing from, you need to encourage people to share their data, and select more advanced cookie consent settings, by providing them with valuable construction content.

Whitepapers and guidebooks, for example, are useful for educating people on industry changes, or how your products or services can help customers overcome a challenge.

Moreover, if you are a building product manufacturer, you could provide your users website with a free specification tool, which will also lend itself to familiarising people with your product.

It is also never a bad thing to try and educate your audience on how you specifically use cookies.

Inform users exactly why they should select the full-opt in option, like in the example above. While you must always give the option of ‘essential only’ cookies, being open and transparent about why a full opt-in will benefit users, and reassuring them that their data is safe, will provide confidence and build trust.

However, data and tracking is still important for planning and analysing your marketing and website performance. So, if you find your traffic has become more restricted, make use of goal conversion tracking in Google Analytics.

Goals are a way to track specific actions on your website, and whether they are being completed by a user. For example, hitting the ‘checkout button’ or submitting a contact form. Following this data can help you see whether your users become MQL’s, and if your marketing funnel is successful.

Cookie policies are important to protect your company

Although cookie laws can make it more challenging to see how your website is being used, it is important to get up to date on regulations you must follow.

Similarly to when the updates to GDPR law were implemented in 2018, companies can and will be penalised for not following the rules.

Because of the potential fines, it is worth making sure everyone in a managerial position at your company is aware of the new cookiebot legislation. When everyone knows the legal requirements and risks it is easier to justify decisions within your digital department, and to show that cookie consent if not managed properly can be an expensive issue. 

While there are risks if you do not follow the rules properly, cookies are important for website owners and users. 

From a business and marketing perspective, encouraging your users to allow for all cookies to be used will ensure you can continue to enhance your website and learn from user-behaviour data. 

While for users, consenting to all cookies ensures they have the best experience of your website possible, in the knowledge their personal data is protected. 

Sources:

EU’s ePrivacy Regulation & cookies | ePrivacy Regulation 2021 Updates

https://www.versantus.co.uk/blog/cookie-consent-what-you-need-know-2021-so-far

The post Is cookie consent impacting your website analytics? appeared first on Pauley Creative.

In this blog, we hear from Senior Account Manager at Pauley Creative, Kate Prater.

Having been a Pauley Creative client for 5 years, and now working within the agency herself, Kate has a well-rounded perspective on construction marketing. Since joining Pauley Creative, she has grown an appreciation for what happens behind the scenes.

Kate reflects on how to get the best out of your agency from a client perspective, taking into consideration what she now knows, while also appreciating how an open and collaborative client mindset can strengthen quality and results.

Kate: “As the Head of Marketing at Prater (a specialist building envelope contractor ) for nearly 30 years, I have worked with a number of marketing agencies. 

Now having seen both in-house marketing and agency life, here are a few things I wish I had known, and done, in my time as a client.”

1. Have clear objectives for your sales & marketing 

Approach your agency with a set of objectives. Coming prepared with this information means from the first meeting you can define targets and expectations. 

If you are unsure of what you want to achieve, be honest about it and allow your agency to help. Define what a positive outcome looks like and the process of working together to achieve these goals will be more efficient. 

A collaborative approach makes things easier for both parties. Planning briefs, targets, and production work together ensures both sides have a clear understanding of how to work towards a shared goal.

“I’ve noticed how important it is to benchmark the performance of your existing marketing activity in order to be able to measure future success.

This requires some transparency on the current performance of your construction website and marketing campaigns. However, the pay off of sharing this information is worth the honest conversation.”

Creating a clear brief before engaging with your agency cannot be undervalued and will save time, energy, and money in the long run.

2. Be open about available budgets

It is never too soon to reach out to an agency. In fact, involving an agency in your planning process early can be very beneficial. They can provide fresh ideas, perspectives, and think about long-term strategies.

“At Pauley Creative we actively encourage having conversations about budgets as early as possible. We always try to achieve the most impactful results we can with the agreed budget. Understanding the cost boundaries will impact what we recommend.

Being totally honest about the budget available will benefit everyone. It means your agency can be more helpful in the planning stages, and they are better informed to make recommendations and prioritise them.”

Knowing the available budget is necessary to enable proper resource planning, give good guidance, manage expectations, and be realistic about what can be achieved.

3. Ensure you allocate ample resource internally

In order to receive a super smooth service from an agency, regular input from the client is necessary.

When work begins, it’s important to ensure you have enough internal resources to be available for calls, planning, and collaborating. 

Give your agency enough time upfront to learn about your business – additional resources and training on your products is very appreciated too! 

To bring your agency up to speed quicker, and where possible, provide them with:

• Product and service training 
• Thorough background information on your company
• Details on what makes your company different and exciting 
• Your sales model
• The areas of your business you want to grow

“I have noticed that by nature, agencies are great time keepers. At Pauley Creative we keep ‘to the minute’ time sheets, so it is a highly organised environment. 

A challenge we sometimes face is project delays due to waiting for client input. For example, signing off work, providing feedback, or giving enough detail for a project to start.”

To avoid this, dedicate someone within your organisation as a touch point for your agency to make sure processes continue to flow, and projects are finalised in the most efficient way possible.

