While the Marketing and Business Development departments hold two very different sets of responsibilities within an organization, they need to work together toward a common revenue growth goal.
We know you want to ensure your process is working as it should in bringing you new business opportunities. However, we understand that it may be difficult to find marketing experts that fully understand what you do and collaborate with your business development team. That is why it is important to partner with an engineering marketing agency that can take your unique needs and work with you to create a custom strategy that will help fully support your goals.
We are a full-service marketing agency, and we promise there is a method to our madness, and the following tried and true processes will help YOU ignite your business development.
The Buyer’s Journey and Messaging Strategy
The Buyer’s Journey is the research process that establishes who your buyers are and each phase they go through before making a purchase. This extensive process helps establish their needs, pain points, and behaviors, ultimately creating a framework that allows the marketing and business development teams to better understand their customers and what they go through during their decision-making process.
First, we establish the type of buyers or personas seeking your product or service. For example, are you a civil engineering firm that needs to appeal to building developers and architects as well as general contractors? Well, then we need to figure out what those people go through to make a decision so that we can begin to tailor your content and sales message just for them!
Once the personas are defined, we break down each persona by the four stages they will experience: the AWARENESS stage, the CONSIDERATION stage, the DECISION stage, and finally, SUCCESS.
- Awareness: The potential buyer realizes they have a problem or pain point that they want to be solved.
- Example: A building developer is not happy with their current engineering firm.
- Consideration: The potential buyer defines their specific problem and looks into possible solutions.
- Example: A building developer’s project is delayed three months because their engineering firm could not get the proper permits and documents put together to begin construction. They now need a new firm to help with the needed construction documents.
- Decision: The potential buyer weighs their options and selects the best one that can provide a solution to their problem.
- A building developer has interviewed three other engineering firms and selected the best option that can get them what they need in the shortest amount of time.
- Success: The buyer is now a client, but you want to make sure they stay that way! During the success phase, you’ll work on open communication and great customer service with your client.
- A building developer’s project is able to get back underway after their new engineering firm was able to get them the necessary documents to begin construction. They call YOU for their next project. No need to shop around; they know exactly who to go to.
If your head is spinning, that’s okay! We weren’t kidding when we said this was an extensive process. However, this level of breakdown allows an engineering marketing agency (like us) to do a better job of creating strategic messaging that is specific to the customer and where they are during the purchasing process.
Once complete, the buyer’s journey becomes a tool of reference that will always be in your back pocket! You can always go back to or lean on it when you are trying to target a specific person via content or ads or having a conversation with them during the sales process.
Content Strategy
So you’ve done all of that work for the buyer’s journey; you may be wondering now what? We can take everything we’ve learned and customize a content strategy that fits your business best. This strategy is essentially your marketing roadmap and calendar, which creates consistency in your marketing efforts and leads to success.
When creating a content strategy, we conduct thorough keyword, topic, and competitor research, which is used to develop a content calendar. This calendar contains items such as blog topics, social media copy, keyword focus, and target personas that enable our team to more effectively and efficiently plan and gather information.
We also review your digital footprint – website, ads, social media, emails, etc. – and recommend updates that would improve your lead generation. Once implemented, this strategy allows your website and digital marketing channels to create organic leads for you and build awareness for your brand.
When you have an effective strategy and everything works together, you will see more leads through your digital marketing channels!
Utilize Marketing Refresh as Your Engineering Marketing Agency
We know these projects can seem overwhelming, but once completed, you are set up for success! Your teams will be able to better understand and communicate with your prospective clients and begin to build that brand awareness. It’s important to remember that a customer who has seen great, informative, helpful content from your business is a warmer lead than someone who has never heard about you at all.
Choosing the right marketing partner is a big decision, and choosing an engineering marketing agency is the best route to take if you want to see more business coming in the door! Marketing Refresh is a full-service digital marketing agency, and we would love to help you and your engineering firm. So contact us today, and let us talk about how we can partner with your team to meet your marketing needs.
