1. FEATURED ARTICLE:
Publisher
Managing Editor
Graphic Designer
Published by
Headquarters
Tel
Fax
Email
Web
Frank A. Stasiowski, FAIA
Lauren K. Terry
Marc Boggs
PSMJ Resources, Inc.
Newton, MA
617-965-0055
617-965-5152
customerservice@psmj.com
www.psmj.com
AEM A R K E T I N G
J O U R N A LAE
ADDRESSING THE CONTROVERSY:
Can Social Media be Monetized?
by Talin Astourian
Social media has a lot of coverage in our industry. There are many articles with tips
on what A/E/C marketers should do. By now, you may be convinced that social
media is useful or even necessary. The real question is whether or not social media be
monetized. Let’s consider some scenarios:
1. Creating a WIN:
Yes, there is a small possibility your target client will see your company qualifications
via social media and like what they see. However, social media can’t sign a contract on
its own. It will require support from your team.
Visible on your bottom line? MAYBE, but not without the support of your existing, deal-
closing machine.
2. Reduce Necessity Of Other Marketing Expenses:
Social media is a version of a qualifications package. It has also almost eliminated
the need for press releases. This frees up marketing staff time which is certainly
quantifiable. It may even reduce the need for certain types of printed material.
Visible on your bottom line? YES.
3. Photography:
Social media didn’t create photography, but it drives a societal demand for it. In the
‘80s and ‘90s it was commonplace for firms to pay an employee to take pictures of
projects or hire a professional photographer. Using smart phone photos won’t work for
architects who need gloss and glamour. However, engineers, CMs and contractors can
easily collect great photos from employees. Your millennial employees will even give
you a couple “pics” with themselves in the shot.
Visible on your bottom line? YES, but as a small scale operational cost savings.
4. Creating RISK by Abstaining:
Does your competitor have a Facebook page? You may be unintentionally creating
risk for your company my abstaining from social media. There may be conversations
you are missing or comments people publish about your firm, projects, or personnel.
Perhaps the real question is whether you can afford to ignore social media.
Visible on your bottom line? NO, but there is some, currently unquantifiable risk.
J UNE / 2015 • VOL / 11 • IS S UE / 6
IN THIS ISSUE:
MONETIZING
SOCIAL MEDIA
• Addressing the Controversy: Can Social
Media Be Monetized? / 1-2
• 5 Steps to Setting a Pursuit Budget / 2
• Did You Know? / 3
• What’s the Shelf-Life of Your Social
Media Posts? / 3
• Are You Social Selling Effectively? / 4-5
• What Clients Won’t Tell You...
At Least at First / 5
• Communications Corner: Body Language
as a Communications Tool / 6
• 7 Sources for Winning Proposal
Graphics / 7
• How to Measure the ROI of Your Social
Media Marketing / 8-9
• Upcoming Events / 8
• Compliance in Proposals and
Presentations / 9
• Just One Percent / 10
• An Excerpt From...Designing an A/E
Brand That Drives Selections / 10
• Book Review: Bold Brand / 11
• Do You Have a Good Telephone
Connection? / 12
u CONTINUED / PAGE 2
2. 2 JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
M A R K E T I N G
J O U R N A LAE
5. Search Engine Optimization:
No one can deny that Google results can drive users to a company. In some ways,
Google defines the way we understand and interpret the world around us. Social
media has significant impact on SEO. This is likely visible on your top line in a more
important way than the one, single client who “likes” your Facebook page.
Visible on your bottom line? YES.
While the general benefits of social media can be affirmed, the monetary value of
your media presence is, in fact, small and likely invisible. Before you shut it down,
consider: 1) the long-term impact and 2) SEO (where the real value of social media
lies). In 10 years, the millennial generation will be running the world. This is how they
communicate. Use this perspective to determine what the right amount of investment is
for your firm. l
Yes No Maybe
Creating a WIN x
Reducing Marketing Expenses x
Photography x
Creating Risk by Abstaining x
SEO x
Eric Snider, P.E., is a Principal
with SynTerra Corporation. Eric
frequently writes and speaks
on marketing and business
development and facilitates
several PSMJ bootcamps and
workshops. He can be reached at
esnider@psmj.com.