4. Account management takes time

“Something I didn’t realise as a client is the sheer volume of time account managers spend on managing their accounts.

By this I mean time spent on general admin tasks, correspondence with customers, project management, briefing and liaising with production and preparing for meetings.”

It isn’t a part of the job you see at a surface level, or work agencies really bill properly for. A lot of care and effort is put into this part of the job, and when actually working agency-side yourself it is apparent how much ‘extra’ goes into every client.

It is necessary to stay organised and ensure we deliver a quality service. However, it is appreciated and eases pressure when clients have an understanding of the time we dedicate to it.

5. Give your agency enough production time to produce quality marketing outputs 

When you haven’t produced a website, or created a whitepaper yourself, it is difficult to understand how long it will take to create. 

Most of our time and effort goes into the strategy, planning, and internal briefing to make sure the project delivery is right. This, in addition to physical production work is a massive team effort, requiring a blend of skill sets. 

Before a project is finally ready for a customer, it will go through a minimum of 2 or 3 internal iterations.

“I admit I was previously unaware of how much time certain projects require. Agencies work on revisions, tests, engage in group discussions, and perform construction marketing research. This ensures every detail hits the brief and serves the intended purpose.”

6. Allow for some flexibility when it comes to delivery deadlines

When your agency provides you with a timeline for project work, try to be flexible and listen to the recommendation on how much time a project needs.

“Avoid rushing the output from your agency based on a delivery deadline. This way you will have the best outcome possible, and the work produced will meet your expectations.”

Being reasonably flexible on delivery deadlines helps to:

• Allows better resource planning
• Ensure decisions are considered and thought through
• See that outputs are produced to a standard everyone is happy with
• Reduces unnecessary pressure and stress
• Ensure activity follows a holistic and thorough approach

Allowing your agency to set a delivery schedule that is realistic and achievable, ensures client expectations are met while quality outputs are delivered.

7. Harness the use of digital

“Another thing I would encourage any construction company to do is harness the power of digital with a technically savvy agency.

In comparison to traditional marketing, digital allows you to track and monitor performance. A key benefit of this is you can plan and stretch your budget more effectively. Data doesn’t lie, and with it you get a clear indication of what is and isn’t working, which in turn informs where you should focus your efforts”

Work with your agency to spend time on the most impactful activity, optimising and tweaking campaigns as you go.

A strong website is a huge contributor to your pipeline, with SEO directly impacting your sales. If you are not currently making the most of the opportunities digital has to offer, the help of a digital marketing agency will transform your company’s potential.

8. Long term planning & strategy

“When I worked in-house, I learned the best approach to marketing is to be proactive and plan things out properly. Then, you will achieve the best possible results.”

Something Pauley Creative helped us with was putting together a detailed long term strategy together, with targets, and data-lead direction.”

Taking a holistic approach to your marketing helps you meet your revenue goals, but also sets the tone for your marketing going forward. 

For your efforts to be effective you need to look at the whole scope of marketing, including:

• PR and Media relations
• Content marketing 
• Research for construction 
• Paid media 
• Email marketing & automation 
• Search engine optimisation
• Paid media
• Social media 

“Allow your agency to plan long-term, rather than short-term reactive campaigns. In my experience short term campaigns tended to be the elements that took the most time and didn’t always contribute as much value.

In hindsight, I wished I had adopted this type of approach as a client more often.”

9. Be open to being challenged

There is a significant amount of knowledge available within agencies. Working across multiple accounts within the same industry gives construction specific agencies a birds eye view of industry trends, changes, and opportunities that clients may not have exposure to.

“I would encourage clients to tap into this resource and use the experience available to them. Let your agency challenge you. From both a construction industry perspective, and a digital marketing perspective. 

Be open to new ways of working and testing, it will push you to think harder and I believe produces a better outcome. At Pauley Creative, while we report on the good, we also share the bad and assess how to move forward.”

Learning what could be more successful in the future requires looking back at what hasn’t worked previously. Allow your agency to challenge you and the status quo of working to provide useful feedback and direction. 

10. Trust your agency

In an agency environment, we are only as good as our reputation. 

Because of this, we always take a long-term approach with our clients, with a view to develop our accounts and relationships.

“For our business to thrive, our client’s also need to thrive. The advice we give is to see clients succeed, so I would encourage clients to trust their agency and the advice it provides.”

Allow your agency to worry on your behalf. Good agencies will take responsibility for strategy, forward thinking, resource planning and risk management in order to achieve great results.

At Pauley Creative, we will never recommend activity we don’t believe is the right course of action. Recommendations are always based on data, insight, audience knowledge and experience. 

“Everyone at the agency truly immerses themselves into the account they are working with. What’s clear from my short time here is that we care about our client’s success as much as the clients themselves.”

The post How to get the best from your marketing agency: 10 recommendations appeared first on Pauley Creative.

In construction, but certainly not limited to this industry alone, sales and marketing departments experience disconnects. 

Indeed, each department has very different responsibilities, skills, and priorities, however ultimately, everyone is working toward the same goal.

