You know you’re a kickass LA, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog (right? Duh!). Then why aren’t there more Landscape Architecture RFP coming through the door?
It’s all in the marketing my friend.
And just like any growing business, marketing for landscape architects is beginning to change.
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| Image from x-men.wikia.com |
Take our mutant buddy Magneto, for example. He’s the ultimate bad guy - like your biggest competitor.
You can see from his updates and awards that he’s getting all sorts of RFPs. So what’s his secret? How is he attracting all these RFPs?
He’s using this hip new thing called inbound marketing.
Outbound vs. Inbound
First of all, outbound marketing is marketing of the past. This marketing strategy includes anything that pushes products or services on customers, whether they like it or not.
The communication is one-way, and customers have no options as to the content they’re seeing. Ads are published in all mediums including print, TV, radio, cold calls, billboards, etc, and these outbound marketers rarely seek to entertain or educate the customer.
The problem with this is people are starting to block out the old way of marketing. They’ve seen it so much they are simply ignoring it.
Consumers are more in control of the information they are receiving, and how. They can spam emails, block calls, and unsubscribe to continuous ads that are irrelevant to their needs.
Magneto, your competition, knows this, and he wants to give consumers what they want! He doesn’t like being forced to do anything, and neither do the people!
The answer? Inbound Marketing!
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| Image from x-men.wikia.com |
The key to Magneto’s success is giving consumers options, and in return, they seek him out like the magnet he is.
He simply earns the target audience’s trust by providing information his clients are looking for. There are several tools he uses such as blogging (this is huge), social media, and really great downloadable content via eBooks, white papers, etc.
By creating interactive, helpful content that draw people in, he is allowing his customers to find him on their own terms via searches and engaging his contact list - as well as making it available to be shared among different social platforms.
And the best part? This extremely effective solution is just one example of how Magneto is getting the word out about his architectural awesomeness.
The more useful, relevant content he makes available, the more customers he attracts
The fact that he converts people to leads after they are attracted to him, gives him the opportunity to nurture them over time into seeing that he is the sole authority figure in the market.
Before you know it, clients are seeking him out to solve their problems, and all he has to do is answer the call.
Related Post: Need Landscape Architecture RFPs? Become a Lead Generation PowerhouseThe Process
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| Image from x-men.wikia.com |
I’m starting to wonder if he really has super powers or if he’s just really good at inbound marketing?
I wouldn’t be surprised considering the four-step process he takes advantage of to attract his clients.
The first step, as we’ve discussed, is to attract visitors by making useful information available to people seeking solutions to their problems.
Once they find you via search or via email re-engagement, the next step is to convert these visitors to leads by gathering their information.
An easy way to do this is to have some sort of awesome information they want to download in exchange for their name and email via a contact form.
Once you have your leads you can then nurture them over time via really value based emails that relate to content you know they are interested in - and eventually converting them into clients.
All the information you’re providing will show them you have the best solution to their problem. You are becoming the only option in their mind to work on a development project.
The last step is to simply keep in touch with your clients, delighting them with some relevant content every now and then, showing them you aren’t just looking to close a deal.
These four steps are keeping Magneto in business.
He’s got it down to a science, and super mutant powers or not, he’s attracting all the right clients without even seeking them out in the first place.
Forget those awkward-as-hell networking events with the forced uncomfortable meetups to hopefully get in front of the right people.
He’s thrown out the ideas of outbound marketing and is moving into the future. If you follow his example and make yourself known through inbound marketing, you too will attract some RFPs, and you’ll be in business too. Maybe you have some super powers of your own and you just don’t know it yet!
Photo credit goes to Flickr user Pat Loika
