Helping Construction Pros Navigate In a Digital World
by Tim Fausch
June 25, 2010
©iStockphoto.com/ElementalImaging
Not long ago, most
professionals belonged to their national, state or local association. Or they
belonged to a peer group, civic club, or some organization that exposed them to
new ideas, skills, and tools, all while networking with other pros.
Today many legacy
organizations are struggling to be relevant because some of what they offer is
duplicated on the Internet, which is often faster, deeper and cheaper.
Associations are responding
with better electronic tools and information. And yet, some long-term members question
the groups value. Because they are no longer getting benefits like printed
manuals, reports, and newsletters, members are disappointed and drop out. This
seems unfair to legacy organizations that do embrace the future and offer new
services. Unfortunately, people are fickle when confronted with change.
So do new organizations enjoy
an advantage? They have no legacy issues to overcome and are free to focus on new
technologies and hot trends. One example just showed up on my radar.
BNP Media joined the
Construction Marketing Association, a group formed in late 2009. The group
serves brand owners – mostly manufacturers of construction products or service
providers. CMA went live with its web site (www.constructionmarketingassociation.org/)
in April.
CMA founder Neil Brown has
worked for years helping clients market their companies. As a consultant
transitioning into eMedia, Brown felt there was a void among brand owners of
construction-related products and services.
Brown noticed a construction organization
in Europe was addressing eMedia issues and decided it would be a good idea to
form a similar group in North America. While
not averse to traditional marketing, CMA launched with a focus on offering tools
that help evaluate a company’s Internet presence and identify fresh ways to
market products.
Last week CMA sent out a
press release introducing a brand rating service. Here’s a summary from the CMA
web site:
“The Construction
Marketing Association (CMA) announces the Construction Brand Internet Index
(CBII). A comprehensive rating of the Internet presence of top construction
brands based on over 50 variables.
The rating
identifies how effective a specific Web site domain is relative to other
websites. The ratings are based on key search engine data, Web site meta
structure, traffic, social media integration (use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, etc.), inbound links, indexed
pages and more.”
Brown is hoping to
attract 500 members in the next 12 months, a lofty goal in this period of
uncertainty. CMA is using a combination
of email marketing, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and YouTube to attract
attention, so it is practicing what it is preaching.
It’s hard to predict how deeply a new association with a different
vision will resonate in world that gets more crowded and cluttered by the day.
It’s a new frontier for all of us.
Tim Fausch
fauscht@bnpmedia.com
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Title: Thanks for the Blogpost!
By: Neil Brown
Posted: June 28, 2010 2:42 PM
The Association welcomes plumbing and other construction marketing professionals. Please check us out!