Inbound digital marketing is an important means of connecting architects as well as other professionals with target clients. Every architecture firm should seize the opportunity to take full advantage of internet marketing. In fact, internet marketing has surpassed conventional outbound marketing conducted through commercials, billboards, and other traditional forms of advertising. The challenge lies in how to make the most of the golden opportunity that is internet marketing for architects. Here’s how to do it.
Elite Website Design With a Polished Landing Page
Those who search for architecture firms on the web or click links from an architecture firm’s social media pages will be redirected to the firm’s landing page. The design, look and functionality of this landing page matters a great deal. Your landing page plays a large role in determining whether visitors to your website convert into paying clients. Ideally, this page will be primarily focused on one topic and include a compelling call-to-action that encourages visitors to reach out by phone, email, or through an online contact form. In other words, it makes sense to rely on a talented web designer to ensure your landing page, as well as other components of your website, look amazing, load quickly, and function without flaw, especially on mobile devices.
Some of the best landing pages entice visitors to sign up for an email list or fill out a contact form by dangling positive reinforcement in the form of a white paper, eBook, or discount. By collecting this contact information and nurturing leads by “dripping” on target clients with a series of insightful emails can result in prospects gradually segueing from the top of the metaphorical digital sales funnel to the bottom where they convert into paying clients.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The entirety of your online footprint should be crafted with search engines in mind. Keywords, key phrases, and localized information are particularly important in the context of search engine optimization or SEO for short. Consider the words and phrases your target clients are most likely to type into search engines. Artfully weave these words and phrases into your online content ranging from your website to your blog and other components of your online footprint. This SEO push will gradually move your website up the search engine results pages or SERPs for short.
Be mindful of the optimal keyword density. If you use keywords and key phrases below 0.5% or greater than 3%, you run the risk that Google will not recognize your content or, alternatively, punish your site for keyword spamming. Furthermore, it is not enough to simply add keywords at the optimal keyword saturation rate. Your blog, social media, and website should contain helpful information that makes it clear you are an authority in the architecture industry.
Social Media
Social media has quickly morphed from an online hangout for college kids into a valuable inbound marketing tool. If your architecture firm is not yet on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, it is time to join them. Social media platforms help you connect with potential clients and also reaffirm the importance of your value offering with current clients. Update your social media pages at least once per month to ensure your audience remains connected with your firm on these platforms. Respond to comments and questions on all platforms, even if doing so requires hiring a part-time social media specialist.
Include links to your landing page, blog, and other components of your online footprint within your social media posts. This is an organic means of growing your architecture business that will take some time yet prove more than worth the effort across the long haul. Invest the time and effort necessary to create truly artful social media posts that make a lasting impact on your followers and your content just might go viral, steering that much more internet traffic to your social media pages as well as your website.
Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising
Though the PPC approach to digital marketing for architects certainly costs money, it is worth every penny and then some. PPC prominently places your online ads toward the top of search engines such as Google and other websites your target audience is likely to frequent. The beauty of the PPC approach is you strictly pay for the number of clicks on your ads. This means if no one clicks your ads, you won’t pay a penny. Alternatively, if the ads receive plenty of clicks, your online traffic will spike and your prospect conversions will increase, making the cost of PPC well worth it.
The PPC approach is more of an immediate outreach as it connects your architecture business to prospective clients right away rather than the comparably slow process of inbound marketing through social media. Furthermore, those who click your PPC ads are inherently inclined to have a legitimate interest or need for architectural services. In fact, many of these potential clients searched for local architects or similar search terms, meaning they are on the verge of converting into paying clients with the potential to prove loyal to your architecture firm and recommend it to others in their social and professional circles.
