Putting PR and social media into production at M-AR
Ryan Geldard director at M-AR said: “We feel like we’re in safe hands with Harris Creative. They have a great eye for a story and always know what will work for us and appeal to our clients and stakeholders, creating content for PR and social media that reflects us as a company and fits in with our wider marketing objectives.
“Working with Harris feels like an extension of our team – they get who M-AR are and what we’re about and I think that comes across very clearly in the work they’ve produced for us already.”
Making M-AR’s mark on the market
We were brought on board by M-AR Offsite in November 2021 to provide a fresh perspective and a new PR and social media strategy to support its new direction as part of a strategic growth plan. Our main objective was to increase brand awareness of M-AR among its core target markets but also to position it as a construction company that does things differently, with a real deep-seated passion for innovation within the offsite sector as a whole.
As well as communicating what M-AR does differently and its numerous project successes to new and existing clients, we also had to make sure that our messages hit the right mark to reach M-AR’s supply chain partners, staff and potential business investors.
Putting project successes and company innovations centre stage
For the first 12 months our construction marketing strategy for M-AR has been to focus primarily on project success stories. We created a regular flow of news and updates via PR and social media detailing project milestones to demonstrate its capabilities across different sectors including education, commercial and housing – working together with M-AR’s clients where possible to amplify the message.
We also weaved in regular corporate stories about M-AR’s commitments to the environment, to taking care of its staff, and to collaboration with industry peers and project partners alike, to differentiate M-AR from its competitors. One of our goals was to demonstrate M-AR’s stability as an offsite contractor, at a time when shockwaves were being felt throughout the industry after several major competitors unfortunately collapsed.
We identified credible and targeted construction industry award schemes which would put M-AR’s expertise and approach to business in the spotlight with new audiences.
Our design team created a series of bespoke social media graphics – creating a new identity for M-AR while still retaining its personable quality. Our aim with every piece of content and social media post was to portray M-AR as friendly and open while also knowledgeable, reliable and above all authentic.
A busy calendar of content leading to a full pipeline of projects
We know exactly what makes a good story. By identifying M-AR’s best stories and focussing on these we maximised the reach of our PR – achieving 154 pieces of coverage, all in key targeted construction-focussed and sector publications (in print and online) in the first 12 months of working with M-AR. The company’s increased media presence has also led to other opportunities for M-AR including taking part in an industry roundtable event and numerous speaking slots at industry conferences.
We also achieved six shortlistings in several recognised industry awards including the Offsite Awards and the Constructing Excellence Awards – opening M-AR up to new audiences and giving the team’s work credibility.
Under our guidance, M-AR’s social media channels have grown with a 37% increase in followers on LinkedIn but importantly they are showing excellent levels of engagement with a 20 fold increase in reactions in the first 12 months. M-AR’s proactive social media activity is already proving its worth by opening M-AR up to reach new suppliers and meeting recruitment objectives as well as driving genuine business enquiries.
We’ve also supported M-AR with its wider marketing objectives and activities to date including designing an eye-catching exhibition stand for Education Estates and creating a new health and safety induction video which is now used in the factory on a daily basis. And there’s more to come – we’re currently working with the team to produce a new podcast – watch this space for that!