Co
nstruction marketing is changing rapidly. The marketing mix is evolving, in a good way. There are many reasons for this metamorphosis. First, construction and business-to-business buyers (like consumers) increasingly use the Internet for sourcing and selecting products and services. Therefore search optimization becomes more important than ever. Internet search engine optimization (SEO) and social media both improve search results.
Second, traditional marketing tactics like advertising and trade shows are expensive, and are being cut back and often replaced with less expensive Internet and social media. To prove this, in a recent study we identified downward trends in advertising, printing and tradeshows. Yes, there are exceptions.
Third, Internet-based marketing (including social media) can be more measurable than traditional marketing. Fourth, a focus on lead generation can be facilitated by website registration pages, and communicated via social media and integrated with traditional marketing.
In sum, the new marketing mix still requires a strategic marketing foundation to ensure all downstream marketing supports brand strategy and positioning. But the new marketing mix buckets many traditional marketing tactics as Outbound Marketing, and many Internet and social media activities as Inbound Marketing. Marketing measurement is integrated with both Inbound and Outbound and feeds back to planning and budgeting via reporting as a closed-loop system. See the modern marketing mix diagram above.