Even though architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) companies are primarily B2B, it doesn’t mean they can’t be active on B2C-based social media platforms. A strong social media presence can brand your staff, promote your work and connect with prospective clients.
Here are seven social media platforms your company should consider using:
1. Facebook. Instead of using Facebook for customer acquisition, as many B2B companies mistakenly do, consider using the most popular of all platforms for recruiting purposes. After all, your firm is only as good as the people in it. Showcase other employees, post job openings and talk about the culture at your company.
2. Twitter. In 140 characters, share content that’s relevant to your followers. The content can take the form of photos, videos, podcasts, white papers, articles, presentations and the like. The key is to reduce your non-value tweets–such as press releases, new hires, awards, etc.–because seriously, your prospective clients don’t care.
3. Tumblr. This blog also is the ideal social media platform for telling the “story” of your project. Through content and photos, the before, during and after of construction is collected for clients and prospective clients to see in one place. Firms should consider the archiving element of this platform since it is essentially a portfolio of the firm’s projects and ideas. It also can be used to publish your case studies.
4. Instagram. It’s a simple concept. Take a photo or video, apply a filter and publish it to your account. The non-professional aspect of Instagram can actually be very appealing to viewers since it gives a “behind-the-scenes” feel. Your company’s Instagram feed can reveal details of a project that may not have been picked up on in an official brochure or website photos.
5. Storify. Let’s say you’re hosting an event, such as a grand opening of one of your projects. You can aggregate posts from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to create a recap on Storify. In other words, you’re documenting what is being said before, during and after your event through visuals of the posts.
6. Pinterest. Businesses can share and pin their favorite images of projects. Architects, engineers and builders can share design ideas, provide tips and showcase their work through pins and repins. Clients can also link their profile to yours, driving more website traffic and gaining credibility with prospective clients.
7. YouTube. With a YouTube One Channel, your business can display past, on-going and future projects through quick videos or commercials that can easily be seen on a computer, mobile device or tablet. A brief description of the video can be added to give the viewer better context of what they’re watching. Any broadcast news or awards coverage featuring your company can also be uploaded onto your YouTube channel.
I’m curious how long Vine will be around now that Instagram has video capabilities? In my opinion, Vine’s major mistake was not developing an Android app when it first launched. It could have really owned the video market on both phones, but by the time Android users could get the app–which only worked with later versions of Android–Instagram made its announcement shortly thereafter.