Key takeaways from this insight article
What you’ll learn:
When you should use mail campaigns in your construction projects
The advantages that these communications offer you and your stakeholders
The key aspects to consider when planning your campaigns
How the right software makes it fast and easy to plan your mailings
Making near neighbours and key stakeholders aware of local construction projects, and how it will affect them, is often an essential obligation for contractors and firms.
But, even when this is not mandatory, notifying residents of building works is still the best course of action for a proposal of any size.
In this guide, we explore the essential role construction notifications play, the value they provide, and how to communicate with stakeholders cost-effectively.
What are construction communications?
Construction communications keep local residents in the loop regarding a project’s status, or gauge public feedback during development works.
Although these can involve many communication channels – such as radio advertisements, email campaigns or social media posts – physical mail is the reliable foundation of most construction communication plans.
Examples of construction notifications
These types of communications can take many forms and serve a variety of purposes.
For example, project timetables outline work schedules and keep stakeholders informed. Feedback forms and questionnaires provide a way for communities to voice their thoughts on a proposal. Diagrams of plans allow locals to better understand the scope and scale of a project visually.
Mail is a highly flexible medium and offers a wide range of options for practically any job or contractor. There are dozens more types of mail items, each of which also plays an important role in the efficient, successful completion of a building project.
Why are construction communications important?
For most construction work, local authorities make it mandatory for firms to inform local businesses and residents. However, in the few cases where this is not essential, opting to send these mailings anyway offers building firms several benefits:
Minimise disruption
Construction projects are complicated, costly undertakings. If a community isn’t made aware of what’s going on, or feels their opinions have not been heard, they can disrupt day-to-day operations, sending timelines spiralling and costs soaring.
Gauge feedback from stakeholders
By surveying the opinions of near neighbours, they can become an asset to a project, rather than an objector. For example, local knowledge may be able to remove hurdles, and feedback from stakeholders has the potential to guide developments to greater success.
Plus, reaching out to stakeholders prior to works commencing can inspire a rethink if the public response is negative, preventing any major loss in time, resources and budget.
Justify a project’s purpose
Sending out effective mail communications can also explain a project’s ‘what’ and ‘why’. This is not only important to secure the buy-in of local leadership – justifying the project this way can also help reduce backlash from stakeholders and businesses.
How to send construction communications efficiently
In order to send construction communications as efficiently and effectively as possible, it is important to take a considered approach. When consulting or informing near neighbours:
Establish clear goals
Before committing any copy to print or postage, first decide what goals your mail items must achieve. Do they need to inform nearby households when work will begin? Gauge feedback from the community? Alert them to potential hazards? Keeping this front of mind will improve the effectiveness of your outreach efforts.
Reach the right people
Identifying stakeholders is critical to efficient construction communication. As well as being good practice, creating a comprehensive mailing list of interested parties can also limit waste and keep print and postage costs optimal.
Communicate with a consistent cadence
When devising your outreach program, it is important to let stakeholders know when to expect updates about developments. Will the project manager send out a weekly newsletter? Will the construction management firm share quarterly surveys? Managing expectations from the beginning is critical for effective communication.
Utilise the right software
Finally, employing fit-for-purpose tools to expedite this long and involved process can help limit the amount of time and money that’s devoted to these essential construction notifications.
Discover the fastest, simplest way to send mail notifications
Although construction communications are a valuable asset for practically every active construction site, reaching the right people, with no missed addresses and no needless waste, is easier said than done.
In the past, delivery areas were mapped by hand and addresses counted one by one – an exhausting process that would often miss households. Today, online postcode finders are widely used to identify affected addresses and send targeted mail campaigns.
However, despite this technology’s merits, it has several key shortcomings:
Manual operation is still required, constituting hours and hours of costly and laborious data entry
Postcode finders are vulnerable to human error – important when compliance demands total accuracy and precision
Coordinating print and delivery must still be handled separately
Countless organisations rely on these imperfect processes and platforms to send good communications in a timely manner. But, what if there was a better solution? One that meant this labour-intensive, tedious task was taken care of in a matter of clicks…
Reaching residents, businesses and stakeholders has never been simpler with tellthem™, our unique, free-to-use Targeted Delivery & Mapping Platform (TDMP).
Arrange every aspect of your campaigns in a single intuitive online platform
Plan an infinite number of campaigns anywhere in the UK at no cost
Plot custom maps, or target single postcodes with unrivalled accuracy
Benefit from fast-turnaround, high-quality print and fulfilment for your mailings
Permanently save jobs to your dashboard, making it easy to set up repeat tasks
Our mail communications mapping platform gives you the tools to plan and send crucial construction communications to residents, businesses and stakeholders in a matter of minutes, with no subscription cost.
The hours you used to spend hand-drawing maps, and contacting print and delivery services are over. From large targeted radiuses, to the precision of single postcodes – take care of everything in one free, easy-to-use platform, tailored to your requirements.
Discover the smartest, most efficient way to get your vital communications seen and heard. Get in touch with our team to learn more, or see the power of tellthem™ in action yourself with our free demo.
