Why We Love The Construction Industry
Our love for the Construction industry, and everything that goes with it, has been years in the making. Our team has over 20 years of experience working for: Clients have included: This is a specialism that is led by Kelly who has helped the team discover the breadth and diversity of the industry and how interesting and important it is. As an agency, we are hugely proud of our achievements within the Construction Industry; winning multiple business awards, building websites, running social media and racking up PR exposure. Over the years, we have developed a deep understanding of the industry as well as excellent connections within it. This means we can produce meaningful content that hits the spot and that achieves hugely positive outcomes for clients. Our social media work has achieved huge growth in both engagement and conversion metrics, leading to an increased audience, recommendation and ultimately increased business. In addition, because we genuinely enjoy working within construction and already know the existing technical terminology (and learning about new initiatives) clients spend less time having to explain the job and trust us to get on with it. We also understand that most companies working on site just don’t have time to think about how that project could benefit the company in the future. That’s where we can really help out, either through training staff on how to use their phones to take the best images and videos, or through putting together impactful datasheets that really work for use in tender documents. We can even act as the entire outsourced marketing department, creating a full strategy, running social media, maximising PR and putting together online and offline marketing collateral. If you’re working in the Built Environment, we can help you to grow your business, improve tender conversion and profitability through the targeted marketing and support of your business. Why not call us? We have the experience and expertise to understand and help.
Promoting South East Construction Expo
One of the largest Construction industry events in the South of England is the South East Construction Expo. As an agency who have a specialism in Construction, we had attended in previous (pre-Covid) years, to see clients and meet other contacts. Even in our time-poor society, the day was always both useful and enjoyable too. In 2020, the ‘live’ show was cancelled (along with almost everything else in the UK). A few virtual meetings were organised and a virtual awards events was held too but it wasn’t the same. Best Business Events, which runs the South East Construction Show, knew the 2021 show would need a social media and PR boost to promote that a live event was going to happen and also to gain confidence in a face to face show. Following a recommendation, we were contacted by Best Business Events and were made ‘PR and Social Media Partner’ for the 2021 show. This involved creating and implementing a social media strategy to cover Twitter, and LinkedIn. As well as writing articles for industry and regional business publications in both print and digital formats. Results were excellent, with a 100% increase in engagement and followers compared to the previous year that the live show had been run. We also implemented initiatives such as creating a LinkedIn event for exhibitors and pre-registered attendees to share and help grow awareness. Carole Black, Managing Director at Best Business Events said, “Constructive Marketing was a great company to work with and an excellent PR and Social Media partner for the South East Construction Show in 2021. The show faced challenges due to the pandemic and it was great to have a reliable partner we could trust to write engaging and meaningful content, allowing us to get on with organising the Expo. The content was used in industry publications, on our website, and also to run our social media. I believe it helped to significantly grow our reach on both twitter and LinkedIn, with a 100% increase in followers too. We were really pleased with the results, which we have no doubt boosted attendees for our event, and would definitely recommend working with them.”