ADDRESSING THE CONTROVERSY: Can Social Media Be Monetized?
(continued from page 1)
75%...
the percentage of owners of service-providing
small business who believe that the tone of
online reviews (i.e. Yelp, Angie’s List, etc.) can
affect the value of their businesses, according
to a survey by BizBuySell. Interestingly, however,
only 27% of business owners encourage clients
to post reviews.
Talin Astourian is a graduate of
the Art Center College of Design
where she studied Advertising
Design. Currently serving as Vice
President of Strategic Growth
for Twining, Inc., she specializes
in revenue driven marketing,
strategic growth facilitation,
and customized marketing and
branding plan authorship and
execution. She collaborates with
business owners to develop
industry-specific branding
messages that holistically address
the customer’s buying experience
and seamlessly connect the
customer to a company’s vision
and voice.
Once your firm has identified a pending opportunity with a
quality or strategic client, what is your next step? Obviously,
one answer to the question is a thorough go-no/go process
to vet the project suitability for your capabilities. At about
the same time, you should estimate the budgets that should
be available to you to accomplish this pursuit through the
proposal and interview process.
Here are the key steps to estimating a pursuit budget:
1. Estimate the project total revenue. For ease of
calculation, let’s assume a total revenue estimate of
$1,000,000.
2. Estimate the net revenue for your firm. Let’s assume
that 20% of the total revenue will be spent on sub-
consultants and subcontractors such as laboratories. The
net revenue for your firm is then $800,000.
3. Estimate your win likelihood. For this example let’s
assume you have only one serious competitor. Your win
likelihood is therefore 50%. That means that if you pursue
this opportunity, statistically your firm will accrue revenue
of $400,000.
4. Apply your pursuit percentage. Many firms use a
pursuit percentage of 5%. That is, many firms have
experience over many years validating that 5% of your
likely revenue is a good pursuit budget. In this case your
pursuit budget is $20,000.
5. Factor in extenuating circumstances. Is this a strategic
client? Is this the first proposal of this type your firm has
developed? Are there other circumstances that should boost
or diminish your pursuit budget?
Setting up the pursuit proposal budget is a good first step
in capturing and allocating all pursuit costs. Note that your
personnel salary charges to the proposal budget should include
the raw salary and fringe benefits but not your fully loaded
billing rates. Note also that your pursuit budget should take
you through the presentation process and a final debrief. l
5 easy steps to setting a pusuit budget by Eric Snider, P.E.
3. DID YOU KNOW? 3JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
WWW.PSMJ.COM
What’s the Shelf-Life of Your
Social Media Posts? by David Whitemyer, AIA
46%...
the percentage of small
business owners who “love
marketing and advertising,”
according to the 2015
Infusionsoft Small Business
Market Research Sales &
Marketing Report. The report
was based on research
and surveys of over 800
entrepreneurs.
10 Ways to Increase
Your Blog Views
Smallbusinessideas.com and Referral
Candy recently created a listed of more
than 30 ways to promote your company’s
blog. The list was made up of input from
numerous small business leaders and
marketing professionals.
Here is a condensed version of the list,
with the items most relevant to A/E firms.
1. Tell stories
2. Be unique
3. Be helpful
4. Quote experts
5. Create original images
6. Create visual content
7. Share others’ content
8. Match your content to the
needs of your targeted audience
9. Email people that you mentioned
10. Tag/mention relevant people l
Have you been in marketing meetings, having long discussions about what to post on
Twitter? Have you labored over just the right wording for a company Facebook post,
and then had to deal with in-office proofreaders and editors? Or has the owner of your
A/E firm spent hours nitpicking over exactly which project photo to post on Instagram?
This is a waste of time!
It’s common for A/E firms – both social media rookies and veterans – to fall into these
traps. As engineers and architects, we’re detail-oriented with a keen, critical visual eye.
