Like it or not, social media is part of our current culture and continues to grow in its influence and impact on businesses worldwide. Not only has social media been discovered by the AIA on a national, regional, and local level, it also continues to be discovered and adopted by architects, engineers and contractors ranging in size from a one- or two-person firm to the mega-merger firms we’re seeing today.
Have you jumped in? Are you incorporating social media as part of your marketing mix? Are you trying to figure out what it’s all about?
Hopefully, this will help. The plan is to develop regular content to share with the readers of Columns that highlights lessons learned, best practices, and the occasional epic fail. Articles will focus on planning, platforms, and protocol.
Embracing social media means embracing “social.” It is a conversation, it is interactive, it invites participation. Social media is an extension of marketing, networking, and relationship building.
Have questions? Share them – chances are others have the same questions, too. Case studies where social media worked really well for you? Share them. Want to challenge conventions? Jump in!
As the adage goes: “You only get out of it what you put into it.”
think social media can be used effectively to promote ourselves and our firms. I would recommend deciding which avenues are most productive for your organization and then developing a plan to regularly contribute to the conversation in a way that creates learning opportunities and goodwill. Thanks for kicking off AIA’s conversation on social media, Patty.
Thanks for kicking off this discussion. Your comments about creating a conversation are right on the mark. Social media works best when it is bi-directional. Not just pushing out marketing messages, but having the opportunity to engage your customer in meaningful ways. That does mean that you have to dedicate some resources (time!) to manage that outlet. But the good news it is an inexpensive way to engage those that care about you, and something that you can start small and grow.
Social media is a fantastic outlet to engage in conversation, gather knowledge and present yourself and firms as thought leaders.
Yes, yes, and yes! Lori, Dutch and Brian thanks for your comments; your ideas are right on. We need to get the discussion going. Like it or not, it IS a new form of communication. We can participate and engage or we can be on the outside looking in.
Patty, I think I could call about this subject for hours. I say jump on board, or get out of the way. Like it or not, Social Media is here to stay! Those of us that get it will be successful and further ahead on down the road because Social Media is only going to get bigger and better.
I’m finding the challenge is convincing colleagues of the value it can add to the firm’s message. Any advice there? I believe in social media as a key component to PR strategy (overt and subtle), but am finding it difficult to get others involved.