The new and improved Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide will share the results of our most recent national survey on construction lead generation. Importantly, the guide details the current state of the top two construction lead services: Dodge Data & Analytics, and ConstructConnect. Next, the guide identifies several other construction lead services that tend to specialize in regions, type of construction project or service offerings. Finally, other types of lead sources are identified and categorized by Traditional, Internet, and Social Media.

1. ConstructionMarketingAssociation.org
CONSTRUCTION
LEAD GENERATION
The Definitive Guide
Building Expertise™

2. Construction Lead Generation –
The Definitive Guide
LEADS ARE IMPORTANT!
Construction is one of the largest, and most competitive markets in
the world. Construction is also cyclical with demand changing with the
economy. These convening factors make Lead Generation effectiveness
critical to construction firms of all types. Whether commercial or
residential contractors, architect or engineering firm; along with
building product manufacturers (BPMs), equipment manufacturers
or dealers. This fact is reinforced by a recent Construction Marketing
Association (CMA) survey—2019 Construction Marketing Outlook—
which ranked Lead Generation as one of the top priorities for next year.
Recognizing this priority, CMA has conducted ongoing surveys regarding
Lead Generation (3 surveys over the last decade). These surveys help
us understand changes in the construction marketing landscape, and
certainly understand the significant changes in a key aspect of Lead
Generation, construction lead services.
This Construction Lead Generation Guide will share the results of our
most recent Lead Generation Survey. Importantly, the guide details
the current state of the top two services: Dodge Data & Analytics, and
ConstructConnect. Next, the guide identifies several other construction
lead sources that tend to specialize in regions, type of construction
project or service offerings. Finally, other types of leads are identified
as traditional, Internet and social media lead sources.
SURVEY SAYS
A recent (November 2018) survey about lead generation in construction
conducted by the Construction Marketing Association received more
than 500 respondents across all construction types, geographic regions,
and company sizes. As a result, the survey is statistically valid and
projectionable to the United States market. Following are questions:
1. Does your company utilize Construction Lead Services?
2. What Lead Service(s) do you use?
3. How much do spend annually on Lead Services?
4. What is the primary use of Lead Services?
5. What other types of marketing are used for Lead Generation?
6. Classification Questions (company type, employees/size)
///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 1

3. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
A majority 73% of companies surveyed use Construction Lead
Generation Service, a significant increase from our 2015 survey
just 3 years prior which tallied only 58% usage.
PAGE 2
Does your company utilize Construction Lead Services?
Dodge Data & Analytics used by 33%, followed by Blue Book
and Other at 22%. ConstructConnect, Remodeling Leads (brand
not specified), and Government Leads (brand not specified)
tallied 11% each.
What Lead Service(s) do you use?

4. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
44% of respondents spend less than $10,000 annually on construction
lead services, followed by 33% spending $10,000 - $25,000 annually.
11% of respondents spend between $25,000 - $50,000 annually, tied
with 11% spending between $50,000 - $100,000. No respondents
spend more than $100,000 annually.
PAGE 3
How much do you spend annually on Lead Services?
Some of the uses of lead services are displayed in a “Word Cloud”.
(Word size denoting frequency of response.)
What is the primary use of Lead Services?
ecommerce sales
TARGETING PROJECTS
Appointments
timely alerts for stage changes
Customer projectsget appropriate work
Developing projects
ID competitor customer contacts
ID of decision makers and competitors
Detailed contact information
job location
owner info
scope of work
projects within geo 25 miles
Finding projects

5. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Other types of marketing used for Lead Generation are lead by Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) at 91%, followed by Trade Shows (82%), and
Advertising (73%). Email is significant at 55%, followed by Paid Search
(36%), Other (27%), and Telemarketing (9%).
PAGE 4
What other types of marketing are used for Lead Generation?

6. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 5
Classification Questions (company type, employees/size)
COMPANY SIZE
COMPANY CLASSIFICATION

7. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
CONSTRUCTION-SPECIFIC LEAD SERVICES: AN UPDATE
Comparing Dodge and ConstructConnect
By Paul Deffenbaugh
A few years back we took a look at the two largest construction lead
services serving the commercial construction market: Dodge Data
& Analytics and ConstructConnect. Since then, the companies have
undergone ownership changes, wrapped their lead generation services
in a wide variety of additional services, and purchased other vendors to
round out their platforms.
Stating it most simply, the biggest change in both Dodge and
ConstructConnect has been on the software side. They were always
database-oriented services, so the database interface was always
a huge part of the service. A lot of their success depended on how
robust the search of the database could be. How many ways could
a building product manufacture slice and dice the information?
How granular could you get?
Now, though, the companies have fully integrated the lead generation
software with other products supply chain participants would want
during the preconstruction process, such as estimating and takeoff
software, customer relationship management software, and bid
management software. Much of that serves the general contractor
or trade contractor but a lot of the new integration is helpful to the
building product manufacturer as well.
When we did this comparison a few years ago, we were surprised that
there were very few reviews of the services. In these days, when the
internet seems to be driven by reviews, it’s no surprise that customers
have started weighing in on their experiences with the companies. Of
course, both companies have their own testimonials, but if you want to
see aggregated customer reviews, you can go to www.reputada.com
and www.featuredcustomers.com. Don’t be surprised to find the
information behind a pay wall.
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8. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
As mentioned above, the ownership of these companies has changed.
Dodge used to be part of the McGraw-Hill Construction division, but
when McGraw-Hill divested that division, it was split up with the media
side—Engineering News-Record (ENR) and Architectural Record—going
to BNP Media and the data side rebranding as Dodge Data & Analytics.
ConstructConnect was formed by a merger of CMD Group with iSqFt,
BidClerk, and Construction Data. iSqFt was seen as a fast-rising lead
service that could rival Dodge and CMD, but with the merger, the two
joined forces to compete against Dodge.
HOW CONSTRUCTION LEAD SERVICES WORK
Both Dodge and ConstructConnect pull much of their data from public
sources. By law, public projects and many private projects must be
advertised. With that information, the services can identify architects,
building owners, municipalities, engineering firms, planners and other
groups that are planning or putting out to bid commercial projects. The
quality of the data is entirely dependent on the relationship with those
people preparing the work. Both Dodge and ConstructConnect offer
incentives to their providers to make it worth their effort to report the data,
such as giving them free access to the database. Dodge has a long-term
relationship with Associated General Contractors (AGC), which enhances
its reporting. ConstructConnect has a partnership with the American
Institute of Architects (AIA).
In a perfect world, all of the information about a project or plan for
a project would be sent into these companies. But to flesh out the
information, both companies provide considerable incentives for
architects and contractors to submit project information for upcoming
projects. The companies also gather this information by employing
phone banks of researchers who call their sources to get updates
on projects, secure plans, and identify new projects coming down
the pipeline. All that data, combined with plans, goes into a massive
database, which is organized by project. The database is highly
searchable and deep with information.
PAGE 7

9. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Here are some of the kinds of data that is included in these projects.
• Planning stage,such as proposed,architect selection,schematics,bid stage,etc.
• Category,such as commercial,industrial,etc.Both of those will have
subcategories.For commercial it may include medical offices,retail,
parking garages,etc.
• Type of work,such as new construction or addition
• Contract type
• Location
• Company information for planners,general contractors,major trades,etc.
• Materials specified including company names and models if appropriate
• Value of the project and often value of major subcontracts
As mentioned above, the biggest changes for both companies are how
they are repurposing the databases they spend so much money building.
They’re investing in additional services that enhance the user experience
and give building product manufacturers more ways to integrate the data
they collect into marketing plans, sales initiatives and strategic plans.
Lead used to be coordinated in a simple manner:
1. Both Dodge and ConstructConnect will link the leads they provide
with a proprietary customer relationship management (CRM)
software for an individual company
2. Deliver the leads to a lead manager
3. Distribute leads directly to sales people
In the last few years, though, both services have focused on wrapping
more services around that databases, making the interface mobile
friendly through phone or tablet, and making it simpler to integrate the
with existing enterprise or marketing software. After years of responding
to new technology slowly, it seems competition from services such as
iSqFt, motivated both Dodge and ConstructConnect to move more
quickly and developing programs and products that work better for the
contractor, trade contractor, supplier, and building product manufacturer.
PAGE 8

10. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 9
LEAD SERVICE DIFFERENTIATION
The difference in the quality of the databases between Dodge and
ConstructConnect is nearly impossible to determine from an outside
perspective. Both companies claim differentiation, but the only way
to truly evaluate them would be to sign up for both services and do
a side-by-side comparison.
In talking to people in the industry, the selection of one company over
the other is more brand oriented than service oriented, and legacy has
a huge, out-sized influence. In other words, if your company has always
used Dodge, more than likely it will continue to use Dodge unless
something catastrophic happens. There are very few conversions in
these services.
New companies or companies that haven’t used these services, though,
would be well advised to do trial runs of both services to see how they
fit their particular niche. One service may be better for building envelope
products while the other have a stronger electrical product information
or alternative energy base. Unless your company offers a broad array
of building products, or is closer to a commodity-type product—such
as light-gauge steel framing or fasteners (with apologies to those
manufacturers)—it is nearly impossible to determine how the service
will work for you comparatively.
Pricing packages are readily available from both companies. The most
difficult issue in comparing them in this light is that they package the
pricing differently so comparisons can’t be made easily.
FINAL WORD ABOUT LEAD SERVICES
If this review sounds a little cynical about the differentiation of the two
companies, that’s because it is. The quality of the data is so similar that
they only real differentiation is the services wrapped around the data.
For manufacturers looking to increase their leads in this tough economy,
Dodge and ConstructConnect provide great services. Selecting between
them is difficult. From the outside, their services are more similar than
dissimilar and border on being commodities. When you differentiate
yourself on the quality of your reports and the level of your service,
which is easily duplicated by a well-funded competitor, you find yourself
battling for inches rather than acreage. That’s one of the reasons iSqFt
became such a quick competitor.

11. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 10
On the inside, the user experience will be different for each company.
Those firms that have signed on to one service, without testing the
other, are doing themselves a disservice. The other might be better
suited to your needs, but you won’t know until you try it. And that’s
the problem. Would you really want to switch lead generating services
(or add a duplicate service) at a time when you’re desperately trying
to control costs?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Deffenbaugh is Editorial Director of
Modern Trade Communications, publisher of
Metal Construction News, and Metal Architecture
magazines. His illustrious career includes Editorial
Director at Reed Construction Media that included
Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler,
Customer Builder, and more. In addition, he was Editor-In-Chief of
Remodelingmagazine at Hanley-Wood. Paul is a founding board
member of the Construction Marketing Association. He earned a BA,
Philosophy from Wabash College, and an MFA, Writing from George
Mason University. Please connect with Paul on LinkedIn.

12. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 11
National Lead Services
BidClerk.com
http://www.bidclerk.com/
TheBlueBook.com
http://thebluebook.com/
ConstructionWire.com
http://www.constructionwire.com/
Houzz
http://www.houzz.com/
$79.95- $99.95/month; offers 3 day trial; public project focus although
list private and residential; choice of market area
Free listing; covers top metros; various advertising levels determines lead
invites; integrated bidding services
BuildCentral brand name; claim more than 420,000 projects with focus on
private and commercial; offers free trial
Generates leads through high quality photos and reviews; residential
construction focus; website development, social media, email marketing;
basic profile is free; Pro + plan charges flat monthly fee based on target area
Regional Lead Services
Construction Data Corporation; commercial project focus;
multiple market areas; offers free trial
Northeast Focus (NY, NJ, PA, DE); public and private sectors;
source directory; free listing
Eastern (U.S.) seaboard, Michigan and Southwest (U.S.);
public and private projects; offers free demo; flexible pricing
Partner with AGC (Associated General Contractors of America),
reporting on commercial projects across U.S. and Canada, free demo
California public projects; flat fee according to area; free demo
CDCnews.com
http://cdcnews.com/
Construction Information Systems
http://www.cisleads.com/
ConstructionJournal.com
http://constructionjournal.com/
iSqFt.com
http://isqft.com/
AECleads.com
http://www.aecleads.com/
OTHER LEAD SERVICES
While Dodge and ConstructConnect are most certainly the big dogs
of lead services, there are a number of other services that compete with
regional focus, construction project types, service options and pricing
models. Following are some other national lead services, regional
lead services, local contractor/remodeler lead services, government
lead services and other lead services including equipment lease and
architectural specification directories.

13. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 12
Residential Contractor/Remodeler/Handyman Lead Services
Tools to manage leads; 24/7 helpdesk;
monthly fee
Manage websites, online marketing and social
media for small contractors; offers free quote
Residential construction and remodeling; manage internet,
media packages, direct mail and advertising for monthly fee
Consumers pay membership fee; ratings of home services
rank high in search; paid advertising options
Attracts customers through home improvement websites;
flat monthly fee; no contract
HomeAdvisor.com
HomeAdvisor.com
Yodle.com
http://www.yodle.com/
ContractorLeads.com
http://www.contractorleads.com/
Angie’s List
http://www.angieslist.com/angieslist/
Networx
http://www.Networx.com/
Government Projects
Database of government projects in U.S. and Canada; industry solutions
for architectural engineering and construction supplies
Electronic bidding software; claim 90,000 public government agencies;
free trial
Onvia.com
http://www.onvia.com/
BidSync.com
http://www.bidsync.com/
Other Lead Services
Equipment lease database of UCC filings; used by construction
equipment and capital equipment manufacturers and suppliers
Manufacturers directory and architectural product specifications;
target architects and engineers
Catalog and directory of architectural products and specifications
Equipment Data Associates
http://www.edadata.com/
ARCAT.com
http://www.arcat.com/
Sweets Network
http://products.construction.com/

14. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Traditional Lead Sources
Direct mail/Email lists
Online databases (e.g. D&B)
Customer service telephone surveys
Outbound telemarketing
CRM systems
Customer database entries
Trade show card readers
Trade show registration lists
Association member lists
Association events
Trade print advertising reader response
Secondary market research (published, publicly available, e.g., internet)
Primary market research
Syndicated market research (similar to Lead Services)
Internet Lead Sources
Website registrations
Contact/Conversion Forms
RSS registrations (typically email address)
Pay-Per-Click (PPC, SEM, e.g., Google Adwords)
Web Reverse IP Address Services (Lead Advantage, Leadlander)
Google Alerts
Urchin Tracking Modules (UTMs)
Email service provider reports
PAGE 13
Social Media Lead Sources
LinkedIn Connections (email addresses, InMail)
LinkedIn Groups (post discussions, offers)
LinkedIn Companies
Facebook Friends, Fans, Groups, Likes
Twitter Followers
YouTube Subscribers
WeFollow.com
URL Shortener (e.g. Bit.ly offers tracking)
Bookmarking (Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon)
SO MANY LEADS,
SO LITTLE TIME
Beside Construction Lead
Services, what are other
sources and types of sales
leads? CMA’s Measuring
Construction Marketing
Results White Paper identifies
over 70 types of marketing
measures, many of which are
sources or types of leads that
fall into such categories as
traditional, Internet and social
media. Following are many
lead sources by category.

15. ///Construction Marketing Association | Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuidePAGE 14
© 2019. Construction Marketing Association
Managing Construction Sales Leads
Sales Leads in the construction category are no simple tactic. There
are many options for generating sales leads or purchasing sales leads
from one or more services. Construction firms tend toward the latter
(purchase), and may integrate with bidding and related services. Building
product manufacturers will likely use a combination of sources, from
traditional, internet and social, to purchased leads if their products are
specified by architects or engineers.
No question, sales lead generation is more important than ever. Likewise,
what you do with sales leads, or lead management is important. Leads
measurement and reporting are important considerations.
The holy grail is tracing a sales lead to a sale and measuring financial
return on investment, which can be difficult due to long sales cycles,
or channels of distribution.
About CMA
The Construction Marketing Association (CMA) provides professional
development and training,resourcesandmarketingservicesto
brands in construction-related industries. CMA sponsors a Career
Center, and the Certified Construction Markeing Professional (CCMP)
program. Full information on the association is available on the website
at www.ConstructionMarketingAssociation.org.The site links to the
award-winning Construction Marketing Blog with marketing news,
resources and related content, and the association’s LinkedIn,Twitter,
Facebook, andYouTube pages. Questions? Contact Neil Brown at
630-868-5061.