Communication Strategy

A I'm Evelyn Lee.

B And I'm Janine Chastain. We're collaborating on curated conversations to explore how the industry is changing.

A Together, we'll find ways to create new solutions to current challenges while elevating the value of architects.

B Welcome to Practice disrupted.

A Hello, listeners. So I wanted to kick off by saying that, originally, episode 12, which is this episode, was going to be the end of our 1st season of Practice Disrupted. However, we've received such positive feedback and response to our show that we decided to extend it out to 20 episodes. So now you can look forward to 8 more episodes how in addition to this one, featuring additional guests and topics we're planning to explore.

B We've enjoyed making this content particularly as

A a way to focus some creative energy during the pandemic. I wanted to know, Evelyn, what you've gotten out of doing the show so far. How well, personally, great conversations with people that I haven't talked to in a while. But one of the biggest takeaways that I've received and I think that we've received how Just a positive response and that what we are talking about is resonating with individuals outside of our normal networks, Janine. You even mentioned that you talked to someone in in Denmark or Amsterdam. I don't know if you wanna do a call out or a shout out to them. But, you know, that our message on practice disrupted or what we are trying to do with practice of architecture has, I feel, been further how validated and that there are definitely others out there that see evolving practice as a necessary iteration how that the industry needs to take to remain relevant.

B Yeah. Definitely. I've I've heard from some new faces and old friends and just I think people are just really generally interested in what we're talking about. And for me, it's been a great way to explore almost like a thesis of ideas that I'd been personally collecting. I think that started when I decided to go back to school for my MBA, and then I've continued to think about these things through business school and into working full time for architects. So I've been, kind of wanting to unpack these conversations, and I think it's been really great to do it with you, Evelyn, because, obviously, you also share that passion for business. And so we've been able to look at this from a business standpoint and invite all these great thought leaders in to discuss each of these topics more critically and look at them kinda as a set for the whole season. And speaking of ideas, today's interview is going to help us start exploring marketing as a concept, not only in the practice of architecture, but as a core function of business.

B In 2014, I read an issue of Harvard Business Review that really got me thinking about how marketing has been changing really dramatically over the past couple of decades. And it was particularly memorable because It frame this idea that what marketers do has essentially changed beyond recognition in recent years. And this is really true when you start looking at marketing outside of the AEC industry, especially when you think about the new era of digital marketing. So for anyone who's doing online shopping, Amazon, any of those any shopping online really, I think, or using technology to drive sales, you're seeing some of the outcome of how marketing has changed radically.

A Yeah. Absolutely. When I think about the marketing classes that we had in my MBA. They start really alluding to an overall communication strategy, which is where our next how Guess is speaking too, but really thinking about what is an omnichannel approach to creating a whole client experience. How So the message that you're seeing in their blog, their message that you're seeing in Instagram, the message that you're seeing in Twitter has a very familiar story arc through all of it, and it all speaks back to a very particular thing relative to even sometimes the the culture process, how Mission or vision of an organization. And then it also really looks at how individuals within corporations are being better positioned as thought leaders. So for me, communication strategy is about being more strategic, about how you tell the narrative across all of the marketing platforms, and that's what creates the omnichannel experience.

B And when you look at marketing inside of architecture firms or even, actors or engineering firms. It's quite different. I mean, of course, it's not a product focused industry, so there's that in terms of how we market. But I think what you'll mostly find in an AEC are understaffed marketing and communication teams trying to stretch and deliver on an over demand of marketing ideas. And so you might ask, okay, so why is there an over demand and what's creating that, and it's really that there's been the evolution of all these new outlets on how to market from firms needing websites to communicate with really high end graphics, their product, which is their finished work. And also there's social media. Evelyn, you mentioned, like, getting on Twitter and Instagram and being able to push content out to those platforms. That is something that is, becoming more and more just normal in our industry.

B And so firms that are not doing that are kinda behind, to be honest. And there's so much more including getting published in articles and creating thought leadership pieces that talk about the idea and the direction how the firm is thinking about design. But largely, I would say that architects are still stuck in this RFQ, RFP cycle, which kinda is a black hole for marketing and marketers. It requires so much energy and effort to put these proposals out to win work, to go to the interview that oftentimes all of these additional communication pieces get overlooked. And so today, we're gonna start by looking at the communication strategy because it is such an integral and core piece to the overall marketing, function of the firm. And we want to dive a little bit deeper into what it means and how you can start to think about a communication strategy in your work.

