Comments on: Is social media marketing relevant to UK design and architecture companies?

By: redcubemarketing

redcubemarketing — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:05:16 +0000

When looking at any social media platform I would think first about your objectives. What do you want to get out of it? Who do you need to speak to? Are there different audiences you need to reach and are they using the platform. If the platform fits with this then it’s always worth dipping your toe in the water and trying it out.

By: jagarq

jagarq — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:42:05 +0000

I just found this two sites: http://www.myarchn.com, and http://www.urbarama.com. They are kind of a facebook for architects.
MyarchN even has apps and gadgets to customize your profile. And Urbarama is more focused on projects.
Are these too much??

By: Ross Sturley

Ross Sturley — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:59:57 +0000

Good to see you can write in more than 140 character chunks – although to pick up on Monkey’s comment, and turn it round – if you can’t make your point in 140 characters, you’re in big trouble.

I particularly like your ‘have a plan’ approach. Without a strategy formed in advance of doing anything, the likelihood is that any work could be described by paraphrasing the old Lord Lever quote to “I know half my online social networking is wasted, I just wish I knew which half”.

Find target, take aim, shoot – best done in that order.

By: Instruct

Instruct — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:03:28 +0000

Great article and I think any new kind of marketing should be taken up by design agencies as these are the people who can shape existing models and refine them.

I was shown Twitter over 2 years ago by the owner of a well respected digital agency, he was showing us the power of this tool and as we sat in his office none of us got it at all. That went for not only the designers but the project managers too, he was way ahead of anyone and they way he explained Twitter is I guess is how the internet was made for, to share and communicate quickly and easy.

Also technology such as the iPhone and Blackberrys have made it easier to access things like this, they don’t have to take over your life but dedicating 5 minutes a day isn’t asking for much.

By: Su Butcher

Su Butcher — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:36:23 +0000

Hi Gemma,
Good post, particularly support your stressing that this technology is about conversations.

Progressive design firms should be thinking about how they can use online means to further their influence and make new contacts.

An important consideration is ‘where are your targets?’ Previously many in the construction industry met on the golf course, and many still do, but golf doesn’t appeal to everyone, and so it is with Social Media. If you are looking for people who live online then you must be online.

For example,
If your target audience is corporate professionals then you can get introductions on LinkedIn, they use it to get jobs and make introductions.

How about homeowners in your area? Will they look in yellow pages for an architect – they might, or they might ask their twitter followers if they can recommend someone – or search using search.twitter.com (whilst chatting about the football no doubt).

Many people who network offline for business – local business owners and professionals, are also networking online, be it via mass sites like these above or small niche websites set up by their networking groups. If you do one, get involved in the other and extend your activities online too.

Customer oriented companies like the big brands are already seeing the power in this technology; they have gone where their customers are. The jury might be out on Business-to-Business marketing at the moment perhaps, but that is changing as more businesses also go online.

For example, I’ve been approached recently by a researcher looking for examples of business-to-business success stories created via social media for a conference in the autumn.

The interest is there – lets tap into it!

@SuButcher
@ArchitectLeague
@UKConstruction

By: redcubemarketing

redcubemarketing — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:08:47 +0000

Hi Monkey, thanks for your comment. I felt compelled to respond to this one as I thought the same as you when I first stumbled upon Twitter last year. I really couldn’t see the value of it as a marketing tool when you had to get your message across in 140 characters or less. So I dismissed it. Well that was until a few contacts started raving about the results they’d had using Twitter as a marketing tool. Not wanting to ‘knock it until I tried it’ I created a profile and after a few weeks of working out how the hell to use it, I’ve never looked back. I think the power is perhaps less in the message and more in the networking opportunities. It really is permission marketing at its best as people chose to follow you (and thus listen to what you have to say) so in effect you have a captured audience, something that doesn’t happen often in marketing. It gives you the chance to ‘meet’ people online and if there is a mutual interest, you can then go offline and follow up through more traditional methods. Although, surprisingly, it is possible to debate and have conversations on Twitter too (it’s amazing how succinct you become when you need to). But, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. In the last two weeks I’ve been contacted (through email) by two design companies that were looking for marketing support. Both had ‘met’ me on Twitter and were compelled to get in touch. I start work with one next week and I’m in the process of writing a proposal for the other. If that’s the pudding, I’ll have a second helping please.

By: EO Creative

EO Creative — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:23:05 +0000

Enjoyed your post and I wanted to drop you a reply to say so. It is hard to imagine any brand not seeing the benefit of social media. However it is also easy to understand that for all the benefits there is much down side if it is delivered incorrectly. Thinking of the recent experience for brands like CNN, Amazon and Dominos Pizza.

Anyway I think you have given a very good outline of the explosion of social media. Thanks for sharing.

By: Diane Fox-Hill

Diane Fox-Hill — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:59:45 +0000

What a great summary of social media. : )

From a branding perspective you just can’t afford to get left behind as communications evolve. It’s like a repetition of the shift from analogue to digital, or from having a monologue and moving to a dialogue. Conversation is where it’s at.

Brands have always underestimated their meaning believing that an onion in a board room cabinet sets out the meaning of their brand when in reality people are constructing (possibly alternative) meanings all the time. To create truly coherent and engaging brand messages all possible platforms need to be used to intersect with the consumer psyche. You can’t think of brands in 2D anymore when we live in a multi-dimensional world.

Social media provides a real opportunity to shape their brands meaning for people in real time, not to mention the incredible feedback they can get.

Highly hyperreal, social media can be the new brand grit.

@Semiotics_Omnia

By: Monkey

Monkey — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:52:52 +0000

I’m sorry. Twitter is a “powerful networking tool?” You lost me there. If networking and marketing have been reduced to the use of less than 200 characters we’re all in big trouble.

By: Mike Plotnick

Mike Plotnick — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:07:05 +0000

Some great insights and thoughtful advice for those considering social media. Take it from someone who previously lived in an “old” media universe: join the conversation and you’ll be amazed where it leads.

Mike Plotnick
HOK
@SomeChum