Our 2025 Journey: Building Connections in a Changing Landscape
Our 2025 Journey: Building Connections in a Changing World
By Lorraine Cline DeShiro, Co-Founder & Chief Strategist, Construction Marketing Network
Happy almost-2026, friends.
I’ve always believed that the best conversations happen when we’re honest, open, and speaking as one professional to another. So, in that spirit, I wanted to share some reflections on the year in construction marketing—not as a distant expert, but as a fellow traveler who’s been right there in the trenches with you.
What 2025 Taught Us: It’s All About People
If there’s one thing that became crystal clear this year, it’s this: the human connection is our strongest foundation. All the tech in the world can’t replace the trust built when a project manager looks a client in the eye (or through a screen) and says, “We’ve got this.”
We learned that marketing isn’t a separate department handing out brochures anymore. It’s everyone in your firm—the estimator sharing a time-saving tip on LinkedIn, the superintendent posting a quick video of a clever solution on-site, the principal writing a heartfelt note about a project’s community impact. When we all tell our story, it rings true.
The Shifts We Felt Together
This year, the ground beneath us kept moving (in a good way!). A few things really stood out:
The Blurring of Lines: Remember when we used to separate “branding” work from “lead generation”? That distinction faded away. Every email, every site tour, every case study became part of one continuous story of reliability. It felt less like selling and more like building a long-term relationship, one honest conversation at a time.
Our Data, Our Responsibility: With privacy concerns growing, we all felt the shift toward owning our connections. It became less about buying a list and more about earning attention—through authentic content, helpful webinars, genuine insights, and resources people were happy to exchange their email for. It felt more respectful, and frankly, more rewarding.
Sustainability Got Real: “Green” stopped being just a section on the website. Clients and communities started asking deeper questions. The most meaningful work we did this year was helping firms talk authentically about their impact—not with flashy claims, but with transparent stories about local sourcing, waste reduction, and creating healthy spaces for real people.
The Hurdles We Cleared (And Still Are!)
Let’s be honest—it wasn’t all smooth sailing. We all faced some common challenges:
Wearing All the Hats: Many of us felt stretched thin, trying to be content creators, data analysts, tech gurus, and industry experts all at once. Finding the right support and tools was a constant pursuit.
Showing the “Why”: Explaining how a beautiful project video or a thoughtful blog post leads to an actual contract is still tough. We got better at connecting the dots this year, but it’s a conversation we’ll keep having with our teams.
Cutting Through the Noise: With so many voices online, making yours heard felt harder. We found that slowing down, focusing on quality (rather than quantity), and speaking directly to the heart of our audience’s problems was the only path forward.
The Tools That Truly Helped Us
Amidst the hype, some tools genuinely made our lives richer and our work more impactful:
AI as a Helpful Partner: The AI conversation matured. It became less about robots taking over and more about having a smart assistant—one that could help draft a first pass of a proposal so our experts could focus on the nuanced details, or analyze data to tell us which types of projects our content resonated with most.
Immersive Tours That Build Peace of Mind: Using simple VR or even 360-degree photos to give a client a virtual walk-through of their future space stopped being “cool tech” and started being a standard act of care. It alleviated anxiety and built confidence long before the groundbreaking.
The Power of a Good Chat: Podcasts and live audio spaces flourished because they felt human. Listening to a peer talk through a problem on their commute created a sense of camaraderie no slick brochure ever could. It reminded us this is an industry of people, for people.
Looking Ahead to 2026 With Hope
So, where do we go from here? As we look to 2026, I see a year of deeper integration and genuine partnership.
Seamless Systems: I think we’ll focus on making our tools talk to each other better, so we can spend less time on admin and more time on what matters—the relationships.
Speaking to the Person, Not Just the Company: Our messages will become even more personal. We won’t just market to “a developer,” but we’ll create content that speaks to the safety concerns of the operations manager, the budget questions of the CFO, and the visionary goals of the founder—all within the same company.
Trust as Our Signature: In a world of uncertainty, being a source of reliable, verifiable information will be our greatest asset. Clear communication, proven track records, and total transparency will be the bedrock of everything we do.
Cherishing Our Clients, for Life: Our focus will naturally expand from just winning new work to nurturing our existing client families. Happy clients are our best advocates, and 2026 will be about creating even more value for them long after the last punch list is signed.
In a nutshell, 2025 reinforced my core belief: this industry is built on trust, and trust is built by people.
Thank you for letting me be part of your journey this year. Thank you for the challenges you shared, the successes you celebrated, and the relentless passion you bring to building a better world, one project at a time.
Now, let’s put our feet up for a moment, enjoy the glow of a year’s hard work, and then get ready to build an even more connected, human, and impactful 2026—together.
Thanks for reading,
Lorraine
