Copywriting for the construction industry – a new dimension

In less than two years, copywriting for the construction industry has been turned on its head.  Recent economic events have had real-life effects that have trickled down into every area of everyday life.

Everyone in the construction industry – and everywhere else for that matter – knew the party would have to end eventually. The way it happened, however, was both unique and breath-taking.

Suddenly, plans and developments were put on hold.  The future was fudged and nudged back a little.  Balance sheets were written in red ink for the first time in a decade.  And yet, the blood-bath could have been worse. 

Recessions are times when businesses are forced to take stock.  The self-correcting nature of capitalism steps in to allow companies to cut away the fat, re-focus on core business activities and re-arm for the future.

Of course, copywriting is but a side-show in all this.  And yet, effective marketing is essential for corporate recovery in any business sector.  Copywriting for the construction industry will become more streamlined.  Websites will become ‘content managed’.  The media relations side of  PR will move online.  The dissemination of  ‘information’ will be more fluid.  And accessing it will have to be ‘on demand’.  

Integrated marketing will receive a shot in the arm in the shape of resurgent inter-personal selling.  As everyone becomes more web-savvy, the split between online and offline marketing will become less pronounced.  The need to differentiate will disappear.  And marketing will be re-instated to its status of being a major standalone business discipline.

The ’satellites’ of online marketing, networking and social media will mutate from fads into mainstream tools.  As ever among all this, copywriting will be there, forced by necessity to be quicker, leaner and totally business-focused. 

Like so many other marketing services, copywriting will become ever-more commoditised.  The days of self-indulgent creativity and precious preening are well and truly behind us.  And when it comes to winning respect in the wider business community, maybe that’s no bad thing.

A copywriter for the construction industry?

The interest in Buzzwords’ construction industry and property copywriting services in the past six months has been surprising.  Given the dire state of new house building in the UK and the contraction of the commercial side of the construction industry – what’s going on?

Here’s my guess.  Unlike during the last recession, marketing people in 2009 aren’t simply battening down the hatches until this ill-wind dies down.  They are in fact taking the medium-term view – and most aspects of construction planning involve time-spans of three years or so.  Seizing the moment has translated into ‘getting ready to seize tomorrow’.

Whether we’ll ever return to the mad days of the past decade is debatable, but one thing is certain.  The UK has a housing shortage – and there will always be a demand for high quality offices, stores and warehouses on both urban and out-of-town developments.

So it looks like construction industry marketing departments are diverting some of their resources into developing their business profiles, extolling their expertise – and maybe using the services of a copywriter or two to help them out!

Buzzwords Copywriting Manchester on Facebook

Buzzwords Limited is now on Facebook.

 

Freelance Copywriting Offline – Business Sectors

It’s amazing how many people call me with the question: ‘Have you ever worked in… beta blockers/timeshares/materials handling’ – or some other highly specific industry. Any half-way decent copywriter can turn his hand to almost any subject.  That’s simply because it’s experience of copywriting techniques that matters – not the subject matter being written about.  (That can always be researched.)  Just for the record, I’ve worked on some very obscure topics.  Here’s a few of the more ‘mainstream’ sectors:

Travel Copywriting – Upmarket or down dale.  UK hotels or jet-set hideaways.  Brochures, ads and direct mail.  Nothing fazes me with travel copywriting – although it has to be said that this is a more difficult writing genre than many imagine.

Industrial Copywriting – This is a catch-all label for what covers a multitude. If you want to find out about the diversity of UK industry, become a copywriter!  (I did – but not for that reason.)

Financial Copywriting - Banks, building societies, insurance companies, financial advisers, brokers and accountants – Ive written for them all.  Quite a mix, with some pretty impressive names too. 

Property Copywriting – Scene-setting and then getting to grips with the selling points of everything from a one-bed flat to a major mansion house – property writing has its own unique demands.  Brochures, news releases, ads – whatever your weapon, I’ve used it.

Advertising & Design Agencies – I know about agencies.  It’s where I started my advertising career, and I’ve written for hundreds of them since.  I know what agencies want – their target markets, the tone of voice needed.  If you have an agency and you’re reading this, I can probably help you get over the ‘cringe factor’ that comes from writing your own publicity!