Too often, a close working relationship between sales and marketing isn’t prioritised. We’re strong believers in doing the opposite.

Taking a collaborative and holistic approach to your sales & marketing planning, will strengthen the relationship between the departments, and more importantly, you will see a difference in your pipeline, and commercial results.

Here’s our top 12 tips to making your sales and marketing function work harder.

1. Begin with commercial conversations 

Before any marketing activity begins, set out what the requirements and expectations of the company are in terms of sales and lead generation.

Ask the question, exactly how much revenue do we need to generate this year, where is the growth going to come from, and how does that translate into leads?

Crunch some numbers and define your ‘Sales PIN’. The PIN method is an effective way to help you understand exactly how many enquiries are needed. 

Let’s look at a basic example: 

Out of 100 qualified enquiries, around 20 will become leads, from which you will get 1 sale. Your PIN is defined at 100:20:1.

Therefore, to make 50 sales per year, marketing needs to generate 500 qualified enquiries a year, or just over 40 per month. 

This is not an exact science, but its good to start with numbers that are realistic and ‘feel’ accurate based on existing data and the experience of your team. You can refine as you gain more data.

Once the marketing department knows how many enquiries they need to to hit this goal, they can make better decisions on what marketing activity should happen. 

2. Define what a qualified lead looks like

Now marketing knows how many leads they must generate, the second part is ensuring the right kind of leads are generated.

There’s little point spending time & effort planning and executing lead generation campaigns, and sales concluding that the leads are not in the right focus area. 

Without an idea of your ideal lead, it is difficult to make an effective plan. To combat this, have your sales team define their ‘perfect lead’. Ask the question, if you were to go and pitch to anyone today, who would they be?

 Use the following criteria to help steer the conversation;

• Job title 
• Company size
• Geographical location
• Where their key projects are geographically 
• What stage do you want to engage with them? Are they in the concept, or planning stage?
• What products / services would they need

Simply asking for enquiries from ‘specifiers’ or ‘architects’ is too broad. 

Only with the above information can a marketing team be precise, and target their marketing efforts enough to bring the sales team good quality, relevant leads.

Following this, when the enquiries start to come through, the sales team can weed out the irrelevant queries to find the genuine leads, and nurture those into sales.

3. Sales need to share details about their leads

When sales teams are open about the types of leads they see and the conversations they have, it adds value to the work marketing produces. Also, it provides immediate feedback on whether they are getting the right people down the funnel. 

If sales are talking to exactly who they need, great!

However, if they are receiving left-field enquiries, or are having irrelevant conversations with people who have come across your services, it is clear a change in the targeting or strategy is needed.

Ask the sales team to provide you with a list of leads, an update on conversations and hot prospects on a monthly basis. 

If they lost a job, ask why. If leads are not on point, as why. The more feedback and insight you can get from sales the better.

4. Track and measure every lead 

Tracking and measurement is vital to be able to evaluate the success of your campaigns.

CRM systems allow you to evaluate the quality of your leads and where they have come from. Spend time training both your sales and marketing teams on how to use it, and get it set up properly. Ensure all leads are assigned a source. Good examples might be Event X, Website Lead, Publication X promotion, Whitepaper Campaign, etc etc.

Doing this religiously going forward will mean you will be able to optimise and refine your campaigns and communications, getting you the best results possible and maximising return on your time and money.

Sometimes smaller opportunities which later can become valuable customers are overlooked. CRM systems, lead nurturing, retargeting campaigns, and email follow-ups ensure every piece of interest is brought into the funnel, delivering you measurable inbound opportunities.

5. Utilise social media prospecting

Particularly in the construction industry, the pandemic has drastically changed how business is conducted.

Sales reps who now work remotely have lost the freedom to visit specifiers, architects, and sites in person, so traditional relationship building techniques alone cannot be relied on anymore.

Make the most of social platforms like LinkedIn to network and reach out to prospects. 

Be consistently active; by sharing insightful content in your industry or from your company. It will elevate your personal profile, and give potential customers an opportunity to see who you are and where your expertise lies.

Social media today is a key channel where marketing can support the sales team in what kind of content to share, how to present themselves, and how to approach people.

LinkedIn is the best example of how sales teams are being asked to perform marketing tasks. Sales teams are often reluctant to use social media, so ensure the team get proper training and insight on why they are being asked to it, and showcase the benefits to get them onboard.

You make the process smoother, or if the sales team are less techy and hard to get onboard, use automation tools such as our very own social outreach tool to keep efforts to a minimum and let the marketing team manage the process of lead nurturing.

6. Implement an account based marketing strategy

Account based marketing is a marketing method where you identify specific companies you want to work with and tailoring marketing materials or messages on a company by company basis. This allows you to personalise and fine-tune your offering for each potential prospect.

Approach prospects with a service or product from a bespoke perspective to warm them up to your brand and company, before a sales representative reaches out. This increases the chances of the lead becoming a customer, and ensures the sales team spends their time on valuable conversations.

Account based marketing is an effective approach for deepening your relationships with existing clients. Targeting ‘similar’ and interested parties within your existing client accounts will allow you to make gains more quickly. Providing examples of shared successes you have achieved because of the relationship will help open other opportunities within that existing client. ABM also protects your account should a team member leave either business due to the broader and deeper relationships built up.

