Make Your Building Materials Web Site Resonate With Architects

Make Your Building Materials Web Site Resonate With Architects

by | Apr 8, 2016

6 questions you should be answering to get more quality leads

 

Is your building materials website currently doing its JOB? Is it attracting architects and contractors and then converting them into a good lead for you to follow up with?

I’m guessing not. Not that it’s your fault. You just did what everybody said you were supposed to do. Or you followed what it looked like everybody else was doing.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that companies were racing to get online. Just getting a website put up, so you appeared to be a viable company.

But as you’ve most likely seen, that’s just not enough anymore. Architects are increasingly looking to your website before anything else, as a way to decide if your product is right for them. So doesn’t it make sense to make sure your website has the information they want and need to make a decision. 

Now is the time that you need to step back and think critically about what questions you need to be asking yourself and others in your company. The questions that will help lead you to the answers to drawing more high-quality leads to your website and getting them to “raise their hand,” asking for more information.

Six key questions you should be answering…

 

1 – How does an architect choose one product over another?

According to a recent architect research report from Venveo, 70% of the architects surveyed said case studies are the most helpful type of content when deciding on what product to spec. The same amount of architects said they felt having a way to order product samples quickly and easily was another factor a manufacturer’s website should have.

According to building materials marketing expert, Mark Mitchell, when we look at what the primary motivation of most architects, their main concern is their reputation.

The overarching thing that helps an architect make the sometimes tough decision to risk their reputation and specify a new or unfamiliar product is to have a better understanding of it. Knowing how it works… How it fits into the overall picture of the building project they are designing…

If your website can help them get to that point of better understanding your product, then if and when they finally do call you, the conversation can be a much different one. Instead of starting at ground zero – explaining your product’s features and benefits – they’re coming to you with that base knowledge already in their head.

And they’ll just be looking for clarification on how your product can best solve their specific situation.

And as we’ve discussed before, in a previous blog post,  video is a proven way to get your prospects to understand your product.

2 – How does an architect research your products online?

Does he Google it, or does he go to an online product site like ARCAT.com, or Sweets?

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ve heard me talk about how the “old school” Sweets catalogs were the catalyst that inspired me to take the path I’m now on – Helping building material manufacturers like you better explain your products through visualizations.

But how viable are directories like Sweets and ARCAT anymore? Do architects still use them like you think they do?

If you were to walk into any architecture firm today, chances are you’d see a lot of empty shelves where the directories and vendor catalogs used to be. Unless, of course, they have an interior design department…

The interiors folks still tend to have many sample books on hand, since their role requires having something a client can see and touch first hand, so they can “sell” them on using it. That might be a good clue — if you have something that requires good visuals to sell through the architect or designer… that might be a good thing to get into your prospects’ hands…

But for the most part, architects are going to your website for the most current information (and education) they can get their hands on.

3 – What can a manufacturer do to help architects?

This question is key. You need to focus your time and attention on answering this big question. How do you do that?

Ask the architects. Send out short surveys to your e-mail list to get feedback… (You are collecting leads on your website aren’t you?!? That’s another post altogether, but for now just know that you need to be doing that…) Add a pop-up survey on your website asking a few key questions to see what you could do differently.

A great book to read on how to find out exactly what your customers want is “Ask” by Ryan Levesque. (Highly recommended.)

So find out what it is they’re looking for. Are there certain tools or reference guides regarding your product that you could add to your website or handouts that you could brand and serve as a resource he or she will keep coming back to?

4 – What can a building product manufacturer do to better his odds of getting specified?

E-D-U-C-A-T-E. That’s the best and most prevalent advice you’ll find out there. You have to educate your prospects – without selling them. Of course, there’s a time when you do have to ask for the sale, but first you need to be a resource to them.

Once they know, like, and trust you, then they’re much more likely to specify your products and keep returning to you to learn more about how your products can solve their problems. Don’t underestimate the power of this one.

Of course, you’ll want to refer back to the last question to figure out exactly which topics they’re most interested in.

5 – Do architects still want AutoCAD details?

The simple answer is “Yes.” Although many architects have moved to 3D programs, like Revit, they still put their detail sheets together as 2D drawings. It’s here that your AutoCAD details can help guide them, and show how your product might interface with the other materials in their project.

So these 2D details are still a necessity, but certainly not the only CAD resource you need to provide. And certainly not the only visuals you should use to make sure the architect knows how your product fits into their project.

6 – How does BIM come into play with all of this? Is it worth your investment?

Here’s where that annoying answer comes in: “It depends.”

