It’s back-to-school time and our kids are already at college playing their first home games. It reminds us of the days when they were little, and we would stock their backpacks and sign those field trip forms.
We miss field trips. So, it’s great when we can get out of the office and meet people for lunch or a fun happy hour activity. Are you getting out of your office more often, too? How about a marketing field trip to learn more about projects and talk to the professionals with steel-toed boots on the ground.
Of course, get pre-approval to visit. Here are great ideas I’ve heard from A/E/C marketers who are putting themselves out there.
- Quick Interviews – Many A/E/C professionals rarely come into the office. Go to them and schedule a 15-minute conversation. You can feature them in an employee spotlight, collect an employee testimonial or share a fun fact about the work your firm does.
- Videos and B Roll – Videos and B roll from the field are gold on social media and your project web pages.Play roving reporter once a quarter and catch some project highlights of big machinery, road crews or architects making site visits. Be respectful of work in progress and put safety first. Then take B roll footage for future video snippets or longer project videos.
- Knowledge Collection – If you are relatively new to A/E/C marketing or if you want to jazz up communications and proposals, get out there and document it. Schedule some interviews with supers, project managers and other specialists to learn about current projects. This will give you context for writing blog posts or project examples in future proposals.
Bonus tip: If you hire photographers and videographers for field footage, schedule interviews at the same time. Provide art direction, then pop over to the trailer to collect project details.