A So today's guest is Amanda Walter, who was, at the time that I met her, actually really on the forefront of social media strategy When that trend was still fairly new in our industry, she has grown her business by working with AEC firms to create compelling communication strategies.

B Amanda Walter works behind the scenes with companies and individuals in the related design and planning fields of the built environment. She helps clients share their knowledge action stories that shape their public reputation and advance toward their business goals. Her specialties are building robust thought leadership programs, developing emerging communications actions leaders and training executives to be effective spokespeople and advocates. Amanda spent a decade in house creating and driving EDOW's global communication and publishing program and leading media relations across AECOM. She understands the complexities of firm wide communication initiatives and the challenge of scaling programs across the nation and world. As a result, her advisory services come from the perspective of an internal resource. Her book, Social Media in Action, comprehensive guide for architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms was the 1st book of its kind and the start of Amanda's exploration of how new media impacts, how people form impressions and make decisions.

A Amanda's company, Walter Communications, how Helps designers and planners of the built environment shape an intentional reputation through communications. They focus on the ideas that inform their clients' work rather than the work itself. This unique approach leverages research, innovation, insights, deep expertise, and strong opinions to demonstrate thought leadership and illuminate the thinking behind the beautiful images of Affirm's portfolio. How Founded in 2010, Walter Communications has evolved into a virtual practice with accomplished, specialized consultants who collaborate to deliver value to their clients how through top tier services. Let's cut to the interview.

C Well, I guess I'll start with who I am. I how came to this industry a few years into my career and mostly because I was in technology and during the .com bubble. When it burst, my husband and I decided it was time to diversify, that somewhat somebody needed to not be in the same industry. So I how took a job with EDA, which is a former landscape architecture planning and environmental Consulting firm, based in San Francisco, but it was a massive landscape firm. And they hired me to come in and and build a communications program for them globally. So I I I didn't know anything about this industry much at all. And in fact, I think if I had been introduced how To landscape architecture or to urban design. When I was in college, I probably would have pursued one of those paths, but I feel like it was just dumb luck that I stumbled into this and and, really was excited to work with the people that were designing kind of these utopian worlds, right, where they they just had such, grand visions.

C And, I I mean, it would take decades for these places to get built out, but I just found this aligned moral values or something that really connected me to the work that they how we're doing. So after being at EDOW for 6 years, EDOW got bought by AECOM, then AECOM asked me to come and run media relations across the enterprise. And while that was really great experience, I really missed working with, the principals and getting to know the projects and really seeing, seeing a lot of their ideas come to life. I think when you're at a corporate level as big as AECOM, you tend to you're more focused on shareholder value, and and you lose that connection. So I left and started my own practice this in the midst of the great recession and, started Walter Communications. And then Walter Communications, I wanted to get back to the kind of work that I was doing at EDAW. I I really kind of discovered this, approach towards communications for these professional service industries that focused on on ideas rather than projects. I like the idea that how In landscape architecture where when a project finally looks good and the photographs come in and represent the design that was intended by the landscape architect.

C You know, that project is 3 years old, and most of the press had already covered the project, and they weren't interested in covering the it again. So it was a real challenge for me to try to get the media to be attentive to their work. So I started looking at the ideas behind the projects as opposed to the projects themselves. And in that way, I was able to talk to a principal and get a sense of this is kind of a thread that is connected multiple projects over the course of their career, and then we'd be able to talk about that idea and we'd showcase a dozen projects or or at least a half dozen projects. So 1 article actually became so much more valuable versus, you know, gaining a profile of 1 particular project. So, that just became kind of a direction that I continued to how to pursue within EDOT. And then when I started my own practice, I I really focused on thought leadership and done that for several firms now, helping them to build programs where they are identifying the key themes and and threads of knowledge within their within their practice that that really are part of the reputation that they want to have.

