Referrals are a great sign that your customers are happy. They are not a marketing strategy. In this first episode of the Bridge Media podcast, Olivier Bridgeman, co-founder and President of Bridge Media, explains why relying on word of mouth leaves contractors exposed when the economy shifts. He shares three questions that any real marketing strategy has to pass, and the story of a long-established construction company that had to cut its team down to a skeleton crew when referrals slowed.
Resources
Why Word of Mouth Is Not a Marketing Strategy. Read the article where Olivier covers this topic in more depth on the Bridge Media blog.
Full episode notes and transcripts: https://bridgemedia.ca/podcast
Episode table of contents
- 00:00 Introduction to Olivier Bridgeman and the importance of marketing
- 01:19 Why word of mouth is not a reliable marketing strategy
- 01:59 Three key questions to evaluate your marketing approach
- 03:24 Case study: a construction company's reliance on word of mouth
- 04:27 Risks of underinvesting in marketing during good times
- 05:00 Analogy: Studying in high school versus college for marketing skills
- 05:56 The importance of maintaining marketing efforts even when referrals are strong
- 06:38 Actionable steps: assessing your client sources and marketing scalability
- 07:32 Conclusion and resources for construction industry marketing
Action items
- List where your last 10 to 20 clients came from: referrals, repeat customers, your website, ads, or trade shows.
- Test each source against three questions. Can you turn it up or down as your workload changes? Does it depend on one person, or does it belong to the company? Would it still work if you sold the business tomorrow?
- Set aside a marketing budget as a share of revenue, even in busy seasons, so you are not starting from zero when referrals slow down.
- Start building at least one lead source you control, such as your website, search visibility, or paid ads, while referrals are still strong.
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