Looking After Heaton House Care Home
Heaton House is a specialist dementia care home based in Worthing and we’re proud to have been retained as their outsourced marketing department for many years now. At first we worked to establish them in the local community as one of the leading dementia care homes in the area and now we work to maintain this reputation. As their outsourced marketing team, we work closely with the leadership team at Heaton House. Ongoing work includes; website updates, managing their social media channels and online presence, as well as looking after their brand and using it in design and print projects. This ensures their name stays well known in Worthing. It’s our job to ensure that their multi-channel marketing efforts are always seamless and work together to send out the same messages. We’re committed to continually evolve clients and make sure that they stay ahead of the marketing curve. As shown from the examples below, this rings true in the case of Heaton House. We pride ourselves on our ability to run seamless, multi-channel campaigns for them. The services we carry out for Heaton House include: Social Media To make sure that the social media channels got the results that Heaton House wanted, we developed a targeted social media strategy for them, ensuring we only put out high quality and relevant content. Our team creates engaging content for both LinkedIn and Twitter, making sure that the owner of Heaton House, Sally Neil-Smith, is always shown to be a leading local expert in dementia care. This type of content requires our team to educate themselves on dementia and we are all trained Dementia Friends as a result. The owner at Heaton House has a strong presence in the business community and so being active on LinkedIn has proved to be a great way to further the home’s presence within the local business community. Website Support As part of their website management, we also write longer pieces of content for their blog and make regular content changes to their website. Including adding new PDFs to download and updating information as and when it is needed. As a full-service marketing agency, we can create the content that we distribute too. Print Advertising Part of establishing Heaton House in the local community is making sure that they are always in front of the local people. An effective way to do this is to advertise in hyper-local publications and we take care of this for them. From booking the advertising with the publications to getting the ad designed and sent to the publication, we ensure Heaton House gets the local coverage it needs. We produce spreadsheet schedules of what publications are booked when and keep an archive of physical copies of the magazine to show Heaton House if they want to see it. Awards Not only have we been able to establish Heaton House as a local leader in intergenerational care, but we also achieved high commended for the lifetime achievement award for the owner – Sally Neil-Smith. Photography and Video We frequently go to Heaton House to take photos and videos for a variety of uses. The great thing about having such a diverse skillset at Constructive Marketing is that we can create and edit the footage we need for any number of marketing channels the client needs. PR As part of our role as Heaton House’s outsourced marketing team, we write press releases about significant events to get them featured in local and industry publications. We have also secured editorial space in multiple local publications that get delivered to thousands of homes across the Worthing area. Projects of Interest Heaton House recently had a visit from a theatre company and they wanted some photos taken and a video made to remember the day by. Alison, our marketing executive, attended the event and captured all the footage we needed. We were then able able to edit the photos and create an engaging video. The video was viewed over 285 times across their social media channels and received a great response; including being retweeted by an actor from the theatre production and the theatre company itself. With our PR expertise, we were able to publicise the event for Heaton House which included writing a
7 Ways to Improve Your Networking
How much time do you have? Do you need to attend networking meetings or could you be winning business some other way instead? As an agency, we would always advocate promoting your strengths through a variety of targeted media – as a complement to the personal touch. We have all learnt how to use online meeting platforms and ‘see each other’ via screens. If you’re virtually networking you have to be really clear vocally about what you’re after because it’s much harder to display your body language via a screen. However, no matter how virtual life gets, people will still always buy people – so, in business, making time for face to face networking is still vitally important. We do a lot of networking both virtually and face to face. Virtual networking allows us to reach beyond our usual geographical area without having to travel, but we still think face to face networking forms a stronger bond in less time. We have attended all sorts of groups and meetings at various times of day. We often joke that we could become the size of a house and have no time to do any work if we attended all the meetings to which we were invited, so how do you pick the right ones and then make them work for you? Here’s our top tips: There are many helpful, friendly and positive business groups out there you can join. One of the best places to start is with your local Chamber of Commerce. If, like us, you’re based in Worthing and Adur you can find the Chamber here and the countywide Sussex Chamber here. Other UK branches are here. We are also members of Worthing Business Circle and other local independent networking groups too – each organisation offers different benefits but we would say that all of them have been positive for us so far. We hope these few points are helpful, and maybe we’ll see you out networking soon! In the meantime, sign up for our newsletter so we can keep you updated with more useful advice like this.
Why Should I Join A Membership Organisation?
