VIEWPOINT KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS,


GROW YOUR SALES Alexander Swann, managing director at B2B construction marketing specialist Lesniak Swann


HOUSEBUILDING IS EXPECTED to be high on the agenda under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s reign, and demand for construction materials looks set for a well overdue boost. Taking advantage of this calls for clever marketing that will drive sales by directly targeting construction customers in the trade market with their specific needs and wants.


Straight talking. It’s what the construction industry values, right? Because when time is tight and budgets are limited, clear and direct communications can prevent costly delays and mistakes.


It’s the same off site. Concise messaging tactics still apply. In the building materials marketplace, buyers need access to the exact information they need to make informed decisions. But the technical details an architect might be searching for in order to finalise a deal will not be the same as the top line data on a sub-contractor’s radar. Getting segmentation right can benefit everything from stock level optimisation to ROI in promotional activities. Yet often trade marketing fails to connect. This is because the segment needs to work together with both messaging and positioning to prevent a brand getting lost in a sea of meaningless buzzwords.


Developing detailed persona profiles allows marketing teams to effectively shape the language, timing and medium of marketing communications.


Own your ground While audience segmentation can be as simple as a geographical boundary or demographic profile, targeted marketing relies on specific sub groups. This is where the graft comes in if there are to be significant rewards.


The supply chain is just that - an inter-connected network of buyer/


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supplier relationships. Just as there are distinct layers of procurement, so too are there specific groups of buyers with different roles to play. Segmenting an audience based on ‘rented’ profiles gleaned from the internet, other suppliers or algorithm-driven platforms are no substitute for direct customer insights and behaviour data. Deeper segmentation means taking into account not just who your customers are, but what drives them to make a purchase. The good news is that the majority of this information is readily available and close to hand for owners, directors and managers who make the purchasing and strategic decisions within a merchant business. Prioritising the use of this valuable data and making segmentation directly relevant to an organisation is what will deliver more tailored, relevant marketing that will resonate with customers.


Getting under their skin Factors such as engagement rates, loyalty programme interactions, purchase history and delivery preferences are strong starting points. These are direct insights into a customer base, and a foot in the door when it comes to bringing a brand to life.


For merchants, segmenting by trade might be an option, opening up opportunities for cross-selling and marketing around reliability of supplies. Grouping customers by volume of purchase can support incentive-based marketing strategies, with special offers or exclusive deals tailored to stimulate interest or accelerate a sales response.


All of these criteria approaches allow a business to align their offering with industry demand. But what looks good on paper can fail in practice without actionable dialogue. This is the differentiator.


Actionable dialogue reveals the motivation of buyers and exposes what they are actually looking for as opposed to what a business might assume about a particular segment. So, as we’re on the subject of straight talking, for actionable dialogue read “cutting the jargon”. There’s no place for idle chatter or generic language in this strategy. If that was the plan there would be little point in bothering to segment. Effective market segmentation needs a two-way dialogue to qualify whether the groups identified are actually reachable and willing to convert, otherwise it relies on static data that only tells part of the story. Behavioural data is essential as a starting point for defining distinct values-driven groups, but transforming that segmentation into customer personas takes the messaging and positioning elements of a campaign to another level. It allows brands to craft deeper, more meaningful propositions aligned with the priorities and risk tolerances of the segments. Ultimately it is what will make a brand stand out from the jibber jabber.


Personas defined Take construction materials specialist Siniat for example. A disruptor in the drywall products and systems supply market. In launching its award-winning Purple Reign marketing campaign, it tailored each element of communication to a specific persona, through specifically chosen channels to deliver a specific message.


The message to architects and specifiers focused on positioning Siniat as a trusted expert partner. At a time of significant legislative change, it honed in on its ability to remove barriers to rigorous product specifications and how to manage the ‘golden thread’ of information. It translated complex issues into relatable, useful guides and thought


leadership articles, tackling industry ‘grey areas’ nobody else was prepared to talk about. Yet for Siniat’s merchants and their customers, the direct message was significantly different. New product development and innovation were at the forefront of the campaign, reminding partners of the benefits of working with a UK manufacturer when it comes to delivery and stock reliability as well as margin potential.


Andy Mudie, head of marketing UK & Ireland, said: “We realised potential customers weren’t always seeing us. This meant it was crucial for us to demonstrate that we not only understood their needs and the pressures they were under, anticipating their pain points, but that we also were able to address their exact queries quickly and effectively.


“With Purple Reign we are taking the long view. Whether it is through promoting Siniat’s EXAP testing, so specifiers can be confident the products they select meet compliance requirements, or providing co-marketing support for merchants such as last year’s offer of free pizza for the best product display, we will continue to talk directly with our customers to show we know how to serve our partners in the best way possible.”


Cut to the chase From sole traders to top level contractors, problem solving based on persona needs results in a more relevant customer experience. With the right messaging and PR support to identify the most appropriate marketing channels that drive ‘actionable dialogue’, market segmentation can contribute to higher conversion rates, improved sales and stronger customer retention.


In a noisy market, be the merchant that gets straight to the point. BMJ


www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2026


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