B Amanda, one of the reasons that I'm really excited about this conversation is because I also spent a lot of my time in professional practice working in marketing, and I I am really excited about unpacking the whole gamut of marketing, communications, conversations and how that is changing in our field. So I was wondering if you could tell us from your perspective, What do you think has changed with marketing in our industry over the past 2 decades?

C So I I think it's matured. When I how first came to this industry, I noticed right away that what they considered to be marketing how In a tech firm would have been considered sales support. Lots of, you know, proposal generation, lots of presentations, and and, you know, giant packets in response to an RFP or, you know, very deadline oriented and and really high burnout. I how Was relieved to be working in communications, not in marketing because that looked like such a difficult job and such a demanding job. I've been really pleased with the development of marketing, in the last especially in the last, I'd say, 5 to 10 years where people have firms have have really started to recognize that you can't just chase Proposals or or, you know, RFPs. You you really need to start positioning yourself in advance. And business development that was how Almost exclusively done by principles for, you know, the whole you kill what you eat kind of concept. And now I I'm seeing a lot more firms that have, you know, business development people working closely with their marketers, tracking potential projects, how Potentially years before an RFP would actually come out.

C So the sophistication in in marketing has has really advanced, and And I actually really enjoy working with a lot of the business development and marketing people through the work that I do is much how It's much more proactive now than it used to be.

B I think you raise a really interesting point. We should probably explain to our listeners what the difference between these roles are because, I'm not sure everybody will know the difference between someone who's focused on marketing or business development or communication, so let's break that down for them.

A How And I wanna I wanna take that one further. Like, how how does the smaller firm react to to those different roles.

C Okay. So business development would be the actual forward looking role, that helps to identify opportunities on the horizon and helps to how Get people introduced to the right individuals, to build that network, to get your form recognized in advance of the RFP. A marketer, it is often similar to the business development person. But in the traditional way for the AEC world, a marketer is the person who is putting together a lot of the materials that are used for business development and that are used in response to an RFP. They're also the person or people who will pursue how Photo shoots and press often if there's not a communications person in their firm already, and awards, those kinds of things. So they'll pursue opportunities for recognition that are a little more structured within the industry. So a communications person really focuses on messaging and content and then content delivery. So those are are different from marketing because marketing is in support of sales, and communications is Really supposed to be a more authentic expression of of the firm and how it interacts with the world around it.

B So, to Evelyn's point, for a larger firm, that that might be 3 different people. But in a smaller firm, I think What I've seen is that, like, the owner typically takes that business development role, and you might have a marketing person that that does both the marketing and communications role.

C How Yes.

A And just to be clear, so, Walter, Communications, obviously, you are more on the how strategy, but I would go as far as to say that that the strategy that you develop then plays into Even the copy that the marketers produce and how that person that's doing business development actually presents how themselves as a knowledge expert. So could you go a little bit deeper into, like, communication strategy and, You know, why why would Affirm bring an individual like yourself into the mix?

C So I think Affirm would bring in someone like myself when they're trying to figure out what is the right message to their audience. And a communications professional will look at how they're communicating currently and how people are responding to that and, you know, what the needs are in the market. Often, when I start with a client, I look at their competitors as well as their own communications and help to identify what differentiates my clients from their competitors and what is their unique selling proposition. That's the the big term from more mainstream, industries. But what makes them unique, right, and and, how they might position themselves in a way that is different from their competitors, and then developing messages that really zero in on that. And in that process, you're also starting to get to know who their audience is, and that becomes pretty key to how you reach those people too. So the communications person is looking at both how the firm needs to convey its its own information and how the person who needs to hear it is willing to receive it so that your message resonates in both directions.

A Hearing what you're saying about communications, what is your take on kind of the current climate with, you know, equity, how everything that's going on in the world, the pandemic, and how firms are handling that, are you seeing or do you think there is a a change in the communication strategy how To ensure that firms remain true to that their authentic selves and what they're putting out there.