It’s very common for businesses to display lots of membership badges somewhere on their website; wearing them with pride for all to see. But what exactly are the benefits of all of these memberships? The truth is, like a lot of other things in the business world, it doesn’t pay to be involved in everything. So it’s important to do your research and find out which communities are going to be the most beneficial for you to be involved in. These benefits will differ from business to business; we’ve listed three benefits that a business can get from being a member of a group, community or association. The benefits of being a member of an association: All in all there are lots of different benefits of different member organisations. What one business thinks is well worth the money, is another business’ waste of money. It’s important to research the different organisations and find out what it is they offer their members. Some organisations, such as the Sussex Chamber of Commerce, offer a tiered system – bronze, silver and gold – which means your busines
6 Easy Ways To Refresh Your Marketing
Small Changes Can Make a BIG Difference To Your Marketing You might not have the time nor the resources to do a full on redesign of your website or completely revamp your social media channels. However there are quick wins that you can achieve in a few hours, whether doing it yourself or asking a professional to help. Here’s a few ideas that we’re undertaking at the moment for both ourselves and some of our clients: Refresh your logo – visual branding is often created at the beginning of your business’s life when you’re keen to get something ‘out there’ to get the ball rolling. Several years down the line and you’re still using the same one but times – and your business – have moved on. If you’ve built good brand recognition you won’t want to waste that credibility, trust and awareness so, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater and ditching the existing logo, why not go for a refresh? With a successful logo refresh, you can continue to reap the benefits of the brand awareness and trustworthiness of your ‘old’ logo but demonstrate your currency, dynamism and forward-thinking approach with a new look. Revisit your website content – like your logo, you may have created your website when you were first looking to tell people about your business, and it’s been left like that for some time. For some of you, a redesign and rebuild may be necessary but an update of images and written content (aka copy) could work in many cases. For example, is your ‘about’ page up to date with any staff featured? Is your portfolio showing your most recent clients and work? Perhaps some of the language you used doesn’t reflect the tone you wish to convey? Take some time to read through the copy and change the bits that don’t fit with how you now see your business. There may also be references to past promotions or events that have taken place and are no longer relevant. Similarly, perhaps you used stock images at the start but now have (or are in a position to get) images of your actual products or services? Small changes can make big differences to customer and client perception and is great for enhancing your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Google especially loves new content and even making slight changes to existing copy will mean that Google improves the ranking of that page. Update your social bios and headers – In the same way that website content needs to move on to reflect any changes in the business, so too do your social media bio and ‘about’ information. Similarly, you might like to change the header image on your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn business page. Perhaps you’re now offering a new service or product that you’d like to highlight? There is also lots of free or good value design software out there that offers exact match templates for specific header sizes to ensure you get the maximum effect. We love Canva (you can check it out here) which is super easy to use. Icons and thumbnails These are often ignored in design, which is a huge mistake as icons are often the first thing someone sees about you. Does your logo actually work when used in this small format? If not, can you focus on a part of the logo? Can you simplify it in some way? When designing the Seaside Creative branding, we realised that our logo where the beach hut is being constructed would not work across our social media icons so we developed our single beach hut which is now equally recognised along with our main logo. Consistency across all channels – consistency is a key aim in marketing. You want people to recognise your brand and what it represents easily and quickly. The best way is to keep your branding consistent, that is imagery, tone of voice in your copy, typography (the fonts, colours and sizes you use), any uniforms, signage or livery, customer service, or anything else that represents your business. This won’t always be possible down to the tiniest details but you can certainly take an overall look at your website, any literature (brochures, adverts, leaflets), your email signature, etc to make sure that each one looks broadly the same. Are you using the most up to date logo? If you’ve chosen to use a certain font, is it the same in your emails, your website, etc? If someone looked at your website, would they know it was the same business as when looking at your brochure or any other aspect of your business? Remove or update out of date stuff – this ties in with the previous point as it’s very easy to change logos, a point of contact, or a page on your website, without ensuring that it’s been updated everywhere it needs to be. Did you pin a post to the top of your Facebook page when you had a promo on and have left it there months after? Perhaps you’ve got printed literature featuring old price lists? Save yourself awkward moments by making it a regular task to check everything is current. Customers and clients will either be confused by out of date information – creating more work for you when they contact you about it – or get the impression of an inactive, stagnant business and this won’t help you win new customers. Set aside a morning or one day to take a look at each of these ideas – in fact, some may be achieved alongside each other. If there’s anything you’ve got questions about do get in touch.
