What are you doing this summer?

I have worked in the construction industry a majority of my career, mostly with building products manufacturers. Summer is the time when building peaks and we concentrate on fulfilling the demand for our products. The marketing teams typically take a breath from the frantic pace of trade shows, product launches and program development to concentrate on sales support. Summer is also vacation time.

Summer School

I still work in the construction industry as an agency owner dedicated to working with building product manufacturers. When you are an entrepreneur, you learn quickly to double down on your efforts when others are resting. For me this is during the summertime when the majority of our clients are midway through their annual plans and programs are well underway. Summer is the time we collect all the information we have been consuming and begin to apply it to the building industry. We lay out what has been working well, what is underperforming and what is missing in the industry. We share the insights we have acquired about people who are the consumers, homeowners, builders, remodelers, architects, designers and trades people that make up the building and construction industries. We dissect the research we have done and acquired for the latest and greatest ways to attract, engage and convert people to select products and services in a highly competitive, fast changing, demanding and shy building industry. Summer is the time we find the competitive advantages for our clients.

We are in the midst of this reconciliation of the daily homework we have done and continue to do as an investment in our clients and our business. At the end of every day throughout the year, I personally spend at least one hour every evening reading the latest articles and reports on construction, marketing, communications and sales best practices and cutting edge efforts. Don’t take my word for it. Follow Draper DNA across our social media channels and read our daily posts of the best practices we are finding that will help you and your business.

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Absent

As we consider the information we are acquiring, we are seeing a significant theme coming to light. People are missing from the marketing efforts. Building products manufacturers are great at marketing products but they are generally poor at marketing to the people that buy their products. We have highlighted these insights recently with our blog post “Where Are All The People?” We sent you an email last month titled “B2B Decision Makers Are Bored” in which we shared the findings of a research study that stated the following:

• Of the buyers polled, 82% wish B2B had the creativity associated with B2C.
• In addition, 48% find B2B advertising boring. And 49% feel B2B websites are not as interesting or creative as consumer sites.
• Only 22% feel that B2B advertising prompts them to take the next step in the purchase funnel.
• Moreover, 81% feel they would make better decisions if B2B advertising were more engaging.

“It’s hard to sell something if you’re boring people to death,” said the study sponsor, Audrey Merritt. “So much B2B marketing falls flat because it doesn’t make the audience feel something.”

We are finding it is more than just omitting your prospective customers and user from your communications, it is not knowing your customers in any level of intimacy. Worse yet, manufacturers do not know the customers journey to their buying decision. I suspect if you do not know your customers or the path they take to the decisions they make, it is easy to exclude them from your marketing and likely your sales.

Summer Job

Summertime is more than just finding holes in the marketplace, it is about creating ways to fill these holes for your clients. This is our product development as a business development consultancy and marketing agency. We are in the process of confirming the opportunities for success and the means to get there for our clients and us. We have some more work to do this summer. You are likely to see a few photos of our computers in our laps while sitting on the beach or by the pool. It is summer after all and the beautiful weather is irresistible.

We are considering a fall tour to visit our clients and leading manufacturers to share what we learned and created this summer. Envision an adult, professional version of “What did you do this summer?” We will be reaching out to you at the end of summer to schedule 15 minutes of time in your office. More information on the tour to come.

In the meantime, enjoy your summer. You have worked hard and earned some time off. Just keep in mind, we are working hard to find the next best thing for you to embrace for success when summer is over.