Teresa Berger of North Wales, Pennsylvania writes:
“As marketing director for Creative Contracting, Inc., a Philadelphia-area design/build remodeling firm, it’s my responsibility to get the company and its ownership more exposure in the community. The owner wants me to get him in front of more people, and find outlets for giving seminars and speeches to consumers, business networking organizations and others.
“With a tight marketing budget and limited resources, how can I work toward positioning the organization and owner as “the premier design/build firm in the area”? Any innovative, cutting edge suggestions from Hounds?”
I think some of the easiest places to get an audience is at local Chambers of Commerce, Trade Associations and Rotary Clubs. These organizations are always looking for guest speakers. It costs next to nothing to develop a nice 10 to 15 minute Power Point Presentation and it is a way for your boss to get in front of members of the community. I would also think of ways to find my way into the media. If your company has an expertise like using green products or in design or doing restoration work on a historicla building, these are ways that you could get your boss some publicity. It always comes down to what separates your company from the competition.
Dear Teresa
Perhaps you can consider appealing to Spanish speaking communities in the area.
Professionally translate a press release for example, and send it to the local Hispanic media, post it in your website.
Partner or contribute as a sponsor of an event that celebrates the heritage of this group. September- October should be full of those types of events.
If we can help you in anyway with your exposure and foreign language needs, send me an email at mgalindo@translationsandmore.com
As marketing director for one of L.A.’s top architecture firms, I feel your pain, Teresa! I would lead with one of Joan’s famous lists of ten: “Ten Ways Design-Build Can Save Construction Costs” using your boss’ byline and contact info. Local trade and business journals can use those for sidebars in recession-conscious times, and they confer instant “expert” status. Then develop a standard presentation and offer your (or his!) services as a speaker to local organizations like Rotary Club, business breakfast clubs, and developer and real estate professional organizations like NAIOP and ULI, CRWA etc. Join SMPS to get connected with local trades, if you haven’t already. Good luck!
Teresa,
There are several home shows in the Philly area in which your company can participate. I don’t know how expensive the booth fees are, but the attendees are your target market. In Bucks County, there are several home improvement mailers (like magazines) that you should consider advertising in. If the rates are too steep, offer to be a source for an article; I’m sure they’d give you a deal or break on costs. Offer to be an expert source to the Philly Inquirer and TV stations; tie in your “pitch” to the economy and how people are remodeling existing homes. Through article placement and effective PR you can position yourself as the industry leader.
Get involved with your local, professional design-oriented organization chapters. Attend, participate and support their events. Ask any manufacturers that you work with to sponsor (or partly sponsor) Creative Contracting for events in which you primarily promote them; trade shows, free-to-the-public seminars, etc.
Networking is SO important. Are you involved in any area organizations–and, are you on their Boards or a Committee Chair? If you are, the local media is more apt to listen to what you say and publish or air it. People who “give back” to the community are well known–get involved locally.
You might want to consider investing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work that would get you on the first page of a search for “design firms Philadelphia.” Right now even your home page’s keywords are not geographically specific, hence they compete against every design firm in the country.
Jonathan Bernstein
President
Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc.
There is so much interest in green building. You could develop a presentation on which green efforts are worth it financially, either in terms of savings to the homeowner or increasing the resale value of the home. In that vein, you could also develop a presentation on remodeling projects that will make your house more sellable in the current market — projects that will almost pay for themselves. These would also be good topics to pitch to the media.
You could also partner with a local TV station and reputable non-profit to do a local “extreme makeover” for a deserving family or just a contest where people enter their nightmarish homes.
I run a kitchen remodeling company out of Ambler PA and we have had much success by keeping a database of satisfied customers we use for customer testimonials. Sometimes the best way to close a job is to have potential customers call other customers we have done similiar work for. We have a database of all types of customers that will satisfy any testominial request (i.e. complete remodeling, bathroom remodeling, backsplash tiling, etc.). Using testimonials to push customers into using us has proven very succesful and we give the names of at least 2 past customers for people to call with every estimate we give.