INTERVIEW When marketing consultant Eimear Strong started publishing on LinkedIn, her approach was “spray and pray” and felt, she confesses, like “absolute torture”.
In the years since she set up Strong Marketing and Communications, Eimear’s adapted her approach and learned to practice what she preaches to her construction and built environment contractor clients.
We met up over Teams to discuss how her content strategy has evolved, the lessons she’s learned and where the property industry is missing a trick with its storytelling.
Stacey: What was the trigger for starting to publish content regularly, and where did you start?
Eimear: My content has come from being self-employed. I went on LinkedIn, but I was really nervous about it and found it absolute torture.
My ADHD might have been playing into that a little bit with rejection sensitivity: If I put myself out there, do people think I’m a bit of a dick, or am I as good as I’m saying?
Then COVID hit, and I realised that what I was recommending to clients, I wasn’t doing myself.
If no one knows anything about me, how are they going to buy from me?
Stacey: I felt similarly when I first started with LinkedIn, having just come out of the corporate world, I didn’t know what I should be like on the platform.
Eimear: There’s a little bit of you that thinks, am I going to put people off?
It’s taken me a little while to think: If I put people off on LinkedIn, I don’t have to worry about having to jump through hoops for people that I don’t need to jump through hoops for.
Adding content channels
Stacey: You’ve mentioned LinkedIn. Have you increased the number of channels that you publish on, and what has driven that change?
Eimear: I do have a blog, and I have LinkedIn, but I’m going to start looking at Instagram.
Instagram has got a little bit of a construction vibe. I have thought about TikTok as well because there’s a bit of construction TikTok going on.
However, I don’t want to overload myself with channels to manage, and I don’t think I’d do a good job if I just repurposed the same stuff across the board.
I always tell clients to go where their client is and focus on it really well.
Stacey: Has your approach to content changed since you started?
Eimear: In the early days, it was maybe spray and pray. I’ll be honest, I was looking at the stats more to see if anyone was getting involved, not really thinking about the business benefits.
Back in 2020-21, there was more personal content on LinkedIn, and I felt that was easier than giving marketing tips.
Now I’m trying to show my expertise more, but I’m probably going a bit too far one way and not balancing it out with something that’s more personal to me.
I also didn’t have any real structure [to what I was posting]; it was very much what popped into my head today. But I’ve realised now you need to deliver more value and be consistent with what you’re saying.
Content lessons for built environment businesses
Stacey: Is there a lesson that you have learnt that you would pass on to other built environment businesses?
Eimear: The lesson for writing would be to steer away from blowing smoke up your own bum, the post that says: ‘Look at our beautiful building, and isn’t it great? And it’s got this square footage etc’.
Instead, look at the purpose of the building. How is it going to change lives? Was there something unique in the design that will help with accessibility, or better light, or make it a great office space to work in?
What are the things that got you to do that? What’s the outcome you’re driving?
I don’t think enough people in our sector do that. They talk too much about the nuts and bolts and not about what a building is delivering, and about the people at the heart of it.
Stacey: There are a small number of businesses that do it really, really well, but there are so many more things you can talk about with real estate.
Eimear: Every construction firm, in my view, is a big resource for content, even if it’s a small one.
They might have five people working for them, but those five people have got very different experiences and expertise, and you can go into that.
You’ve got a bank of projects you’ve worked on, which have very different aspects and very different clients and different ways of doing things.
If you’re a contractor who’s delivering work for a social housing company in Manchester, what you’re doing is you’re helping that social housing company get people off the homeless list.
You are helping a family give their children a stable home so that they don’t have to be stressed.
Don’t talk about the number of units; it’s someone’s home.
Measuring B2B content results
Stacey: What impact has regular posting had on you and your business, and how do you measure the results of what you do on social media?
Eimear: I’m not very good at generating leads from LinkedIn because, really, what I should be doing is outreach at the same time.
But I did a little test back in March where I posted every day for a month, and I saw a massive spike in my LinkedIn analytics in terms of impressions and engagement.
I’ve met people through LinkedIn, and that’s led to speaking and other opportunities.
And I do notice when I go into a room and I talk to somebody, they’ll go, ‘Oh, I know you. You’re on LinkedIn, aren’t you?’.
I think that it helps, and because I’m posting regularly on LinkedIn, there’s a bit of brand recall.
Stacey: I find that it’s very difficult to point to direct leads that have come via LinkedIn, but people who I’m having conversations with will mention LinkedIn. It’s an ecosystem, and familiarity plays a role.
Eimear: Also, the sector that we’re selling services into is very specific, and it doesn’t always procure what we offer immediately. It’s a bit more considered.
They might want to see more of what you’re doing on LinkedIn. They might want to go off and research you and your website and talk to a few people you’ve worked with.
So they might come to you another route, but they probably saw a piece of content on LinkedIn, and there’s no way you can attribute that.
Stacey: If you could change one thing to help with your content creation/ distribution, what would it be?
Eimear: Probably giving myself a kick up the bum occasionally to not always prioritise client stuff over it.
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