Marketers Take Flight

Do you have a go-to person in your firm when you need to find an old picture?  Maybe there's that drive with all the images labeled IMG? Organizing your digital clutter might be the next step for your firm. My guest today is George Bains, VP of Customer Success at OpenAsset.  You can benefit from this conversation about what a DAM is, how to organize it, and even what to organize even if you do not have OpenAsset in your firm.

George and I discuss how the right DAM system can help create proposals more efficiently and easily.  Our discussion will include integrations, storage options, and how a DAM can complement your current tech stack.  Any type of digital proposal management system will speed up the proposal process for your firm.

Here are some highlights:

• George’s career path: 2:46
• What is a Digital Management System: 5:26
• How can a DAM help your marketing department: 6:29
• Ways to organize your data: 9:28
• Integrations: 12:14
• What content can be stored: 14:26
• How does a DAM fit in our tech stack: 20:07
• #1 Piece of Advice for new marketers: 22:14

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Professional services firms don’t just make a product that one consumer is going to purchase. The services that our firms sell are complex and involve different decision makers who have different needs and goals. Successful firms don’t just know who those decision makers are, but rather, develop personas that guide their marketing strategies. 

This is the third episode in the special ModMarketing podcast series. This series will walk you through how to modernize your marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive the growth at your firm.

And in this episode, I’ll dive deeper into what personas are, how to develop personas, and how they are used to help create your digital marketing strategies. 

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

In this episode, I have Melinda Colón. She is the CEO, strategic marketer, and mentor of FortisOBM. She is a problem solver and connector who helps firms in the AEC industry grow their businesses. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is a $550 billion investment across five years that include roads, bridges, major projects, passenger and great trains, general safety, safe street programs, pedestrian safety programs, buses, rail cars, and stations, broadband expansions, ports and waterways, airport runways, the gates, the taxiways, water and infrastructure, power and grid systems, and cybersecurity.

The Bill is going to touch nearly every AEC firm because it spans all market sectors. And it will also bring more work, which means more proposals! And, who could use another proposal (or two)?!?!

Knowing that these proposals are coming, what work can your business development and proposal teams start doing now to prepare? Melinda shares some actions your teams can do today to start preparing.

Here are some highlights:

• Overview of Infrastructure Bill: 4:49
• Example of how the Bill works: 7:24
• Is this similar to the last big bill?: 11:16
• What is the timing for some of these projects?: 14:03
• Where is the money flowing to?: 15:25
• Look locally: 16:44
• Tips for what marketers can do to prepare: 21:15
• Recap of Tips: 30:31

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Without marketing goals, it’s nearly impossible to develop a marketing plan let alone know if the marketing effort is working. Without clear, actionable, and achievable metrics, how does your marketing team know what you’re working towards? Setting goals for digital marketing programs should always be the priority. 

This is the second episode in the special [ModMarketing] podcast series. This series will walk you through how to modernize your marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive your firm's growth.

And in this episode, I am sharing how to set your digital marketing goals. 

I’ll explain how to begin goal setting, what SMART goals are, goal examples, and best practices.

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Using digital ads, LinkedIn ads, and email campaigns, how can you reach the influencers and decision-makers before the RFP is out? Getting in front of your clients before the proposal is even written isn't as hard as you might think.

This week I'm joined by Katie Cash and Jeni Dzenis of Smartegies.  The conversation is about different types of marketing data, marketing campaigns, and how data is used by marketing or business development to assist sales. In addition, they provide examples of how these strategies or tactics can be used during the prepositioning and capture planning process.

Here are some highlights:

• Marketing strategies advantage during pursuit: 10:57
• Tactics for reaching warm leads:  16:25
• Each strategy has a purpose: 20:21
• How Jeni utilizes the crazy ideas in the proposal process: 28:01
• A few ideas for pre-positioning: 31:46
• Tips to get started with these marketing techniques: 34:49

Resources & Links:

AEC Marketing for Principals Podcast – https://smartegies.com/podcast/.

Smartegies - https://smartegies.com/

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

This month is very special to me. Can you take a guess why? You might already know. This month, July 2022, marks 10 years of Marketers Take Flight! 