7. Sales and Marketing should regularly attend each other’s meetings 

Have regular touchpoint meetings to hear and understand what each department is working on.

Although some may think certain conversations are not relevant, we must remember how little interaction most marketing teams get with customers and ‘the real world’.

Have proper conversations about what is happening in the industry to highlight important information. It may present a concern, or indeed an opportunity to the marketing department.

Furthermore, it is always valuable to share knowledge so everyone has a base level understanding of projects, customers or prospects.

8. Embrace digital

An advantage digital has over traditional marketing is the ability to track your marketing efforts and see the real data and results. You can effectively target your activity with SEO tactics and content, ensuring only relevant people see your marketing.

For example, digital advertising allows you to cut through the noise and reach exactly who you want to engage with. Especially with paid ads, Google ads, and email marketing. 

Nailing your inbound marketing will contribute to website traffic, brand awareness, and an authoritative digital presence. All of which feeds your pipeline, and ultimately revenue. 

Embrace digital to ensure communication between sales and marketing teams stays open. The ability to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other, regardless of where you are in the world, should not be undervalued.

Digital also allows you to take advantage of increasingly popular online events and webinars, where sales and marketing departments can collaborate on to produce. 

Talking with people about the brilliant things your company offers without the need to be in the same room is very appealing to some. This way, geographical, or indeed pandemic restrictions do not prohibit meaningful conversations and business opportunities.

9. Incentivise the sales team to set up case studies

Case studies are an effective and influential way to showcase your company’s past successes. They act as an in-depth review of your products and services, showing potential customers what they could achieve with your help.

They are sometimes challenging to set up as usually a sales representative needs to initiate the conversation, who may have reservations in order to protect the relationship.

However, get the timing right and you gain a very valuable marketing tool.

Incentivise your sales team, or encourage them to include a case study within their contracts with customers, so the marketing team has an easier time creating high quality marketing content.

10. Ask the Sales team to create a sales pitch FAQ document 

Tap into the sales pitch environment is a learning environment and produce a go-to document for the marketing team. 

Relay what customers find important and get any frequently asked questions down on paper.

There will be conversations, questions, and viewpoints which will guide marketing productions. It will also make your messages and content stronger, and more tailored to the customer. 

11. Train the Marketing team on specification sales

Training the marketing team in the process of specification selling will provide valuable insights into the wider industry. 

The marketing team will learn the different ways sales talk to and pitch to prospects, provide them a better understanding of different contract types and how the audience interests change within these different scenarios. 

The marketing team will understand to a deeper level, when and how they can influence these audiences. It will provide the marketing team an awareness of what is actually needed by the specifier, and how your services can help them at each stage of their project.

12. Bring the marketing team to sales pitches

Sales are on the cold face of any business. They have more interaction with the customer than most other departments. This makes them best placed to be your market researchers.  It’s imperative that they share their market and product knowledge, as well as industry changes and feedback from industry.

They benefit from talking to their customers and prospects regularly, and so understand their real-life pain points and needs. 

Give your marketing team some hands-on experience with the target group by allowing them to attend pitches, attend customer visits, hear complaint or issue handling. It will give your marketing team real exposure to the market, which in turn will spark ideas, refine messaging and plan new initiatives.

13. Collaboration between Sales & Marketing gets results 

A closer relationship between Sales and Marketing is not just a nice to have, it’s essential.

The results? 

A well thought out, sales focused digital marketing strategy that creates leads and builds a long term and sustainable pipeline. 

Pauley Creative can help with everything from specification sales training, kpi and goal setting, to strategic planning, social prospecting, campaign roll out & reporting. 

If you’d like to start your journey of transforming how your sales and marketing team can work together better, get in touch and let us help you on the journey.

The post 12 actions to strengthen your Sales & Marketing strategies appeared first on Pauley Creative.

Over the last couple of weeks the news has been flooded with articles regarding sustainability on the international stage. Climate targets, carbon emissions, and extreme weather events have focussed everyone’s minds, leading us here at Pauley Creative to question what our own impact is.

World leaders have gathered in Glasgow to attend the 2021 Climate Change Conference (COP26), following its postponement last November due to Covid-19. Meanwhile, the anniversary of Agenda 2030 has just passed, and retail giant Amazon has intensified its efforts to encourage large companies and corporations to join their climate pledge, founded in 2019.

It is encouraging to see the fight for the climate is growing momentum, and the goal to prevent global warming surpassing 1.5C is still alive. However, as individuals, or as smaller companies, we quite often feel powerless.

How to do you learn about your carbon footprint in the first place?

It is difficult to know where to start, what to focus on, and what will make direct, effective change. We all feel the same worries and frustrations on how to be consistent in our sustainability efforts.

How can we truly make a difference? Compared to large energy consumers, major corporations and industry, our personal or small business carbon footprint is minimal, so what is the point?

Yes, looking climate change square in the face is overwhelming. However, we have decided that a defeatist mind-set will not serve progression, and therefore are making a pledge to address not only our current and ongoing emissions, but our historical footprint as well. 