C There's a couple of reasons why firms how are actually looking to invest in communications right now. I think one is because even though many of the firms out there haven't started to see a downturn yet they're all bracing themselves for a downturn, and they recognize that you can't go out and have lunch with people, you know, networking, especially 1 to 1 networking is is not really a thing right now. So, how else can they stay relevant, how else can they stay connected. So I think that firms are looking to ramp this up right now. How As far as the equity issue, I think a lot of companies and architecture firms are starting to realize that that message matters. And For as long as I've been in this industry, I have not seen many of those messages, especially, you know, at the top level where it's like one of the one of the top points how people will talk about in their firm, and and it is really nice to see that coming through. I have to say the proof is in the pudding, a lot of it. So it's really hard to say that and not seem disingenuous if you don't how already have proof that you value that as a firm.

C If you don't already have a significant chunk of women working at your firm or if you don't have diversity ethnically in your firm. But it's something people are paying attention to, and and that's a step in the right direction.

B Action. It's true. It's hard to create a communication strategy around something that doesn't exist.

C Yeah.

B Do you I was thinking you could expand on how firms are starting to lean on the digital Communications piece so much more heavily right now than they previously had.

C Well, they don't really have a choice right now. How there really isn't work that's not digital at this point. So, you know, we're all working from home. We're all trying to find ways to have personal connections through our digital channels, but, you know, the firms that already have social media channels and are embracing that, I think, Might be putting more emphasis in that than they were before.

B Yeah. Well, it it might be a different perspective because you guys are still in California where everything is still everyone's working remotely. Some firms in other parts of the country are probably back at work, but what I've noticed is that, especially during the 1st 10 weeks, people

A were trying

B to figure out, like, what to do and then all of a sudden there was kind of a realization that that they had to embrace this digital communications piece in order to continue to market and continue to how to talk about what they were doing. So I saw a lot of firms like, especially the bigger firms starting to talk about how they were researching what it meant to work from home and what that how that would impact their clients or, you know, they were skewing it into this narrative about what they were doing in response to the pandemic and then communicating about it on social media platforms. So I was wondering if you could I don't know if you saw that with your clients, but,

C So I noticed right away that the firms that I work for shifted pretty seamlessly, and I was really pleasantly surprised to hear every single one of them talk about how surprised they were that it worked out so well. You know, architecture is an old school practice. And working from home, most firms wouldn't even entertain that at all. Now you need to be in the office. But you're using these tools that certainly allow you to be anywhere, and Thank goodness because they would really be in trouble right now if if they hadn't. So I think, you know, many industries are saying how, you know, impressed they were that working from home was such a easy transition. But I think in in the architectural world, people were really caught by surprise with that just because how It is kind of rooted in in history and and tradition, right, or in the way that things have always been done. But I do think that or I do hope how that that will continue because I think that especially to the point of the equity before, you know, I think it really does open up a lot of opportunities for people who who have other priorities at home that that really require some more flexibility in their job.

A How So. So, Amanda, you and I met back in 2012, 2013. I think it was shortly after you published how your book on social media, specifically for the AEC industry, the social media in action. Where does social media fall Now.

C Yeah. So in 2012, it was the shiny new thing that It was important to teach people that they can just ignore it, that this was something that could be useful and and was really important for them to To try to embrace. Today, I think, you know, the the biggest point about social media is It is just one of many channel channels of communication. So a social media strategy is not in isolation. It's it's one tactic. Right? So it really has to be seen as part of the whole comprehensive mix. But, you know, I think what makes social media unique from, you know, the older school tactics of of direct mail or events, you know, is that you have this really great analytical tool that tells you exactly how many people are looking at it and how many people are reacting to it, how many people clicked on it, and where the people that are clicking are coming from. And, You know? So there's so much data tied to it.

C It makes it an important piece of the comprehensive communications mix because it really helps you to Hone in your message and your tactics to make sure that you're meeting the people who are actually interested in what you're saying.

