Social Mediafor AEC(Architecture. Engineering. Construction.)

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This statement is especially relevant to

architecture, engineering, and construction

(AEC) firms. A prolific change has happened in

the way we communicate and share information

as individuals and as organizations. Firms that

shift their marketing paradigms accordingly will

have a significant advantage, yet most firms in

the AEC sector are not adapting.

Alert

Social Media isn’t a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

> click to watch a video

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As a marketing consultancy for AEC firms, we

generally see a recurring pattern. The majority

of AEC partners and senior stakeholders are

uncomfortable and hesitant with using social

media as a complimentary form of marketing

and communication. They’ve likely tried it in

the past and been disappointed, or haven’t

had the time to invest in it.

The train is leaving the

station, and many AEC

firms are not on board.

What is the reason for this unwillingness to adopt social media?

of companies in the US

are either currently using

social media channels or

preparing to use them

Read more...

Read more...

Read more...

of AEC professionals use

social media channels for

marketing and publicity

purposes

75%

28%

fig. 1

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1

2

34

56

For personal use

Connect with others

in my profession

Don’t use social media

Marketing/publicity

Keep up with developments

in my field of business

Obtain product, supplier

and manufacturer info

53%

48%

28%

28%

23%

17%

There is hope, and AEC professionals likely don’t realize it, but they’re already halfway through the battle. In

the study of AEC professionals cited below, it was found that more than half of respondents (53%) use social

media for personal purposes and 48% use it for networking and communicating with others in their field.

AEC Professionals are already onboard, they just don’t realize it.

NOTE: Respondents could make multiple selections.

Original data from: www.bdcnetwork.com/how-aec-professionals-are-using-social-media

STATS. fig. 2In what ways, if any, do you utilize social media channels?

fig. 2

1

2

3

4

5

6

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Adopting a new technology is two-fold: half the

battle is having the willingness and desire to adopt

the technology and the other half of the battle is

having the skills to use the technology. Most AEC

professionals are already using social media for

personal purposes, so we’re not starting from the

ground up and teaching you about what Facebook is

or what Twitter does. You already know it; you just

need to know how to effectively use it for your firm.

And guess what? It’s not that much different from

how you’re using it already.

The roots of social media are grounded in

connecting with people, sharing content (opinions,

links, trends, work, etc.), and having authentic

conversations around mutual interests and ideas.

But wait, we didn’t say sales.

Sales and leads will result once you have a social

media strategy in place, but it shouldn’t be your first

focus or goal. Position your organization as thought

leaders in the industry, share your work and ideas,

and open your mind to discovering what others are

doing in your industry. You’ll gain valuable insight

into other professionals and organizations in your

industry and sales and leads will follow naturally

once you ground your strategy in authentic

conversations and valuable content.

Social media isn’t about sales? Yes and no.

Still don’t get it? ? ?

??

?Social Media for AEC

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What is social media?

W

Social Media for AEC

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What?INDUSTRIAL BRAND WHITE PAPER © 09/2013

This paper is intended to quickly guide you

through the clutter and confusion of social media

marketing. We’ll answer the critical questions and

provide some insight and direction to guide your

firm towards using social media effectively for

your AEC company.

First off, what is social media? According to

Merriam-Webster, social media is defined as:

“forms of electronic communication through

which users create online communities to share

information, ideas, personal messages, and other

content.” Social media marketing then is how

organizations utilize these online communities

and conversations for business purposes. It is one

component of a larger online marketing strategy

that often includes other components, such as:

• Website Marketing

• Content Marketing

• Search Engine Optimization

• Online/Display Advertising

• Email Marketing

• Analytics

Social media is a critical part of online marketing

and is the focus of this paper, but AEC firms

should consider all of the above internet-based

marketing methods. These new methods do not

supersede traditional marketing; they should

supplement and be integrated with the existing

marketing plan.

What is social media? personal m

essages

conn

ectio

ns

conversations

content

information

meth

od

olo

gy

op

inio

ns

ideas

insig

hts

Social media marketing

is how organizations

utilize these online

communities and

conversations

for business

purposes.

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WWhy does social media marketing work?

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Reason 1.

