BAM Construct turns to Facebook

BAM Construct needed a new way to engage stakeholders after seeing its internal magazine lose money. 

BAM Construct is one of the UK’s largest construction companies, serving a wide range of market sectors with B2B customers in education, retail, health, law and defence, among others.

Being innovative while providing clear and open lines of communication with stakeholders is incredibly important to BAM. It has always looked to use the latest platforms to improve its communications with staff, suppliers, customers and the local communities.

With new projects constantly being undertaken and a growing network of staff across the country, BAM needed to reach its audiences effectively and efficiently, while encouraging engagement from these groups.

From print to social
The internal BAM magazine, People was costing the company £60,000 in production and distribution. Due to its low readership it was seen as a waste of time, money and natural resources. It was discontinued and a medium was needed to replace it.

BAM commissioned long-term digital partners Cyber-Duck to create a number of customised Facebook pages, in order to improve internal communications between regional markets. They were also designed to provide BAM’s external stakeholders with the latest news from the company, in a format they could interact with.

The Facebook pages were both designed as applications; enabling users to access pages on specific construction projects (from the external facing page) and dedicated Facebook pages for various regional BAM teams throughout the country (from the internal facing page).

Execution
BAM Construct UK Facebook page Cyber-Duck created the ‘BAM Construct UK’ Facebook page, with an app, to profile some of BAM’s major construction projects around the UK, opening a two-way line of communication with customers, the local community and stakeholders. The page and its sub-pages on specific construction projects, enable BAM to broadcast the latest developments of planning and builds while inviting discussion with the public.

From the main page, users can click on ‘BAM sites’ to access the different BAM construction projects. The company’s Facebook page for its Leeds Arena project is a good example of an engaging project page offering a resource for all those directly affected by, or involved in, the project.

For example, BAM posted a message to engage with the community, asking users who they would like to see open the arena. The results were:

• Virality – 9.7 per cent of the people who saw the post created a story from it.
• Engaged users – 13.3 per cent of people who saw the post clicked on it.
• Talking about this – 9.4 per cent of people who saw the post created a discussion about it.

Aside from engaging users in ways that were previously impossible, Facebook also gave BAM insights that were not available previously.

BAM people Facebook page
BAM people was created for staff so they could stay on top of company news and social events within their region, replacing BAM’s previous People magazine.

By clicking on the ‘BAM people’ tab on this page, users can see social activities in their region and other regions. This enables:

• Improved internal communications.
• Easy communication of regional news and activities.
• Seeing and being invited to latest events.
• Connecting BAM colleagues from different region(s).
• A dialogue with users who can post feedback and likes.

Results
BAM’s Facebook pages have been a success with the following results:

Financial benefits – reduced printing costs by discontinuing the People magazine meant BAM saved £60,000 per annum.

Reduced waste – BAM met its goals to improve CSR by reducing print, paper and waste that was spent on the People publication.

Man hours – the use of social media has enabled BAM to greatly reduce the amount of time spent on marketing materials.

Branding – the BAM Facebook pages have helped to improve the viral reach of the company and position it as a customer-centric innovator in the construction industry.

Reduced time to market – news can now be updated instantly, providing stakeholders with news as soon as it’s announced.

International reach – Facebook insights show the pages are attracting a great deal of international exposure.

Increased user engagement – BAM is able to engage with users, prompt responses and measure the success of such activities.

BAM’s marketing information manager, Mukesh Parmar said: “Effective communication within our company and the community is a vital part of how we operate. Facebook is a fantastic portal where we can both educate and engage with our customers, stakeholders, employees and local communities in an interactive dialogue.”

The Facebook pages allow BAM’s marketing department to easily update them and create more pages on projects and regions themselves. BAM has continued to produce a wide range of BAM Construct and BAM people Facebook pages, all with differing degrees of likes, engagement and virality.