A So following up on that then, you know, how how do you get really intentional about a strategy? Because, how You know, it's it's a mix. So, you know, do I just do Facebook? Do I just do Twitter? Do I just do Instagram? How Do I try to pursue them all at once? How do I how do I be more intentional about the platforms that I am using to to get my

C communication out? And I think that changes, from firm to firm. You know, everyone's gonna have their own approach, and they're, you know, they're they all have different audiences how to. So whatever channel I mean, what channel works for you from a comfort level is is a really how Important place to start because, you know, you wanna make sure that whatever channel that you really invest most of your attention in is one that you're gonna how Continue with. You know? So I think even if you are investing in one particular channel, say, Instagram, but you have, you know, a presence on Facebook and a presence on LinkedIn. You know, it's just important that you leverage all of the content that you're putting out there across all those channels. So even if you're how If you're investing in Instagram, and that's where the majority of your interaction happens using Facebook and LinkedIn and your blog and all of these as ways of driving traffic to each other is what makes social media so useful as a

B So, Amanda, how do you think social media will continue to change as we move forward?

C So I think that there's, you know, some things happening in the world that are, affecting social media. Obviously, people are becoming more and more concerned about their privacy. There's also the fact that these social media companies are moneymakers, and they're recognizing that they have proven their value and the people who are using them, who have become addicted, if you will, to how to the eyeballs that they can generate on your content. They're gonna start charging you more for those, and they're gonna start changing their algorithm so that your organic reach is how gonna get smaller and smaller and smaller until you have to start paying to get people to see your content. And then On top of that, with the privacy ramping up, it's gonna get harder to get to those very, very niche audiences that, how You know, you used to be able to to 0 in it on. So I would expect that people should start trying to Fight for a little bit of a budget. I mean, social media is not that expensive. Yeah.

C But put a few $1,000 in a bucket for social media because being able to boost posts, to promote stories, is actually gonna be the only way to get your story seen at some point.

B I've seen companies in other industries step into that idea. Like, they'll do a promotional thing on social media. Like, Facebook is pretty common. How or now Instagram. I feel like people are advertising on Instagram a lot, and I haven't seen it so much in the AEC industry, history. So I I think it's gonna be really interesting to see if firms will step towards that and if they're willing to how to put dollars into that kind of marketing and promotion. Have you seen any firms do that?

C Yeah. So there is a stigma about paying for advertising in this industry, and I think that's That is generations old where, you know, it was you you just you're a professional. You shouldn't have to advertise your services. And, You know, to some degree, I I can understand that. You don't wanna take out necessarily a full page ad saying, please hire me to design your home, but To be able to have content that you've written that's that is, really valuable to your audience, to have that be able to be seen, It's not the same kind of concept as an ad that we're you know, the old school ads. It's, you know, a boosted post on Facebook is how Not even real people don't realize that they're looking at boosted posts oft oftentimes. These tools allow you to get your content to people who would be interested in it. So it it's different than I mean, you certainly can run an ad in Facebook.

C You can run an ad in Instagram, but if you're not gonna be able to have someone click through and and click buy me now, it doesn't really work that well as if you were buying a pair of shoes or something. Right? So it is different, but it's it's more about getting attention to your content rather than getting people to buy your services directly.

A I didn't mean to pull you into the conversation with social media, but I thought it was a great place to start given your book and how we met. But how What do you see as other mechanisms then for a broader communication strategy or other ways that firms should be reaching out how new audiences or even their existing clients to really remind them that they're there and and the value that they bring.

C Yeah. You know, I think it all really comes back to content for me. You know? Yourself in the eyes of the person who is going to be making the decision about whether they should hire you or not, Comes down to what they know about you and what kind of expertise they associate you with. Thought leadership has always been something, as I mentioned before. It's it's something that that has it's a very useful tool for professional services because how In the end, people hire people. And if you are recognized as an authority on a topic that is important to their project. They want your insight. Even if they're just going to go download a article that you wrote how And steal your ideas.

C They're looking for your insight, and you're influencing them, and they're more likely to consider you when they're actually hiring someone. So thought leadership is something that I think will continue to be relevant and is actually gonna become more difficult because there's so much noise out there right now that there's so many people creating content. And to be able to cut through that, you can't how just do mediocre content. You can't do a white paper that looks really pretty, but then when you read it, you're like, there's nothing here. You know? All that's gonna do is make someone mad because they just wasted a whole bunch of time and probably gave away their email address to get that content. Right? So making sure that the content that you put out there is is really good and is really useful. If you have your audience in mind when you're writing this stuff and you're trying to actually add value to them. Those are the pieces of content that are going to make a difference.