It depends on your product…

Some architects working on smaller projects, might grab your product’s Revit family and drop it into their model. But this is typically limited to equipment and stand-alone objects.

If you have a component that is a part of a wall system, it’s unlikely they’ll be looking to use that. However, if you have a finish product, they would definitely like to the ability to include your product’s finish and or patterns in their renderings.

It can also depend on the firm. Not all firms who use Revit are using BIM. Often, a firm will limit how many manufacturer-produced Revit families an architect can use in their project’s Revit model. If there’s too much information plugged into a large model, it can start to bog it down.

This is just one more reason you need to gain an understanding of who your target market is and what they need from you.

Conclusion

 

It’s a new world out there, and our industry is constantly changing. The successful building material companies will be the ones who learn to adapt and change with it. We’ve covered several things here that you can do right now to make sure you’re among the successful ones…

Make sure you clearly identify who your target market is. Connect with them and ask them what they’re looking for and how you can be most helpful. Find the gaps and fill them. You can be the resource they come to. You just need to approach your marketing plan with clarity as the main goal.

Clarity for you: who your prospect is and what they want.

Clarity for your prospect:  who you are and how your products and services can provide them with the solutions they need.

About the Author :

Jason Yana has 2 decades of experience in architectural technology, 3d graphics and construction marketing. This unique combination provides highly-effective visual representations of building products that fuel marketing and support efforts.

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

Consequences of Badly Presented Installation Instructions for Building Materials

Consequences of Badly Presented Installation Instructions for Building Materials

by | Mar 16, 2016

Everyone Has a Story About Frustrating Installation Instructions

Let’s be honest, sometimes we just like to vent our frustrations in conversation.  The next time you are stuck and not sure what to say to someone, ask them to tell you a story about a time where they were completely driven insane by poorly written installation instructions.

People of all nations, from all walks of life, at one point, have wanted to find the fella who wrote that instruction manual and torture him endlessly.

Poor instructions (e.g. too long, too short, skipping steps, making major assumptions about the reason for the fix, etc.) plague the market and plague the consumer.  Sometimes, your customer might even decide to forego your product entirely, if your installation instructions are badly presented, or worse if they don’t even exist.

We all know what happens when instructions are lacking, but that does not stop companies from doing it.  I relate to you an example of frustrating, badly presented installation instructions for replacing the mechanism that locks and unlocks the trunk of a hatchback.

Here is One Such Story, Feel my Pain

I closed the hatchback of my car one day and lo and behold it refused to open the next time I attempted to unlock it.  I tried an endless number of troubleshooting tips, but nothing worked.  Finally, I came to the conclusion that it needed a new trunk mechanism.  I ordered one; it arrived; I was set to go.

The most important step to do in an instruction manual really is the most important step to cover.  And in this experience, my troubles began early.  As I mentioned above, my trunk would NOT open.  But the instruction manual (as well as every online forum I accessed) ASSUMED that the trunk would not close.  And thus “Step 1” simply stated: “Stand at the back of the car.  Pop open the cover inside the trunk to access the mechanism.”

There was just one small problem, the cover is impossible to access when the trunk is closed.  But the instructions said to simply pop it off!  It is irritating when a company assumes that only the easiest thing is wrong.  What good are the instructions then?  I searched and searched online for the instructions for my problem.  But apparently, no one else’s trunk breaks closed, just open.

The steps I needed to do no longer correlated with the “instructions” I had.  I began to invent my own.  This is another negative result of poor instructions: the consumer has to make it up as they go along.  I put the back seat down and crawled into the car to get to the trunk area.  To give you a visual, the car is a Mini Cooper.  I had to work on my side, stretched out, using one arm, a flashlight that was precariously balanced, and no real idea how to open a cover that was supposed to be opened when standing outside the car—when the trunk was open.

I had to work on my side, stretched out, using one arm, a flashlight that was precariously balanced, and no real idea how to open a cover that was supposed to be opened when standing outside the car—when the trunk was open.

I eventually popped/yanked (same difference :)) open the cover and accessed the mechanism.  Next problem: the trunk wouldn’t open save for a few inches because HELLO, it was broken in the locked position—not the open position.

At this point, I just wanted the darn trunk to be open!  So I did what any self-respecting, irritated, bad instruction manual follower would do: I bent, banged, twisted…then bent, and banged some more until it was a mangled piece of metal.  I didn’t care because I had a new one to put on.  After approximately five hours, the trunk was open!  I attached the new mechanism and voila, the trunk closed like gangbusters—no thanks to lousy instructions.