But these traits (or curses, if you will) are not helping your social media marketing.
Your social media posts have a ridiculously short shelf-life, meaning that when you post
something online, there is a very limited timeframe during which anyone will probably
see it. After that, the likelihood that anyone will ever see that posting is tiny. Consider
the following:
• Approximately 75% of engagement on a Facebook posting happens
within the first 3 hours, with almost the remaining 25% happening in
the next 2 hours. According to one report, most Facebook users only see
about 20% of the nearly 1,500 posts available to them each day.
• The average lifespan of a posting on Twitter has about 18 minutes. This
is due, in part, from the deluge of other tweets, which is around 5,700 per
second, according to Twitter.
• Posts on LinkedIn tend to carry weight for around 24 hours because it’s
a more professional medium, and users tend to devote focus to it, rather
than hitting it quickly.
In addition to shelf-life (or lifespan), social media posts have a half-life, where their
impact and reach are reduced by 50% per span. According to Hubspot, the half-life of
a Facebook post is 3.2 hours and Twitter is 2.8 hours. Even emailed newsletters don’t
stick around long, with a half-life of only 3.4 hours.
None of this is to say that you should not be incorporating social media into your
A/E firm’s marketing strategy. It’s to say that you shouldn’t devote an amount of time
obsessing about each posting that is not commensurate with actual reach and impact.
Also, keep in mind when your firm is posting. For longer-lasting impact, post during
commuting hours, pre-lunchtime, and early Saturday mornings, when individuals
give their smartphones and tablets more attention. This will increase your postings’
shelf-life.
And if your firm leaders and marketing staff still feels like they should be devoting
huge amounts of time focusing on what goes online, channel this effort towards your
website’s portfolio, but mostly on your blog, where your inbound marketing strategy is
to provide free content, encourage the sharing of your content, and to be perceived as
an industry thought leader. l
David Whitemyer, AIA, is a Contributing Editor at PSMJ Resources, Inc.,
a licensed architect, and project manager at Brent Johnson Design, a
Boston-area firm. He can be reached at dwhitemyer@psmj.com.
4. 4 JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
M A R K E T I N G
J O U R N A LAE
ARE YOU SOCIAL SELLING EFFECTIVELY?
by Greg Kanz and Jeroen Corver
The latest buzz in the marketing world is
social selling. Social selling is the process
of using social media channels to position
yourself as an expert in your field. You
engage followers by providing valuable
insight and answers to questions while
building relationships and eventually
closing sales.
Creating an effective social media
presence takes time and money (labor).
How do you show a return on investment
to leaders in your firms? Can you really
monetize social media? Yes, you can drive
sales with social selling for the following
reasons.
The new buying funnel
The internet, social media, and online
review sites have drastically changed
how customers make buying decisions.
Every purchase, big or small, starts with
awareness. You first become aware of an
unmet need through self-discovery, word
of mouth, or marketing.
Once you identify a need for a product
or service, you will research possible
solutions. In the past consumers would
reach out to different businesses and talk
to sales representatives to learn more
about solutions offered. Businesses owned
the knowledge.
Now with the internet, you have access
to this information with a click of a
button through online resources, social
media, and blogs. In the research stage,
consumers will eliminate about 70%
of companies and only reach out to the
remaining 30% when they move to the
decision phase. (Forbes.com, April 10,
2015, “The Role of Influence in the New
Buyer’s Journey” by Daniel Newman)
Share the knowledge
Companies that answer every customer
question and provide valuable insight will
most likely receive proposal requests.
Information can be found anywhere on
the internet; if you do not offer it up, your
competitors will.
Social media plays an important role in
this new buying process. Consumers are
spending increasingly more time on social
channels over traditional media. This
allows you to engage directly with your
potential clients and position yourselves
as influencers in the marketplace.
In professional services marketing, the
challenge is selling intangibles (e.g., client
experience). By sharing your knowledge,
you allow potential clients to “test the
intangibles” by validating your expertise
and getting a sense of what it will be like
to work with you.