Stuart Dinnie, Managing Director at Pauley Creative commented,

“We’ve come to the conclusion that we need to do two things. First, improve efficiency and cut down our consumption and waste. Second, offset any remaining carbon we produce.

“We must lead by example and take responsibility for our environmental impact. It should not be written off simply because we don’t contribute as much as a company 100 times our size.

“In order to start the process, we needed to get an understanding of how much carbon we are responsible for annually, and look historically at how much we have emitted over the last 11 years.”

Looking at the results, produced with the help of an online carbon calculator, it came as no surprise that travel was the biggest contributor, accounting for more than 50% of Pauley Creative’s emissions.

So now we know how much carbon we’ve produced, what is next?

Day-to-day carbon reductions could be made by limiting travel and investing in smart meters to keep an eye on energy consumption. However, to quickly address the activities that produced the most carbon we did the following:

• Cut client visits by a third, opting to balance face to face visits with more online meetings. During the first lockdown when the coronavirus pandemic broke out, the agency realised there would be benefits in adopting a hybrid working model once restrictions were lifted.

The result?

By allowing for more home working, we have reduced employee commute miles by over 60% since 2019. Travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic also ruled out flying in 2019. Going forward, other means of travel such as trains will always be considered first for UK travel.

Stuart explained;

”We began looking at our carbon footprint two years ago, but this is our first action intended to directly address our environmental impact. Going forward I felt we needed a clean slate, and decided to also address our historical carbon footprint from when I joined the company 11 years ago.”

What did we learn about carbon offsetting?

Once the historical carbon emissions accumulated since 2009 was calculated, clocking in at 367 tonnes, we needed to understand how best to offset them. After some consideration we decided on planting trees. Knowing carbon offsets are controversial, however, we wanted to make sure they chose an offset scheme that would actually work.

Through our research into several schemes, we learned that to plant a sapling with the intention for it to recapture carbon there are many factors to consider.

These include:

• The planting location
• The type of tree you plant
• Asking, does the tree have the necessary protections needed to grow into a mature plant?

While some companies can plant trees on your behalf, that feels very detached. Also, they could not guarantee in the future the trees wouldn’t be dug up or chopped down.

Saplings require at least 20 years to grow into mature plants that can store significant amounts of carbon, so any investment needed to be one that guaranteed the successful growth of the trees. Only then would they reach their full potential and make the good intentions a reality.

”I was hoping for an experience where we could plant the trees as a company and set the tone for how we consider the environment going forward.” Said Stuart.

“Simply parting with money to plant trees that may never capture the carbon we intended them to seemed very impersonal.  Fortunately after a bit of research, we were recommended to a company called Make it Wild,”

Make it Wild help work out your company’s carbon offsetting requirements (how many trees you need to plant). Plus, they allow you to plant trees yourself on specially acquired land that’s reserved for tree planting. The trees are then protected and able to grow, as the woodlands are part of new nature reserves created to provide a permanent habitat for wildlife.

Next year, the Pauley Creative team are set to go and offset their 367 tonnes of carbon with around 100 trees, alongside doing everything possible to reduce carbon emissions and keep the need to further offset to a minimum.

Offsetting can’t solve everything, so here is what we plan to do going forward

It is a target for the agency to become a carbon neutral company, and although it may feel like a long time away, achieving net-zero before 2040 requires action now. While carbon offsetting is helpful, it is not the complete solution to climate change, it is only part of a bigger consolidated effort.

In light for this, we are pledging to keep making sustainable improvements to our business. The changes include installing electric charging banks at their new office, seeking out local produce for client lunches, and committing to the proper recycling of e-waste after using devices to their full-lifespan. No matter how small it may seem it all makes a positive impact.

Some further measures all companies can adopt or reach for to improve sustainability include:

1. Lobbying landlords to switch from oil based heating to air or ground source heat pumps. Also to  move to a 100% renewable energy sourcing company.
2. Introducing a carpool scheme to cut carbon usage
3. Install led lighting
4. Performing an EPC on new offices to establish areas of improvement
5. Donating previously used laptops and IT equipment to schools
6. Start investigating to become a B corporation

What could we achieve if we all worked together?

Most importantly, we want to encourage and inspire other small companies in the local area to make the same pledge. We know a lot of great work is happening already, however for those who haven’t thought about their sustainability plans yet, we think this is a good place to start:

1. Calculate your current and historical carbon emissions.
2. Committing to reducing your environmental impact.
3. Offset any remaining carbon using responsible schemes.

It is important to remember that all contributions add up and can help to inspire change, and if all local business do their bit, a few other things may also be set in motion:

• First, it will put pressure on larger companies who use greater quantities of carbon to also reflect on their environmental impact and make necessary changes.
• Second, it will show other smaller companies who are unsure on where to start with their sustainability efforts that there are avenues and schemes out there that make a difference.
• And finally, it shows local authorities and organisations that local businesses are trying to address their impact on the environment as a united front, and there is a desire for such efforts to become commonplace in the area.

To find out more about your options for carbon offsetting, download this useful factsheet: Carbon Offsetting Fact Sheet

The post How a small business can offset its carbon & put net-zero plans into action appeared first on Pauley Creative.