When a company neglects to consider all of the reasons a repair or part change might be needed, consumers feel insulted.  What makes instructions good in the first place is the degree to which they communicate what is happening in the real world.

The entire process is all connected.  If I had had some better instructions, I would have saved myself some hassle.  Better yet, if I had been able to view a more detailed rendering of what this process looked like from my angle, the process would have gone much more smoothly.  My request is not lofty.  It is unlikely that I am the only one whose trunk would mysteriously break from apparently the “wrong” side.

Building Material Install Instructions are Difficult

Installation instructions for building materials can be even more frustrating than my trunk latch.    Chances are some quick conversations with your sales and support staff and some calls to your best customers will result in a nice list of common mistakes people make installing your products.

What if there was a great animated installation video you could have shown them that would have prevented all of those problems?

Would they be more likely to become a repeat customer?

Will you spend less time doing damage control and taking tech calls?

Would your brand image and recognition be elevated?

i think the answer is yes!

Regards,

Jason Yana

About the Author :

Jason Yana has 2 decades of experience in architectural technology, 3d graphics and construction marketing. This unique combination provides highly-effective visual representations of building products that fuel marketing and support efforts.

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

Quit Talking About Yourself to Improve Your Building Material Marketing

Quit Talking About Yourself to Improve Your Building Material Marketing

by | Mar 3, 2016

Just Shut Up

It’s great that your product is the best on the market.   It’s great that you have 400 years of experience selling it.  But shut up about it already.   To truly make a connection with your customers, focus on them.   Don’t be the guy at the cocktail party who won’t stop talking about himself.

To truly make a connection with your customers, focus on them.   Don’t be the guy at the cocktail party who won’t stop talking about himself.

Your customers have many challenges.  Find out what they are and find ways to make their jobs and lives easier.

For example, let’s look at the challenges an architect faces and a few ways we can provide assistance while marketing our products to them at the same time.

 

Will Choosing This Product Get Me Sued?

 

Many times over, the architect will have to decide which product to include in a project.  This is a difficult decision.  One which could result in professional suicide if he chooses the wrong product.

Before he even pays attention to things like features, benefits and even cost, the architect is thinking “will using this product get me sued”.

For this reason, your marketing should inspire confidence.   It should demonstrate that you have put the necessary engineering, design and research.

How can your marketing demonstrate all these things and inspire confidence?  What tools can you, the building product marketer, possibly use to make this person believe in your products?

 

Be An Educator

 

Use whatever means possible to show your customers how your product works and how they should use it.   Don’t be like the tile manufacturers i saw at the surfaces event in Las Vegas.

I walked through booth after booth of tile manufacturers.   Beautiful ceramic tiles, stone tiles, glass tiles, the whole nine yards.   Do you know how many of these tile manufacturers provide details on how to install tile?   Zero.

It appears to be; pick your tile, pick your quantity and maybe, just maybe they will help you load it into your truck.  After that, you’re on your own kid!

It seems to be up to the companies which make the mortar products, to handle all the installation stuff.   I would think that if one of these tile companies decided to create a series of videos and details showing how to use their tiles to make a shower, or a backsplash, or whatever, they would just have gained a competitive advantage because they are providing a service . . ..  not just a material.     They are adding value to their customers’ lives.

 

Be a Friend

 

Consumers are becoming more and more aware of when they are being sold to and when they are being educated.   It is becoming more and more obvious every day that your success is directly related to how many people you can help.

If someone arrives at your web site or gets an email from you and if feels like you really understand their problems and you have a solution, you are more like a friend to them.

So, quit being that guy at the party who won’t stop talking about himself and start listening to your customers problems and start being a good friend to them.

Your Friend,

Jason Yana

 

 

About the Author :

Jason Yana has 2 decades of experience in architectural technology, 3d graphics and construction marketing. This unique combination provides highly-effective visual representations of building products that fuel marketing and support efforts.

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

How to be a Smarter Building Material Marketer Today

How to be a Smarter Building Material Marketer Today

by | Feb 23, 2016

A tale of two young building material marketing professionals

It was the middle of another cold winter in a small Midwestern town. A huge snowstorm had grounded flights, and roads were impassable. Nobody was going anywhere!

Now imagine yourself, stuck in your office, looking out the frosty window at the snow-covered ground. It’s an undisturbed, glistening field of white. A blank canvas. So you think, “Sure would be a good day to pack it up and go home to make snow angels with the kids.”

building product marketing plans

Maybe in a bit…

But that field of white also reminds you of the year ahead of you. Undisturbed and full of possibilities.

