In such a small niche, the number one way to ensure clients and prospective clients know the firm is to attend networking functions and get belly-to-belly with the target audience. In 2018, S&A spent $7,499.01 on memberships, affiliations, business development, and trade show vendor booths. Moving into 2019, as more focused efforts are made, a budget of $6,137 is proposed, which is a cost savings of $1,362.01. This savings is from removing S&A from unnecessary or high-priced trade shows and trimming of one-time business development expenses.

Networking and events will be improved by new tracking methods of leads generated, instant post-event follow up, and maintaining constant contact with all leads through email marketing methods addressed in the communications section below.

Subscriptions are included in this section and include periodicals and bid and proposal platforms. In 2018, S&A subscribed to Construction Journal for a 3 month period for $750. Due to understaffing, bid and proposal leads were not followed up on or tracked through the service. In 2019, S&A will subscribe to a yearly agreement with the service for $1345 and the marketing administrator will review bid and proposal requests weekly to disburse to lead engineers for follow up. Metrics of proposals and projects landed will be tracked and measured to ensure such service is returning on investment.


In conjunction with S&A’s presence at industry events and shows, an increase in public relations efforts is proposed. The current public relations model is virtually non-existent. It is proposed that S&A purchase promotional items to distribute at trade shows, networking events, to valued clients, and to high-value prospects and leads. These promotional items will be logo branded and include but not be limited to such items as lip balm, cell phone card wallets, stress balls, and notepads. A budget of $1,285 for these items is proposed.

Along with branded items to be made available to the public, increased community presence through sponsorship and charity participation is proposed. Many charities and organizations provide marketing opportunities in exchange for donations by the firm. Charities and organizations should align with the mission and values of S&A. It is proposed to increase the 2018 spending of $565 toward sponsorships and charities to $2000 for 2019. This will allow the firm to participate in more community involvement activities and outreach.


As described in the Target Audience section, S&A’s primary advertising activities should be Business-to-Business (B2B) focused. This knowledge helps eliminate unnecessary or unfocused ad placement and will create cost savings to be focused on other marketing efforts.

Traditional print advertising should be limited to trade magazines that will reach S&A’s target audience of B2B readers. Each printed advertisement will include a call to action that can be monitored and analyzed for effectiveness based on an increase in website traffic, phone calls, or requests for proposals.  In 2018, S&A spent $2,449.80 on trade magazine advertising and $988.67 on phone book advertising, for a total of $3,438.47 spent on print advertising. In 2019, S&A should discontinue phone book advertising due to its high cost and low utilization of phone books by the Target Audience, this will save $988.67 in 2019 to be utilized toward other marketing efforts. For trade magazines, a smaller budget of $1,245 in 2019 will allow for a more purposeful and focused placement of print ads. 
