7 Social Media Challenges For Architects And How to Overcome Them

Social media offers architects and architectural firms unprecedented ways to showcase their designs, connect with clients, foster professional networks and much more. However, when getting started with social media–or working to boost their current social media presence–architects may encounter several challenges that hinder their business’s visibility and impact.

This blog delves into seven main obstacles that architects face with social media and offers effective strategies to overcome these obstacles in the ever-evolving and oversaturated social media sphere.

Problem: The oversaturation of architects on social media platforms creates a crowded digital space, making it challenging to stand out amidst the myriad of other brands and designs.

Solution: In order for your architectural business to grow and thrive on social media, architects must adopt innovative and out-of-the-box approaches. 

• Incorporate immersive technologies such as AR and VR into design showcases to captivate audiences and provide a more experiential connection to your brand.
• Embrace sustainability in your architectural designs and emphasize community impact in projects to foster an online presence of goodwill and social positivity.
• Collaborations and engaging storytelling through multimedia presentations and joint-effort online events can carve a unique and humanized representation of your architectural brand.

Remember that posting “different” and “innovative” content just for the sake of standing out won’t always reap an impressive ROI. As an architect, you should work to stand out from your competitors in a way that is on brand and that adds value to your target audience. 

Likes, follows and comments are considered vanity metrics and shouldn’t be the main goal of any post you share. The goal of every post should be to add value to your target audience in a digestible and memorable way that automatically encourages engagement and brand loyalty.

Problem: Not all social media platforms will offer your architectural business the same benefits. It can be difficult to identify which social media platforms are conducive to showcasing architectural prowess and where you should focus your marketing efforts.

Solution: Understanding audience demographics and preferences for each platform is crucial. Additionally, knowing who your architectural firm’s ideal customer is will help narrow down which social media platforms to invest most heavily in. 

• Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, renowned for visual content, serve as ideal avenues for architects to display their designs.
• LinkedIn, on the other hand, provides a professional network to engage with potential clients and industry peers.
• Facebook is more community focused and can be a great place to advertise residential services. 

Whichever social media platform you choose for your architectural firm, tailor the content to suit the platform's strengths and audience preferences to optimize impact. 

You shouldn’t measure the success of each platform the same way. For example, a metric of success on LinkedIn might be how many professional relationships you generated within a quarter. For Facebook, it might make more sense to measure success and effectiveness by how many project inquiries a post generated. 

Having these metrics clearly established can help your architectural firm’s social media team create content designed to hit those goals and scale the business overall.

Problem: The algorithms governing social media platforms are in constant flux. Updates can significantly impact the visibility and reach of architectural content, necessitating architects to adapt swiftly.

Solution: Staying updated with algorithm changes and adjusting content strategies accordingly is imperative. 

• Fostering genuine engagement through meaningful interactions, utilizing hashtags strategically and exploring paid promotional options can mitigate the effects of unforeseen algorithmic shifts.
• Sign up for a weekly social media newsletter from a trusted source to help keep you informed about what content types social media algorithms currently favor.
• Equip your in-house social media team to be able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and expertly produce content in new formats (ie livestreams, Reels, static posts, collaborative contests…etc.).

• Outsource your architectural firm’s social media production to an agency or freelancer. Knowing that your architectural business’s social media presence is in the hands of experts can give you peace of mind and give your social media presence a leg up on your competition.  

   

Keep in mind that while you want your social media content to please the algorithms and get served more, you also want your content to be on brand and valuable to your human audience. Sometimes, it may seem that these two audiences are at odds but with a little creativity you will quickly see how to create content that satisfies both audiences.

Problem: Architects face the challenge of engaging diverse audiences with varying levels of architectural knowledge, interest and purchase intent.

Solution: Craft a mix of content that strikes a balance between technical insights and engaging narratives can bridge the gap. 

• Use accessible language, visual aids and behind-the-scenes glimpses into design processes to intrigue both architecture enthusiasts and industry professionals.
• Incorporate content designed to entertain, educate, learn about your customers and sell to keep your social media feed fresh and valuable to potential buyers and business partners.
• Regularly conduct audience and market research to adjust both your social media content and your architectural products and services to resonate more deeply with  your ideal customer. 

Honing in on the level of knowledge, interest and purchase intent your ideal customer has can help inform what kind of content will resonate the most. Create content that helps move your ideal customer down the sales funnel while adding value to them the whole way.

Problem: Architectural concepts and business workings can often seem removed and overly complex for the average social media user. 

Solution: Find creative ways to distill complex architectural topics into digestible and accessible formats and language. 

• Use visuals, like infographics, whenever possible to simplify and easily communicate important architectural facts about products, services and business workings.
• Short-form video content is a great tool to educate and create an opportunity for your followers to quickly share the content with their audience and friends.
• Avoid architectural jargon and opt for common language that anyone can understand. If you’re making a post specifically geared towards other architects or architectural professionals, feel free to include jargon and industry terminology.

Problem: Video content is the preferred way for social media users to consume and share content. Creating high-quality video content can be a steep learning curve for architects who aren’t accustomed to video creation.

Solution: Start with what resources your team currently has access to and work up from there.

• iPhone footage is perfectly acceptable to post on your architectural firm’s social media. Ensuring your subject is lit well and that the video has clear audio will go a long way in elevating the video’s quality.
• Shoot in interesting locations and utilize motion to add to visual intrigue
• For Reels and short-form content, keep videos under 10 seconds and stick to one topic.
• For YouTube and other long-form video platforms, incorporating quick editing cuts and a fast conversation/talking pacing can keep viewers engaged longer.
• When your architectural firm has the resources and has seen the benefits of the current video strategy, invest in professional video and audio equipment or consider hiring a creative production agency to take over the work.

Problem: When work is less plentiful during down seasons, it can be difficult to keep a steady stream of posts in the pipeline.

Solution: Preplan your architectural firm’s social media content calendar for the year with slower seasons in mind.

• Don’t rely on behind-the-scenes footage or before and after pictures as the main type of content for your social media feed. Have several other content pillars to pull from when projects are slow.
• Make sure your architectural firm’s social media team can always create compelling posts, no matter what the business is currently involved in or experiencing. The key to consistency is creativity and flexibility amidst any environment.
• If an unexpected slow season approaches, adjust your content calendar accordingly and always keep consumer value at the forefront of your architectural firm’s social media strategies.

Architects face unique challenges when working to start or boost their firm’s social media presence. From industry jargon to communicating complex concepts, to remaining consistent when work is slow, architects need to employ expert creativity and adaptability to continue to grow and thrive on social media.

Social media is no longer an accessory digital marketing strategy; It has become a powerful lead generation digital marketing tool that any industry can take advantage of. Architects and architectural firms can hire social media professionals, preplan yearly content calendars, swap industry jargon for more accessible language, understand their target audience, adapt to changing algorithms and more to reap the full benefits that social media has to offer.

Venveo knows the ins and outs of social media for architects and every other business partner in the construction and building materials industry. Contact us today for more information about how we can help your architectural firm leverage social media like an expert.