BY BUILDING COMMUNITY, YOU BUILD YOUR BRAND

Marketing leaders believe social media has become intrinsic to 21st

century brand building. The beliefs and values espoused by your firm and

the reasons why you do what you do are intrinsic to attracting clients and

hires. AEC professionals are highly passionate people and believe strongly

in their work. By sharing your passion through relevant industry content,

conversing with fellow AEC professionals, and discussing opinions and

trends, social media allows you to clearly reveal these traits to your

audience. Relationships are built and maintained using social media and

you have the potential to attract potential hires, relevant stakeholders,

and new clients through your communications with them online.

Social media allows your company to reveal

its inner brand story; your brand’s personality.

Through conversations, connections, and content,

social media allows your company to reveal ways

that you innovate and push the envelope. As AEC

professionals, you create the physical nature of the

environments we live in and are passionate about

the work you do. Social media allows you to share

your work and share your passion with the rest of

the world. Post photos of your latest projects to

your company’s Facebook page, share a link to an

interesting article about the importance of wood

structures, tweet a fellow architectural design firm

about their projects. All these things reveal your

brand essence – what you’re passionate about,

what your interests are, and what your company

values. Just as you would with your personal social

networks, your brand’s expertise can be revealed in

the content you post and share, the work you show,

and the networks you build.

Why does social media marketing work?

Reason 2.

IT REINFORCES YOUR FIRM AS AN INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER

10k

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Reason 3.

IT BRINGS IN LEADS FROM A BROADER AUDIENCE

As a component of an overall online marketing

strategy, social media builds networks. Temporal

and spatial boundaries that would normally limit

traditional methods of marketing (like word-of-

mouth) do not hinder your company’s reach. As a

result, brand awareness and reach potential are

significantly expanded as social media allows you

to touch audiences that you wouldn’t normally be

able to reach with traditional means. Rather than

be limited to clients in your region, AEC companies

can connect with clients from around the world.

Reason 4.

IT MAGNIFIES YOUR HIRING POTENTIAL

As a result of retiring baby-boomers, and various

other reasons, McGraw Hill-Construction predicts a

shortage of architects by 2014. The engineering and

construction sectors are facing similar problems,

and it’s a big concern facing the industry. Firms that

have a presence in social media will stand a greater

chance of hiring the best young talent. According to

this 2012 Pew Internet study of social media usage,

89% of adults aged 18-29 use social networking

sites. By meeting young professionals where they

are in their online communities and showing a

propensity to innovate and adapt, social media

savvy firms will remain top of mind.

When executed properly, social media marketing

strategies will contribute greatly to bringing a flow

of quality leads and new hires to your doorstep.

Why does social media marketing work?

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HHow to adopt social media marketing

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FOLLOW A STRATEGY

Many AEC firms look at social media with the

mentality that “everyone seems to be on Twitter

and Facebook, we should be too.” This ad-hoc

approach rarely succeeds and is not the vision you

or your firm should have. Before a successful social

media campaign can begin, it must begin with a

solid foundation which is the firm’s existing brand

and marketing communications plan.

In assessing your firm’s communications, look at

what is being said and to whom. Your social media

plan should not deviate too far from your existing

branding and marketing communications plan,

and if it does, you need to reassess your goals.

Social media isn’t an entirely differently demon –

you’re still talking to real human beings that are

passionate about the same things you are,

so treat them the same way you would to an

offline connection.

DETERMINE WHAT RESOURCES YOU HAVE AND THEN DELEGATE

A successful social media strategy involves

allocating two important resources – time and

money. If your company is just starting out in social

media, determine what resources you have and

work with what you’ve got. Is there someone that

is willing and has the skills to take on the role?

If yes, how much of their time can be allocated

to this task? If no, is hiring someone an option?

Social Media Marketing Blueprint

1

2

In the following section,

we’ll walk you through

some of the key best

practices to keep in mind

when you take your first

steps towards adopting

social media marketing.

From strategy development

and resources to content

calendars and analytics,

this blueprint will help

kickstart your AEC firm’s

social media initiatives.

Step

Step

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The most crucial component of this is delegating

roles. Delegating establishes accountability.

Someone should have the responsibility of

overseeing your social media efforts. This role can

be part time, full-time, or external. It will vary based

on your company’s particular needs and the size of

your company.

TIME

Firstly, don’t try to do it all. Instead,

do what you can. Determine the level

of activity that your company is willing

to and able to commit to. Starting small

and maintaining consistent momentum

is better than a “go big or go home”

mentality when it comes to social

media. If you’re just starting out, create

a schedule, commit to one hour a week

consistently, and then add to that once

you’re comfortable. Try improving to

one hour per day.

