Social Media for Architects: A Beginner’s Guide
Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. Instagram. Tumblr. Reddit. LinkedIn. The digital sphere is huge, and it’s easy to get lost in there. One question I get a lot is whether social media, or a specific social platform, is something architects should invest in.
Before I dive in, I know there are a lot of opinions on social media for architects out there. This is more of a high-level overview of a few top platforms, and what I’ve seen work well.
Social Media for Architects: a beginners guide to the basic platforms
There are a ton of options when assessing social media for architects. I advise focusing your efforts on cultivating your brand image on 1 or two platforms first, instead of trying to be everywhere at once. Because of this, I’m only going to cover three platforms today: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Facebook offers flexible options for sharing company culture, news, and project updates. You can create a page and push news to your followers, or create a group and invite public discussion on topics you curate. (I’ve yet to see this done, but I think it would be an interesting experiment for public projects.)
News and company updates focusing on people and community tend to do really well on the platform. Human interest pieces garner attention as well (think participation in playhouse design competitions, or community service with Habitat for Humanity). Facebook makes it easy for your employees and “fans” to share your content, boosting your exposure.
How to make it work for you:
Split your posts so that you share more “company culture” and human interest pieces than project updates. Your fans will want to know what your company is up to, but they won’t care unless they care about your people first.
You may have heard that Instagram changed its algorithm recently, something that its parent company (Facebook) is famous for. Instead of a chronological feed, images are now presented based on recent interaction and a whole host of other things.
In short, it “wrecked” influencer marketing on the platform.
So what does that mean for architects? You may get buried a little farther down the line, but Instagram is a great place to display your portfolio and build a following. Think potential future employees though, rather than potential future clients. The age demographic on Instagram is slightly younger than platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
How to make it work for you:
Curate your content. Instagram is all eye-popping visuals, right? So make sure yours work together to tell a story. Tie together color, angle, materials, etc. to share your unique design style.
Build a list of relevant hashtags (#DesignExcellence #CustomHomeDesign #YourFirmName etc) and couple them with a short description.
Of the three platforms here, LinkedIn is the most professional and lends itself toward corporate updates and project news. I have seen an uptick in the number of human interest style posts on LinkedIn lately, but they come from individuals and feel misplaced in between the business updates.
LinkedIn is also a good place to encourage employees to share company updates. Where some won’t feel comfortable using their personal Facebook profiles to promote firm news, they won’t mind sharing an update with their peers on LinkedIn.
How to make it work for you:
Create a company page and post a mix of content that is mostly company/project news with human interest mixed in. Plan to post during business hours: most people check LinkedIn when they first arrive in the office, around lunchtime, or at the end of the day.
My biggest social media tip for architects?
Let your employees know when you’ve posted an update, and encourage them to share. Your people can (and should!) be your most important resource. Make it easy for them to be proud of the work they do, and to share it with their networks.
A note of caution when discussing social media for architects
Social media isn’t really a business driver for architects. What it can be is a powerful tool to cultivate your brand and build awareness. It’s a less formal platform to share your work, tell your story, and get people buzzing about your work.
Who’s rocking it on social media? Any tips for the rest of us?
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