I was recently overwhelmed by somebody, a potential Client, who claimed they would not employ SNOW architects as all they do is twitter and Linked-in all day !!!
So I've written this small blog post to explain how and why SNOW architects use social media.
SNOW architects are appointed for the majority of work by recommendation or by word-of-mouth marketing, SNOW very rarely get any positive leads from advertising and the occasional lead from its website. SNOW use social media to keep our contacts and friends updated on what the practice is doing, the projects it has in the pipeline or projects which have just obtained planning permission.
SNOW regularly keep its followers updated, and it doesn’t have to take up hours of the day, most updates are done via Hootsuite or buffer, which in turn sends the updates to the Facebook page and Linked-in accounts. Updates, or tweets, are generally done whilst waiting for someone to turn up at a meeting, sitting on the train whilst commuting, or notice an interesting article on the internet. By using Twitter’s micro blogging, 140 character limit, keeps the message short and sweet, by linking the update across the various social media sites you can reach more followers as not everyone is on all of them at the same time.
Social media however, its not solely a one way activity, anybody who uses these services do need to interact and engage with others by asking and answering questions or referring businesses, the majority of our followers would like to find something you’ve said as interesting, engaging or entertaining. This twitter feed is then linked back to the SNOW website under the news section.
SNOW architects regularly update their status on Facebook, Linked-in and Twitter order to maximise business referrals. We were recently commissioned for a Student Accommodation feasibility study by an Engineer who had seen an update on Linked-in about obtaining planning approval for a student scheme in Liverpool City Centre. A recent photograph of our ECO Homes, which were on site at the time, was viewed by over 300 people within 24 hours.
This approach has seen SNOW get recognised in the various league tables that have been published recently by the Architects Journal, BD and the TCN/Construction News.
So as you will ascertain we do use social media but its well managed and we still offer our clients a high quality service, our portfolio of projects can be viewed on our website.
twitter - http://twitter.com/snowarchitects404040
linked in - http://www.linkedin.com/in/davecornett
buffer app - http://bufferapp.com/r/aaaf9