Effective Marketing and PR Strategies for Architecture and Design Firms
We are creative strategists known for our proficiency in delivering comprehensive multichannel media strategies tailored for brands. Our expertise lies in the art of devising innovative approaches that leverage the full spectrum of media channels to enhance brand visibility and engagement.
Our deep understanding of the architecture, design, construction, and real estate industries equips us with the ability to craft impactful messaging that resonates with key target audiences, including developers, owners, and operators. With a rich portfolio of experience spanning the AEC industry across diverse sectors such as education, workplace, hospitality, mixed-use, and multifamily, we harness the power of storytelling to effectively enter new markets and convert leads. Established brand awareness and securing profitable leads are at the core of our PR and marketing philosophies. To achieve this goal, an effective strategy requires a comprehensive 360-degree approach.
How to Build Effective Marketing and PR Strategies for Architecture and Design Firms Even During a Downturn.
Benchmarking Against the Competition
The first step? Start where you are. Take a clear snapshot of your current market presence against your competition. Begin by auditing website health, organic traffic, content, keyword rankings, paid media spends, social engagement, press, and industry awards. Once you have this data, you can monitor it and evaluate the performance of your strategy over time.
Harnessing the data can get you on the path to gaining market share. We have an insider's view into the industry and find that so few A&D firms are doing it well. There is a significant opportunity waiting for those who take advantage of the gaps left by competitors, especially when it comes to SEO and paid media. Think of it as a golden window of opportunity that won't stay open forever. As more millennials ascend to positions of influence and fully embrace the digital frontier, this advantage will inevitably narrow. So, why not ride this wave and make it work to your advantage?
Interested in seeing how you stack up against the competition? We’ve got you covered.
Define Your Unique Brand Positioning
Often, the most challenging aspects of crafting a successful marketing strategy are articulating who you are, what you do, who your audience is, and why it matters. Our recommendation is to be bold when defining your values and significance. Marty Neumeier's renowned branding guide, "Zag," underscores that all top-tier brands boldly and unapologetically define their essence. Embracing differentiation holds the key to influence and prosperity; it brings clarity to your brand for potential clients and puts your presence into their memory.
You should dare greatly and stand for something for four reasons:
It sets you apart from your competitors
Acts as a filter for your sales funnel, aligning you with the right clients
Attracts and retains talent
Stronger ROI
Once you’ve solidified your brand positioning, it’s important to convey it through the lens of your ideal client. This is where you answer the “why it matters” question. Too often, we unconsciously sell to ourselves. It’s human nature to talk about yourself. (Think about dates you’ve been on where the other person can't stop talking about themselves!) Your potential clients, however, are just as self-focused, and they're keen to understand how you can assist them in solving their challenges.
Consider this scenario: A developer is vetting firms for a high-end residential project and is tasked with persuading other decision-makers to support their choice. If you don’t clearly communicate why your team is the ultimate choice for the project, they’ll be left to piece it together themselves. Essentially, the developer takes on the role of a salesperson for your firm. So why not equip them with the compelling words they need to champion your cause? Give them the language so that they can land the project.
There are several ways to create messaging that converts. You can ask existing clients about the aspects they value in your firm, conduct a focus group, or arrange interviews with a third party. Interview your business development team to discover the most commonly asked questions they field from prospects. These tactics will offer valuable insights into any potential concerns before they ask.
Data also has a story to tell. How are prospects finding out about firms like yours? What are they searching for? This leads to the first key to growing your business: knowing your client better than anyone else.
We must clearly articulate who we are, what we do, who it is for, and why it matters. This is the most difficult part of a marketing strategy and crucial to its success. Zag, Marty Neumeier's classic brand differentiation book, proves that all high-performance brands are fearless in defining who they are. There is power and profit in being different; it clarifies your company for prospects and makes you memorable.
Four Reasons you should dare greatly and stand for something:
Sets you apart from your competitors
Acts as a filter for your sales funnel, aligning you with the right clients
Attracts and retains talent
Commands a higher price
If you are feeling brave, consider writing a manifesto for your firm. We have one life and choose to spend our time in our chosen profession at a specific company. Why? What is the driving ethos of our firm?