Now the impact is starting to be felt, and the knee jerk reaction is to shout ‘why is this happening’? So why it is happening?

Well, because of many of the reasons we’ve been regularly bringing to the table over the last few years. Because ‘everything is ok’ – until it’s not. And as soon as things aren’t as good as they once were, you have a massive task on your hands.

Keeping your manufacturer site at the top of Google search results

When you are at the top of your SEO game, it is relatively straightforward to stay there by using the normal tactics we recommend…

1. Publish regular content
2. Organic third party link building
3. Push tactics such as email, PR and social media
4. Tweaks to UI / UX
5. On page improvements
6. Keeping abreast of algorithm changes
7. Ensuring technical errors and fixes are found early & maintained

However, when you are not on top of the SERP and your manufacturer website is not on top anymore, it’s a big slog to get to position one.

For marketers working in manufacturer businesses this is a tough pill to swallow. It is also even harder to justify to the board who purely look at the numbers, and have relatively little (in most cases) experience, understanding or interest in SEO.

Manufacturers in construction have enjoyed the glory years of being able to create niche technical content and drive organic search traffic due to relatively low competition. We’ve helped them do that really successfully and on relatively low marketing budgets. Unfortunately, expecting results from reasonable low budgets has become the norm.

But today, the search space has changed, and so must the expectations of the board and of marketers working in the manufacturer space.

Why is my manufacturer website is not performing in search?

So lets outline what has changed in recent years;

1. Paid search ads

PPC ads now dominate the top of the SERP. Google has gradually increased the retail space taken up by PPC ads from 2 to basic search ads.

2. Rich content

Google 1st page is now flooded with different search features; Google shopping feature, local search maps & results, video from youtube, GMB listings, PAA suggestions.

Search users are being provided with many other areas to click and gain information and this will ultimately affect your click through rates.

3. Rich snippets & local listings

Google snippet has been around for years now, but many fail to recognise the correlation between snippet and click through rate. Many people get the answers they need from Google snippet without actually clicking through to a site.

Simple answers are also being pulled into GMB. The phrase Google is your new homepage’ is something we talk about a lot. Recognising more users are interacting with the Google SERP is critical to managing expectations of click through.

4. Merchants

In the retail world, merchants dominate. They have done for years. These days you can practically predict what Google will return for a product search.

• If its a soft furnishing product you’ll probably get position 1, 2 & 3 interchanging between Dunelm, The Range, Wayfair.
• For a garden products you’ll get Amazon, Homebase, B&W.
• DIY products will produce results for Amazon, Screwfix.
• Searching for white goods? Curry’s, Argos and AO will be at the top.

Manufacturers have very little presence. Why?

Well, Google favours commerce, quite simply. This is how Google makes money and consumers buy from merchants, not manufacturers.

So there needs to be a reality check for manufacturers when it comes to search results.

In construction, the merchant world has suddenly woken up when it comes to the online search opportunity. They are now powering behind this model, and we are not just talking about the major high street players like Jewsons, Travis Perkins, and Wickes.

More specialist trade sites are becoming more powerful (Selco, Buildbase etc). On top, the success of relative ‘newcomers’ and specialists such as roofingsuperstore are all hugely impacting the experience of users when it comes to the search space. More traffic is being driven directly to merchants.

5. Consumer help sites & mainstream media ‘rags’

For years, consumer focused websites have been creating content and building their brands and search presence on topics that are relevant to homeowners. I’m talking about which, money supermarket etc, and papers like the Sun and the Mirror.

Unfortunately, the volume and topics of content being created by these brands inevitably starts to bleed into areas of niche and specialism, as they all fight for the ‘medium and low difficulty’ content gaps.

They have large budgets and big targets. Despite a lot of this content not being particularly high quality, and certainly not technical enough for a construction audience, it gains search position and so the problem compounds itself. Google recognises the brand as powerful and ranks this content over average content that has been produced by an industry specialist.

6. Orgs & associations

By nature, organisations and associations are slow moving beasts. They have been arguably the slowest to adopt digital and truly recognise the opportunity. However, orgs and associations by nature also hold a lot of trust in the eyes of Google and so their domains have strength.

They too are finally embracing the value of digital, content and search. No longer is it possible to gain easy traction with niche content alone. Sites such as energysavingtrust.org, BSI, designing buildings wiki are really starting to eat up the search space for niche terms.

7. Lack of investment

The truth is, for years, we’ve seen a lack of understanding of SEO in the manufacturer space, from board level through to marketing administrator. How many companies have SEO as part of their budget breakdown? Often, it’s lumped under a generic title such as digital.

Many cost centres don’t even have digital. It may be labelled as advertising or website. This signals a real lack of understanding of the time and effort required to plough into SEO, content, and link building. Only now are we really seeing the impact of years of underfunding.

Here’s the bottom line. If you want your website to dominate search for the phrases, SEO needs investment more than any other marketing tactic. If your website numbers are important to you for lead generation, customer acquisition, brand presence, merchant support, and of board reporting, it is time to park your “campaign work” and reallocate budget to SEO.

