Contract Magazine - April 2017 - 28

Why Your Firm Should Be More Social
by Evelyn M. Lee, AIA

Evelyn M. Lee, AIA, writes
a regular column for Contract
on business practices in design
and professional development.
Based in San Francisco, Lee
is corporate managing director
for workplace strategy and
analytics at Savills Studley.
She holds graduate degrees
in architecture, public
administration, and business
administration. Currently
a member of the AIA national
board of directors, Lee
received the AIA Young
Architects Awards in 2014.
Her website is evelynlee.com.
Visit contractdesign.com/
businesspractice to read all
of her columns for Contract.

You most likely view multiple websites and social
media channels daily-some repeatedly-and you
may even be reading this article online. But are
design firms making the most of all of the available
ways to be present online? For the design industry
to remain relevant, communication through social
media must be seriously considered in order to help
the public understand the breadth of our service
offerings and to establish a greater awareness
of the value design brings to our clients.
A firm's online presence must be authentic
relative to its work, and cannot be automated
or done without a plan. For firms to be successful
with social media, they must adopt a conscientious
effort in approach, understand the resulting data,
and make necessary adjustments.
Cultivating an engaging web presence
To be clear, a firm's online activity is not limited
to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn,
Twitter, or other social media channels. It starts
with a firm's website, which should be regularly
updated with content-including the latest projects
and firm knowledge-and be easy to navigate. When
developing a new or revised website, one suggestion
is to have the draft design reviewed by a few
people outside of the firm, such as clients, real estate
developers, or even the press that you want to
attract. An online navigation that may seem cool
or logical internally amongst your peers may appear
cumbersome or tedious to the very people you are
trying to reach.
And it should go without saying, but all web
content should be optimized to be viewed on any
mobile device because many people primarily gain
information through online sources this way. Once
a great website is live, firms looking to be smart about
engagement should integrate the online presence-

28

with multiple social media channels-into overall
business development and marketing goals.
One of the greatest advantages of regular
social media posting is the ability to understand
the impact of your firm's outreach reflected in
social data analysis in four ways: (1) sophisticated
data analysis, (2) time consideration, (3) influence
analysis, and (4) network analysis. An analysis
measures hard quantitative numbers including
likes, page views, and time spent on websites.
But proper data analysis can also lead to a deeper,
more nuanced understanding of how a message
is resonating, and the overall quality of its content.
That means the data analysis can show the growth
of a firm as knowledge leaders in different target
market sectors.
Prioritizing social media channels
What channels should your firm be focusing
on? In terms of overall number of users, Facebook
continues to be the most popular site, used
by nearly 80 percent of all online adults, followed
by Instagram (32 percent), Pinterest (31 percent),
LinkedIn (29 percent), and Twitter (24 percent),
according to a Pew Research Center study released
last November. The online presence of companies
still varies, though. Of the Fortune 500 companies,
83 percent of them have a Twitter account, but less
than five percent have a Facebook page, according
to a 2016 study by Brandwatch. About 91 percent of
retail brands use two or more social media channels.
Identifying the channels that are right for
your firm will require additional research. Members
of our visually savvy profession most often gravitate
to Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for images.
Plenty of information is available about audience
composition for each channel, and, depending
on your target audience, it may be worth trying
a variety of outlets before focusing on a few that
are used consistently.
Unfortunately, the design profession is a
bit behind the curve when it comes to social media.
Of the firms that responded to DesignIntelligence's
2016 technology and innovation survey, 88 percent
stated that they use social media. But, of that 88
percent, 35 percent did not know if the effort leads
to new business prospects, and 44 percent believed
that it did nothing to build new business.
While design professionals are actively
participating in social media, we are often not doing
enough to analyze the data and adapt our messages
advantageously. Social media is today's voice box,
and collectively we could do more to use it to help
grow our profession's value. Is your firm being social
enough, and is it sending the right message? c

contractdesign.com

APRIL 2017

PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL BOWER

COLUMNIST
http://www.evelynlee.com http://contractdesign.com/businesspractice http://www.contractdesign.com
Contract Magazine - April 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - April 2017
