How should you market your architecture practice with little money, but plenty of time?
As we adjusted to the new normal of the coronavirus pandemic, I received a great question about how to tackle marketing when money is tight but time is plentiful. The question posed by an architect in Perth was:
Our cashflow and project pipeline has basically been wiped out overnight. We now can't afford to have our projects professionally photographed... What is the best thing we could do on the marketing front during this period of no money, but lots of time?'
This is a great question, and you can watch the video where I answer it here.
I’ve come up with three ways you can approach the photography issue at the moment, plus I have some additional ideas about other forms of marketing.
You could approach magazines and websites that would potentially shoot for you – these include House & Garden, The Design Files, and Vogue Living, plus Inside Out and Belle, in some cases. There are also industry publications such as Steel Profile, the Brickworks publications, C+A, and Viridian’s Vision magazine, etc.
You could also use this time to conduct some research about photographers – there are some whose names appear over and over in the most sought after publications – scour those pages and then ring those photographers and see if they are offering any specials at the moment. Some photographers also offer packages for emerging practices – I know Michael Nicholson in Sydney does – so it may be worth talking to other photographers to see what options there can offer to capture your project in future.
Or, you could just wait, and make sure the house or project will be ready for a shoot when things pick up again – both with your cashflow, and in terms of being able to socialise. Some projects might benefit from being shot in spring, or when the landscaping has settled in, so think about the best time of year to shoot, and aim for that in future.
In terms of other things you can do in the meantime, Warwick Mihaly posted a great list of “downtime jobs” on his blog.
There are lots of Marketing jobs you could tackle, such as working out who your future clients are, and how to reach them with your messaging, and connect and engage with them on your various marketing channels.
Other marketing activities that don’t cost much but can deliver significant results
UN Coronavirus poster
It might be useful to go back over your recent projects – if you entered any into awards this year that’s a great place to start, but review the past few years, and start to work on your ICA – your ideal customer avatar, and your USP, or unique selling point – so you can start to reframe all of your outward-facing messaging into marketing messages that will specifically speak to and resonate with your ideal future client.
Then, work out where and how to reach those people: do they read magazines about education if they are school principals; or about shopping centres or commercial offices, if you’re trying to attract commercial clients; or shelter magazines, if you’re targeting residential clients.
Find out where your ideal customer spends time researching – which publications they read, which social media platforms they use, what online groups they belong to – and start creating materials that will meet them where they are. That way you can build awareness of your practice on social media or publishing, for example, and then invite people to explore your Instagram profile and then visit your practice website.
One more thing…
Another thing you could do – and this is not strictly related to comms and marketing but it is strategic – is think about how you can use this time to change any aspects of your practice (or your life for that matter!) for the better once the threat has passed.
Over the weekend, I started thinking about things I was doing, before, during and after COVID-19, and I put together a one-page chart to record my thoughts around this. I’ll give you a couple of examples.
Before the pandemic, I had committed to the principles of Architects Declare, even though I’m not an architect. I did a carbon audit of my home office, and created a spreadsheet for Architects to do the same.
During the current shutdown, I’m working with the national Architects Declare team on the Guide to going carbon neutral (which is now available - just click on the title to access).
After the shutdown ends, I’m going to redouble my efforts to spread the message about Architects Declare and it’s ambitions, and help architects transition their practices for a low carbon economy.
And, on a personal note:
Before self-isolation, I used to go to yoga classes once a week on a Saturday morning.
During the shutdown, I purchased a video by my regular teacher, and I’ve started practicing at home a few mornings a week.
After the shutdown, when I can go back to class, I want to maintain my mid-week home practice with the video, thereby increasing my weekly sessions.
Ready to access Sounds Like Design’s business development and marketing services?
I offer three services to architects, ranging from 2-hour Acupuncture Sessions to the 3-month Review + Reset consulting package.
If you want to tap into my expertise and ask my advice around anything to do with architecture marketing, you can, book an Acupuncture Session here and we can workshop it together in an online meeting, with deliverables including formulating goals around attracting future clients, your customised print/online publishing plan, sample pitch emails, editor’s contact details and more.
If you’re interested in learning Business Development and Marketing and implementing the new client pipeline system I developed specifically for architects, you can take the Architecture Marketing 360 CPD course. You can purchase the self-guided program and start right away, here.
And finally, if you’re interested in working with me directly, you can find details about our 3-month consulting package Review + Reset here. (I have a waitlist for new Review + Reset clients, and that’s what I aim to help you achieve for your architecture business, too).
Lastly, if you have any questions about this blog post, or any of my services, please click here to email me. I’m always happy to hear from architects who want to improve the way they communicate their value to future clients, and grow the market-share pie.