More than half of the world’s population uses social media, and it’s not limited to just personal use. Professionals in all industries, including architecture, make use of social networks to find inspiration, promote their services, and get in touch with others in their field.
Where do you fit in as a building materials firm? The best way to take advantage of this is to get on social media yourself. If you engage on the right channels, you can connect with architects and build long-term working relationships.
Let’s explore the world of social media marketing for building projects, including the right social media channels for connecting with architects and the content strategies you’ll need to get their attention.
How Architects Use Social Media Professionally
Many architects are on social media to further their careers, and it’s easy to see why. Social media is all about sparking conversations among peers while also allowing users to showcase their best images and share visual inspiration.
Here are some of the ways architects are using social media:
To Get Ideas and Inspiration
Social media is a source of inspiration for many people, and architects are no exception. While they may share their own work on these platforms, they’ll also scroll through feeds and search hashtags to find new ideas from their peers.
To See What Other Architects Are Doing
Social media isn’t just a way for architects to connect. It’s also a way to observe the work of other architects in their space, whether colleagues or competitors. This allows them to stay abreast with trends in the industry and keep innovating in their work.
To Find Concept Pictures
Images found on social media can be used to help illustrate a concept or system. Architects might share these photos in conversations with their clients to help convey their vision for a project.
To Source Products or Systems
Architects use social media to engage with others in the industry — not just other architects. They’re also looking to make connections with other professionals and firms to help them source materials, products, and systems for their next project.
Social Media Channels Architects Use
While many architects are on social media, they’re not on every platform. Most use social media selectively, which means they might have an account on only one or two platforms that are best suited to the industry. If you want to connect with that audience, you’ll need to meet them where they are.
Let’s take a look at the most popular social media channels for architects in order of importance.
Instagram is primarily image-driven, which is what makes it such a popular choice for architecture. It’s also very easy to curate, with a personalized algorithm that helps customize feeds that architects are most interested in. Architects can search industry-related hashtags to find content in their specialty.
While many architects will spend time on Instagram scrolling for inspiration, keeping up with other professionals, and learning more about new products and materials, they’re also actively posting. They may promote their work on the platform through in-feed posts, reels, or stories.
Pinterest is all about finding visual inspiration, which is why so many architects are drawn to the platform. Architects can scroll through content and save pins for future reference. Most pins link back to a website where users can find more information about the brand, so it’s also a way for them to source ideas, products, and systems.
The platform also allows users to create “boards” to save, collect, and organize their pins for later use. This makes it easy for architects to organize their inspiration or concept pictures by topic. They can then return for review later or show these boards to colleagues and clients.
LinkedIn is a digital hub that architecture and design professionals use to connect with others in their field. It’s not a visual platform, so it doesn’t have the same appeal for showcasing architectural work. However, it’s a platform where architects can demonstrate expertise, discussing their projects and building authority in their community.
This platform is designed primarily for networking. That means most architects will have an account, but not all will be actively posting, sharing, and engaging. Regardless of a user’s level of activity, the platform makes it easy to find professionals and reach out to them. Many building material marketers have also found success by joining LinkedIn groups to find the most active architects on the platform.
While Facebook is a platform with plenty of architects, most of them aren’t using it professionally. It’s primarily a personal use platform where architects might be connecting with friends and family or sharing personal updates on their lives.
That means this platform isn’t necessarily a go-to for finding inspiration, sourcing products or systems, or connecting with brands. Thanks to the latest algorithm updates, it’s also harder for brands to reach their audience — especially a niche one like architects — without spending money on ads. It’s still possible to reach architects with the right strategies, but it might not be worth the same effort as other platforms.
Connecting With Architects on Social Media
Architects and designers of all kinds are spending time on social media. But you need to engage them with the right content to get their attention.
Here are a few social media marketing strategies that building materials manufacturers and distributors should use to attract the right audience and connect with architects.
Showcase Completed Projects
If you want architects to work with you, that means highlighting your best work. Post shots of your building projects as well as supply lists.
Share Video Project Tours
The right video can capture attention and even give you an algorithmic boost, helping put your work in front of more architects. Shoot a video walkthrough of your completed project. Take your audience through the building and highlight all of the best features, step by step.
Show Projects Under Construction
When you post completed projects, you’re showcasing proven results. But what about projects under construction? Not all half-completed projects need to be turned into content, but the right one could showcase your products or highlight how your brand can solve a design problem.
Offer Product Shots and System Details
Pictures or videos of your projects might spark an architect’s interest, but it’s the product or system that really interests them. Shots of products and systems, along with relevant information, can go a long way toward capturing an architect’s attention. And if it’s compelling enough, this kind of content can lead to a prospect taking action.
Showcase Your Product or System in Use
It’s not enough to just tell someone about your products or systems. The most effective content will show your offerings in action. Think about how you can use photo or video content to capture the best of your products. Feature someone using the product or showing off the look, feel, and effectiveness of the finished result.
Highlight Recent Awards or Certifications
For social media channels, especially professional networking platforms like LinkedIn, reputation is everything. If your product or system has recently earned awards or certifications, don’t hesitate to talk about it. Take pictures of the award and offer more information on how or why you earned it, as well as what that says about your brand.
Feature Manufacturing or Testing Facilities
Take architects behind the scenes by featuring your manufacturing and testing facilities. Don’t just do a walkthrough — tell a compelling story. How do these facilities help you produce the products or systems that have worked so well for your brand? What kind of work goes into the production or testing process?
Help Architects Find You
Posting the right content is a powerful first step, but there should be more to your strategy. While some architects may find you organically, you can’t wait for the right people to stumble onto your content. You have to put in the work to help architects find you.
For platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, using the right architecture and design hashtags can be especially effective. Many architects will seek inspiration and ideas through these hashtags, so you’ll be putting your content in just the right place to be seen. On top of hashtags, Pinterest also uses keywords to help rank content for certain search terms. Incorporate keywords naturally throughout your Pin descriptions to help more architects find you.
While LinkedIn and Facebook are less search-oriented, there are still ways you can use them to get in touch with architects. Join groups for architecture and design, where you can put your posts in front of the people that matter. It can be even more effective if you find groups based on the specific niche or specialty that you serve.
Making the Most of Social Media Marketing For Building Projects
These days, social media is a driving force in the personal and business lives of most professionals, including architects. If you’re not already on social media, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to pitch your services.
It takes the right content strategies to cut through the noise and attract the attention of the right architects. With the correct social media channels — and engaging content to post on them — you’re already on the path toward building more meaningful industry partnerships.