It’s a “social” network
Social networking has many similarities
to business networking. If you attend a
networking event and begin bombarding
attendees with promotions of your
products or services, most people will
do their best to avoid you. If you work
the room and show interest in the other
attendees, and then offer valuable insight
personalized to the individual that you
are talking to, the success rate will be
much higher.
Apply this networking philosophy to
your social media strategy. You have
to have a healthy balance of education,
entertainment and promotion. Always
include why you are sharing particular
content. Participate in online discussion
groups, share your ideas and opinions on
a blog and share content of other sites
that you believe your followers should
read.
You are a brand
Just like McDonalds, Nike and Apple,
you are a brand. People do business
with you because they like you, they
like how you do business, and they like
your products or services. Your level
of expertise, your customer service and
personal interests represent who you are
as a person and how the world sees you.
The consumer ultimately owns your
brand. Influencing brand perception
is about the experience you create,
but ultimately the consumer makes
a judgment about your brand. Social
media allows you to brand yourself,
share your level of expertise, and
demonstrate how you do business.
If you continuously share valuable
content for your buyer while
participating respectfully in online
discussions, people are going to
associate you with certain needs. You
will create the top-of-mind awareness
when they get into the market for your
products or services.
u CONTINUED / PAGE 5
Image by Calvin Kanz
5. WWW.PSMJ.COM
5JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
We all know the mantra: know the project; know the client. People new to the
professional services industry and new college graduates generally think that
this means making visits to the client several times and engaging in increasingly
complex and a detailed discussions about the upcoming project. That is indeed one
recipe for success. Let me offer an alternative. During my 40+ years in this industry,
I’ve learned that “know” has many implications.
It obviously means to recognize and understand key issues and drivers. But it means
so much more. Understand. Appreciate. Empathize with. Let me give a personal
example. The top clients I have worked with –my very favorite clients –are those
who have allowed me to really know and understand them as individuals, as part
of their families, and as part of their work team. Here are just a few of the things I
know about them as individuals:
• Age
• Date started with current employer
• Previous employers and positions held
• Boss’s name and general character
• Staff who work under this person’s direction
• Birthday
• Spouse’s name and how many spouses have been in the corral
• Children’s names, ages, and interests
• Car they drive and the car they really want
• Favorite restaurants
• Favorite sports teams
• Sports played in school
• Leisure time activities
Now, mind you, this is based entirely on my own personal observations. However,
I believe my career has been fairly representative of that of a typical engineer.
Without exception, my favorite clients have been those who essentially invited me
to become an extended member of their families. I have met most of their spouses
and many of their children. I’ve taken them to their favorite Mexican restaurant
and to see the Atlanta Braves play.
Is this depth of relationship easy to develop? No. Will all clients let you into their
personal space, at least at first? No. But here’s the thing. If you truly care for your
clients as individuals and not just an entry on a CRM spreadsheet, you will naturally
want to know these things. And as clients get to know you better and understand
that you really care for them, they will generally consider you as a true friend and
will volunteer more details of their own lives.
Here’s one more personal example. I have a friend – a former client –with whom I
have not done any professional work for the last 10 years. He and his wife, and my
wife and I, get together each Christmas season for lunch in a neighboring town. We
normally only meet them one time per year, but this annual gathering reconnects us
and our families.
This story lends a bit more credibility to another truism in our industry: choose
clients first and projects second. l
What clients won’t tell you…
At least at first by Eric Snider, P.E. Managing the execution
Just like in traditional media, every social
media network serves a particular audience
and each has its own preferred type of
content. Twitter and LinkedIn are the ideal
platform for social selling in a business-to-
business marketplace.Whereas Facebook,
Instagram, and Pinterest focus more on
entertainment, Twitter and LinkedIn focus
more on providing and sharing educational
content.
With LinkedIn, less is more. Post one or
two times daily. When it comes to Twitter,
more activity is needed (10 times or more
a day due to the massive amount and speed
with which content is shared). Time is
money, and the task of social selling is time
intensive, but there are tools that can help.
