Social Media for AEC - Industrial Brand...the study of AEC professionals cited below, it was found...
Transcript of Social Media for AEC - Industrial Brand...the study of AEC professionals cited below, it was found...
Social Mediafor AEC(Architecture. Engineering. Construction.)
Social Media for AEC
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
This statement is especially relevant to
architecture, engineering, and construction
(AEC) firms. A prolific change has happened in
the way we communicate and share information
as individuals and as organizations. Firms that
shift their marketing paradigms accordingly will
have a significant advantage, yet most firms in
the AEC sector are not adapting.
Alert
Social Media isn’t a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.
> click to watch a video
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
As a marketing consultancy for AEC firms, we
generally see a recurring pattern. The majority
of AEC partners and senior stakeholders are
uncomfortable and hesitant with using social
media as a complimentary form of marketing
and communication. They’ve likely tried it in
the past and been disappointed, or haven’t
had the time to invest in it.
The train is leaving the
station, and many AEC
firms are not on board.
What is the reason for this unwillingness to adopt social media?
of companies in the US
are either currently using
social media channels or
preparing to use them
Read more...
Read more...
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of AEC professionals use
social media channels for
marketing and publicity
purposes
75%
28%
fig. 1
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
1
2
34
56
For personal use
Connect with others
in my profession
Don’t use social media
Marketing/publicity
Keep up with developments
in my field of business
Obtain product, supplier
and manufacturer info
53%
48%
28%
28%
23%
17%
There is hope, and AEC professionals likely don’t realize it, but they’re already halfway through the battle. In
the study of AEC professionals cited below, it was found that more than half of respondents (53%) use social
media for personal purposes and 48% use it for networking and communicating with others in their field.
AEC Professionals are already onboard, they just don’t realize it.
NOTE: Respondents could make multiple selections.
Original data from: www.bdcnetwork.com/how-aec-professionals-are-using-social-media
STATS. fig. 2In what ways, if any, do you utilize social media channels?
fig. 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
Adopting a new technology is two-fold: half the
battle is having the willingness and desire to adopt
the technology and the other half of the battle is
having the skills to use the technology. Most AEC
professionals are already using social media for
personal purposes, so we’re not starting from the
ground up and teaching you about what Facebook is
or what Twitter does. You already know it; you just
need to know how to effectively use it for your firm.
And guess what? It’s not that much different from
how you’re using it already.
The roots of social media are grounded in
connecting with people, sharing content (opinions,
links, trends, work, etc.), and having authentic
conversations around mutual interests and ideas.
But wait, we didn’t say sales.
Sales and leads will result once you have a social
media strategy in place, but it shouldn’t be your first
focus or goal. Position your organization as thought
leaders in the industry, share your work and ideas,
and open your mind to discovering what others are
doing in your industry. You’ll gain valuable insight
into other professionals and organizations in your
industry and sales and leads will follow naturally
once you ground your strategy in authentic
conversations and valuable content.
Social media isn’t about sales? Yes and no.
Still don’t get it? ? ?
??
?Social Media for AEC
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
What is social media?
W
Social Media for AEC
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What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
This paper is intended to quickly guide you
through the clutter and confusion of social media
marketing. We’ll answer the critical questions and
provide some insight and direction to guide your
firm towards using social media effectively for
your AEC company.
First off, what is social media? According to
Merriam-Webster, social media is defined as:
“forms of electronic communication through
which users create online communities to share
information, ideas, personal messages, and other
content.” Social media marketing then is how
organizations utilize these online communities
and conversations for business purposes. It is one
component of a larger online marketing strategy
that often includes other components, such as:
• Website Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Online/Display Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Analytics
Social media is a critical part of online marketing
and is the focus of this paper, but AEC firms
should consider all of the above internet-based
marketing methods. These new methods do not
supersede traditional marketing; they should
supplement and be integrated with the existing
marketing plan.
What is social media? personal m
essages
conn
ectio
ns
conversations
content
information
meth
od
olo
gy
op
inio
ns
ideas
insig
hts
Social media marketing
is how organizations
utilize these online
communities and
conversations
for business
purposes.
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What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
WWhy does social media marketing work?
Why?Social Media for AEC
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INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
Reason 1.
