How to use Content marketing to reach Architects

Brands have a lot to say besides just presenting their products and services. Including their values, if they care about the environment, or how their production system works. These are aspects that can give a brand personality to stand apart. Storytelling is a great way to connect to audiences on an emotional level through content they can relate to.

When starting a new project, architects are rarely thinking about specific brand names to materialize their ideas. Instead, all they have in mind are shapes, colors, textures and atmospheres that will best suit the functionality and aesthetics of the space they are working on. What architects are really searching for is great and innovative products that can offer the best solutions to achieve that concrete image they pictured.

This is one of the main reasons why content marketing is a successful strategy when targeting architects. Because it's easier to attract that specific audience towards your brand with a topic of interest about your products rather than directly promoting them without giving any context. If the topic, besides being useful, also connects with their emotions, be guaranteed the engagement and awareness of your brand will increase.

This is something that Simon Sinek, author of the classic "Start With Why", explained back in 2009 in one of the most popular Ted Talks of all time where he presented "The Golden Circle". This was a very simple model made to explain how some leaders and organisations were able to use inspiration in order to motivate people to do something (think buying your products). The circle is based on three questions: What? How? and Why?, the “What?” (what is the product that you’re offering) being the most obvious to answer, and probably the least interesting for your audience to hear. The “How?” will probably give some more useful information answering questions like how is your product fabricated, how it should be installed, or how it will help the clients needs. According to Sinek, the “Why?” (why are you doing what you're doing? What is your purpose, your cause, your belief?) is the question more organisations struggle to answer and therefore, the key to mark the difference between competitors. Keep in mind that the world's most iconic brands use stories based on “Why?”.

Answering these questions with special focus on the “Why” and the “How” can be the pathway to connect with your audience in a more meaningful way by communicating feelings that create great storytelling. First of all, you need to know and understand your client’s behaviours and for that there are some very useful marketing tools such as the buyer’s persona and the buyer’s journey. This will give you an idea of the challenges your clients face in every stage, how your products can help them and finally, why they should engage with your brand.

Before creating your story, plan out its purpose. What is your “Why?”. Do you want to promote a specific product? Do you want to attract new clients that aren't familiar with your brand yet? This will give you an idea of the direction the story should take towards an ending that should be a specific call to action.

Now, let’s say you have already created your story! Whether the format is an article, video, infographic or even a simple image, it’s time to share it using digital media to convey that meaningful message for your customers and prospective clients. The channels you'll be using should be where your audience spend their time, like specialised websites such as Architonic and ArchDaily, and of course, the architects' favourite social media: Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.

Sounds like a lot? Don't worry, we are here to help! After more than a decade of listening to Manufacturers and Retailers needs, we created the Editorial Feature, a made-to-measure detailed article that is cross-linked within Architonic and posted on all of our channels. Our in-house editors along with an international network of journalists have been working over the past 15 years with some of the best brands to convey their product and brand messaging into memorable brand stories. This content is published across all of our channels; on social media, newsletter and in our online magazine.

Because it forms the perfect cornerstone to any online campaign, the Editorial Feature has become one of our bestselling content marketing products, but we don't stop here. In the spirit of evolving with new formats and knowing how effective video content is to engage with audiences, we recently launched a brand new product called Editorial Video. It consists of a recorded interview conducted by our Editor-in-Chief, in which your brand will be able to communicate their values and main message in the words of an expert speaker chosen by your company. This video format allows for a more casual style that will help your brand seem even more real and relatable. It is also published on our website, newsletter and in social media, where videos have proven to be the most powerful sales tool.

So, if you want to talk to your audience in their language while having the credibility and support from our third-party perspective, these are the products you were looking for.

Let us tell your story!

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