5 Ways Architects Can Boost Lead Generation

If you’re reading this, you’re probably an architect, a principal in an architectural firm, or a marketer who works with architects and you’re frustrated at the pace or progress of your firm’s lead generation. Even knowing leads take time to nurture—particularly in your field—you may feel pressed to expand your ability to attract and convert potential clients into committed clients.

For this post, we’re going to look at the easy stuff, the steps you can take internally with little or no additional resources. Part of the answer is to stop ignoring what your Spidey-sense tells you are neglected areas of your digital marketing.

In the spirit of Spidey-sense, the following tips for building lead generation aren’t things you may want to know, but things you need to know:

Use Your Website as a Lead Generation Beast

Your website should be more than an online business card. It should reflect the experience your clients will have when they do business with you. At baseline, use visual content, whether it be professional photos of a project you completed (points for chronological development slide shows) or an online album.

Consider using a special camera to create a virtual reality version of any space. You probably know that scientists recently developed an easy way of capturing 360° VR photography without using expensive specialty cameras. Using a commercially available 360° camera on a rotating selfie stick you can capture video footage and create an immersive VR experience. If you don’t’ already use this process, PC Magazine has recommendations for the best 360° cameras.

Why does this work well? Architecture is visual. By showcasing what your architecture firm has worked on in the past, you’re giving a lead a reason to want to hire you to achieve similar results. Your website can be a place to showcase videos of your work, formal photos of your team (humanize who will oversee a project—and other roles).

Interactivity is also a lead draw. Adding interactive elements to your web pages increases the time users spend on your site. This engagement heightens brand awareness and highlights the design talent and creativity of your firm and its work. For the basics on interactive web pages, visit HubSpot’s how-to or talk with a marketing firm that creates them every day.

You might also want to expand your site from the three-to-five pages it is currently (we see you) to a site with deeper, richer content and additional landing pages.

According to one HubSpot survey, companies with 30+ landing pages on their website generated 7X more leads than companies with one-to-five landing pages. For inspiration, here are 15 examples of well-designed landing pages from which you can learn. Those specific to architecture are here and here–and here.

Of course, you’ll want to optimize your website with SEO, but that’s a distinctive element we address in our #5 tip (it’s important enough to have its own number).

Use Social Media to Its Greatest Lead-Generator Potential

If your architecture firm isn’t already embracing social media to the fullest, this is something you’ll want to start today. Use social media as a structured strategy, not gilding or garnish. Have a documented plan that features who your target audience is, what platforms you’ll use for which segments of your audience, a posting cadence and social media voice book to keep your tone and message consistent and on brand. (If you’d like help with any or all of the parts of your plan, let us know. We can help.)

LinkedIn is the primary business platform for social and it’s where you’ll want to optimize your profiles, create a regular posting schedule and send direct messages to decisionmakers who might be future clients or key partners. By posting valuable and informative content regularly, you can increase your firm’s visibility and spread your knowledge of your specific specialty or geographical region. Although these firms are European, you won’t need translation to see how well they present themselves on LinkedIn.

Although LinkedIn is the social media star for business, don’t neglect other platforms as lead generators. Your target audience (whom you will have researched and know inside and out!) may be engaged on social differently than you might expect. Meet them where they are. Our blog about how architects can effectively use social media highlights the value of Pinterest.

Provide Educational Content

People come to you because they don’t do architecture. They don’t understand primary and secondary elements and their eyes glaze at the details of partition walls, glazing, skins, ceilings, or aesthetic features. Some may be aware of specifics, but, overall, people who seek your services know they need a smart and capable architect to complete a project.

Rather than always selling your design services, opt to provide educational content about niche topics within your industry or topics that highlight your expertise. Maybe your educational content is your lead magnet – the content that offers an incentive for people to give you their contact information. In the architecture field, this can be a long game, but it has value.

White papers—as gated content or not—help establish you as a thought leader, particularly if those white papers focus on specifics in architecture that you know well. Other downloadable informative PDFs, such as eBooks and case studies (highlight how you solved a design challenge) help establish you as a credible source—and increase the probability of people choosing your firm for their projects.

Nurture Your Current Leads Through the Process and Pipeline

Stay in touch with those who may have contacted you, but haven’t yet arranged for an appointment setting. So many businesses (architects are not alone in this) tend to neglect the people who have entered the pipeline. In your industry, this can take time, as you know. 

Stay in touch with, but don’t overwhelm, these potential commitment clients.  For ideas on how to walk the fine line of nurturing without smothering, consider HubSpot’s 7 effective lead nurturing tactics.

Build a Strong SEO Marketing Strategy

This goes hand in hand with using your website wisely, but we want to focus here on SEO. If you need a refresher on search engine optimization, we get it. In an industry filled with acronyms and initials, understanding this one may not seem crucial. But it is for lead generation. The goal of SEO is to expand your firm’s visibility in organic search results. If you do it well, you’ll drive more visitors to your website and increase your chances for more conversions, more clients and more growth and revenue.

Organic traffic from SEO can lead to an increase in key performance indicators, such as leads and appointment settings.

“Typically, organic traffic is the highest quality traffic. People are actively searching for answers or solutions when they use search engines. They’re usually going to spend more time on a page that provides them with the solutions they want,” according to Forbes Business. “For any brand, company or product, you want to have visitors spending more time on a page, and you want to have a lower bounce rate because it usually means visitors are more likely to take the desired action.”

Blogs are a goldmine for SEO. Keywords built into blogs can make your content pop to the top of search results. Finding the best keywords for architecture can be tedious, but a good place to start understanding how they help rank you is here. 

When you do blog, blog with authority. Backlink to credible supporting websites. Provide information that matters, not sales-y blah, blah. You can then use content from your relevant blogs in your social media—all the while building visibility and architectural gravitas.

Bonus tip and reminder: Research your appointment setting. Be human and personable. Ask relevant and thoughtful questions. The goal of an appointment setting is to get to know your firm’s leads to determine how likely they are to commit to you as their project architect. To do this, ask thoughtful questions to fully understand the potential client’s perspective.

Although you know the basics of appointment setting, we’ve included a quick reminder, courtesy of online marketplace for legal services UpCounsel, and tips from Forbes Business.

By optimizing your website and adding related content on a regular basis, you can ensure your architecture firm shows up when a potential client looks for services in your area. This process can take time to generate leads, so consider it a long-term approach. But clients gained because you’ve shown who you are, what you know and what they get when they do business with you, are committed and (often) among the easiest to work with on a project.

Improving Lead Generation for Architects

With these five lead generation tips, you can easily improve the number of potential clients who contact your architecture firm on a regular basis. Digital marketing is an excellent method for growing your reputation and improving your presence within the design world, which can lead to reaching a wider target market than you initially thought you could. Need another perspective? Consider how the Architectural Marketing Institute gives similar advice. If you’re interested in learning more, call or email us to start a conversation. We can help.

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