BY BUILDING COMMUNITY, YOU BUILD YOUR BRAND
Marketing leaders believe social media has become intrinsic to 21st
century brand building. The beliefs and values espoused by your firm and
the reasons why you do what you do are intrinsic to attracting clients and
hires. AEC professionals are highly passionate people and believe strongly
in their work. By sharing your passion through relevant industry content,
conversing with fellow AEC professionals, and discussing opinions and
trends, social media allows you to clearly reveal these traits to your
audience. Relationships are built and maintained using social media and
you have the potential to attract potential hires, relevant stakeholders,
and new clients through your communications with them online.
Social media allows your company to reveal
its inner brand story; your brand’s personality.
Through conversations, connections, and content,
social media allows your company to reveal ways
that you innovate and push the envelope. As AEC
professionals, you create the physical nature of the
environments we live in and are passionate about
the work you do. Social media allows you to share
your work and share your passion with the rest of
the world. Post photos of your latest projects to
your company’s Facebook page, share a link to an
interesting article about the importance of wood
structures, tweet a fellow architectural design firm
about their projects. All these things reveal your
brand essence – what you’re passionate about,
what your interests are, and what your company
values. Just as you would with your personal social
networks, your brand’s expertise can be revealed in
the content you post and share, the work you show,
and the networks you build.
Why does social media marketing work?
Reason 2.
IT REINFORCES YOUR FIRM AS AN INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER
10k
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Reason 3.
IT BRINGS IN LEADS FROM A BROADER AUDIENCE
As a component of an overall online marketing
strategy, social media builds networks. Temporal
and spatial boundaries that would normally limit
traditional methods of marketing (like word-of-
mouth) do not hinder your company’s reach. As a
result, brand awareness and reach potential are
significantly expanded as social media allows you
to touch audiences that you wouldn’t normally be
able to reach with traditional means. Rather than
be limited to clients in your region, AEC companies
can connect with clients from around the world.
Reason 4.
IT MAGNIFIES YOUR HIRING POTENTIAL
As a result of retiring baby-boomers, and various
other reasons, McGraw Hill-Construction predicts a
shortage of architects by 2014. The engineering and
construction sectors are facing similar problems,
and it’s a big concern facing the industry. Firms that
have a presence in social media will stand a greater
chance of hiring the best young talent. According to
this 2012 Pew Internet study of social media usage,
89% of adults aged 18-29 use social networking
sites. By meeting young professionals where they
are in their online communities and showing a
propensity to innovate and adapt, social media
savvy firms will remain top of mind.
When executed properly, social media marketing
strategies will contribute greatly to bringing a flow
of quality leads and new hires to your doorstep.
Why does social media marketing work?
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W Why?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
HHow to adopt social media marketing
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
FOLLOW A STRATEGY
Many AEC firms look at social media with the
mentality that “everyone seems to be on Twitter
and Facebook, we should be too.” This ad-hoc
approach rarely succeeds and is not the vision you
or your firm should have. Before a successful social
media campaign can begin, it must begin with a
solid foundation which is the firm’s existing brand
and marketing communications plan.
In assessing your firm’s communications, look at
what is being said and to whom. Your social media
plan should not deviate too far from your existing
branding and marketing communications plan,
and if it does, you need to reassess your goals.
Social media isn’t an entirely differently demon –
you’re still talking to real human beings that are
passionate about the same things you are,
so treat them the same way you would to an
offline connection.
DETERMINE WHAT RESOURCES YOU HAVE AND THEN DELEGATE
A successful social media strategy involves
allocating two important resources – time and
money. If your company is just starting out in social
media, determine what resources you have and
work with what you’ve got. Is there someone that
is willing and has the skills to take on the role?
If yes, how much of their time can be allocated
to this task? If no, is hiring someone an option?
Social Media Marketing Blueprint
1
2
In the following section,
we’ll walk you through
some of the key best
practices to keep in mind
when you take your first
steps towards adopting
social media marketing.
From strategy development
and resources to content
calendars and analytics,
this blueprint will help
kickstart your AEC firm’s
social media initiatives.
Step
Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
The most crucial component of this is delegating
roles. Delegating establishes accountability.
Someone should have the responsibility of
overseeing your social media efforts. This role can
be part time, full-time, or external. It will vary based
on your company’s particular needs and the size of
your company.
