Frequently Asked Questions about the Architecture Marketing 360 CPD Course
These are questions that we’ve received from architects who wanted to find out more about our online CPD course.
You can purchase the self-paced DIY program here.
We want to improve the way we position our practice to bring in more of the work we like, but we don’t have the skills or knowledge to know where to start. Will this course be pitched at our level?
The course is ideal for architects who aren’t yet sure how to use modern marketing methods, and those who don't yet understand how the various channels work together to connect and engage with your ideal clients.
The foundation modules will help you establish who your ideal clients are, and what makes your practice unique, and then you'll learn about the six channels that are most suited to marketing architecture services.
The website review explains how to make quick and easy fixes to your own site, and the implementation plan spells out all of your implementation steps in priority order, giving you the tools to elevate your business and connect with more of your ideal clients.
We don’t want to become specialists in one particular area - we love all types of projects and enjoy being architectural generalists. Can we still market our practice effectively?
Absolutely. I’ve worked with small practices that only do residential work, and practices with 30-50 staff that work across a range of sectors and project typologies.
Image: R Architecture on Unsplash
All of them have priorities in terms of their ideal clients, and that’s where they focus their attention to begin with.
Once that first sector is up-and-running and the inquiry-lead-acquisition process is working well; they turn their attention to the next priority.
Inside the course, we talk about eating an elephant one bite at a time, and it’s the perfect analogy for practices that want to continue to work across multiple sectors. Focus on your highest priority first, and then work you way down your list.
I don’t want my practice to seen as being “too commercial”. The work should speak for itself. Will this course be useful for me?
Image: Kam Idris on Unsplash
Marketing your architecture practice requires a certain mindset, and you need to feel comfortable with your messaging, delivery, and channels in order to do it well.
It’s possible to present your practice - and your skills, experience and value - in ways that resonate and align with your ideal clients, without coming across as a used car salesman.
The alternative is hoping and waiting for your ideal clients to find you, and - as the digital marketplace becomes increasingly complex and saturated, the chances of you being found by them diminish over time.
This is a problem for your practice individually, and for the profession as a whole, because architects who aren't visibly marketing their services risk losing market-share to other types of service providers who have better marketing skills and bigger budgets to promote themselves.
Are you prepared for architecture to cede yet more market share?
How is the course structured? What are the key topics?
The Architecture Marketing 360 CPD Course is delivered over three weeks, with new content released on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Hosted on a learning management system, it includes videos, emails, workbooks and other resources.
There are 9 key topics including:
Day 1: Determine your ICA (Ideal Client Avatar) and Marketing Budget – who are you appealing to, and what’s a reasonable amount to spend on marketing your practice?
Day 2: Identify your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) – what sets your practice apart from competitors and other design services operating in the market sectors you serve?
Day 3: Channel 1 – Referrals – how you can collect client feedback and use it to appeal to future clients?
Day 4: Channel 2 – Email Marketing – why you need to grow your list and use it to build knowledge, likeability and trust with your target audience
Day 5: Channel 3 – Social Media – how to use online platforms to raise awareness of your offering and direct traffic to your website;
Day 6: Channel 4 – Publishing – how to strategically position stories about your practice, projects and expertise, to speak to the concerns and issues of your potential clients;
Day 7: Channel 5 – Awards – unlock the value of your awards investment by carefully choosing which programs to enter, and preparing copy that appeals to three key audiences; then easily repurpose your entries into marketing materials for use later on;
Day 8: Channel 6 – Website – the other five channels should all invite your customers to visit your website, where you can continue the conversation and convert them into clients;
Day 9: Bringing it all together – now that you understand the six-channel system for marketing your architecture practice, you’ll receive a step-by-step priority list of tasks to tackle in order, to kick-start your implementation.
How can I ask questions about the content as I’m working through the course?
The Learning Management System has quiz questions and comments fields in each Lesson, so you can provide feedback about the content and ask questions about how the material applies to your own practice.
Course participants also have the option to join a private Facebook group, where you can ask questions of Rachael and receive responses as you’re working through the course materials, and also learn from fellow architects. In this group, Rachael will
post relevant links to articles, news and blogs that will augment what you’re learning over the three week duration; and
provide bonus resources around how to shift your mindset around architecture marketing, so that your marketing plans and activities can flow more readily;
If you choose to participate in a live group coaching program, you’ll enjoy these bonuses:
Live Q&A sessions on Zoom where you can ask questions you about the course materials as you engage with the lessons, as well as your current practice marketing, and your implementation plan.
A Group Website Review session in Week 3, where participants can nominate their own practice websites for Rachael to examine, looking at key performance indicators using publicly available tools. She’ll let website owners know if anything needs fixing urgently, and what sections to focus on, in priority order.
I don’t have time to implement the lessons and strategies right now. How much time is required to do this course?
At a distant point in the future - when you have time to do a marketing course - you'll be desperately looking for your next project, and good clients don't just grow on trees.
My favourite gumtree, Burke Drive, Attadale, WA
The nature of architecture means that it takes months, maybe even years, to build a client pipeline of the type of work you most enjoy doing.
Consider this old Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
If you're ready to plant your ideal practice tree, by taking this course, you'll need to allocate about 2 hours per week for three-weeks starting. In two hours per week, you can watch the video presentations and keep up with the discussions in the group (and ask Rachael any questions you have about the material).
Then after you have completed the Lessons and learned the six-channel system, you can stage your implementation, based on your new priorities, budget, time and resources.
