A One Page Content Marketing Plan for Architects and Designers

November 2, 2016 Michael Conway

Content Marketing Plan: Start by Answering Questions

Residential design clients don’t really care about your work or services all that much. They care about their dated kitchen, crummy yard, crowded bathroom, or growing family. Content marketing is about creating and publishing compelling information that answers questions they have about architecture and design so they take notice of your firm.

For many architects and designers, developing a content marketing plan takes a back seat to client projects and day to day business. If that sounds uncomfortably familiar, there’s an easy solution for crafting a strategy that helps your firm’s marketing take shape: the one-page content marketing plan. Architects and designers understand the importance of plans. Blueprints and detailed drawings help everyone at the charrette get and stay on the same page. So why the hesitancy in creating a marketing plan? Usually, it’s knowledge barriers that hold them back. Help is needed to organize information and use it to craft concrete marketing solutions.

A Killer Marketing Plan for Creative Businesses

If you currently lack a written strategy, a one-page plan is a great place to start. If you’ve written overly detailed strategies but struggle to get any of them off the ground, boiling it down to one page helps you move forward. As an architect or designer, you know that building client relationships is essential to your firm’s growth. Content marketing is the way to expand your reach and establish a strong foundation for long-lasting and productive relationships.

Architectural and design inbound marketing focuses on creating rapid and broad exposure to your target audience and is far more effective than traditional outbound advertising. In fact, inbound marketing generates 54% more leads than outbound design and architecture marketing strategies. And 61% of consumers prefer working with businesses that offer custom online content – such as blogs – rather than advertising. With the right plan in place, you can build a website that showcases your best work across multiple devices and use architecture or design SEO to bring prospective clients to your website. There, your content does its work by converting visitors to qualified leads.

The One-Page Marketing Plan

No two content marketing strategies are alike, so you need, to begin with a little self-exploration. Over time, as your business grows you may need to re-do your one-page plan to reflect new goals and growth strategies. There are plenty of one-page plans you can look at online, some more detailed than others. At a minimum, your plan should ask the following questions. When working through the plan, be as specific as possible, but keep it simple.

What is your purpose for being in business?
Who is your ideal client; who are you trying to reach with your content?
How are you the best at what you do?
What sets you apart from your competitors?
What value are you creating for clients?
How do you reach people and get your services to them?
What is your story, and how will you tell it?

Your plan should also include strategies for promotion, conversion, growth, referral, and retention, as well as a strategy for delighting your clients and increasing your value to them. The answers to these questions will help you define your basic objectives and short-term goals. From there you can move to producing the content you need to meet those goals (including blogs, videos, podcasts, and infographics), deciding how often you’ll publish, and the best way to promote your content.

The Payoffs Come With an Easy To Use Document

The best content marketing plan is the one you’ll actually use. With limited time and resources, you don’t need a complicated manifesto – what you need is a simple plan that propels you toward action. The one-page content marketing solution is ideal because:

It can quickly be drawn up.
It acts a proactive content marketing to-do list, so you avoid last minute decisions.
It’s a jumping off point for a more comprehensive marketing strategy.
It keeps your basic goals front and center.
It helps uncover potential problems, new ideas, and helpful solutions.

It’s often the simple things that are the most powerful. Your one-page plan can be all you need to start attracting – and retaining – clients through compelling, useful content. Write your marketing plan, keep it where you'll see it daily, and answer the questions prospective customers have about using your services with blogs, website content, and downloadable guides. You'll be seen as the go-to expert when it's time for a renovation or building a new home.

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