Automation systems like Hootsuite allow
you to stay in front of your clientele with
valuable content and maintain top of mind
awareness.
Monetizing social media happens the same
way you monetize good old-fashioned
networking. By creating awareness about
your company, you have an opportunity
to build personal relationships. These
relationships with potential buyers are the
foundation for driving future sales. l
Greg is the marketing director at
Shive-Hattery in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. Responsible for the strategic
marketing program at the 400-person
architectural and engineering
firm, Greg manages the corporate
marketing team and provides high-
level sales support, training, and
strategic and tactical support to
Shive-Hattery’s nine offices in the
Midwest.
Jeroen is the Digital Sales manager
at Townsquare Media in Cedar
Rapids and Waterloo, Iowa. He is
responsible for the sales growth of
digital marketing services and online
advertising through their 8000+ sites
advertising network. Townsquare
Media is a diversified media,
entertainment, and digital marketing
services company that owns and
operates radio, digital, and live event
properties. Its assets include 311
radio stations and more than 325
companion websites in 66 small-to-
mid-sized markets, approximately
500 live events annually, and a
national portfolio of music and
entertainment digital properties
reaching over 50 million US unique
visitors monthly.
Are You Social Selling Effectively?
(continued from page 4)
6. COMMUNICATIONS CORNER
N6 JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
M A R K E T I N G
J O U R N A LAE
Author’s note: In this regular feature, we
will focus on effective communication.
PSMJ has developed a bootcamp on
technical and professional writing in
proposals and interview presentations.
The program is available for delivery to
your in-house audience where and when
you would like. Call John Doehring at
617-965-0055 to discuss scheduling this
one-of-a-kind program in your firm. The
presentation can be customized to meet
your specific interests and needs.
Communication. It happens in so many
ways. We communicate with colleagues
and clients primarily by using words.
Those words may be used in an oral
conversation or in various written media.
But words are not the only way we
convey information to others. Body
language is one of the most subtle yet
powerful means for sharing information.
Let’s think for a moment about an
interview or presentation. Body
language can tell an astute observer quite
a bit about the individuals and the teams
involved in a typical presentation. There
are at least six ways that body language
can be a useful communication tool:
• What the selection panel interprets
about you individually
• What the selection panel interprets
about your team dynamics
• What you interpret about the
selection panel as individuals
• What you interpret about the
selection panel has a team
• What your team members interpret
about each other
• What selection panel members
interpret about each other
Body Language as a Communications Tool by Eric Snider, P.E.
Entire books have been written about
body language and its interpretation,
both academic and in the popular press.
Consulting one or more of these can be
an interesting and somewhat humorous
experience. However, you can boil the
essentials of body language down into
six key points:
• Eye contact – definitely a key aspect
of body language. During an interview,
each member of your team should strive
to make eye contact with all members of
the selection panel. We naturally tend to
seek out a friendly face and often direct
many of our comments and glances
toward that individual.
However, your team member should
know that scanning the room and making
eye contact with each and every member
of the selection panel is essential.
However, don’t go to extremes. A
constant stare is an uncomfortable event
for many people.
• Posture – the general rule is to lean
forward when listening and stand
straight when speaking. Of course your
posture at all times should convey your
enthusiasm and interest in the client and
his or her project.
• Gestures – gestures during a
presentation should convey a sense of
ease and comfort with the situation and
material being presented. That means
gestures should be smooth and fluid, not
nervous and repetitive.
• Shaking hands – engineers often
consider the art of shaking hands to
be a feedback loop. The essence is
that you sense the hand pressure of the
other individual and respond with like
pressure. Again, avoid extremes. Avoid
equally the limp fish handshake and the
bone crusher.
• Head movement – a general rule is
to nod slightly while talking, to tilt the
head while listening, and to use raised
eyebrows to convey an interest in
learning more.
• Personal territory – for most people
the personal zone of exclusion extends
to approximately 3 feet and the zone for
social interaction is 3 to 10 feet.