8. Chasing volume

When it comes to manufacturers, we have always championed quality over quantity. But just as critical is the board’s understanding and expectations of what they will achieve from their own site.

If 80% of the search volume wants to buy the product, why would they want to come to your site if you don’t sell directly?

If someone wants to buy a product, Google is likely to send them to a site where they can do this. Therefore as manufacturers we need to make a call as to whether we want quantity for board vanity metrics, or quality for right fit audience and lead generation.

There is a balance to strike here. Measuring what matters is critical. We need to focus more on CTR and CRO and less on pure volume. We also need to focus on search terms that are achievable in the modern and competitive search space.

Finally, we need to decide if we do want volume from consumers, how do we invest in the right areas to get that traffic, and what do we have them do when they arrive.

Everyone wants to be number one

Everyone wants to be number one. But only one company in the world (or UK) can be at a given time, and that can be momentary.

So ask yourself, why should your company be number one? What are you doing to deserve the top spot? If you are not investing time, energy, money in this area, please don’t expect that positions 1, 2 and 3 will always be yours.

You have 3 options, which are pretty straight forward;

1. Sell direct and cut out merchants
2. Embrace the merchants and work to optimise your products across that network
3. Go big with your SEO investment

Number 1 has always been seen as cutting your nose off, so I would imagine that even with the shift in online behaviour, going direct to market is more damaging than it’s worth.

Number 2 is an effective method as long as you are comfortable handing more power to the merchant. Power, is the perfect word. The only way you can ever choose to interact with a customer is when the customer is not even yours. If your route to market is only through the merchant, you have very limited options in building a customer base of your own. You lose touch points, traceability, communication, control of content and ability to put potential customers in the top of your funnel in order to nurture.

Number 3 is perfect for businesses who want to be in control of their brand and be able to influence their audiences directly. It’s also super important to reinforce and build brand loyalty with those who specify and the merchants that actively sell your product on your behalf.

Unsurprisingly, we think the 3rd choice is ultimately the only way to ensure you maintain control of your brand, influence your audience and dominate your niche. If you want to discuss your SEO strategy for 2022 and beyond, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

The post SEO in 2022 – the seismic shift in search and what it means for your manufacturer website appeared first on Pauley Creative.

Understanding your audience is critical to the success of your sales and marketing efforts. For most building product manufacturers, the architectural technician is a crucial decision maker. Defining and understanding who this is, what they like, how they prefer to be communicated with and what their drivers are, is essential.

Many of our customers refer to the architect as the most powerful specifier, but at Pauley Creative we believe the architectural technician and architectural technologist has a greater influence on product specification. In this article, we set out a fictitious character who’s traits, behaviours and drivers, are likely common. Many individuals in the architectural community we hope would concur with.

The Architectural Technician

Alex is more likely to be Male than Female; data from 2019 quoted by Careersmart gives UK figures as follows for the category Architectural and Town Planning Technicians;
Women 7174 (31%) Men 15953 ( 69%).

Alex will have a good educational background, probably a degree or even a masters if working in a bigger organisation, or may have qualified through a strictly vocational educational environment via FE college or an apprenticeship. He is likely to be a millennial aged between 25 to 35 and will be confident, used to taking responsibility and expect providers to be of the same ilk.

Alex will enjoy the creative aspects of work as well as the functional.

He will appreciate and understand design, aesthetics and the choice of finishing materials which are critical to the built environment.

Although a member of a well-qualified and specialist profession dealing with scientific and engineering principles, there will also be close involvement in a range of critical commercial and procurement decisions.

Whats the difference between an architectural technician and an architectural technologist?

We often get asked what the difference is between a technician and a technologist. Skills and knowledge acquired along either journey will encompass 3D design, studies of the built environment, surveying and planning. There is a blurred line between those designated Technicians and Technologists, if anything the former will concentrate on the drawings, specifications, regulatory compliance; all those issues which determine performance such as those relating to fire safety, thermal and acoustic deliverables, light levels and so on. Certainly Alex will be right in the firing line if a building fails to perform, something that suppliers should take note of and respond accordingly. A reputation takes time to build but can be quickly lost.

Technologists may well be focused on more strategic matters such as design, planning, briefing and risk assessment but demarcation lines between the two roles are not particularly well defined and in many practices would be seen as virtually interchangeable.

Both the range of job responsibilities and their importance to the business should not be underestimated. Alex will work closely with the Architects/Partners and may well feel that, while they often get the plaudits on major project, it’s actually the AT who is responsible for delivering the end product. Alex will foresee the time when those contributions are fully recognised and will be ambitious to achieve Technical Associate status in the highest managerial or director levels of the organisation

What does an architectural technician’s job role include?

