While many architecture firms have websites and maybe even a Facebook page, not all firms have ventured into the very active world of social media. From Facebook to Twitter, LinkedIn to YouTube, Instagram to Pinterest, there are a variety of social media websites to attract people’s attention. The hardest part when deciding to get more involved with social media is figuring out which are the best sites to use and how to tailor your message to those sites and their audiences. To help, Metal Architecture spoke to some communication professionals at architecture firms to get an idea of how architects and firms are using social media.
Posting and Tweeting
With so many social media sites available, it’s important to have a plan of how to approach each site. Some things to consider are what you’re going to share and how often you’ll post. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are the three most popular sites with architects and firms, but more and more are getting into YouTube, Instagram and others.
In addition to posting company news, such as press releases, awards, rankings, etc., Maggie Scott, LEED AP, communications at HDR Architecture‘s office in Lawrenceville, N.J., notes that the firm uses social media, and Twitter especially, to post news from employees, enforcing its company culture, and from clients, whom it considers clients for life. Scott says that HDR tweets a few times a day, and post once or twice a day on Facebook. In addition to utilizing LinkedIn, HDR posts a new video to YouTube a few times a year, along with periodically sharing new projects on Architizer, and posting project photos to Flickr about once a month. In September 2012, HDR launched its own employee-written blog, “BLiNK: Perspectives on Design,” to which HDR posts once or twice a week.
“A few years ago, being involved with social media was enough to set us apart from our competition; today, it’s becoming the standard,” Scott explains. “Like many of our competitors, we use social media to demonstrate thought leadership, disseminate firm news, interact with clients and colleagues, and demonstrate our personality and values as a firm. It was very important to us, especially early on, to communicate HDR Architecture is a company that values design, in part by positioning ourselves among other design leaders and publications.”
At Pittsburgh-based IKM Inc., Patty Swisher, vice president of corporate communications, notes that it tries to post to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn at least once a day. When there is a particular event or relevant news item to share, the frequency may increase. The firm has also posted on YouTube in the past and plans to include more video posts this year.
IKM’s Facebook account shares a lot about office culture, group and individual staff activities, volunteer activities, corporate social responsibility activities, in-office happenings and more. On LinkedIn, IKM shares news published about the firm from local sources and trade industry magazines. “LinkedIn has a much more corporate focus and feel and we try to keep our posts reflective of that target demographic and audience,” Swisher says.
On Twitter IKM shares industry articles it believes followers may find of interest, while also promoting the firm’s good news. “Twitter has the greatest potential for high-quantity reach,” explains Swisher. “The life of a tweet, however, is much shorter, and, therefore, generally needs to occur more frequently. The short life span of a tweet also makes the information less precious and more disposable. It does not however reduce the effectiveness of Twitter when reaching an audience and building awareness. Over time, you become known in the space.”
New York City-based Dattner Architects has expanded its use of social media with an Instagram feed and Pinterest account. The firm has also discussed starting a YouTube channel. On average, Kirsten Sibilia, Assoc. AIA, LEED, principal at Dattner Architects, says the firm posts daily on Twitter, and weekly on LinkedIn and Facebook. Twitter is where the firm shares articles on issues relevant to its practice, profession and clients, while on LinkedIn, Dattner posts primarily about firm accomplishments. Since Facebook is a bit more casual, Sibilia says it often includes photographs of ribbon cuttings or in-house workshops, in addition to creating photo albums of finished project photography.
“Our goal is to engage in meaningful dialogue about the issues that are most important to our practice,” says Sibilia. “That includes issues relating to our defining values of civic engagement and design excellence, and also encompasses issues relating to typologies that form the basis of our portfolio: education, housing, transportation, recreation and other aspects of what we think of as social infrastructure. We seek to reinforce our position as an engaged member of a professional community.”
Measuring Effectiveness
Measuring the success and effectiveness of using social media platforms is a hard task for most companies and businesses. It’s difficult to put a hard number on the amount of new clients a firm may gain because of something that was posted on a social media site. As Scott notes, service industries can’t make the same correlation between marketing campaigns and profits that product industries can. However, she says her firm has had significant success on Twitter converting social media conversations into traditional media opportunities, including articles and speaking arrangements. Additionally, the company blog is used as a recruiting tool, as it provides an opportunity for both young designers and veteran thought leaders to share their ideas and knowledge.
Swisher notes that IKM’s number one goal for using social media is to increase brand awareness. “If, at the end of the day, more people know who IKM is and what IKM does, then we are achieving our goal,” she says.
“For a small business such as IKM, social media provides the unique opportunity-and permission-to share our messages with our intended audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods, and with a much more targeted reach,” Swisher adds.
Social Media Policies
Depending on the size of your firm, you may want to have in place a social media policy that covers the “DOs & DON’Ts” for employees’ social media usage.The social media policy at Dattner is an outgrowth of the media policy, providing guidelines for what individual staff members can post about. As Sibilia explains, the social media policy clarifies that updates on the firm’s projects and personnel will be posted by the firm’s communications department, similar to how the website is updated.
At HDR, the social media policy explains how to describe an employee’s relationship to HDR in its public profiles, when it’s OK to post pictures, etc. “We understand the majority of our employees use social media, and we need them to understand that, whether they use social media for business or for pleasure, they are representing HDR as a company, and if they disobey our social media policy, there will be consequences,” Scott explains. “That said, we’re lucky to have a culture where employees tend to come to us with questions first.”
Swisher notes that IKM is in the process of developing a social media policy. Since IKM is a small firm, Swisher says it is much easier to monitor activity. “We encourage staff to like, share and retweet our posts,” she says. “Our counsel is to err on the side of caution. Also, staff members generally are not posting on behalf of the company.”
Recommendations
Before jumping head first into the social media pool, it’s important to spend time exploring and reading about the various platforms ahead of time. Swisher recommends starting slow by setting up personal accounts and flying under the radar a bit. Also, read as much as possible and ask for advice while learning the ropes of social media. “Seek learning opportunities from local professional networks, [Society for Marketing Professional Services
(SMPS), American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Marketing Association (AMA), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)] and others that regularly offer inexpensive workshops on various topics on social media,” she suggests. “These are great opportunities to learn as well as connect with local experts that are often willing to answer specific questions you may have. Understand what is involved and how much time is involved. Set clear goals and expectations.”
It’s hard to figure out what will catch people’s interest on social media.”There are lots of factors to a good social media message-pithiness, relevance, humor, timing-but unless you’ve got really great, original content, it’s kind of a guessing game,” Scott explains. “You can post the perfect tweet and it’ll seem like no one even sees it. On the other hand, you might post something real quick on your way out the door, and find in the morning that you got a huge reaction.”
“Remember,” Scott adds, “the point of social media is that it’s social, not just another bulletin board for your marketing messages. If someone gets in touch with you, talk back to them. And don’t be afraid to reach out to others first. Experiment. Have fun. Be memorable.”