C So one example of thought leadership, and this is from a while ago, but I worked with a client that, you know, had done some some interesting maker studios in in some some schools. And, you know, the idea of design thinking was starting to be an emerging theme in education. So my client had co chaired a symposium with the AIA on design thinking and education, and we basically took the notes from that, and we ran. And so we ended up doing a couple of interviews with people that were at schools that They'd never hired my client before, but they were recognized for having some really progressive design thinking pedagogy in their school. And so we've done a series of interviews and pulled that together with an overlay of this architect's perspective as how how the building facilitates that, and it became first a blog post, and then it became, a couple of articles that got picked up in other outlets, education outlets, interviews with the client itself, then it became some speaking proposals, and, you know, it just it keeps snowballing. And it ended up being a you know, from an event that happened once, we made 18 months to 2 years' worth of content. How So you didn't have to do a whole new study every single time you did something. You were able to build on that.

C And as a result, He became recognized as the person that you go to when you're looking at how you get more hands on learning and how you build makerspace how in your schools, and, you know, it's a very effective campaign.

B I'd wanna follow-up on this idea because I think there's 2 common challenges that happen in firms. 1 is is if there is a single person who is typically seen as the thought leader in the firm, and then and that's kind of a conversation around equity in terms of helping other leaders in the firm become thought leaders also. And 2, when I worked with architects and firms, They usually ran into 2 issues around thought leadership. Number 1, they didn't want to how focus on that kinda external communication because it took time away from their project. And 2, They had so many demands on them for their project. They really didn't have time to give to that kind of work. I'm wondering if, you have any observations for why architects might want to how to invest their time into becoming thought leaders. What makes it worth it?

C I think that the idea of becoming recognized is how Something that people, especially architects, are very open to. They they like that idea of being recognized for the skills and the expertise that they've developed over time. People do have a shortage of time, and their, budget's not not really overflowing either. But it's such a waste if someone has done a study or or, you know, pulled together something that is of value to their audience, and they've only shown it to basically 1 client or 2 clients when it could be, you know, so much how more helpful to their the entire industry that they're marketing themselves to. So at some point, you have to recognize what is the value of your time. Right? If you put that much time into developing that and you're not making the most of it, I mean, they've missed out on on an entire market how They could have have really built up with that knowledge. So, you know, it's almost the missed opportunity that is the bigger driver than the opportunities themselves. And then in terms of the equity, that is a problem.

C There is a lot of firms that Have a reputation around often the namesake of the person holding the the firm's name. And, You know, not being able to, introduce people along the way is a a complication. So there are some firms though that I how have worked with that have done such a good job. They've really built a culture around developing their staff, around encouraging their staff how to pursue things that they're curious about and not limiting the reputation of the firm to the one directive that the person at the top is interested in, but allowing other people to go down their own personal rabbit hole and and, you know, even giving some money to them to expand on that. Right? So it might just be that they go take a couple classes or or whatever, but It might also be that they stumble upon something that's really helpful. They, you know, embrace a new technology and, kind of how take the firm in a new direction. So, you know, really trusting that the people that you were wise enough to hire might be able to how bring a whole new dimension and and, pocket of knowledge to your firm.

B What do you say to architects or designers that would say, well, my building should speak for itself. You know, the final product of the building, final design how should be enough to attract my next client. Why would I need a communication strategy?

C Sorry. My my initial thought is those are not the people that tend to hire me. But,

A But there are definitely a lot of architects that how that that

C there are. Absolutely. You know, I think that a lot of architects have beautiful images, and their images, In some ways, they can speak for themselves. There are some architects that do a really great job of just posting beautiful images to Instagram and to, other channels, and and they build a following through doing that. And so that is a worthy channel if if you've got that resource. There is an investment that they're making in photography too, so it's a form of communication as well. Not everyone needs how to go into go down the road of thought leadership. There's plenty of architects out there that doesn't want to specialize.

