The NPCA marketing task force has been hard at work finding ways to create value for members and make precast concrete top-of-mind among specifiers. This past year, the second half of a two-year marketing plan the group developed, was successful on a lot of fronts.
An important component of the plan – which remains important today – is pay-per-click advertising. Just as the name suggests, the advertiser pays only when someone clicks on an ad. NPCA uses keywords from the industry and product names to display ads during Google searches. NPCA also uses remarketing ads, which display on other sites after a visit to precast.org, to generate repeat visits. Those ads generated 78,513 clicks that led back to precast.org in 2015, including the product pages and the online member directory.
Ad placements in Architect e-news
NPCA also worked with media entities such as Public Works, Roads & Bridges, Water & Wastes Digest and CE News on newsletter and website advertisements and sponsored case studies. These activities drew another 14,502 visits to precast.org last year.
On social media, NPCA generated 17,315 interactions using paid promotion of the NPCA Facebook page and specific posts on Facebook and Twitter. Lastly, NPCA sent Precast Solutions magazine to 10,000 specifiers nationwide each quarter using marketing funds to cover the costs of printing and shipping.
We are also thrilled that precast.org surpassed 1 million pageviews for the first time ever in 2015. These marketing activities certainly played a role in that success. The milestone represents a 33% increase over the previous high of 748,843 in 2014.
Marketing an entire industry is not without its challenges. There is no end product to sell and plenty of regional and local intricacies. The message must be broad enough to represent everyone yet provide information worth reading. But the task force remains committed to finding ways to raise awareness of the industry and NPCA members as a supplement to your own sales and marketing plans.
This work will continue in 2016 and we look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.
Kirk Stelsel
Director of Communication & Marketing, NPCA
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