Once you have your brand positioning down, you must express it consistently through the lens of your ideal client. This is the “why it matters” part of the equation. Too often, we unconsciously sell to ourselves. It is human nature to talk about yourself. (Everyone has been on a date where the other person talks about themselves the whole time.) Your prospects are self-centered too, and they want to know how you will help them solve their problems.
Think about this; a developer is vetting firms for a high-end residential project and must sell their selection to the rest of the decision-makers. If you don’t convey why you are the best team for the project, they must make it up themselves. In essence, the developer is acting as a salesperson for your firm. GIVE THEM THE WORDS!
There are several ways to create messaging that converts; you can ask existing clients why they value your firm, hold a focus group or have an outside third party interview them. Interview your business development team to discover the most commonly asked questions they field from prospects. These tactics will give you a good idea of what is on their minds and how you can assuage their concerns before they ask. Data also has a story to tell. How are prospects finding out about films like yours? What are they searching for? This leads to the first key to growing your business, knowing your client better than anyone else.
Persona-Based Messaging that Converts
Building an ideal customer persona will help you craft messaging that will resonate with your prospects and align your team. Make a list of all the decision-makers who play a role in selecting your firm for projects, rank them by the level of importance, and start fleshing out their profile using the data you have gathered.
Infuse a personal touch into this process. The greater the depth of detail you can provide for each persona, the more impactful your messaging will be. This isn't just about demographics; it's about understanding their motivations. What perspective guides their decisions? What holds the utmost significance in their eyes? What challenges are they grappling with, and what strategies do they employ to address them? Whether your scope of work is commercial or residential, the key lies in crafting comprehensive client personas and developing a messaging matrix to captivate and convert them.
Messaging Matrix, Unleashing the Power of Selling Benefits, Not Services
For every brand strategy, we set up a messaging matrix. It is a powerful tool that allows consistent, streamlined, and effective communication. Here is an example of what one looks like:
Build a Purposeful Website Tailored to a Potential Client's Needs
Just as architects, designers, engineers, and contractors create spaces with purpose, a website should also have intention.
In the initial stages of a project, the design team envisions the end-user's requirements and orchestrates a natural flow that seamlessly connects different areas within the space. A well-crafted website follows these same principles. When a potential client arrives at your website, it should offer effortless navigation from one page to the next, delivering precisely the information they seek.
Here's a key question: "What action do you want the visitor to take upon reaching your site?" Just as physical spaces require effective wayfinding, websites necessitate clear calls to action (CTAs) that steer prospects toward the next logical step. Leveraging your customer personas, you can construct a meaningful journey for visitors, gently guiding them along the optimal path toward conversion.
Creating Relevant Content for the Right Platform
Before starting a marketing strategy, consider starting with evergreen content to ensure your posting is relevant. Long-lasting content targets the issues that mean the most to your clients and boosts your SEO. This work should never feel dated or irrelevant as evergreen content has no expiration date and retains its value for a long time.
Compelling content and technical backend implementation are two ways to win the SEO war, as all prospects use an online search at some point in their decision-making process, with Google as the number one search engine, followed by YouTube. Creating content that aligns with your personas' pain points and needs is the easiest way to improve your organic ranking.
To start, align each persona avatar and messaging matrix with a medium and platform and create content that helps them solve their problem. For example, a residential homeowner may worry about the cost of a renovation spiraling out of control. Creating content centered around “the savvy homeowner’s guide to budgeting when renovating a kitchen” accomplishes two things: it acknowledges the challenge they are considering and separates you from the competition by establishing you and your company as the industry leader. The right content can build trust between you and your potential customer.
Once you have the content, promote it accordingly. The above example guide could be used in multiple ways.
Use it as a CTA on the home or services page.
Run a summary of the guide as a blog post with an option to download the full PDF in exchange for an email address.
Use as part of a paid media campaign with a landing page to download the PDF.
Post selected paragraphs or an overview on your LI page with a link to learn more.
Use as a CTA on an automated drip campaign.
Create a video about why the guide was created and how to use it for LI and YT.
Get client video testimonials and post them to your website.
Post videos on TikTok showing how to budget for a kitchen reno with a link to the guide.
Content is not an ad. It is educational. It helps prospective clients understand your value beyond the finished product. It raises your SEO because Google loves fresh, original ideas and rewards your website.