You say aloud (to no one in particular), “Maybe this would be a good time to put this year’s marketing plan together. The phone’s not ringing, and nobody’s around to take my calls anyway…”

So you sit down with a pad of paper and pen and start scratching out ideas.

Making the right plans…

Now, depending on what type of marketer you are, this exercise could serve you well and lay out a path that moves you and your company further ahead… Or your marketing wheels could just slip into the same rut your marketing has been running in and get you nowhere.

It’s here I’d like to introduce two fictional marketers I’ve come up with to help illustrate two sides of the road that us marketers can find ourselves on.

One side moves you closer to (or beyond) your business goals, and the other leads you nowhere.

Which side are you on?

You’ll need to keep reading to find out…

Meet Tom

 

“How’s it going? I’m Tom, and I’ve been marketing for a mid-size building product manufacturer for about 7 years now.

I worked construction while I was in business school and it just sorta’ made sense. You know – take what I learned in college and put it to work for a great company in the building industry.

We’ve got AWESOME products, and I learned a lot from the guy who was doing the marketing before me. He retired about a year after I started, but he taught me everything he could about how they like to do their marketing.

I had a few ideas and suggestions I thought we should try… But he reminded me that I was new to the game and they knew what the prospects expected to see. Plus the boss was happy with the way we were doing things…

So, for the past 5 or 6 years, I’ve been working his marketing system and mixing in some of the stuff they taught us in school.

I’m doing my best to keep up and make sure we’re crossing all the i’s and dotting all the t’s (ha-ha), but we just don’t seem to be getting specified or used on projects like we used to. I can’t figure out why they don’t get that our product is still the best out there.

The boss isn’t quite sure what to make of it either, and, frankly, I’m worried he’ll start thinking it’s my fault.

I’ll just need to start getting us out to more of those tradeshows and maybe get some bigger signs made for our booth…”

Meet Sally

 

“Hi, I’m Sally. After I graduated from design school about 9 years ago, I worked with a great architecture firm for about 2 years.

I loved the people I worked with, and I really loved the clients I had the chance to meet.

Our firm made sure their building projects met all of their needs. And as an added bonus, we were able to give them a design that delighted the owners, their staff, and their customers.

I never really thought of myself as a salesperson, but a product rep saw how the clients responded to me, and the joy I got from working with each of them.

He called me the next week and offered me this job. I’ve been on Cloud Nine ever since…

Of course, I had to learn a lot about marketing, but it didn’t take too long. You see, my mentor showed me that I was already doing a lot of the “right stuff” in my design career.

It’s really all about getting to know your clients, and what they really want and need. Then you find the best ways to show them how your products can help them reach those goals.

We’re always keeping our eyes open for new ways to “meet our clients where they’re going to be.” By that, I mean the business & marketing worlds are changing fast, and our prospects & clients are changing, too.

If we’re truly going to find them and help them succeed, we need to know where they are now, and where they’re headed. (Don’t worry, I’m not a big hockey fan, so I won’t use that worn-out Gretzky quote…)  

I’m really looking forward to the year ahead and helping solve our new and existing clients’ biggest headaches.”

Planning your work…

So, now we’re back to your office, looking out at the snow and writing our marketing plan for the year.

Where do you start?

If you’re like Tom, this task is pretty easy. You just pull out last year’s plan, scratch out “2015” at the top and write in “2016.”  Piece of cake — What’s next?

 

But if you’re more like Sally, you’ll surely want to take more time to think things through before you come up with your plan. Let’s hear what Sally has to say:

“Looking back over last year, I can see a lot of the things we did right, but we can certainly do better in other areas.

For instance, I got a call from a prospect that was having a hard time finding some information on our website. I knew right where to find it, but I could definitely see how it would be hard for somebody new to the site to figure it out.

That’s definitely something we can, and should, fix. I’ll get somebody on board to help look at our site’s user experience and clean it up.

I’ve also been reading some interesting articles on how we can be more green in our marketing efforts. Show our prospects and our clients that we’re serious about our commitment to help make our environment better for the future generations.

And don’t get me started on social media… It’s a moving target, but we definitely need to keep working that into our plan and make sure we’re educating and engaging with our prospects.

I can definitely see we’ve got some adjustments to make for this year’s plan…”

 

Takeaway: The key to creating a smart marketing plan is to keep a close eye on what’s happening in your industry, constantly reflecting on what works well for your clients, and being flexible enough to adjust.

