Architectural firms need reliable digital marketing methods to reach new clients.
It can be a challenge to run your business and grow it at the same time. That’s where the right marketing comes into play!
Here are 5 actionable and achievable marketing solutions for your firm to use. Number 5 is packed with lots of suggestions, so make sure to read the whole article!
1. You must have a professional website
A website is one of the most important online tools you can invest in to promote and market your business. It is your online storefront, your 365/24/7 salesperson.
In many cases, your website will be someone’s first impression of your business compared to your competition!
There are many parts that make up a great architecture firm’s website:
• Make sure it’s mobile responsive because many prospects will be searching for your services on their phones. A mobile responsive website is one that displays properly on any mobile device.
Does your website pass Google’s mobile-friendly test?
Find out here: https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly
• Your site should be designed with a clean modern look, professional photographs of your work, strategic messaging and easy navigation.
• Messaging is very important, sometimes more important than the myriad of project photos you want to put on your site. A potential client wants to know why you are right for the job, and what unique value you bring to a project. Yes, photos are important, but so is your messaging on the Home page and throughout your site.
• Add CTAs. A “Call To Action” is a powerful tool on any website to drive engagement and to get visitors to take the next step in the sales funnel. Make sure you include at least one.
Here are a few CTA examples: “Sign Up For Our Monthly Emails” “Read our Latest Blog Post about ***” “Contact Us for a Free Project Analysis.” Make sure each of these CTAs goes to a specific landing page on your site that provides more information.
• Create a Blog and post educational content on a regular basis. Share case studies, architecture industry trends and news your customers will find useful.
A blog provides you the opportunity to establish yourself and your company as experts in your industry.
2. Find out who visited your website
Wouldn’t it be nice to know what companies have visited your website and what path they took while there?
Visitors Always Leave a Trail.
Your sales team can really benefit from tracking prospects earlier in the sales cycle and then react quickly to visitor interest.
Let’s say a prospect is researching your website for information on your products or services. You will see their interest before they even decide to contact you for more information! With this valuable information you can:
• Inform your sales team, who can contact the interested party right away, rather than waiting for a lead conversion event.
• Not ready to make the first move? When that lead contacts you, you will already have a wealth of information about their needs and level of interest because you already know who they are and the pages they visited on your website.
• You can also use this information to segment your leads and provide inbound marketing content to move them through your sales funnel.
TIP: Understanding which of your marketing channels are driving the greatest number of companies to your website can increase your conversions.
3. Use email marketing to stay engaged
The benefit of email marketing is to stay top-of-mind with your current clients and to introduce your services and products to potential customers.
Here are some ideas on what to include in your emails:
• Your latest project with a brief description (include a link to more details on your website) or a new bid you just won.
• Useful information and interesting facts about the architecture industry.
• Include in all emails that Customer Service is important to you. Add a button they can click to email your customer service or sales team if they have a question or concern. Always respond promptly!
• Feature an employee and their expertise.
• It’s important not to oversaturate your contact list with too many email campaigns. Send just 1 or 2 a month.
• Add social media links to increase your audience on your social media pages.
• Include a link to your website as well as contact information like phone numbers, etc.
• Share your blog post content.
TIP: Include a way for someone to Opt-In to receive your emails. Include this on your website, social media, email
signatures, blog posts, etc.
TIP: If you have segmented contact lists, this is a great way to send specific information to each list that is relevant to them and their interests.
4. Use social media – even if you don’t want to
Social media has become a mainstay in the way we communicate, consume news, and share content. The days of not having a presence on social media are gone!
What to do on social media:
• Create a company page on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Make sure your content matches each audience. For example, LinkedIn is “all business” while posts on Facebook can be more lighthearted in nature. Have videos? Create a company YouTube channel.
• Share great content on a regular basis. Social media is the perfect venue for sharing content about the construction industry and about your business in particular.
Pushing out valuable content such as blog posts, videos, and industry facts provide you the opportunity to establish yourself and your company as experts in your industry.
• Link back to pages on your website or industry sites that offer useful content. If you’ve written a blog entry on your website, share.
• Content with an engaging image will be seen by more people than just text.
Remember to complete all the About Us company information on your social media pages. Include pertinent keywords and phrases.
TIP: On LinkedIn join Groups where your potential customers are. Then share your expertise, projects, case studies, etc. Always link back to pertinent pages on your website. (Too many times I see our clients have only joined industry groups, which are filled with competitors.)
TIP: Connect with happy clients on LinkedIn, the ask them to write a testimonial (it will then appear on your profile page.) Not sure how? Ask us!
TIP: Own The 1st Page of Branded Search Results. Most potential customers conduct some sort of online research before purchasing a business product or service.
Besides your company website, what else shows up in their search results when someone searches your company name? Your Competitors? Really old content? This is a question you want to have as much control over as possible!
Having multiple social media accounts that have accumulated followers and are updated regularly is one of the best ways to ensure your organic search results are dominated by your brand.
5. Other marketing opportunities for architecture firms
The most successful architecture firms have multiple “client-obtaining” channels. The key is to have several of these channels working for your business at the same time.
Here is a list of some opportunities to pursue:
• Find Referral Partners or Power Partners. They can play a big role in referring business your way, and vice-versa.
• Ask Previous Clients. If you don’t ask, the answer is always No. So ask happy clients for a referral or an introduction.
• Networking Events. Choose the ones you’ll attend carefully so your time is well spent.
• Speaking/Seminars. Search out speaking opportunities.
• HARO. Help A Reporter Out is a great resource for opportunities to share your information/insight with reporters who need to write articles.
• Join Industry Associations. Broad industry associations offer you a way to meet referral and power partners.
• Join a Municipal or Community Board. These opportunities open up a vast resource of being In-The-Know.
• Tradeshows. Depending on the event, this can be a great way to get in front of a potential business.
• Write an Article for a Local/Industry Publication. Review relevant publications and reach out to them to share your expertise.
• Sponsor a Local Event. This is another way to get in front of prospects, but consider the ROI (return on investment) before committing.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to market and promote your architecture firm. From your online presence to attending strategic events, there is always something you can do to increase engagement and grow your business!
We can answer any questions you might have, and let you know how to do what we propose, so get in touch!