This checklist helps to understand and appreciate the potential scope of Alex’s role within a project lifecycle;

• Early stage project briefings with other consultants, professionals and the client
• Understand building design requirements to influence positive outcomes related to performance and function
• Advise on legals, regulations, environmental impacts
• Conduct planning application administration
• Identify site and land surveys required for successful planning acceptance
• Develop the project brief
• Design building and surrounding areas using cad packages
• Coordinate the flow and sharing of building design data and assets
• Research product
• Advise clients on procurement of materials and labour
• Liaise with local authorities as required to support the project
• Provide detailed specifications for materials
• Carry out risk assessments
• Administer contracts
• Obtain building occupant and user feedback once complete
• Appraise the performance of buildings in use

Outside of project work, architects spend much of their time on the following tasks

• Researching and understanding building regulations changes and new localised guidelines and standards
• Researching and understanding products – mostly through Google search, manufacturer websites and product directories
• Meeting key material suppliers
• Carrying out face to face or online CPD
• Reading and digesting industry publications of interest
• Looking for inspiration from peers for their next project
• Attending relevant industry events

What do architectural professionals need from product manufacturers?

When dealing with Alex as or on behalf of a provider it’s well worth remembering that your product or service is one element of a larger specification and a highly complex project. You’ll be expected to respond to the changes in timescale, design and even prevailing economic conditions. This will start at negotiation stage and of course, during the tendering and pitching process there will be an intense and stressful final period before outcomes are known. ‘Going the extra mile’ with availability, response times and fulsome information will endear you to the AT.

Interaction with providers of products and services will also involve consideration and evaluation of key contract elements such as technical performance, supply-chain issues, aesthetics, reliability and of course, price.

Alex will be confident enough to manage a project from concept to completion. Although reporting to a senior level – often at partner / director status- he/she will be taking a high degree of responsibility, whilst not always having the final say on policy, nor indeed fully sharing in the recognition when success is achieved.

In his context Alex will appreciate those who overtly recognise the contribution of the AT and as the day-to day contact with great influence over purchasing decisions, it’s a wise move to cultivate the relationship.

• Accuracy
• Timeliness
• Concise and comprehensive information
• Flexibility
• Recognition
• Great marketing communications

…will go far to cement your relationship.

Why is your digital presence so important for Architectural professionals

Because of Alex’s age and educational profile, he/she will have grown up in the digital era. Ambitious, well-motivated, talented and gregarious, Alex will be a regular and enthusiastic user of professional software, the internet, business and social media.

Although very likely, given the emphasis on aesthetics in the profession, to appreciate the value of design in communication, especially on websites and online tools, Alex will not be patient with any information source that impedes rapid progress to the necessary information. Sites which don’t offer clear navigation and an empathetic user experience won’t cut it.

Bear in mind too, that as a likely user of relatively sophisticated design software he/she may well be knowledgeable about web design and even build. Time saving websites, content, tools and resources are a must.

Over 90% of the architectural community turn to search engines first to research product, followed shortly by manufacturer websites, and closely followed by reputable product directories.

Having a website that is not just easy to use, but ranks for the questions the community is asking is number 1 priority.

This ability to morph between aesthetics and functionality is a characteristic familiar to Alex’s colleagues, who will see his/her involvement in many of the practical features of a project, including planning and estimating for potential setbacks. This work might include such detail as;

• Analysing and drafting interior measurements
• Creating project managed schedules
• Making construction plans from design and concept work using specialist software

Sources of reference used by architectural professionals

In this and the other tasks inherent in the work, Alex may also use, as information and reference sources ;

• RIBA Plan of Works
• Journal of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (likely to be a member)
• Architects Standard Catalogue
• Barbour ABI Index or Glenigan
• Trade Journals such as Riba J, Architects Journal, Architectural Review, ABC&D

How to communicate with architectural technicians

Alex is not ’old school’. Although involved in a profession that is still, in many ways, ‘white, male and conservative, Alex is of a generation where traditional business disciplines, suits and ties, gins-and -tonic matter a lot less than professional self-esteem. The job is based on performance, where mistakes are generally laid bare and glaringly apparent.

So, to become Alex’s ‘most valued’ be the consummate professional and recognise the responsibility and influence of the AT role. Deference is not necessary but mutual respect definitely is.

First and foremost, Alex is looking for providers that are absolutely dependable, competent, knowledgeable and efficient.

Most architectural professions prefer communication to be light, timely and when necessary. Bombarding architects with comms is an sure fire way of turning them off. However, educational posts with information that keeps them up to date with regulation changes, new product, great looking case studies are all very welcome. Many specifiers use email as their new ‘product catalogue’, saving information in well organised folders to search and refer back to when it becomes relevant.

With that in mind, its important to follow good email title practices and describe the detail of your email well in the subject matter.

Most architectural technicians would agree that they are ‘time poor’. Face to face meetings are reserved for two reasons;

• Technical and design support on a project
• Required CPD

Key to building relationships is quick turnaround when they need it the most.

Make your next customer look great

Get to the point rapidly and you’ll make a friend – assume a friendship before you’ve shown your value and you might be making a big mistake. Alex’s role requires evaluation of many suppliers so you’re always in a competitive environment.

Above all, stand in Alex’s shoes. As someone not actually an Architect in what is notoriously a self-regarding profession, Alex wants you to help him/her look great in the practice or business and become absolutely indispensable.

Architectural Technician’s are looking for you, your marketing communications and your technical help to be precise, accurate, efficiently and rapidly available, comprehensive and up-to-date.

The post Architectural technician persona appeared first on Pauley Creative.