Mapping it out…

Once you’ve got the groundwork laid out in front of you and you can see what areas you need to develop, you can move on to the next step — Mapping out your marketing plan.

Again, this is where Tom has it easy. The cookie-cutter plan is already there, and he just needs to make a few tweaks in order to apply it to the current year. As Tom likes to say:

“We’ve always done things this way, and it’s the way the boss wants it done.”

 

For Sally, this step takes a little longer, but she knows it’s worth it in the long run…

“When I’m mapping out my marketing plan, I like to focus on creating value.

To be clear, that includes value for my prospects; value for my existing clients; and value for our company.

The best way I’ve heard to do this effectively comes from Dean Jackson. Dean’s the co-founder of the incredible ‘I Love Marketing’ podcast and he describes it as ‘Before, During and After Unit Thinking.’

Using this marketing thought process has helped ensure we focus our marketing efforts. Focused on how we can provide the greatest amount of value to our clients throughout the entire relationship.

Instead of just selling one-off transactions to our customers, we want to create transformational relationships with each of our clients.”  

 

Takeaway: If you want a marketing plan that goes beyond simply making a good showing, you need to look at the bigger picture. Look at how you can create the greatest value for everyone involved. And make it a lasting value, so you will become a trusted resource to your clients.

Conclusion

Today’s building materials marketplace is changing, and it’s critical that marketers in our industry adjust their efforts and strategies to match. Are you prepared?

If you aren’t already, you need to clearly define who your target prospects are and make sure your marketing is speaking their language. As tedious as it may sound, it’s critical to your marketing success to know your audience and provide them with the proper support and education they need to succeed.

This topic is near and dear to my heart and I plan to continue this conversation in future posts. I hope you’ll join me.

In the meantime, I’m always up for a conversation about marketing building products. You can reach me here.

Until next time,

-Jason Yana

About the Author :

Jason Yana has 2 decades of experience in architectural technology, 3d graphics and construction marketing. This unique combination provides highly-effective visual representations of building products that fuel marketing and support efforts.

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.

The effectiveness of video for building material sales and marketing online

The effectiveness of video for building material sales and marketing online

by | Feb 11, 2016

As building material marketers, it helps to step back every now and again and remind ourselves that we are not alone.   There are many, many things which make the building material and building product sales and marketing game a unique animal, but in the end, we are still talking about human beings and how their brains operate.   We live in a digital world.  The playing field is mostly on the internet now, so we should have a good look at what the current research is on what works and what doesn’t work on the internet.
The 2015 State of Digital Marketing report says:
“The majority of brands are producing videos this year – not just because they are popular, but because they are highly effective.”
The effectiveness of video for sales and marketing is a result of well written, in-depth content on your website, as well as other social media sites. You must use these sites to promote your company’s resources with the use of visuals that not only catch the viewer’s attention but make them feel something and inspire them to want to explore your entire site.
You are in the minority if you do not create videos for your website because 74% of B2C and 76 % of B2B companies use videos for their target audiences (information from an article by Lauren Kaye.)

Jesse Mawhinney informs us, in a January 13, 2016 article by, for Hubspot Blogs, that:

  •   Colored visuals increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%. (Source)
  •  Just over half of marketers feel that video is important to their marketing and storytelling strategies.  (Source)
  •  Content that has an image every 75-100 words gets double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images (Source)
  • Just over half of the marketing professionals worldwide say video is the type of content with the best ROI. (Source)
  • Having“video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65% and reduces unsubscribes by 26%. (Source)
  • 71% of online marketers use visual assets in their social media marketing. (Source)  
  • Readers spend more time looking at the images than they do reading text on the page, when the images are relevant (Source) 
  • The average daily video views on Facebook doubled from 4 billion video views per day to 8 billion, between April 2015 and November 2015. (Source)
What these stats are telling us is the use of video, in online marketing, will continue to grow and be a key element in producing effective content for your online promotions. The increased use of videos also tells us that poor quality videos will quickly give way to scripted, professionally edited, and produced videos.
The use of companies, like Jason Yana Studios, who specialize in cutting-edge, 3d product visualization, photorealistic detailing and animation services  can give you the edge your company needs to stand out from your competitors. To find out how the professionals at Jason Yana Studios can help your business grow, contact me today.

About the Author :

Jason Yana has 2 decades of experience in architectural technology, 3d graphics and construction marketing. This unique combination provides highly-effective visual representations of building products that fuel marketing and support efforts.

His award-winning body of work informs, inspires and educates building product customers.