C They want to be a generalist. They wanna work on a whole bunch of different projects, and there's absolute benefits to that, you know, to be able to have someone who has enough experience across so many different, different silos that they can think about projects differently with each one. Right? So I think it really comes back to looking at what you're trying to do as a firm. Right? So what are your business goals, and how are you planning on reaching those goals. You know? Is it are you are you gonna stay in the same market? Are you gonna expand to a different geography? Are you Wanting to, to do more schools or to do more hospitals or decide if those images of, you know, the schools aren't gonna get you hospitals, then how are you gonna be able to break into that?

B I would say it's like, you know, comes back to your comment earlier about a missed opportunity. I mean, the way that we're working, it's kinda impossible to avoid thinking about communications comprehensively anymore. You know? It it just seems like a missed opportunity to me for someone to only rely on photography.

C Yeah. I think photography is so important in architecture. I mean, people have to be able to see images. Even if you are talking about your knowledge, to be able to see the fruits of your knowledge is is essential. But I think storytelling is something that, has it's it's in our DNA. Right? People want to hear how it happens. They want to hear where you came up with this idea. They want to understand I mean, architects have such an eloquent way of talking.

C You know? I love the way they talk about, I mean, it's like a romance with with the light. Right? They they they are envisioning how the light was gonna pour through this window how Before there's anything on that site at all, there's definitely no window there, but that's that's already in their head. Right? So They tell their stories all the time. That's how they win their clients. To be able to to tell them on a on a bigger platform is only gonna be helpful.

A So I think, Amanda, over the course of this conversation, you've given out a lot of different tidbits, and and I think some of them are definitely worth repeating. But I'd like to get your your top list of the common challenges or missed opportunities architects face when it comes to to communications and telling their story.

C I think the biggest challenge that architects have is is really of not thinking about communications comprehensively. I mean, If you're not looking at how your public relations directly relates to your social media, directly relates to your thought leadership work. You're really missing the opportunity to connect more people to the content into all of your content, and to tell your more complete story as well. I think that architects often are how Challenged with trying to figure out what their story is. And, you know, especially in these small firms where you do have 1 person wearing the business development hat, the marketing hat, and the communications hat. It's super easy to fall into a sales pitch when you're writing for your communications. I think that it's just really important to keep in mind that when you're producing content for your communications, it's really about helping someone, one, and it's not about selling your services at that particular moment. You need to show them show them the value that you can add and, getting to know what their needs are and what their challenges are, and then providing content that is actually useful to them how and reserving the sales pitch for for another time.

C That requires a certain degree of self control. The next thing about finding your story is you really need to ask about why someone should care about this. A lot of times people how our architects will design these really beautiful projects, and and they just tell you about the project. And they're like, well, there it is. You know? Well, But why should they care about that project? What makes this project different from, you know, the competitor down the road's project? So that's where the story really comes in. You know? What is it is it on a an interesting site? Is it does it respond to the sunlight in a certain way? Does it does it, is there energy efficiencies that you haven't been able to achieve in other in other projects? So figuring out why someone should care, and, again, that comes back to knowing who your audience is. And then I mentioned earlier about making sure that you're utilizing your content and reusing your content and and just doing it again and again. You know? So making sure that all of those pieces come together.

C So your photo shoot, your story angle, your article. You know? Just just keep hammering in that same idea over and over again in different directions, slightly different variations so that it can continue to have a life beyond the lifespan of the 1 article that you thought you got out of it. I think the last opportunity that, a lot of architects miss with their social media and their content development is how Not utilizing your biggest asset, and that's your staff. I mean, they know you better than anyone else, and they often will have a social network already. So to be able to tap into them and allow them to either help you with creating content, but definitely helping with sharing content. Their interactions, their insights, that all spans the reach of your content exponentially. So make sure that you are communicating inside the firm as well when you're developing these external tools so that everyone is participating, and you'll have a lot more success.

B I agree. I mean, I think how anytime there's a really cool post going up for a company about a project that multiple people in the office work on, how everyone should be sharing. Everybody should be celebrating that moment. I mean, it's such a missed opportunity to me when people don't take those opportunities to talk about the amazing work that they're doing.

C It's also an opportunity for younger team members to talk about what their role is and to start to build their reputations and and their personal brands.

B That's a really good point, Amanda. And, I guess, to build on that idea, we're wondering if you can share with this next generation who are gonna be leading us in practice. What would you recommend they do to step into this communication strategy piece going forward.

