Hubs & Drivers: A Podcast for Building Product Marketers

As a building products marketer, it’s likely that your organization has or will come across this challenge: Multiple brands in one family. Perhaps it’s through mergers and acquisitions. Should you unify those multiple brands under one heading? If so, what steps do you need to take so that you are speaking with a clear, consistent voice to your prospects and customers? Joining host Jeff Donaldson to discuss are a host of BLD Marketing experts.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.-----------About our sponsor: BLD is a results-based, data-driven, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. Our fully integrated services help clients build and optimize a vibrant digital marketing ecosystem to ignite fast and attributable growth. To learn more, visit http://www.bld-marketing.com

Will we see a recession in 2023? It’s the burning question across every segment of the economy, and that includes the construction sector. The American Institute of Architects, or AIA, recently released its semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast. The findings are compelling, particularly for the commercial construction marketing. Here to break it down is Dave Sladack, president of BLD Marketing.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.-----------About our sponsor: BLD is a results-based, data-driven, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. Our fully integrated services help clients build and optimize a vibrant digital marketing ecosystem to ignite fast and attributable growth. To learn more, visit http://www.bld-marketing.com

At least one survey says that 75 percent of B2B buyers use social media during the purchasing process. Translation: If you are a building products manufacturer, your target audiences are engaging on social media. The question is: Has your brand developed a paid media strategy for communities that include LinkedIn, Facebook, and others? How do you even get started?To outline some best practices on this episode of Hubs & Drivers are two BLD marketing experts at Amy Meyers, vice president of paid media; and Candace Howell-Williams, social media specialist. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.-----------About our sponsor: BLD is a results-based, data-driven, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. Our fully integrated services help clients build and optimize a vibrant digital marketing ecosystem to ignite fast and attributable growth. To learn more, visit http://www.bld-marketing.com

The International Builders Show (IBS) 2023 drew 70,000 construction and building product professionals to Las Vegas this February. In part two of this two-part episode of Hubs & Drivers, join host Jeff Donaldson and a roundtable of BLDers who also attended for their takeaways and insight on emerging trends.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

The International Builders Show (IBS) 2023 drew 70,000 construction and building product professionals to Las Vegas this February. In part one of this two-part episode of Hubs & Drivers, join host Jeff Donaldson and a roundtable of BLDers who also attended for their takeaways and insight on emerging trends.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Google is by far the most used search engine, and building product marketers rely on Google Analytics to quantify their digital marketing efforts. Now, with the introduction of Google Analytics 4, the rules of engagement are changing in big ways in terms of what is measured and what is considered to be critical intelligence.Julia Saunders, digital strategist and senior account manager at BLD Marketing, joins host Jeff Donaldson on this episode of Hubs & Drivers to break it all down. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

The “R” word has been in the air supply for some time now when it comes to the economy. Is the U.S. economy headed for a recession? Are we already in one? There's plenty of debate out there. What’s the outlook for the building and construction industry? The American Institute of Architects recently published its Consensus Construction Forecast for 2022 and 2023, and the study has some keen insights on what we might expect as an industry. Dave Sladack, president of BLD Marketing,  joins host Jeff Donaldson on this episode of Hubs & Drivers to break down the data.See the data here.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Driving awareness for your building materials brand requires an integrated, multi-faceted strategy that consistently puts your company and its products at the top of the consideration set. How do you get there? There are many pathways, and no single tactic is a so-called silver bullet. Your strategy must at least consider paid advertising if you hope to achieve success, and that requires investment.In this episode of Hubs & Drivers, Amy Meyers, director of paid media at BLD Marketing, shares best practices when it comes to building a paid advertising program.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Think about the last time you bought a car. Chances are you took it for a test drive before you signed on the dotted line. As a building products brand, put yourself in the mindset of your prospect. How can they “test drive” your product or innovation to see if it does what you say it does? A smartly written case study accomplishes this task, because it’s a testimonial about how your product performs in a real world situation. As a building products company, case study development is a critical component of your content marketing efforts. On this episode of Hubs & Drivers, Jake Michalski, senior PR/content marketing specialist with BLD Marketing, joins host Jeff Donaldson to discuss best practices when it comes to case study development. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Instant messaging. Social media. Mobile apps. Your customers have many ways to instantaneously provide feedback to your building products brand. That means receiving a customer complaint by telephone has almost become a relic of the past. Customers will turn to the internet to engage your company and voice their grievances. And they’ll have an audience. Customer service in the digital era means being prepared to go where your customers go so you can respond to them when there’s an issue and you can protect your brand.Joining host Jeff Donaldson on this episode of Hubs & Drivers for insight on the new age of customer service is Dave Sladack, president of BLD Marketing.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Read more about this important topic on the BLD Blog here.  Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