YouTube is the second most popular search engine and is often overlooked by Architecture and Design firms as a viable place for business development. YouTube can be a goldmine with new leads for those who take action.
Custom home builders have been early adopters of educating the market and reaping the rewards. This 15-minute video from Colorado Custom Home garnered 75K views in five months. “Five worst upgrades to include when building your custom home” addresses a prospect's biggest fears while establishing the firm as a trusted guide through the building process.
On the same note, Paradigm Custom Home builders generated 42K views for a Modern Farmhouse Custom Tour video.
LPA Inc, a multidisciplinary sustainable design firm that understands how to use thought leadership to generate awareness and leads. Their YouTube channel covers educational topics like “How To Design Solar Photovoltaic Systems | Solar Energy in Schools,” which received 37K views, and “Therapeutic and Healing Landscape Architecture | Healthcare Design,” which received 36K. Both videos are over ten years old, proving that good content stays relevant for decades.
Rost Architecture wisely turned the challenges of COVID-19 into an opportunity for growth. As California adopted new ADU rules, they took advantage of the owner's natural curiosity to learn more about design options. They created ADU - 1200 SQFT to answer questions for over 15K prospects.
Be creative with your content types. Webinars, guides, infographics, industry reports, podcasts, and social media posts should be as varied as your prospects are.
Get Your (SEO) House in Order
Technical SEO is something your team can effectively manage for your firm. They may be unable to do everything, but much of it is actionable.
Start by running a site health check. This report will show your Google score loading time and crawl your pages to determine which ones are healthy, broken, or have issues. We help clients conduct health checks for their websites, so if you’re unsure how to get started, reach out!
Organic content will be the most important factor in influencing your keyword rankings. However, other techniques can play a part.
Write original content (Google knows if you use artificial intelligence or copy content)
Don’t keyword stuff; don’t write copy like a high school essay — Google will not appreciate it.
Use keywords in each page's meta description.
Add alt text to describe the content of a page. The internet is becoming ADA compliant, and people who use assistive screen readers and browsers with images disabled must have alt text to understand the content.
Put all images in .jpg format, Google's preferred file type.
Leverage Organic (Free) Media
Social media often gets a bad rap for its relentless nature. Nevertheless, for every A&D firm, maintaining a strong presence on Instagram is non-negotiable. Similarly, LinkedIn presents a veritable goldmine of opportunities. When prospects engage with this platform, they're typically in learning mode, actively searching for solutions to their challenges. This is precisely where thought leadership takes center stage. On LinkedIn, the focus shifts from selling to a mindset of helping and providing valuable insights.
How to build a strong social presence on LinkedIn and Instagram:
Be consistent. It is essential to build an engaged audience and keep up with the demands of the algorithms. Determine what is feasible for posting and stick with that. Reassess after a predetermined time and build upon the cadence as needed.
Be different. There is an opportunity to utilize the same post concepts while differentiating the execution to reach each platform’s audiences based on how they consume content.
On Instagram, keep the copy concise and support it with engaging visual assets and strong CTAs that drive out to the website.
On LinkedIn, look to provide greater insights and context via the copy and use relevant links to drive followers to the website and project pages to learn more.
Evergreen Content: Balance evergreen content (content that retains its interest over time) with PR wins, day-to-day happenings, and culture content. People use social media to look inside a firm, learn about their values and people, and get behind the scenes.
Cultural Happenings: Pull event and conference attendance, philanthropy/culture, and partner testimonials-related posts onto Instagram.
If video content performs well on Instagram, repurpose and create a TikTok, targeting owner and developer audiences on the platform.
Support Marketing and PR Strategies With Paid Media
There is a mindset in the A&D industry that good work speaks for itself. And it does. Except it speaks softly through projects that take years to complete and typically are only accessed by the property user through a firm's website or social media. The entire organic process can span years or even decades, from initial design to completion.
Paid media and organic advertising are essentially two sides of the same coin, with both having the goal of driving traffic to your business. Organic runs on a longer time horizon, while paid shows results quickly. They benefit each other and are part of a robust marketing plan, but paid media helps you hit the ground running.
