Rapidly Spreading Optimism Boosting Construction Marketing Budgets

Judging by the latest ‘State of the Industry’ report from management consultancy Leading Edge, optimism for the year ahead is widespread among construction industry operators.

The second-quarter survey has revealed the most positive outlook for marketing spend since the start of the series in 2008. This reflects growing confidence among construction companies as a result of improved sales and expectations for further progress during the rest of 2013.

The quarterly publication is a joint effort by Leading Edge, the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Construction Industry Group and industry data provider Construction News. According to the survey results, 49% of construction companies plan to invest more in marketing activities, which represents growth of 8% from the previous quarter. The latest market barometer also shows the best result in more than two years when it comes to marketing staff: 66% of respondents intend to maintain current headcount and 24% expect to hire new staff. While the outlook for marketing headcount continues to improve, it has yet to recover to the levels recorded for most of 2010/2011.

The positive attitude with regards to marketing expenditure has to do with the recovery after the first-quarter slump. Year-on-year sales improvement was reported by 67% of companies; the same proportion voiced expectations for further growth in 2013. In contrast, the respective figures in the first-quarter survey were 39% and 44%. The strong rebound in sentiment is further highlighted by the finding that 72% forecast growth in their core markets during the rest of the year, while just 29% had such expectations in the first quarter.