Our Top 5 Tips For LinkedIn Company Page Success
How Good is your LinkedIn Company Page? We have delivered training sessions on LinkedIn Company pages and received a surprising response for more info. So we thought why not put it into a blog and share it with as many people as possible. The key difference between a LinkedIn profile and a company page is that one highlights your personal career achievements, while the other highlights your company or employer. This can be hard to get to grips with if you’re the owner of your own firm and used to talking about your company in the first person. Create distinction between your profile and your company page It is important to use the first person on your profile page – ‘I am proud to have achieved…’ etc. However, a company page needs to be written in the third person – ‘ACME Ltd is pleased to announce a new client win…’ etc. Note: Please do remember that ‘a’ company is a single entity too (a personal grammar bugbear of this writer!) eg: ‘the company has won’ (not ‘have won’) Once a distinction in voice has been created between a company page and a personal profile then it’s much easier to use your company as a ‘hub’ for all company news. No matter what size the business is, this ‘hub’ can then be followed and shared by all those who are interested parties, such as employees, clients and business contacts etc. The top 5 things to include when creating your company page The following list should be fairly obvious to most seasoned LinkedIn users, but it still amazes us just how many pages (and personal profiles for that matter) we see that are missing key information or contain irrelevant – even inappropriate – content. As with most things in life, get the basics right and a good starting point will be had by all. The main thing is that the LinkedIn company page is a free resource that, if used properly, can really showcase the best of what a company has to offer. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Of course, if this is another thing on top of an already time-consuming social media schedule, then maybe think about getting help to run it. Dormant social media feeds are almost worse than having none at all! We offer some really cost effective packages at Constructive Marketing and are happy to help with training team members too. Just ask If you’ve enjoyed this post, and would like to receive more useful advice and tips from us you can sign up to our newsletter. It comes out monthly and you can unsubscribe at any time.
We Are Dementia Friends!
It’s always great to think about others a bit more, especially those who might more help. We’ve done this at Constructive Marketing and we are proud to say that we are now officially recognised as a dementia friendly company by the Alzheimer’s Society. This means that each team member has done online learning about dementia, as a company, we have a better understanding of the condition.Although we are only a small company, we feel that is it very important to integrate the dementia friends programme into our staff policy to ensure everyone that works for us, currently and in the future, is dementia friendly. Director, Kelly O’Haire, said, “My very first job was working as a carer in a nursing home and I have since had much personal experience of the condition and how cruel it can be. When I did my own personal ‘Dementia Friends’ training I thought it would be brilliant for the whole company to do it too, so we signed up Constructive Marketing to the initiative. We have clients in the care sector and its only right that each team member has an enhanced understanding of the condition and what it can be like for those with it. I am so proud that Constructive Marketing is now a dementia friendly organisation and I hope many others see that and sign up too”. Dementia friends is not just about understanding, but also applying that understanding by doing small everyday things that offers help to a sufferer. Just by being more patient with someone or asking if they need any help can mean a great deal, making them feel less alone and isolated from society. Sadly, so many people are impacted by dementia, whether it is themselves or someone they know it is both heartbreaking and still incurable. It is estimated that around 850,000 people in the UK have dementia and that 1 in 3 people will care for someone with it at some point in their lifetime. With such a massive presence in so many people’s lives, it’s important to at least have some understanding of what dementia is and how people in the community can help people suffering with it. Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity, not just providing support to people with dementia and their carers, but also investing in research into dementia care, cause, cure and prevention. The dementia friends programme is Alzheimer’s Society’s initiative and has been the biggest one to transform the way the nation thinks, acts and talks about dementia. Becoming a dementia friend is simple, doesn’t take long and means that you’ll have more consideration for dementia sufferers and how to help someone in need. For more information on the dementia friends programme, visit their website, check out their Facebook page or ring the national dementia helpline on 0300 222 11 22. If you’d like to hear from us, you can sign up to our newsletter.
Isfield
We constructed ten new build houses in Isfield, East Sussex. The houses are set in a rich landscape setting and used traditional construction methods and materials, including a specialist timber frame. The two-storey dwellings have pitched roofs with gables to the street, deep window reveals and deep set entrances. The street comprises 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes, detached and semi-detached. The contemporary, high quality finish included signature kitchens with painted Shaker Style units and stone worktops. Oak flooring was laid to the ground floor with wet underfloor heating (to both ground and first floors). Air Source heat pumps were installed to each house coupled to provide optimum efficiency and sustainability.
Place Farm
CBG carried out the extension and remodelling works to Place Farm Residential Home. The Care Home remained operational throughout the construction period to both residents and staff. Works, especially internally, needed to be carefully managed and co-ordinated with the home’s staff and management. The project involved the initial demolition of the existing conservatory and garages. Subsequently CBG created a new two-storey extension to provide four additional bedrooms, an increased dining room and communal lounge. Works also included a new lift, staircase, internal refurbishments and various external works. The works were completed to a very high standard and included significant glazing to the front and side elevation, a steel staircase, under-floor heating over concrete floors and high quality electrical installations.