6
Cont
T he pendulum is swinging from traditional interruption-based marketing toward con- tent marketing, and many architectural and engineering firms are losing ground and business. The good news is content marketing offers incredible opportunities for A/E firms; the challenge is that it presents a learning curve in the billable-hour business model. Content marketing 101 Though there is a learning curve for those used to the billable-hour business model, moving away from traditional marketing provides great opportunities for A/E/P firms.
Brian Fraley
WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING? Trying to explain marketing concepts to A/E professionals is like trying to talk macroeconomics with your uncle after Thanksgiving dinner. I often try to explain concepts like content marketing to design and construction clients in gen- eral terms to curtail the tryptophan rush. The Content Marketing Institute – arguably the au- thority on the subject – offers this definition: “Con- tent marketing is a strategic marketing approach fo- cused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” Though not included in this definition, usefulness is the mortar holding the content marketing structure together. Good A/E firms have always strived to be useful, but now the option is a requirement.
FREE INFORMATION VERSUS BILLABLE HOURS. When I discuss the importance of creating and sharing useful con- tent, the knee-jerk reaction is: “Why would we give away free information?” It’s a fair question that re- sults from decades of working in a billable-hours en- vironment, where marketing is a necessary evil. There was a time when internalizing useful infor- mation was standard at A/E firms. Sharing your expertise was justification for sending out an invoice or billing to a project. Your clients paid willingly, be- cause they had no other choice. Then the Internet came along. Clients had access within seconds to volumes of information, even on complex fields such as architecture and engineering. Your clients are not quite as dependent as they once were. Those that have the time and inclination can now answer some of their questions without
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTM
Made with FlippingBook Annual report