BIM or Building Information Technology has been around for years, but it's finally reached a tipping point in terms of adoption. For building product manufacturers, this means you can no longer remain on the sidelines. You must have BIM objects for your product portfolio. Those without BIM objects, along with the right BIM strategy will lose to competitors who do.BLD Marketing Creative Director, Garrett Andrae, joins Hubs & Drivers' host Jeff Donaldson to discuss what BIM is, why it's so important to building products marketers, and some pitfalls to avoid. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Download your copy of AIA's study Technology, Culture, & the Future of the Architectural Firm here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Until recently, one of the best ways to measure an email marketing campaign's effectiveness was the open rate metric. Then, in late 2021, came Apple’s decision to introduce what it calls Mail Privacy Protection. It impacts anyone who opens their email on an Apple device. Given Apple’s prominence and the notion that many people open their email on their mobile device, this is a significant change that has made open rate a far less reliable campaign metric. On this episode of Hubs & Drivers, Julia Saunders, digital strategist and account manager at BLD Marketing meets with host Jeff Donaldson to unpack these changes and their impact on your marketing efforts.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Despite rising interest rates, the residential housing market continues to boom and Millennials, by far, have established themselves as the dominant home buyer. The National Association of Realtors 2022 Homebuyers and Sellers Trend Report provides insight into this massive generation’s home buying habits, useful data to building product manufacturers.Joining host Jeff Donaldson on this episode of Hubs & Drivers to share some key findings of this report is Dave Sladack, president of BLD Marketing.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Download your copy of BLD's 2022 Millennial Homebuyer infographic here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

What’s it mean to be a thought leader in the building and construction space? It means you have verifiable expertise to offer, through your innovations and the solutions you have developed. It also means your people are subject matter experts because of their background and experience. When you properly leverage these assets, you raise the credibility and visibility of your brand. How do you increase your thought leadership quotient, thereby building trust and confidence in your brand with your audience? It goes well beyond promoting products. On this episode, Jeff Donaldson, host of Hubs & Drivers and senior vice president of PR and content marketing at BLD Marketing,  and Jake Michalski,  senior PR/content marketing specialist discuss four steps for building a thought leadership program. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Download a copy of the Building a Thought Leadership Program infographic here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

A member of your senior leadership team does something to embarrass your company. There’s an accident at one of your facilities, and people are hurt. Your product fails to perform the way it should. Each  scenario represents a crisis for your company. How prepared are you and your team if such a problem arises? Bottom line: Planning for chaos must be done in the quiet times. Joining guest host, Dave Sladack, on this episode of Hubs & Drivers for insight and expertise on crisis planning and management for building products manufacturers is Jeff Donaldson, senior vice president of PR and content marketing at BLD Marketing. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Download a copy of the Crisis Planning & Management infographic here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

As a building products manufacturer, there are many ways for you to share your expertise such that it benefits key target audiences, like architects. Many of these professionals are required to secure continuing education credits to maintain their certification. Creating a CEU for them – a continuing education unit – can also be an effective way to market.On this episode of Hubs & Drivers, host Jeff Donaldson meets with Garrett Andrae, creative director of BLD Marketing, to discuss popular CEU formats and why continuing education for architects should be a part of your overall marketing and sales strategy. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

As a campaign hub to which prospects are sent via a variety of drivers, landing pages for your building materials brand can serve as a key component in your company’s digital marketing strategy.  A highly curated and directed experience, if designed and built strategically, a landing page converts anonymous visitors into marketing qualified leads. Discussing best practices for landing pages with host Jeff Donaldson on this episode of Hubs & Drivers is Justin Gaydos, director of digital services at BLD Marketing.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

Follow this metaphor...If your building materials brand is a top-performing automobile, the fuel that enables it to perform at high levels is the content you develop on behalf of that brand. You need to constantly fill the tank and ensure the fuel is mixed properly – blog posts, product features, thought leadership articles, infographics and more. That way, the engine of your brand continues to hum. But developing this quantity of original content is a heavy lift for any marketing team. How can you augment the organic content you’re producing for your owned media channels, including your website, your blog, and your social media communities? Curated content is good solution. On this episode of Hubs & Drivers, Jeff Donaldson sits down with Scott Rogerson, CEO of UpContent, Inc. to discuss his company's powerful technology solution that allows brands to curate and share third-party content with their audiences as part of an effective content strategy.  Learn how UpContent can help augment your organic content marketing initiatives here.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

As a building products marketer, how well do you know your target audience? Do you understand their pain points, their greatest need, and how that intersects with your brand?  Questions like these become a complex equation when building a marketing program for your company, but there are an assortment of planning tools available that can make the process far more manageable and effective.Joining Jeff Donaldson on this episode of Hubs & Drivers, Dave Sladack, president of BLD Marketing, walks us through six essential planning tools, describing how each is used to develop a more focused, efficient, and results-oriented plan for your brand.You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Visit Hubs & Drivers podcast website here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com

A global pandemic has disrupted the U.S. job market. Today's employers face fierce competition for workers and rising expectations from job candidates. It’s a tight labor market, which means rethinking recruitment marketing strategies. BLD Marketing is working with a variety of clients on their recruitment efforts. On this episode of Hubs & Drivers, Rachel Cronin, account operations manager at BLD and Amy Meyers, director of paid media at BLD, sit down with Jeff Donaldson to discuss marketing strategies and tactics  to help overcome today's employee recruitment challenges. You can also view this episode on YouTube here.Hubs & Drivers is sponsored by BLD Marketing.About Our Sponsor:  BLD Marketing is a results-based, digitally-focused, full-service strategic marketing firm exclusively serving the commercial and residential building materials category. BLD offers a portfolio of strategic marketing services and implementation capabilities to help clients build, grow, and optimize a healthy digital marketing ecosystem, leading to quicker growth rates and higher profitability. To learn more, visit www.bld-marketing.com