Marketing Automation for Architects Saves Time and Money

Marketing Automation For Architecture Companies

How Architects Find Leads With Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is a buzzword often heard online. It suggests a “set it and forget it” approach to online marketing. So, is the promise of marketing automation a truly hands off approach to lead generation? Yes and no. When done well, marketing automation can help built environment professionals like architects, design-build contractors and interior designers find better clients and close them more effectively. The problem with many firms using marketing automation systems is that they are used to simply pump out spam emails every two days. This may work for low-end retail but selling architectural services requires tact and empathy. The key to success with marketing automation is to provide value to the prospect in each marketing contact.

Using Marketing Automation For Large Purchases

Create a Contacts List Don’t Buy One

Attracting good prospects is an art. Buying a list of prospects to target is a waste of money, or worse. You can be banned from using your email service provider if you buy lists. Purchasing a contact lists and sending emails to unsuspecting recipients will potentially annoy them. These lists often contain people who've signed up to win a prize not buy a house so your efforts are targeting non existing prospects. If your email is well written, you may find a high number of visitors click through to your website but you need to ask yourself why are they coming back? Are they really likely to buy architectural services or did they simply curious?  Segregating bought lists will tell you if the list worked, but this will lead to higher percentages of unsubscribes coming from your IP address. In a worst-case scenario, you'll be seen as a spammer. This will result in your email address getting blocked or with repeated offenses, your IP could be blacklisted preventing you from sending any emails. 

Instead, start a campaign designed to engage your intended audience with value added content. Attract prospects through blog writing, social media, and a search engine optimized portfolio to increase your website visitors and grow your marketing database.  Segment the database into categories that allow your marketing automation system to send a variety of pre-written email messages to individual lists of prospects. Set goals and develop a "buyer's journey" or narrative designed to drive prospects towards an action. For example, do you want them to click through to a landing page or answer questions that give you more data about the prospect to determine ability to buy? Ask the right questions on a landing page and you will be able to qualify prospects.

How To Implement Marketing Automation

This approach to marketing automation helps funnel leads through a set process while not having to spend countless hours administering it. Done well, marketing automation integrates throughout all  aspects of your marketing. Integrated marketing automation has the following advantages and capabilities:

  • Create targeted campaigns that deliver content that is specific to a lead based on where they are in the sales process.

  • Monitor the interest the lead has in a subset of your business services and ensure they are contacted at the right time with the right information.

  • It allows you the time to develop beautifully crafted email narratives that follow best practices and can be A/B tested to deliver the greatest results.

  • Time to write and publish quality inbound marketing content such as social media and evergreen blogs; that will direct visitors to highly optimized landing pages to collect data for lead nurturing.

  • It will deliver notifications of when a lead has progressed from one stage to another while on the buyer's journey – essential information to help you optimize your system.

Marketing automation not only helps you close leads more effectively. It can be structured to encourage satisfied customers to promote your business. Creating a campaign that gives past customers information that they would be willing to share with their social network will only help drive prospects back to your website. Your past customers become an additional marketing team for your business. Think of it as an ecosystem or closed loop marketing process. If done well marketing automation will save you time and money while delivering you high results.

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About Michael Conway

I'm the owner and strategist at Means-of-Production. My firm helps construction and design professionals grow their businesses with content marketing. Architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms rely on us to build Squarespace websites, and marketing and advertising campaigns that work to attract new clients. Contact me for a free website review and see just how we do it.

Marketing AutomationMichael ConwayComment