TIME
Firstly, don’t try to do it all. Instead,
do what you can. Determine the level
of activity that your company is willing
to and able to commit to. Starting small
and maintaining consistent momentum
is better than a “go big or go home”
mentality when it comes to social
media. If you’re just starting out, create
a schedule, commit to one hour a week
consistently, and then add to that once
you’re comfortable. Try improving to
one hour per day.
KNOWLEDGE
Determine the level of sophistication
of your industry. What are the movers
and shakers in your industry doing?
Does the person you’ve delegated this
role to have the right skill sets? Do they
know how to execute and use analytical
tools? Do they know how to write
engaging content? If the answer is no
to these questions, as mentioned above,
start small and just tackle what you
know. Learn along the way and don’t
bite off more than you can chew until
you’re more comfortable.
Refer to our recommended job description
for a Social Media Champion role:
JOBS OFFERED
ABC Architecture appoints a social media
champion with the following job description:
HIRING A SOCIAL MEDIA CHAMPION
ABC Architecture is a small firm of only
12 staff. Due to their size, it’s unrealistic to
hire a full time marketer so Amanda, the
founding principal, has decided to hire an
out-of-house social media consultant to set
them up and move them forward. They find a
relatively young yet tech-savvy freelancer in
town named William and appoint him as their
social media champion.
The social media champion’s role is as follows:
• Creating and maintaining a Social
Media strategy that coincides with
the firm’s brand and marketing plan.
• Create original content that is
consistent with the firm’s brand
and social media strategy (blog
posts, videos, whitepapers, etc.)
• Overseeing all social media
platforms and ensuring voice
is consistent, conversational,
unified, and personal. This includes
delegating minor tasks to current
staff to ensure authenticity.
• Measuring the results and
providing monthly reports.
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
CREATE A CONTENT CALENDAR
Assign specific tasks and hold
the delegated person (or people)
accountable – the tasks are more
likely to get done. Build tasks into
schedules to ensure they get done –
even if it’s only one hour a week.
NOTE: Consistency is more
important than attempting
to commit to 10 hours a
week and failing.
THE 80/20 RULE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
CONTENT CALENDAR FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
of the content you share should be from others
should be original content
80%
20%
Fig 3.
M T W T F S S
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SHARE CONTENT
POST ARTICLE
3Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
CHOOSE THE PROPER CHANNELS
Once you have your plan and resources in
place, choose the channels your firm will
focus on. There are hundreds of social media
channels, don’t even attempt to tackle all
of them all at once. Remember, start small,
work within your limitations and excel at that
before you think of taking on more.
The most valuable network for
B2B communications, Linkedin
is best used for relationships,
thought leadership, Q&A
groups, and recruiting talent.
Even though it is the smallest
network of the three, the
connections and relationships
will be more authentic.
Facebook is the second
most frequented website
after Google. Facebook
allows for the strongest
engagement and generates
the most awareness for your
company. Although there
tends to be a low tolerance
for formal marketing efforts,
less formal initiatives (like
sharing multimedia content)
do a great job of humanizing
your firm and expressing
your brand personality.
Twitter has the farthest
reach of all the other two
networks. It is a great
way to share any form of
content and connect with
other thought leaders and
potential clients. Although
posts are limited to 140
characters, it forces you
to be concise.
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE THE MOST RELEVANT FOR AEC FIRMS?
Every platform has a different function,
different audiences, and different goals.
For AEC firms, these are the top three
platforms being used:
4Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
MAKE GOALS, ANALYZE RESULTS, AND IMPROVE
Make sure to have specific goals for each social
media platform. All interactions should be
consistent with that channel’s specific goals and
with your overall marketing and communications
plan. Make SMART goals! Most importantly,
take time to analyze your results on a regular
basis and see where you can make improvements.
Analytics reporting should be a task on your social
media calendar that is delegated to a specific
person. Linkedin recently launched company page
analytics making it easier for companies to track
their performance.
EXAMPLES OF GOALS BASED ON SOCIAL PLATFORM
Linkedin “Increase number of followers on
company page to 1,000 in 30 days.”
Facebook “Improve “talking about this” to 10%
of likes in three months.”
Twitter “Increase number of followers to
500 in 60 days.”
ABC Architecture
A BC
1000likes•100talkingaboutthis
Your companies ‘talking about this’ number should be
between 5 - 10% of your ‘likes’.
5Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
DON’T BE A ROBOT – HAVE CONVERSATIONS
Social media is a two-way street – interact, respond,
and converse with your followers and connections.