KNOWLEDGE

Determine the level of sophistication

of your industry. What are the movers

and shakers in your industry doing?

Does the person you’ve delegated this

role to have the right skill sets? Do they

know how to execute and use analytical

tools? Do they know how to write

engaging content? If the answer is no

to these questions, as mentioned above,

start small and just tackle what you

know. Learn along the way and don’t

bite off more than you can chew until

you’re more comfortable.

Refer to our recommended job description

for a Social Media Champion role:

JOBS OFFERED

ABC Architecture appoints a social media

champion with the following job description:

HIRING A SOCIAL MEDIA CHAMPION

ABC Architecture is a small firm of only

12 staff. Due to their size, it’s unrealistic to

hire a full time marketer so Amanda, the

founding principal, has decided to hire an

out-of-house social media consultant to set

them up and move them forward. They find a

relatively young yet tech-savvy freelancer in

town named William and appoint him as their

social media champion.

The social media champion’s role is as follows:

• Creating and maintaining a Social

Media strategy that coincides with

the firm’s brand and marketing plan.

• Create original content that is

consistent with the firm’s brand

and social media strategy (blog

posts, videos, whitepapers, etc.)

• Overseeing all social media

platforms and ensuring voice

is consistent, conversational,

unified, and personal. This includes

delegating minor tasks to current

staff to ensure authenticity.

• Measuring the results and

providing monthly reports.

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CREATE A CONTENT CALENDAR

Assign specific tasks and hold

the delegated person (or people)

accountable – the tasks are more

likely to get done. Build tasks into

schedules to ensure they get done –

even if it’s only one hour a week.

NOTE: Consistency is more

important than attempting

to commit to 10 hours a

week and failing.

THE 80/20 RULE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

CONTENT CALENDAR FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

of the content you share should be from others

should be original content

80%

20%

Fig 3.

M T W T F S S

31 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SHARE CONTENT

POST ARTICLE

3Step

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CHOOSE THE PROPER CHANNELS

Once you have your plan and resources in

place, choose the channels your firm will

focus on. There are hundreds of social media

channels, don’t even attempt to tackle all

of them all at once. Remember, start small,

work within your limitations and excel at that

before you think of taking on more.

LINKEDIN

The most valuable network for

B2B communications, Linkedin

is best used for relationships,

thought leadership, Q&A

groups, and recruiting talent.

Even though it is the smallest

network of the three, the

connections and relationships

will be more authentic.

FACEBOOK

Facebook is the second

most frequented website

after Google. Facebook

allows for the strongest

engagement and generates

the most awareness for your

company. Although there

tends to be a low tolerance

for formal marketing efforts,

less formal initiatives (like

sharing multimedia content)

do a great job of humanizing

your firm and expressing

your brand personality.

TWITTER

Twitter has the farthest

reach of all the other two

networks. It is a great

way to share any form of

content and connect with

other thought leaders and

potential clients. Although

posts are limited to 140

characters, it forces you

to be concise.

WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE THE MOST RELEVANT FOR AEC FIRMS?

Every platform has a different function,

different audiences, and different goals.

For AEC firms, these are the top three

platforms being used:

4Step

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MAKE GOALS, ANALYZE RESULTS, AND IMPROVE

Make sure to have specific goals for each social

media platform. All interactions should be

consistent with that channel’s specific goals and

with your overall marketing and communications

plan. Make SMART goals! Most importantly,

take time to analyze your results on a regular

basis and see where you can make improvements.

Analytics reporting should be a task on your social

media calendar that is delegated to a specific

person. Linkedin recently launched company page

analytics making it easier for companies to track

their performance.

EXAMPLES OF GOALS BASED ON SOCIAL PLATFORM

Linkedin “Increase number of followers on

company page to 1,000 in 30 days.”

Facebook “Improve “talking about this” to 10%

of likes in three months.”

Twitter “Increase number of followers to

500 in 60 days.”

ABC Architecture

A BC

1000likes•100talkingaboutthis

Your companies ‘talking about this’ number should be

between 5 - 10% of your ‘likes’.

5Step

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DON’T BE A ROBOT – HAVE CONVERSATIONS

Social media is a two-way street – interact, respond,

and converse with your followers and connections.