Use these suggestions to make body
language become your friend and ally
and convey the same attitude as your
words at your next presentation. l
Stay tuned for next month’s issue where
we will address other Communications
Corner issues. If you have a
communications issue in proposals or
presentations you would like us to address
in this column, contact Lauren Terry at
editor@psmj.com. We’ll be happy to
answer your inquiries.
Eric Snider, P.E., is a Principal
with SynTerra Corporation. Eric
frequently writes and speaks
on marketing and business
development and facilitates
several PSMJ bootcamps and
workshops. He can be reached at
esnider@psmj.com.
Posture – the general
rule is to lean forward
when listening and stand
straight when speaking.
Of course your posture at
all times should convey
your enthusiasm and
interest in the client and
his or her project.
7. WWW.PSMJ.COM
7JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
A picture says a thousand words. Infographics are trendy. People have short
attention spans. These are just a few of the reasons why you should be
incorporating more graphics and imagery into your proposals. And, based on
these stats published by AdWeek, here are some more:
• Color visuals increase your willingness to read by almost 80%.
• Your brain understands a visual scene in 1/10th of a second.
• People remember approximately 20% of what they read, and
nearly 80% of what they see.
Your firm’s marketing department already has – at least it should! – a library
of visual assets to use in proposals, such as project photos (completed and in-
progress), sketches, renderings, and construction documents. If you need more,
here are 7 great sources for creating infographics, maps, and other visuals to use
in your marketing materials.
Picktochart.com – Free and for-cost templates for presentations,
infographics, and reports.
Infogr.am – Free and Pro templates for charts and infographics.
Fusion Tables – Creates visual data and maps, by Google
Visual.ly – Free and Premium graphics-creator for presentations,
websites, proposals, etc.
Tagzedo.com – Word cloud generator
Easel.ly – Free and for-cost infographics creator
iCharts.net – Tagline: Everything is Better with Visuals
Of course, your best bet for creating elegant and informative visuals for your
proposals – and to develop the entire proposal, in fact – is to hire a graphic
designer. l
7 Sources for Winning
Proposal Graphics by David Whitemyer, AIA
David Whitemyer, AIA, is a Contributing Editor at PSMJ Resources, Inc.,
a licensed architect, and project manager at Brent Johnson Design, a
Boston-area firm. He can be reached at dwhitemyer@psmj.com.
PSMJ’s 2015
A/E Financial
Performance
Benchmark Survey
Report Is Coming
Soon!
Pre-Order by June 10th
and save 10% off the final
report!
Financials are the ultimate scorecard!
How does your firm’s financial
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of similar size, type or market
sector serviced? Did your strategic
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Report puts the answers to these
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It’s the report that sets the standard
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Please note: If you PARTICIPATED
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you haven’t already submitted your
participant order form, please call
(617) 965-0055 to place your order.
8. 8 JUNE / 2015 • VO L / 11 • ISSUE / 6
M A R K E T I N G
J O U R N A LAE
UPCOMING EVENTS
Do you want to be a stronger firm
leader or owner? PSMJ can help.
Don’t miss your opportunity to
attend these events:
A/E/C PROJECT MANAGEMENT
BOOTCAMP
MAY 28-29, 2015 / WASHINGTON, DC
JUNE 4-5, 2015 / LAS VEGAS, NV
JUNE 11-12, 2015 / BOSTON, MA
JUNE 18-19, 2015 / FT. LAUDERDALE, FL
JUNE 25-26, 2015 / CINCINNATI, OH
JULY 16-17, 2015 / DENVER, CO
JULY 23-24, 2015 / CHICAGO, IL
JULY 30-31, 2015 / VANCOUVER, BC
AUGUST 6-7, 2015 / ATLANTA, GA
AUGUST 13-14, 2015 / SAN FRANCISCO, CA
AUGUST 20-21, 2015 / KANSAS CITY, MO
AUGUST 27-28, 2015 / JERSEY CITY, NJ
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SEPTEMBER 24-25, 2015 / RALEIGH, NC
OCTOBER 1-2, 2015 / CHICAGO, IL
OCTOBER 15-16, 2015 / NEW ORLEANS, LA
OCTOBER 22-23, 2015 / DENVER, CO
OCTOBER 29-30, 2015 / OMAHA, NE
NOVEMBER 5-6, 2015 / SALT LAKE CITY, UT
NOVEMBER 12-13, 2015 / WASHINGTON, DC
NOVEMBER 19-20, 2015 / BOSTON, MA
DECEMBER 3-4, 2015 / LAS VEGAS, NV
DECEMBER 10-11, 2015 / ORLANDO, FL
DECEMBER 17-18, 2015 / AUSTIN, TX
Write for PSMJ
Do you have some new, innovative tips to share
with others about running an A/E firm? Do you have
interesting stories about:
• Making profits;
• Ownership transition;
• Human resources; or
• The future of A/E?
