Rapidly Spreading Optimism Boosting Construction Marketing Budgets
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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.