What's the alternative to doing the course this year? Basically, if you're not on the radar of your ideal clients and you’re not a visible expert, you’ll be forced to accept any and all projects that come your way, instead of being able to deliberately nurture a pipeline of aligned clients who understand your unique offer, and who only want to work with you.
We don’t want to simplify our discussions around architecture just to win new clients. Will we have to do that, to market our practice successfully?
Speaking at MPavilion, Laura Harding said: “Never simplify the discussion, just the language” and that’s an approach we thoroughly support.
Architecture is complex, there are many moving and sometimes competing issues that shape your design responds, and it’s hard to distil all of those elements from a three-year project into a 30-second sound bite.
But the digital landscape has reduced everybody’s attention spans, making it more important than ever to make a good impression, quickly.
Strategic marketing can help you to do that without selling your soul.
And you can learn the key strategies in Architecture Marketing 360, the only CPD course of its kind in Australia.
We are happy with the number, quality and profitability of current projects. Why should we do this course?
If you’re already attracting plenty of clients and projects that challenge and excite you, and that are profitable, then you probably don't need help with your marketing.
Image: R Architecture on Unsplash
But if you would like to run a practice where you can decline clients and projects that aren’t aligned with your values and zone of genius - or that aren’t profitable and sustainable - this course will help.
Because when you target your ideal clients and become known for delivering in particular sectors or types, you have the potential to establish a waitlist of clients; people who are committed to working only with your practice. Think Glenn Murcutt, WOWOWA and Kennedy Nolan, among others.
And having that level of discernment about which projects you accept - and which ones you refer to your colleagues who are better placed to assist - means you really are running your ideal practice.
At the moment we have no way of knowing which parts of our marketing plan are working, and which activities are a waste of time and money. Will the course help us see what’s useful and where we should continue to invest, or conversely, cut our losses and try something new?
According to researcher Sidney D'Mello, there are four key elements to learning new skills. These include:
seeking help (i.e., by enrolling in this course);
finding the most important information (learning the six-channel system);
planning a strategy (working out which channels are most relevant for your practice and aspirations); and
monitoring progress (using the Marketing Metrics tracking spreadsheet to see which activities are moving the dial in terms of the quality and quantity of your new inquires, leads and commissions).
Architecture Marketing 360 is a comprehensive system that will set you on the right path to designing and delivering your ideal practice.
It's like that old Pantene ad: “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen!”
We’ve got plenty of Instagram followers and enough inquiries to keep us afloat. Do we really need to learn a new system?
Image: I Wood on Unsplash
Maybe, maybe not.
How do you think your practice will cope when a boom cycle goes bust?
Will the phone keep ringing? Will Instagram continue to deliver enough new clients to sustain your team?
Or do you need to be more deliberate and intentional, to attract the right kinds of clients who understand your expertise and the value you provide.
Only you can decide whether your current client acquisition system is robust enough to survive the next downturn, but do you really want to find out the hard way, without at least considering how the Six Channel System could help?
We’ve tried to do marketing before, but the size of our practice means we just can’t compete with bigger competitors and their bigger budgets – like Three Birds, or local project home builders etc.
Thanks to the emergence of social media, you don’t need to invest a lot of money on advertising to build a profitable and sustainable architecture business.
And actually, Rachael suggests that you should be focusing on your referral network first, before pouring all your energy and investment into social media.
Start by thinking about how many new clients you want to work with each year, and work out who they are, how you can connect with them, where they spend time online, what their pain points and problems are, and how you can help overcome them.
Then create messaging and content to connect with and ignite a conversation with your ideal clients, so you can establish personal and trusting relationships with them. You might deliver that messaging via email, word-of-mouth, social media or other channels (awards and publishing, for example).
Building these authentic connections is worth far more in this digital-everything era than big advertising spends in traditional media, which don't necessarily reach your target audience.
Social media has dramatically changed the marketing landscape, but in order to cut through the noise you need a coherent strategy and consistent messaging.
You can learn how to develop both inside Architecture Marketing 360.
We would like to be more assertive in putting forward the importance of good design, but we are not sure how to counter false claims or speak out, without inviting criticism. Is that something you cover in the Architecture Marketing 360 course?
Yes and no. Learning how to present yourself as a subject matter expert - or appear in the media on topical design issues - takes practice and skill, and it’s not something that we specifically cover in the course.
But as you master the foundational lessons in the course and start to see the positive results of your actions, your confidence will increase over time, especially as you understand which messages resonate with your ideal clients and where you are gaining traction and winning new work.
So if you don’t currently feel confident in the public arena, taking this course and putting the strategies into place will definitely help you to counter false claims and/or take a strong position on topical design issues in future.
I’m not based in Australia – can I still do the course?
Image: Naomi Hebert on Unsplash
The course outlines the key tenets of modern marketing for architects, which are universal principles, so it will be helpful regardless of where in the world you live and work.
Most of the examples given are for Australian media outlets, awards programs and websites, but we can add international examples inside the Facebook group, that are tailored to the countries where participants are based.
In Australia, architects can earn six Formal CPD points by taking the course, and CPD isn't currently offered for architects in other countries.
But the main benefits of taking this course and implementing the lessons it contains go far beyond earning CPD points for your registration: this course will help you design and deliver your ideal practice, and there are very few other online courses for architects that can make that promise.
If you’re interested in buying the course, you can purchase the self-paced DIY program here.
And if you have any questions, feel free to email Rachael to ask them.
