Manufacturer of Pre-engineered Metal Buildings Implements Integrated Industrial Marketing Strategy to Grow Sales

Schulte Building Systems, Inc. (SBS) is an IAS AC472 accredited manufacturer of pre-engineered metal buildings, steel framing systems and building components. They retained us to handle their marketing from the very beginning when the company was founded in 2005 and continue to be one of our valued clients.

In 2008, they acquired Inland Building Systems in Alabama and we’ve been tasked to handle their marketing too. The combined company is one of the fastest growing metal building and component manufacturers in the country.

Challenge: SBS, founded in 2005, was new to the industry that is dominated by a few well-known companies. The challenge was to position the company in its unique niche when larger competitors were consolidating, growing bigger and often less personal when dealing with customers.

Solution: Our solution—an integrated industrial marketing strategy that included both print media and digital strategies. The entire strategy was based on the client’s three key principles—relationships, quality and service.

To communicate this message, we wrote text that focused on over fifty years of name recognition of the principal founder. A name that has built relationships, exemplified quality and stood the test of time.

We developed a series of print ads built around relationships, which was followed by one that demonstrated their rapid growth with the recent opening of a third manufacturing plant, which complemented their existing facilities in Hockley, TX and Hueytown, near Birmingham, AL. The call to action was to drive traffic to their Web site.

The new website, also developed by us, shows different building types, framing systems and components. The site offers easy 1-click access to relevant content.

A full color product catalog and other collateral materials were created for the sales team. A comprehensive catalog of components with CAD drawings and pricing information was produced for both print and posting to the site.

Marketing tactics used in our integrated marketing strategy were:

• Print ads in trade journals
• Redesigned website that is continually updated
• Full color Product Catalog
• Product specific collateral
• Components catalog and price book with CAD drawings

Update 2015:

• We created a new ad campaign to celebrate the company’s 10 Year Anniversary
• Recently launched a redesigned mobile responsive site with new content
• A dedicated section for Architects with standard steel details
• Easier and quicker method for contacting a SBS building expert to start the process of receiving a firm quote

Results achieved

Over the years, the client has achieved many milestones. Here are the highlights:

• 2008: SBS acquires Inland Building Systems and expands its footprint throughout the Midwest and Southeast U.S.
• 2011: SBS reaches its first 100 million in shipments
• 2013: Major upgrade and expansion in capacity at the Cullman, AL plant
• 2014: The company achieved their highest YTD shipment of $145 million
• 2015: The company celebrates its 10^th Anniversary
• 2013 through 2021: SBS named to the Houston Chronicle’s Top 100 Private Companies nine years in a row
• 2018: One of the submissions from the Quick Quote form started the conversation for a bid on a multi-million dollar project
• 2018: The company records its highest sales at $176M