Residential specification4 tips to boost your communication strategy

Architects, landlords, developers, engineering consultancies and housebuilders: all construction players with a major impact on the specification of your housing and construction solutions. What we will call here “residential specification” is a demanding audience that must be addressed with a certain methodology, without skipping any steps! Ready to secure your place in the next tender specification document? Discover our 4 practical tips for taking action!

Deploying a strategy aimed at specifiers is a long-term evangelisation effort to develop brand preference.

Tip no. 1: define a strategy dedicated to the audience

Sounds obvious, doesn't it? Yet the facts show that few construction brands have genuinely structured a communication strategy aimed specifically at specifiers. You will therefore need to define a clear line, objectives to reach, personas to rank, phases to prioritise, a set-up aligned with customer journeys and so on. In short, an action plan dedicated to the audience and in tune with its habits, expectations and behaviours.

So, how do you deliver the right content, to the right person, at the right time and at the right point of contact? All the recent barometers (Archiliste, LeMoniteur...) show that specifiers move easily between digital and physical, depending on the stage of their project and their needs. The challenge will therefore be to develop a 360° approach to support them through the various stages of their customer journey. A resolutely omnichannel vision, in other words.

Tip no. 2: structure the message

This is THE step not to miss! Yes, really. You do not talk to a specifier the way you talk to a tradesperson or a distributor: in-depth work is essential to structure the brand's communications aimed at this audience.

First of all, it will be essential to define a clear, impactful and differentiating value promise. What is it about my brand that gives it the keys to becoming an indispensable partner for architects, developers or landlords, serving the enhancement of their project and their image? Following the example of Technal's 4114 initiative or Knauf's Studio, you will need to write a storytelling narrative that embodies the brand's message and thereby ensures the coherence and impact of its communication strategy.

Next, the brand will absolutely have to change its posture, moving from “industrial supplier” to “partner in the project's success”. To win favour, its vocation must be to build specifiers' skills and shed light on the market in order to support them! One of the pillars therefore lies in the manufacturer's ability to:

• shift the focus away from its solutions and products to talk about market challenges and the themes that shape its audiences' daily work (circular economy, indoor air quality, RE2020, accessibility, acoustics, fire resistance, sustainable and low-carbon construction…).
• move beyond the “marketing promise” model towards “proof from the field” by highlighting testimonials, case studies, interviews, expert perspectives…

In summary: no product data sheets, no sales pitches, no adverts, no discourse that is too industrial and navel-gazing! From now on, transparent communication centred above all on specifiers' benefits and concerns. This ability to “give before receiving” or to “talk about yourself without talking about yourself” is a model akin to the philosophy of inbound marketing or brand content. The brand becomes a reference medium for specifiers, and its solutions become the means to the project's success and enhancement.

Tip no. 3: develop (high) value-added content

To underpin this approach, you will necessarily have to develop high value-added content. It must tangibly make specifiers' daily work easier, reassure them, support them, save them time and — ultimately — build their skills on the market. The brand thus becomes a go-to point of contact, no longer by talking about itself but by giving priority to the professions, viewpoints and practices, and the buildings and projects of those who specify it (architects, landlords, developers…).

Here is a selection of the most appreciated content types, which should logically come first:

• In-depth features, case studies
• Profiles and interviews, site reports
• Themed white papers
• Magazines / mooks
• A blog of inspiration and information
• Roadshows, events and technical mornings
• Video web series
• A podcast dedicated to market challenges
• A “club” ambassador programme

Tip no. 4: nurture the bond

Rome wasn't built in a day! Developing a communication strategy aimed at specifiers means carrying out a work of evangelisation and influence. Only a medium- and long-term vision counts if you hope to develop brand preference and lock in the tender specification document.

Two precepts should be borne in mind in this endeavour:

• simplicity and sustainability: formats that are easy to develop. Calibrating your initiatives to your resources (team, budget…) is essential so as not to burn out, and to keep going over the long haul.
• regular communications: create a rendezvous with your audiences throughout the year through regular initiatives to enrich the customer relationship, build credibility, keep the brand front of mind and drive engagement (newsletters, magazines, social media, digital…)

Let's keep in mind that any marketing initiative is there to support the work done in the field by the sales force. So do not hesitate to involve them in co-building this action plan, to gather their insights and secure their full commitment.

Ready to take action with a communication agency specialising in construction and housing? Our account directors are at your disposal to arrange a first conversation.