PSMJ is looking for great writers and stories for
Professional Services Management Journal!
Writing for PSMJ is a remarkable opportunity to
enhance your authority, add to your professional
resume, bring name recognition to your company,
and see your name and contact info in print in a
prestigious and highly regarded journal.
If you’re interested in writing for us or have a story
idea for an upcoming issue, please write to Lauren
Terry, PSMJ’s Managing Editor, at lterry@psmj.com.
How to Measure the ROI
of Your Social Media
Marketing by Sylvia Montgomery
In recent years, social media has evolved from platforms to help students
connect to an essentialcomponent of any effective marketing strategy. But
even as more and more AEC firms embrace social media marketing, it’s often
difficult for marketing directors to justify the ROI of their social media efforts
to firm executives and managing partners, who might see social media as just a
passing fad and not worth the extra expense.
However, research from the Hinge Research Institute shows that social media
isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, your firm’s social media presence
could be a deciding factor in acquiring new business. When asked how they
check out potential service providers, 57.1% of A/E/C buyers reported looking
at a firm’s social media pages before making a purchasing decision. A strong
social presence could be the difference between winning new business or
coming in second to the competition.
Social media can also play a significant role in how your firm benefits from
referrals. In the Hinge Research Institute’s study on referral marketing, we
discovered that individuals or organizations will actually refer a firm they have
never even worked with before, simply based on their interactions with that
firm on social media. This can also work in reverse—the same study found that
buyers are likely to rule out a firm that was referred to them if they see that firm
isn’t active on social media.
So, how can you measure the ROI of social media marketing to prove that it’s a
worthwhile investment? Here are seven ideas.
7 Metrics for Monetizing Your AEC Firm’s Social Media Marketing
Website Traffic
Your social media accounts can be a great source of referral traffic for your
website. Track the visitors who find your site through a social platform
and see if certain types of content generate more traffic than others. By
tracking patterns of success, you can continue to refine your social media
posts for bigger impact.
Number of Conversions
The percentage of your conversions that originate from a social media post
or offer can be a great way to demonstrate the impact each account makes
on your firm’s bottom line. See how many times posting a link to your
new eBook leads to a download or how often a new prospective client
subscribes to your email list after clicking over to your latest blog post.
Email List Growth
Speaking of gaining new email subscribers, your social media accounts are
perfect for promoting your latest piece of gated content. Posting a tweet or
LinkedIn status update about your premium content offers can boost the
growth of your email list, which can lead to more effective lead nurturing
down the line.
u CONTINUED / PAGE 9
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines will rank your website higher when it
has credible and authoritative sites linking back to it.
Actively sharing your firm’s content on social media
increases its visibility and can naturally attract more
links from those who see and find your content valuable.
It can lead to a boost in search engine rankings and help
prospects find your firm when they’re searching for a
solution to their problems.
Brand Awareness
While brand awareness isn’t as quantifiable as some
other metrics you can track, it can still be a key
performance indicator for your social media marketing.
For instance, try tracking your brand mentions across
different social platforms to discover what people
are saying about your firm. Or, look at the various
engagement metrics for each of your social accounts.
How many likes, comments, favorites, followers or
shares do you have? These social media metrics can be a
good way to measure the reach of your brand.