We’re all human beings after all, so act like one. As
AEC professionals, you understand that your work
isn’t pre-fabricated, complete-in-box, and ready-to-
go. Neither should your social media efforts. Every
brand has a personality – don’t be a faceless entity.
Joining online conversations, responding to
questions or concerns, and providing support in a
timely manner will add a personal and reassuring
tone to your brand image. If you self-promote and
never converse, your firm will appear to be self-
serving. Embrace honesty; answer your audience’s
questions. Doing so builds trust and transparency.
Every brand has
a personality
– don’t be a
faceless entity.
Create a style guide
that outlines the
type of content your
company should
post, as well as the
voice, language, and
tone of the content.
7Step
HAVE A CONSISTENT VOICE
Depending on your situation, you may or may
not want several people involved in your social
media marketing efforts. Ideally, key figures such
as partners and senior staff should contribute.
Having their input with their technical and
professional expertise could meaningfully add to
your brand.
Regardless of whether you have a whole team or
just a few people assigned to your social media
tasks, create a style guide that outlines the type
of content your company should post, as well as
the voice, language, and tone of the content.
This creates consistency and ensures that visitors
to any of your social profiles will have the same
brand experience.
6Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
STORIES CREATE EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS
A great way to humanize your firm is to tell
stories. Social media isn’t about the services
your firm provides, but about the stories it tells.
Facts don’t usually trigger a response from
readers because they’re hard to remember and
even harder to relate to. If you can get readers
to empathize with a story, and relate to your
beliefs and values, then you have already set
your firm apart from competitors.
BE RESPONSIVE AND ADAPTABLE
One of the biggest deterrents to using social
media for AEC executives is the fear of negative
publicity. From our experience, these concerns are
mostly unfounded. Arguably the best medium for
responding to negative publicity is social media.
In the event you need to respond quickly to a
crisis, being in control of some or all of your own
media is vital. Social media is fast. Much faster
than traditional means of sending press releases.
Demonstrating how you handle a problem or deal
with a crisis can be the thing that tips a prospect
over to your favour. Even the worst PR situations
can be flipped around to improve your brand image.
We’re not saying you should fire your publicist –
you still need press releases and official statements
during crises – but rather that social media can
supplement your existing efforts. Refer to your
company’s existing guidelines on responding during
crises. This may need to be updated to include
what is acceptable to respond to on social media.
Respond to tweets, post a message on Facebook.
Do not say anything you wouldn’t otherwise state
in an official press release or statement.
SHOULD ABC ARCHITECTURE FEAR NEGATIVE PUBLICITY?
Months have now passed since William
started consulting for ABC Architecture.
William has officially completed his
mandate, and has passed the reins to
Amanda, the newly appointed social
media champion.
Unfortunately the firm experiences a
small publicity crisis: a small mistake in
the design of a high-profile civic building
ends up costing a client, and several of
its contractors, thousands of dollars.
News of this reaches certain groups and
some negative comments are beginning
to filter in through various social media
platforms.
Amanda quickly averts potential harm
by responding in a respectful and timely
manner using social media. As soon as
she receives the official press release
from the PR team, she posts it to their
social media profiles and uses the official
statements to reply and post an apology
on behalf of ABC.
Any publicity is
good publicity -
true or false?
8
9
Step
Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
OFFER SOMETHING OF VALUE TO YOUR AUDIENCE
This point cannot be overly stressed. It is important
you frequently provide value in your social media
interactions. Social media isn’t just about self
promotion, but about being useful. So consider how
you can offer gifts of information that will benefit
your audience or other professionals in your industry.
Doing so not only backs up your claims of expertise,
it also feeds the growth of your target followers and
increases web traffic and potential leads.
Valuable content can be provided in a variety of
formats, including news, blog posts, videos, white
papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-
to guides, question and answer articles, and more.
Content does not write itself, so consider appointing
a content marketer.
If you’re just starting out...
remember to start small. Do not attempt to
tackle a whitepaper or glorious infographic
if you can’t even figure out what Wordpress
is. Valuable content needs to be done well.
Start first with a blog – remember to work
within your limitations and that consistency
is key. Strive to post one original blog post a
week and work your way up to two to three
a week.