Paid media advertising is the fastest way to grow awareness and drive your website's traffic through paid social and paid search. It is an instant brand-building tool you can easily set up and control. Prospects are looking for your services, and paid media meets them where they are to provide another door for them to walk through.
Firms would be wise to follow the advice of Theodore Roosevelt: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Let Paid Media be your big stick when it comes to generating awareness and paying off your hard work.
Your team can test a campaign because:
Easy to set up a campaign
You determine your budget with no surprises
Able to test and optimize what is working
Data is digestible and actionable
Paid campaigns can be run on several platforms:
Google
Meta (Facebook/Instagram/Threads)
LinkedIn
Pinterest
More advanced Paid strategies can include:
Retargeting
Display
Sponsored Social
Programmatic
Paid media is essential to awareness building; therefore, campaigns must genuinely reflect the brand they represent. They should be creative, intriguing, and beautiful, just like your work.
PR is Business Development In Disguise
The power of PR has moved beyond media relations. It has expanded further into business development efforts. It is an essential tool that can position you as a uniquely qualified expert and allows you to broaden your scope to new levels of project types and market sectors.
PR is not solely focused on promoting projects as it once was; it leverages your knowledge, experiences, background, insight, and innovative ideas to help shape and influence your peers, potential clients, and those you want to pursue for business development. Positioning yourself as a thought leader showcases your firm's expertise to potential clients across that industry or sector.
For example, a client wanted to break into cruise ship design during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, they needed to reach the owners of the cruise line brands and position themselves as relevant thought leaders despite never having worked on that type of project before. As part of our PR process, firm leadership is interviewed by our team to gain insight into their perspective and insights. During this particular discussion, an idea surfaced — to use decommissioned cruise ships as sites for affordable housing. This creative, original idea sparked a new area of pitching for our team and a new business development opportunity for the firm. It was ripe for newsjacking (when a PR team ties client thought leadership to a timely event). In this case, the pandemic created a perfect storm of a housing shortage and a bleak future for the cruise industry. Our PR team pitched a second life for cruise ships as affordable housing to the cruise ship media, and they took the story and ran with it. In a time of doom and gloom, this story broke and was greeted as a visionary idea by the cruise line brands. Finally, someone showed them that all was not lost; a bright (and profitable) future was possible.
The Power of Strategic Outreach
To highlight your extensive breadth of design services and expertise in relevant sectors, a strategic PR campaign would also pursue project placements in top-tier, industry, and local publications, as applicable. However, instead of waiting until the project has been fully built as many believe, PR efforts can take advantage of the significant milestones spanning from initial design concepts and development to launch. PR also creates a compelling storyline for each project, aligning with the appropriate sector. Whether it be highlighting a multifamily project’s contribution to the surrounding community or how a hospitality project enhances guests' experiences, there is always a story to be told. Finding those stories is the essence of PR.
Once a project has been completed, PR does not end. An effective PR strategy goes beyond the debut of a project and focuses on highlighting the firm’s full portfolio of previous and ongoing work.
In addition to firm profiles, project features, and expert commentary, effective PR campaigns focus on tapping into various market sector trends. Offering expert commentary on current and future trends helps further to spotlight the firm’s design capabilities in that sector. Like thought leadership, focusing on the current news cycle and how you and your projects can fit into ongoing conversations is essential in building your voice and credibility. For example, with the buzz around Dubai over the past year with the controversial Tarte influencer trip and the Beyonce concert, Dubai is a hotspot for young travelers more than ever. A firm with many luxurious hotel projects on its client roster took advantage of this opportunity, highlighting its latest resort designs around Dubai, perfect for young, hip travelers.
The PR takeaways:
Leverage key thought leaders to further establish the firm across various market sectors and industries
Convey compelling stories around your firm’s notable projects, design inspiration and philosophies, and expertise
Consistently submit firm and projects to various prestigious A&D awards and recognitions, which help significantly boost visibility and credibility
Actively participating in regular industry trade shows and conferences also increases your firm’s visibility and offers the chance to network with potential clients
Between PR and marketing, the key to creating a successful strategy and building brand awareness is consistency and authenticity. Every campaign is unique and tailored to each firm's strengths and target audience. Effective PR and marketing efforts can lead to increased brand awareness, a positive reputation, and a steady stream of profitable client leads for your firm.