Lessons From 2022: The Five Most Popular Episodes of the Smarter Building Materials Marketing Podcast

The Smarter Building Materials Marketing podcast helps industry professionals find better ways to grow leads, sales and outperform the competition. It’s designed to give insights on how to create a results-driven digital marketing strategy for companies of any size.

This week, Zach and Beth talk about five of the most popular podcast episodes from 2022 and give their biggest takeaway from each.

In episode 157, Zach and Beth talked with Gerry Messina about how manufacturers could reach both architects and contractors. But the biggest surprise Zach heard was that contractors could be easier to reach than architects in some ways.

In the episode, Zach points out that if you ask around the building materials industry, the majority of people will claim that contractors are the most reluctant to change products or brands. But according to Gerry, that’s not necessarily true these days. Thanks to the labor shortage, if you can show them that your product is faster and easier to install, you’re likely to convert them, making them more open than an architect.

A year later, Zach still agrees with Gerry’s idea. But the better takeaway is: “The messaging that works today, it’s always going to change.” The market is constantly shifting, so what is going to move the needle with respect to converting contractors to customers is also going to change. Be sure that you’re keeping up with, and creating your marketing around, your audience’s current pain points.

Next on the list is episode 162 with Kevin Kilpatrick. The content of this episode really applies to every manufacturer out there, regardless of their audience. Kevin walks listeners through the importance of translating content into Spanish and gives advice on where to start. Beth particularly liked his advice on creating a community for your Spanish-speaking base. 

One of the biggest mistakes manufacturers can make is creating a beautiful, eye-catching ad in Spanish, and when you click on the link, it takes you to a website all in English. Kevin admits that it’s an extra step and expense to translate webpages and videos, manuals and downloadables in Spanish, but “every touchpoint needs to be in both languages, from the original ad or digital ad all the way through their journey and learning about you.”

By having content in their native or preferred language, you are creating a welcoming environment that your audience feels comfortable in. And they are looking for companies who are creating this environment — the manufacturers who will have a headstart with them.

As Zach points out, “there’s an increasing number of native Spanish-speaking individuals in North America as a whole. There are two slam dunk wins here…if you've got an installer base who needs this, number one, go do it. And number two, if you want to increase traffic, one of the quickest ways to do it is provide bilingual first handwritten, not computer generated written Spanish content.”

An easy place to start, Beth points out, is your customer service team. “If you know you have a significant Spanish-speaking customer base, then you need to be servicing that customer where they are and as who they are. This is just a really easy, straightforward, authentic way to show them how much you care and how much you value their business.”

What Zach and Beth expected to be one of their more boring episodes ended up being both a fascinating conversation and one of our most popular episodes. In episode 160, they talk with Jan Rutgers about the dos and don’ts of creating CEU courses. One of the most interesting parts of the episode was about how manufacturers can evaluate their CEU courses to know if they’re doing it right.
 

The key takeaways from Jan are:

1. No matter what your content is about, make sure it’s not dry.
2. If you’re using images, make sure they are reflective of the surrounding text or spoken information.
3. Your courses are for professionals, so make sure you’re talking to the professional, not the consumer.

Episode 163 is all about solutions for labor shortages and how manufacturers can help. Zach and Beth talked to two guests, Spencer Brown and Kevin Johnson, about how they are tag-teaming the labor shortage issue by targeting younger generations. Because this is a huge issue facing every single manufacturer, it's essential to listen.

If you want to get involved, try donating to your local high schools Spencer suggests: “A lot of these schools, the money's not there. They can't just go buy a bunch of plumbing equipment and start teaching. There's no budget for that. … Manufacturers can help support that a lot just by donating. And in return, they're getting their brand name out.”

Beth files this episode under “not at all what you would expect” because they provide a unique perspective and strategy to tackle a prevalent, industry-wide issue.

Last, but certainly not least, on our list is episode 166 with Caleb Williams. He talks to Zach and Beth about how manufacturers can support builders in today’s industry. As a builder himself, he has first-hand knowledge of what challenges builders are facing when it comes to supply chain issues, out-of-stock products and — as discussed in the clip below — buying land. 

This is one of Zach’s favorite episodes because “it's a really good vantage point into how builders think about the problem that they're facing about getting product, getting land, making things happen.”

While overbuying is no longer as big of an issue these days, it does “show you what these individuals are willing to do if they see a risk or an issue that comes up against their organization.” And as Beth points out, the market heading into 2023 is more unpredictable than it’s been in several years.

The key takeaway? Don’t forget that your issues can cause a ripple effect down the supply chain and resonate deeply with your customers. “I think that's really what's being said here by Caleb because he's being really honest about how they had to react, not even wanted to react,” Beth says.

Zach and Beth want to hear from you! You, our audience, are essential to this show. Let us know what you’re dealing with currently or what you want to hear more about. Drop us a note at podcast@venveo.com.

And if you’ve enjoyed our show this year or found our content helpful, we would love it if you could take a few moments to head to the iTunes podcast page and give us a five-star review and a nice comment.

Thank you again for being a part of the Smarter Building Materials Marketing podcast family.

Listen to the full episode for more insights into our top five podcast episodes of 2022.