Almost half of the world’s population uses social media platforms. And the number is continuously growing. Modern social media is no longer just a place to communicate with friends and read the news – it is also a powerful tool to promote products and services. Naturally, professionals in all fields, including architecture and design, try to make the most of it.
Architects can use social media platforms to showcase their best works, build long-lasting relationships with clients, and find inspiration. Maintaining a robust online presence attracts prospects and improves their brand exposure. But it’s not enough to create valuable content to achieve these goals. Choosing the best social media platforms for architects to share is also vital.
In addition to featuring in architecture magazines, social media has become a cornerstone for architecture firms to engage and communicate with both current and potential clients. Generating social media ideas for businesses in the architecture industry can be challenging.
It’s easy to get caught up in the beautiful imagery of your projects but don’t forget that people come to your social channels to see the people and culture of your company. They look at your projects on your website if they want to see your projects. In this article, we’ve compiled the most comprehensive list of social media ideas and tips for businesses in the architecture industry.
1. Create Beautiful Designs for your Social Media
Social media posts have a very short lifecycle, so you don’t want to spend hours creating them. That’s why graphic design apps are crucial: instead of starting from scratch each time, you’ll have a range of significant templates and design resources (like stock images, icons, shapes, and text styles) ready to go. Then, all you have to do is mix and match things with your own brand elements to have something unique and powerful.
One of my favorites is VistaCreate. It has thousands of options that let you customize designs, remove backgrounds, and access a vast library of fonts, illustrations, stickers, and other elements. One of our favorites is the futuristic color palette that lets you choose the proper hex codes for your color combination.
2. Instagram: The Most Important Marketing Tool for Architects
In the current iteration of our digital age, Instagram is the social media king platform with 1 billion active monthly users. You are missing out if you are a business and not on Instagram.
Given the platform’s visual nature, architects and designers have flocked to it, using it to market their work, promote new ideas, and even pull in commissions. Other aggregator accounts use the platform to find and foster new talent, creating an entirely digital architectural community open to all.
For the Social Media Marketing strategy on Instagram to be productive, it is best to post daily. Also, adding appropriate hashtags is highly recommended since they help target an audience and build a social media following. Other Instagram features that can help attract more prospects include live video, IGTV, and stories. Architects can use these options to showcase not only their ready designs but also the working process of the firm. This can include work meetings, site visits, live streams from industry events, etc. Showing the inner workings of a company is a great tool to build trust with prospects on Insta.
Instagram also offers paid ads, which can help significantly reach a wider audience. Architects can run ads with new posts or promote already existing ones. To use this feature, an architect should have a Facebook page and create a business profile on Insta. Then, using Ads Manager, they can specify the purpose of an advertisement, its format, and the preferred audience. The platform can even help to define the latter. It offers to create an audience similar to a page’s followers automatically. To create the ads, we recommend using the advertisement maker from Adobe. It’s free, and you can make eye-catching advertisements in minutes by customizing images, fonts, and design assets.
3. TikTok-itecture
The rise of TikTok is creating a shift in how we experience and consume architecture. It’s no small trend either. Nearly 950 million TikTok videos utilize the hashtag #architecture to describe buildings in various cities or a specific architectural style with which the video creator is familiar. TikTok is big on videos, and some of the biggest perks that come from using this format include:
- Reputation: When you make informational or explanatory videos that teach your audience something, you immediately improve your reputation in their eyes. You’re not just trying to sell them a service but providing them with helpful information.
- Brand awareness: The world today is enormous, and the Internet is nearly infinite. It may just be that some people don’t know that your company exists.
- Different Audiences: When you add videos, especially different types of videos, you’re opening up your firm to attracting entirely new audiences. You’ll be more appealing to your existing followers, but as is the point with marketing, you’ll also attract tons of new followers when you do it right.
4. Pinterest as a Collaborative Tool
The Pinterest App does not work like traditional social media platforms. Here, the users do not need to write long posts or reply to hundreds of followers’ comments. The main idea of this site is for the users to save the images they like on their boards. And every time someone pins an image, it gets more chances of being seen.
One must register and build an extensive portfolio to use this platform as social media for architects. It should consist of high-quality visuals and be updated regularly. It is also essential to use keywords and hashtags to attract the right crowd to a profile. And when adding a new image, architects must write a short description.
These texts should be no longer than 200 characters; otherwise, people are unlikely to read them. If a professional has a business website, it is best to link it to the website. This way, the interested prospects will be led directly to the architect’s site. It will help them find more info and strengthen the website’s SEO presence. Other good ideas when using Pinterest are:
- Use of paid ads on Pinterest: they run on a PPC system, so the architects pay only if someone clicks on their advertisement. It is handy to sort out those genuinely eager to find more information about architecture services.
- Find inspiration: sometimes, even the best architects run out of steam. Luckily, Pinterest is not only one of the best social media platforms for architects but also an excellent site for finding inspiration. Here an architect can get new ideas for the projects and keep track of the latest trends. It is vital to remember that other people also use Pinterest for finding inspiration and not for choosing products and services. Therefore, it is better to share pins that inspire than ones that sell.
- Easy for Client Collaboration: Clients can easily find reference images on Pinterest to better explain what they have in mind, instead of the old-school way of sharing magazine references. Architects and interior designers can connect effortlessly with their clients using boards on Pinterest to get the creative discussion flowing. It also helps set realistic expectations and budget allocation per the kind of design the client is referring to in the image. Additionally, ensuring a strong internet connection to improve home Wi-Fi speed is crucial when collaborating remotely with clients or managing virtual presentations
5. LinkedIn to increase the reputation
LinkedIn is the ideal social network for connecting with other professionals in the architecture field, staying up-to-date with the best practices, and getting new ideas. But it is not just about doing business. This platform has various interesting groups, making it easier for people with similar interests to communicate and share their experiences and knowledge.
LinkedIn, as one of the best social media platforms for architects, is a perfect place to showcase the specialist’s expertise level. An architect will be recognized as a reliable professional by sharing valuable content and adding high-quality photos of projects.
6. Feature your Projects on Social Media After Completion
What better way to showcase your completed projects than by providing images or videos of them in use! This will help attract new clients.
7. Share Links to Interesting Content
A huge benefit of using Social Media for architects is that it offers excellent opportunities to direct traffic to company websites. One of the simplest and most efficient ways is by posting links to blog posts with short descriptions. This way, anyone who finds the topics attractive will visit the website. And there, extra information, media, and retargeting tools will do their job of converting visitors to leads and, subsequently, clients. However, the number one step here is to ensure that the shared content is good and valuable for the target audience.
Social Media for Architects: Final Words
Using Social Media is an excellent opportunity for architects who want to reach a wider audience and find more clients. They are an ideal platform for building a fruitful relationship with prospects and raising brand awareness. The seven simple tips described above will help use Social Media as an effective marketing tool for architects.
