During 2020 unexpected challenges have had a disruptive impact on the construction industry, and a limiting effect on the work of related businesses. For manufacturers of building products, and their customers, digital content has played a significant role in maintaining business continuity and will undoubtedly have accelerated the digitisation of the industry. It is becoming clear that digital content is a driver not only of business continuity but of business enhancement.
For building product manufacturers, being able to consistently provide accurate information on products is vital for servicing their existing customer bases whilst also reaching new audiences and getting their products specified in projects. With increasingly more people working from home and sales teams being immobilised, manufacturers have had to change their methods of providing this information.
A way that manufacturers have overcome these challenges is by unleashing the power of digital content through the adoption of a BIM Object library. If we were to apply this to our personal lives, it is no different to us as consumers shopping online and making decisions on the products we buy through looking at the information available on amazon.
How does hosting on the BIMobject platform support business continuity?
Faced with disruption, many manufacturers have been forced to establish new ways to interact with customers as sales teams are forced to work from home. This presents the challenge of building and maintaining a solid business pipeline. This has been a worry for many, and a potential barrier to business continuity, but…
by leveraging the right hosting platform, manufacturers can:
- Make their products available to specifiers 24/7: Using an ‘always on’ hosting platform allows you to reach a global audience, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
- Receive valuable insights and analytics: Hosting objects on the right digital platform enables manufacturers to build a pipeline remotely as designers can directly place their products in projects. On the BIMobject platform, you can receive detailed information on all users who download your products, and this can be broken down into factors such as geography or occupation.
- Turn content downloads into qualified sales opportunities: By using the right hosting platform, not only will you receive information regarding a user’s location and occupation, you will also be provided with their contact details. Equipped with this information sales teams can follow up leads remotely. By kick-starting this activity, the content platform can help to offset falling sales and build pipeline.
Building customer relationships with accurate product data
Nearly everyone in every industry has become reliant on digital data as the year has progressed. This means that the reach and effectiveness of digital content for building product manufacturers has dramatically increased.
Hosting building products as BIM Objects in an always-on content library makes it significantly easier to provide accurate information to customers. Although remotely managing data to inform a complex industry can be challenging, the products hosted in a permanently accessible content library can be updated by the manufacturer at any time, and from anywhere.
More significantly, by hosting products in a content library, the data can be updated through a single source of truth. This means that each data element is only stored once in an environment that will always be the source of the data wherever it is accessed. This increases accuracy by avoiding duplication of information and designers not working off the latest versions. On the BIMobject platform, manufacturer-objects can be updated in a single instance with those changes being reflected directly to BIMobject and also the manufacturers’ website where a Product Site has been embedded.
How does increased adoption of digital content drive business evolution in the future?
With adoption rates accelerated by necessity across the construction and manufacturing industries, many companies will retain new digital methodologies they have learned. This will be an opportunity for these adapters to evolve their businesses and adapt to a ‘new norm’ and further ensure business continuity.
One of these advantages is a change in the way manufacturers work with the designers on projects. By making high-quality models of building products available in a content library, manufacturers will make it easier for designers to specify those products at an earlier stage in the design process. This can open opportunities for more involvement in the process and help to grow a more collaborative relationship with that designer.
Another advantage which manufacturers will be discovering is that if they already have suitable product data, it can be implemented as an object on a content platform with a quicker turnaround time than you might think. This gives a quick route to market and potentially a way of testing prototypes products with their target audience.
Moreover, as the UK is one of the most advanced regions globally in terms of implementing digital ways of working in construction, good quality content will present a wider opportunity to grow into other regions who are following suit.
Understanding customers with BIMobject and insights
By hosting their products in a digital library, manufacturers can gather detailed analytical data on the users downloading their products. On platforms such as BIMobject, this can serve as a lead generation tool – providing rich sortable data.
For Icons of Denmark, a London based Danish furniture company, analytics from the BIMobject platform provided a different advantage. In addition to identifying leads, Icons of Denmark were able to understand their market better with data from their object downloads.
“Initially we thought that the platform was going to be lead generator but what it actually became was more of a tool for us to gather data on the users that are using our models. This data has proven to be extremely valuable, as we instantly know what products are in demand from our audience.”
Jesper Møllgaard Jensen, Owner of Icons of Denmark.
Icons of Denmark were able to base decisions on a deeper understanding of which products resonated with their customers. It would even be possible to attend a design meeting with – for example – an architect with prior knowledge of which models they had been browsing.
Discover the world’s leading content hosting platform
With nearly 2 million users globally, BIMobject is the world’s largest BIM Object library. The
BIMobject platform allows manufacturers to host an unlimited number of products with content in any format. By making accurate and up to date information easily available, you can get your products specified earlier and included in future construction projects.
The platform places products within clicking distance of architects, designers, and professionals from across all industry disciplines. Access for users is free, with a range of brands making this their one-stop-shop for construction products.
The platform turns your digital models into powerful sales and marketing tools – every object is search engine optimised, and the data you get from their downloads can inform your sales teams moving forwards. Brand awareness can be easily increased by displaying objects on a branded web catalogue, which can stand alone or be embedded in their own website.
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