Episode 1:

About Judy Sparks

Judy is the founder, CEO, and President of Smartegies LLC. Founded in 2008, Smartegies is a specialty AEC marketing agency that has helped more than 150 companies across North America build stronger brands, implement effective communications, and develop winning strategies and proposals. Judy has worked in B2B marketing and sales roles exclusively since 1993, specializing in the AEC industry. Judy is a true expert in AEC marketing and has a proven record of success across her 25 years in the field.

About Katie Cash

Katie is an architecture, engineering, and construction marketer with over 15 years of experience serving the AEC industry. Katie is an expert strategist who helps her clients win big projects through creative marketing methods. Katie believes in thinking outside the box and has a gift for tackling challenges by using innovative and unconventional solutions. Today, Katie serves as the Vice President of Smartegies, working alongside Judy to help clients achieve maximum impact in their marketing efforts.

About Stephen Woessner

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing firm that helps clients with $1-30 million in annual revenue boost their marketing reach and break into digital marketing media with maximum impact and return on investment. Stephen is also the host of Onward Nation, a top-rated and long-running podcast dedicated to helping today’s leading business owners Think, Act & Achieve through smart strategies, accountability, and interviews with other top business professionals across countless industries and specialties.

What You Will Learn:

• Katie and Judy discuss what you will learn over the course of the AEC Marketing for Principals podcast, including relevant, timely, and actionable tips and information you can employ in your firm.
• Special guest Stephen Woessner discusses how he initially got involved in podcasting, and how podcasting is a powerful, relevant marketing platform for businesses and business leaders of all kinds.
• Learn why podcasting is a steady growth medium and why now is a great time to get started with your own podcast to attract an audience and expand your reach. Judy explains why podcasting can be an incredible marketing tool that adds value for your clients by addressing common pain points.
• Stephen discusses the depth of experience his team at Predictive ROI has gained, having produced more than five thousand podcast episodes over the years. Stephen shares a case study of AEC marketing for a firm and discusses how podcasting has benefitted them.
• Judy outlines the marketing benefits a firm can gain from podcasting, social media outreach, blog articles, and other forms of client engagement. She shares the importance of commitment and building an audience over time.
• Stephen explains how firms can measure the KPIs and growth metrics of their podcast, including the numbers for monthly downloads, countries the podcast has spread to globally, monthly listener opt-ins, and overall revenue gains.

Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com

AEC Marketing for Principals Podcast

AEC Marketing for Principals is a new podcast brought to you by Judy Sparks and Katie Cash of Smartegies LLC. Smartegies is a specialty marketing agency for clients in the AEC industry and built environment. We guide clients toward building stronger brands, implementing effective communications, and developing winning strategies and proposals.

Over the course of this series, we’ll bring you smart advice, practical strategies, new marketing techniques, and diverse guests with a range of specialties and experience. Our goal is to help you do more than just survive in today’s aggressive environment: we’ll help you learn and thrive through relevant, timely, and informative conversations.

For our debut episode of AEC Marketing for Principals, we spoke with Stephen Woessner. Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing firm dedicated to growing clients’ audiences and increasing their revenue by breaking into the world of online and social media-based marketing. Stephen is also the host of the long-running, highly-rated Onward Nation podcast, which targets today’s top business owners with winning strategy. In our conversation, Stephen discusses the benefits that social media, online blogs, and podcasting can offer to AEC firms.

Creating an Audience by Offering Value

Part of this episode’s focus is on how digital marketing adds value for clients. Podcasts, in particular, are a highly relevant way to add value while expanding your audience and bottom line. It’s easy to dismiss podcasting as a fad or believe that you’re too late to the party to benefit from starting one. As Stephen explains, podcasting is actually a steadily growing marketing tool—one that sees increasing adoption every year.

Podcasting isn’t a fad; on the contrary, it is a powerful, targeted way of growing your firm’s digital reach. Podcasting allows you to reach the market quickly, sharing your knowledge and growing a dedicated listenership. In exchange, you benefit from a high ROI for the effort involved. The important thing to remember is that success isn’t instant. As with any marketing endeavor, it takes time, consistency, and a whole lot of talking; however, the returns you will see are well worth the commitment.

The Benefits of Podcasting

Stephen also shares the numerous benefits of starting a podcast, blog, vlog, or another online channel. These platforms allow you to expand your reach; promote your brand; implement a new call-to-action; and improve engagement, conversion rates, and ultimately your revenue.

For AEC firms, in particular, the benefits of digital marketing can be powerful. In this highly competitive space, it gives you a broad platform to address your clients’ shared pain points instead of having to address them one-by-one. The key is to ensure that your outreach efforts present the kind of value that makes your clients want to opt-in. If you offer great value, you won’t have to find your audience. Your audience will find you.

Learn more about how Smartegies specializes in AEC Marketing