That’s 10 years, a decade since I started my little blog in 2012 that has since grown to online courses, training resources, a Facebook community, and this podcast! Plus a few little presentations and webinars sprinkled in. And I will tell you, all the content, training, and presentations have been with my blood, sweat, and tears. 

And, today's episode is about celebration. I share why I created Marketers Take Flight, how it originated, and some highs and lows along the way.  Then I give you a sneak peek into what the future holds for Marketers Take Flight.

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Would you like to know how your firm stacks up against other firms in terms of pipeline forecasts, win rates, and proposal volume?  Deltek has created an industry study that breaks down all the information for you.  In this episode, I talk with Megan Miller, CPSM about some of the amazing trends she's seeing in this year's business development report.

Megan explains what the report is, how it's created, and how metrics are reported.  This study is a valuable piece of research for any firm.  Deltek’s latest report is aimed at anyone that does business in the A&E industry, not just Deltek customers. Be sure to listen in and then check the links for an opportunity to go even deeper into the report.

Here are some highlights:

• Megan’s career path: 2:11
• Overview of Deltek Clarity Study: 5:27
• Key trends in Business Development: 7:53
• Big growth ahead? 9:34
• Industry averages broken down: 12:20
• How are the metrics reported; 15:10
• Understanding your “Why” and how to change: 16:02
• Win rate change: 17:30
• Surprise findings for this year's study: 20:15
• Third of firms not using a CRM??! 24:05
• Top business development challenges: 26:42
• #1 piece of advice for a new AEC marketer: 31:15

Resources & Links:

• Deltek Coffee & Clarity Series: https://bit.ly/43rdClaritySeries
• 43rd Deltek Clarity Study: https://info.deltek.com/Clarity-AE

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

I am so excited to bring you this brand-new ModMarketing Series! This series will walk AEC marketers through how to modernize their marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive the growth at your firm.

ModMarketing is going to cover the nuts and bolts of how to do this. In this series, you will learn how to develop a ModMarketing program that is right for your firm. Some topics I plan to cover include: 

• How to define your personas
• Setting ModMarketing goals
• Outlining a content strategy
• Different content strategies and examples
• Repurposing content into multiple formats
• Search engine optimization
• Promoting content
• Optimizing marketing performance
• Analyzing marketing results

Make sure you are subscribed to the Marketers Take Flight podcast, so you don’t miss any episode in this series! 

And in this first episode, I am going to go into a little more in detail about what the heck I mean by ModMarketing.

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Has your firm created a marketing handbook that you can easily access and has all the information you need? This would save you a lot of time when you need it most. When you're pressed for time and need to post to social media or finish a proposal, your company needs a marketing handbook containing simple information such as phone numbers and addresses, as well as less-known information like brand colors and logos. The resource can be accessed by anyone and contains everything needed.

In today's episode, we talk to Perryn Olson from REX.one. He has been creating a marketing handbook for his company, and he is here to discuss how to make this a standard practice in your firm. From conception to sharing and keeping it updated, a marketing handbook could be what your firm needs to stay on track and be more efficient and effective.

Here are some highlights:

• Perryn’s career path: 2:39
• Why create a marketing handbook: 8:05
• What is in a marketing handbook: 11:32
• How to create and update: 16:44
• InDesign book basics: 19:08
• Sharing the book: 21:35
• Benefits of using a marketing handbook: 27:04
• What should you focus on first: 30:55

Resource:
End Your File Frustration Starter Pack: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/product/end-file-frustration/

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.

Is your next career move up? Will it still involve proposals? What if you want to take a break or lean out of your career? What options do you have then?

This episode is the second part of the career paths of marketers. I am going to answer these questions and more from career path stories of marketers like you, and from a very special guest. I share the career path stories of five different marketing, communications, and business development professionals. 

There's also a special guest who started as a marketing coordinator, fell in love with helping her community, and pivoted her career to lead referendum campaigns for her firm.

This is a fun and inspiring episode, so grab a coffee or put on those earbuds and sneakers and listen up.

Want more AEC marketing goodness?

• New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
• Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
• Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
• Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
• Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
• Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.