Make your life easier...
by getting executive buy-in and taking
advantage of the brilliant minds at your
company. Creating fresh, valuable content
can be tough work when you’re a one or
two-man show. Take advantage of the fact
that, for 40 hours a week (or more), you sit
with some of the most brilliant architects,
designers, and business people in your
industry – pick their brain and get them to
type it out in a post.
Once you have executive buy-in, make it
a requirement for all your employees to
write one blog post per quarter or per
year (depending on the size of your firm).
For example, if you have 50 employees,
make it a requirement to write one per
year and you easily have a new blog post
every week. If you have 10 employees, make
it a requirement to write one blog post
every quarter. Make sure you create tasks
and schedule deadlines into your content
calendar to create accountability.
10Step
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
ARCHITECTURE
Michael Green, founder and principal of Michael
Green Architecture (MGA), provides highly valued
content about the design and construction of tall
wood skyscrapers. He researched and co-authored
a 200 page document titled The Case for Tall
Wood Buildings, as well as several blog posts and
publications on the issue. His notoriety spiked when
he spoke for Ted talks and Ideacity. As a result,
he is a well recognized thought leader and his firm
has become a magnet for high quality clients from
around the world.
Read more about Michael Green here.
ENGINEERING
At Indium Corp., over fifteen employees from
various roles in the organization help maintain
a blog titled From One Engineer to Another.
Through it, they produce valuable content,
videos and answer questions about a variety of
engineering related topics. The firm also has an
extensive list of white papers available, many of
which are accompanied by helpful videos. Their
social media channels are organized on a single
“Social Media” page which makes it easy for
clients and visitors to the site to see what social
channels they are using.
Examples of real-world AEC firms that successfully provide value
Image courtesy of The Vancouver Sun
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
CONSTRUCTION
PCL has a blog discussing several topics ranging
from Permanent Modular Construction to
Volunteering. The firm’s brand isn’t as clearly
evident as MGA’s, but the firm is making headway.
They offer significant value with their quarterly
e-magazine which they share on their social
channels.
Read their most recent one here.
Examples of real-world AEC firms that successfully provide value
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
Principals and senior stakeholders of professional
services firms often require some measurement of
ROI for their social media activities. It is difficult to
justify marketing efforts in the long term without
numbers that show results. Having numbers not
only shows if the firm is making progress, but it can
highlight the areas that need improvement as well.
To understand how social media marketing can be
measured, it’s important to see how social media
fits into marketing and sales efforts. Conversion
numbers can be extracted as potential clients pass
through each individual stage.
Your desire to see ROI from your social media marketing efforts
can be fulfilled. There’s a host of tools* out there that measure
your efforts at every layer of the sales process.
*These tools are discussed in our next white paper titled “Social Media Marketing for AEC Blueprint.”
Measure Results
THREE KEY MEASURABLES CAN BE DRAWN FROM YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CAMPAIGN:
Brand awareness Measured in terms of reach, impressions and
engagement (e.g., Facebook likes, comments,
Twitter and LinkedIn followers, etc.)
Lead generation Measured in terms of conversion, leads, and sales.
If you do a good job engaging your audience through
social media, leads will follow (e.g., email opt-ins,
content downloads, webinar subscriptions, etc).
Client retention
The ability to keep a client, measured in terms of
retention rate. Assign an average dollar (or ‘lead
score’) value to clients at different points in the life
cycle and compare the value of a social media client
versus non–social media clients.
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How?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
At first, AEC firms were slow to adapt to CAD. Those that did adapt were able to realize
immediate advantages over competitors, and those that didn’t, failed. Over time, even the
most rigid and un-adaptive companies changed, and soon CAD became standard practice.
Social media is the same. It has become so entwined in the everyday
fabric of our communications that it has completely changed the way
companies, groups, and individuals express their thoughts, opinions,
and ideas. In a few years every AEC firm will have to adopt it, and
those that do so now will realize a significant competitive advantage.
In Conclusion
December of 2012, Architects’ Journal ran a poll to elect the greatest advance in construction
history. The winner was computer-aided design (CAD). Kieran Long, editor at the journal said:
It is no surprise that the most important advance in construction
has turned out to be a piece of software. This is a nuts-and-bolts
industry, but the thing that has changed the way that everyone
in it works is the advance of IT.
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013
See you on the social scene...If it’s time to take a closer look at the potential of social media
to realize your firm’s potential, call us at 1-877-635-8462
or drop us a line at [email protected] for a free,
no-obligation consultation.
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How?Why?What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013