We’re all human beings after all, so act like one. As

AEC professionals, you understand that your work

isn’t pre-fabricated, complete-in-box, and ready-to-

go. Neither should your social media efforts. Every

brand has a personality – don’t be a faceless entity.

Joining online conversations, responding to

questions or concerns, and providing support in a

timely manner will add a personal and reassuring

tone to your brand image. If you self-promote and

never converse, your firm will appear to be self-

serving. Embrace honesty; answer your audience’s

questions. Doing so builds trust and transparency.

Every brand has

a personality

– don’t be a

faceless entity.

Create a style guide

that outlines the

type of content your

company should

post, as well as the

voice, language, and

tone of the content.

7Step

HAVE A CONSISTENT VOICE

Depending on your situation, you may or may

not want several people involved in your social

media marketing efforts. Ideally, key figures such

as partners and senior staff should contribute.

Having their input with their technical and

professional expertise could meaningfully add to

your brand.

Regardless of whether you have a whole team or

just a few people assigned to your social media

tasks, create a style guide that outlines the type

of content your company should post, as well as

the voice, language, and tone of the content.

This creates consistency and ensures that visitors

to any of your social profiles will have the same

brand experience.

6Step

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STORIES CREATE EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

A great way to humanize your firm is to tell

stories. Social media isn’t about the services

your firm provides, but about the stories it tells.

Facts don’t usually trigger a response from

readers because they’re hard to remember and

even harder to relate to. If you can get readers

to empathize with a story, and relate to your

beliefs and values, then you have already set

your firm apart from competitors.

BE RESPONSIVE AND ADAPTABLE

One of the biggest deterrents to using social

media for AEC executives is the fear of negative

publicity. From our experience, these concerns are

mostly unfounded. Arguably the best medium for

responding to negative publicity is social media.

In the event you need to respond quickly to a

crisis, being in control of some or all of your own

media is vital. Social media is fast. Much faster

than traditional means of sending press releases.

Demonstrating how you handle a problem or deal

with a crisis can be the thing that tips a prospect

over to your favour. Even the worst PR situations

can be flipped around to improve your brand image.

We’re not saying you should fire your publicist –

you still need press releases and official statements

during crises – but rather that social media can

supplement your existing efforts. Refer to your

company’s existing guidelines on responding during

crises. This may need to be updated to include

what is acceptable to respond to on social media.

Respond to tweets, post a message on Facebook.

Do not say anything you wouldn’t otherwise state

in an official press release or statement.

SHOULD ABC ARCHITECTURE FEAR NEGATIVE PUBLICITY?

Months have now passed since William

started consulting for ABC Architecture.

William has officially completed his

mandate, and has passed the reins to

Amanda, the newly appointed social

media champion.

Unfortunately the firm experiences a

small publicity crisis: a small mistake in

the design of a high-profile civic building

ends up costing a client, and several of

its contractors, thousands of dollars.

News of this reaches certain groups and

some negative comments are beginning

to filter in through various social media

platforms.

Amanda quickly averts potential harm

by responding in a respectful and timely

manner using social media. As soon as

she receives the official press release

from the PR team, she posts it to their

social media profiles and uses the official

statements to reply and post an apology

on behalf of ABC.

Any publicity is

good publicity -

true or false?

8

9

Step

Step

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OFFER SOMETHING OF VALUE TO YOUR AUDIENCE

This point cannot be overly stressed. It is important

you frequently provide value in your social media

interactions. Social media isn’t just about self

promotion, but about being useful. So consider how

you can offer gifts of information that will benefit

your audience or other professionals in your industry.

Doing so not only backs up your claims of expertise,

it also feeds the growth of your target followers and

increases web traffic and potential leads.

Valuable content can be provided in a variety of

formats, including news, blog posts, videos, white

papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-

to guides, question and answer articles, and more.

Content does not write itself, so consider appointing

a content marketer.

If you’re just starting out...

remember to start small. Do not attempt to

tackle a whitepaper or glorious infographic

if you can’t even figure out what Wordpress

is. Valuable content needs to be done well.

Start first with a blog – remember to work

within your limitations and that consistency

is key. Strive to post one original blog post a

week and work your way up to two to three

a week.