C I would start writing. You know, I think one of the things I've always appreciated about Evelyn is, You know, she is a writer, and as much as she's an architect, you know, writing is is so important now. I mean, how Social media is something that everyone's got, you know, that they all have everyone's got their own channels and whatnot. But to be able to tell your story effectively is something that how you can hone. It's a muscle. You just have to keep working at it. And the more that you start getting comfortable Telling your stories and and sharing your knowledge and being generous with your ideas, the more of kind of an archive you're building of your of of what you've done. And one day, you'll look back and you'll see that you've contributed so much and that you've how you've amassed a huge following of people who really appreciate that.

C So that's the taking 1 step at a time to building your own personal brand. Remembering that you can always change your ideas. You can always change the way you think of things, but, you know, when you're When you're out there writing about how you feel at this particular moment, don't be afraid to do that because, you know, we all evolve in in our thinking, and that's important that's part of your story as a professional and how you're developing.

B What I hope our listeners will take away from this episode is to understand, and, of course, if they don't already, that marketing is shifting, and the way that we should be thinking about marketing in our industry should be shifting also. Sophisticated firms are thinking about communications more strategically. And Amanda is an example of the type of professional a firm might hire to help them with building a comprehensive communication strategy.

A Yeah. And and while I think the word comprehensive might scare some people away, especially the smaller how firms or sole practitioners. For me, one of the greatest takeaways for me is that by being strategic, You're actually being more efficient in how you message yourself. Right? That you essentially can take 1 piece of content how and use it multiple different ways over the course of an entire year or 2.

B One of the things I liked about what Amanda said is that If you're not investing in your marketing or you're not even participating in thought leadership, it's really a missed opportunity. She talks about the role that firm leaders need to play in developing their thought leadership based on their work and their projects, and it's It's really true. I mean, for all the time you spend in developing ideas for a particular client or project idea, there's no reason not to share some of those ideas with the industry to elevate the work that you're doing in your portfolio. The role of thought leadership is not exclusively for firm owners anymore. How all participants of the project team have an opportunity to engage and add to the thought leadership of a firm. For example, in my last, firm, we had somebody that was really exceptionally focused on the sustainable design performance of buildings, and she played a critical role in in advancing the firm's message around those ideas, but also coming into the projects and really being thoughtful about how sustainability played an important role on every project. When you go to a job interview, clients are not looking to hire the firm owners. They're looking at the entire team and wanting to know what value that team is going to bring on the job.

B So really showcasing how your different team members are knowledgeable about their skills and their role on the project is essential.

A I think it's also important to note that the development of thought leadership is not going to grow out of how an RFP template or from how you respond to RFPs or RFQs. That is really a proactive endeavor how that requires planning around the type of message the firm wants to send out into the world and how everyone participates in that message.

B Yeah. And Amanda talks about engaging staff to help communicate the value of the firm. This is a really important idea also because it's a very valuable strategy. Everyone in the firm should be participating in marketing and communications. From going to networking events, which I know a lot of architects don't love to do, but even in that exercise, sharing in a conversation a personal experience about how the firm is contributing to the built environment Can really leave a lasting impression with that 1 individual you might talk to who might tell someone else that your firm is doing a really great job or sharing a social media post about an upcoming milestone on your project and getting that out to your network or letting younger staff even how come in to participate in interviews. It's about having individuals contribute in small ways that add up and build an amplified message about your firm within the community that you're serving.

A And I think that's a great place how to end this episode with a question to our listeners. How do you ensure everyone in your firm has a voice to contribute to its growth? Thank you for listening, and tune in again next week. Thanks for joining us on Practice Disrupted, how a podcast by Practice of Architecture. Visit us at practice disrupted.com to find out more about future episodes and the changing nature of practice. This show is part of the Gable Media Podcast Network. You can learn more about other podcasts in our community by visiting g a b how media.com. If you enjoy the show and want to hear more content like this, you can help us by leaving a rating, review, and subscribing on your favorite podcast Don't forget to share with your friends, and feel free to let us know what other topics or speakers you're interested in hearing about. Thanks for listening, and see you next