Construction Marketing Ideas

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The non-marketing email in the marketing toolbox
Today, I sent this email to about 2,000 names in our Ontario, Canada, database.

Dear Mark,
You may find our special report on the challenges of extended warranties and excessive holdbacks to be both disturbing and challenging for your business.
In reading it, please also see this entry in the Construction Marketing Ideas blog. The special report generated an impressive reaction at the Ontario Realty Corporation.

We'll be following up on this story in the next issue of Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report and Ontario Construction Report. I welcome your feedback and observations on this and other issues of concern to Ontario's
construction industry.

Sincerely,

Mark Buckshon, Construction News and Report Group of Companies
buckshon@constructioinnrgroup.com http://constructionmarketingideas.blogspot.com

Note there is absolutely no 'selling' of anything in this message. No ploys, no invitations to advertise or subscribe, nothing but the free distribution of an investigative story relevant to our readership.

This letter, however, will result I estimate in between $10,000 and $20,000 in revenue in the next few months. Why?

The letter and related article opened the doors for communications with some key potential clients; one of whom, after an email exchange today, said 'yes'. And I haven't scratched the surface of the marketing potential here.

This stuff works much as Google revolutionized the advertising business in part by putting absolutely NO ads on its home search page, and when it allowed relevant ads on its search engine, it made sure they were discreet, clearly separated from organic search, and not overwhelming to readers. (Google of course did other things right, including developing a truly effective search algorithm, and innovating the auction concept for paid ad placement).

In my case, I simply used some solid, relevant journalism and shared it with our readers.

Now I still had to ask for the order, when it was the right time, and of course the story reflects my journalistic passions and interests.

But it seems a much better way to go than the salesperson calling a list of "names" hoping someone, anyone, will agree to spend a few hundred dollars. Or even worse, a salesperson knocking on doors, one after another, intruding in people's space, hoping to get that big commission cheque.