Make your life easier...

by getting executive buy-in and taking

advantage of the brilliant minds at your

company. Creating fresh, valuable content

can be tough work when you’re a one or

two-man show. Take advantage of the fact

that, for 40 hours a week (or more), you sit

with some of the most brilliant architects,

designers, and business people in your

industry – pick their brain and get them to

type it out in a post.

Once you have executive buy-in, make it

a requirement for all your employees to

write one blog post per quarter or per

year (depending on the size of your firm).

For example, if you have 50 employees,

make it a requirement to write one per

year and you easily have a new blog post

every week. If you have 10 employees, make

it a requirement to write one blog post

every quarter. Make sure you create tasks

and schedule deadlines into your content

calendar to create accountability.

10Step

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ARCHITECTURE

Michael Green, founder and principal of Michael

Green Architecture (MGA), provides highly valued

content about the design and construction of tall

wood skyscrapers. He researched and co-authored

a 200 page document titled The Case for Tall

Wood Buildings, as well as several blog posts and

publications on the issue. His notoriety spiked when

he spoke for Ted talks and Ideacity. As a result,

he is a well recognized thought leader and his firm

has become a magnet for high quality clients from

around the world.

Read more about Michael Green here.

ENGINEERING

At Indium Corp., over fifteen employees from

various roles in the organization help maintain

a blog titled From One Engineer to Another.

Through it, they produce valuable content,

videos and answer questions about a variety of

engineering related topics. The firm also has an

extensive list of white papers available, many of

which are accompanied by helpful videos. Their

social media channels are organized on a single

“Social Media” page which makes it easy for

clients and visitors to the site to see what social

channels they are using.

Examples of real-world AEC firms that successfully provide value

Image courtesy of The Vancouver Sun

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CONSTRUCTION

PCL has a blog discussing several topics ranging

from Permanent Modular Construction to

Volunteering. The firm’s brand isn’t as clearly

evident as MGA’s, but the firm is making headway.

They offer significant value with their quarterly

e-magazine which they share on their social

channels.

Read their most recent one here.

Examples of real-world AEC firms that successfully provide value

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Principals and senior stakeholders of professional

services firms often require some measurement of

ROI for their social media activities. It is difficult to

justify marketing efforts in the long term without

numbers that show results. Having numbers not

only shows if the firm is making progress, but it can

highlight the areas that need improvement as well.

To understand how social media marketing can be

measured, it’s important to see how social media

fits into marketing and sales efforts. Conversion

numbers can be extracted as potential clients pass

through each individual stage.

Your desire to see ROI from your social media marketing efforts

can be fulfilled. There’s a host of tools* out there that measure

your efforts at every layer of the sales process.

*These tools are discussed in our next white paper titled “Social Media Marketing for AEC Blueprint.”

Measure Results

THREE KEY MEASURABLES CAN BE DRAWN FROM YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CAMPAIGN:

Brand awareness Measured in terms of reach, impressions and

engagement (e.g., Facebook likes, comments,

Twitter and LinkedIn followers, etc.)

Lead generation Measured in terms of conversion, leads, and sales.

If you do a good job engaging your audience through

social media, leads will follow (e.g., email opt-ins,

content downloads, webinar subscriptions, etc).

Client retention

The ability to keep a client, measured in terms of

retention rate. Assign an average dollar (or ‘lead

score’) value to clients at different points in the life

cycle and compare the value of a social media client

versus non–social media clients.

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At first, AEC firms were slow to adapt to CAD. Those that did adapt were able to realize

immediate advantages over competitors, and those that didn’t, failed. Over time, even the

most rigid and un-adaptive companies changed, and soon CAD became standard practice.

Social media is the same. It has become so entwined in the everyday

fabric of our communications that it has completely changed the way

companies, groups, and individuals express their thoughts, opinions,

and ideas. In a few years every AEC firm will have to adopt it, and

those that do so now will realize a significant competitive advantage.

In Conclusion

December of 2012, Architects’ Journal ran a poll to elect the greatest advance in construction

history. The winner was computer-aided design (CAD). Kieran Long, editor at the journal said:

It is no surprise that the most important advance in construction

has turned out to be a piece of software. This is a nuts-and-bolts

industry, but the thing that has changed the way that everyone

in it works is the advance of IT.

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See you on the social scene...If it’s time to take a closer look at the potential of social media

to realize your firm’s potential, call us at 1-877-635-8462

or drop us a line at ideas@industrialbrand.com for a free,

no-obligation consultation.

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