Job Candidates
You want your firm to be an attractive place for the
best new talent in the workforce to come work. Well,
today’s newest workers grew up on social media, so
having a strong presence is expected. The caliber of
job candidates your firm is able to attract can often be a
big testament to the effectiveness of your social media
marketing.
New Business
Arguably the most important measurement your firm’s
partners and executives will want to see is how your
social media marketingis bringing in new business.
By demonstrating the lead and new clients that come
from social media, you can show how important your
firm’s social presence is to attracting and keeping new
business.
Even though it might take the higher-ups in your firm a little
longer to come around to social media marketing, the merits
will be difficult to deny when the ROI is so clearly defined
by the above metrics. After all, the best way to prove the
importance of any marketing strategy is to go to the results. l
Sylvia Montgomery is a Senior Partner at Hinge, a
marketing and branding firm for professional services. At
Hinge, Sylvia provides strategic counsel to national clients.
She is a co-author of The Visible Expert, Inside the Buyer’s
Brain, and Online Marketing for Professional Services. You can
follow Sylvia on Twitter @BrandStrong.
We in the AEC industry normally view the proposal and
presentation processes primarily as a vehicle to describe
our approach to the client’s project, to distinguish
ourselves from competitors, and to provide our project
budget. And indeed all of this is important information to
be provided.
There is at least one more very important type of
information that we provide to our clients during the
proposal and presentation process. That is our ability
and our willingness to respond with products that match
the client’s expectations. While our level of performance
on the job is still to be determined, the client will gain
some level of satisfaction if we provide proposals and
presentations that comply with their requests.
Compliance with proposal requirements may
be challenging on occasion but usually is fairly
straightforward. Page limits, font sizes, order of proposal
content, and other items are often specified in the request
for proposals. With these specifications made, the client
can easily judge our compliance with those specifications.
It is a good idea to state in the proposal cover letter that
the proposal contents are entirely compliant with client
specifications.
Compliance with presentation requirements is equally
important. However, this is where we can begin to lose
points and credibility with the client. After all, our usual
approach is to take an existing presentation template and
insert subject matter slides relevant to the client’s project.
However, clients may have expectations related to
presentation compliance that are not stated in the RFP.
One of the obvious compliance criteria is presentation
length. That is by far the most commonly specified
criterion. If other compliance criteria are not specified,
use the absence as an opportunity to contact the client
for guidance and as another touch. In fact, you can also
distinguish yourself from your competition by your
willingness to seek the client’s guidance in assuring that
your presentation complies with all requirements, whether
stated or unstated.
Don’t let the simple obvious things trip you up during the
proposal and presentation process. Show the client that
you can play by his or her rules! l
Compliance in
proposals and
presentations
How to Measure the ROI... (continued from page 8)
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M A R K E T I N G
J O U R N A LAE
The Aesthetics of Branding
The power of your A/E brand starts with
appearance. Start by assessing your firm name and
logo. Do they reflect your brand? Do they enforce
your positioning in the markets you serve? In
other words, are they reflective of the services you
offer? Your name and logo should complement
each other and effectively position you within a
marketplace. Having the word “architecture” or
“engineering” is powerful. These words brand
you more effectively than generic terms such as
“Group” or “Associates.”
Many engineering firms have names that sound more like law firms, while some
architects use creative names that sound catchy but have nothing to do with
architecture. The wrong name can detract from the power of the brand, as well
as your firm’s positioning.
Your logo symbolizes your brand, yet too many A/E firms take it for granted.
You fret over a bad haircut that lasts for a few weeks, but pay no mind to the
symbol of your team’s livelihood. Isn’t that ludicrous? Think about your logo.
How was it formulated? Did you hire a high school student that knew graphic
design software? Did you pay an online service for a mass produced design?
Did you scrap it together in house?
An effective A/E logo should be built on strategy. It’s not as simple as picking a
color scheme and a fancy design. The logo must reflect your brand.
Here are some questions to ask…
• Does the design properly reflect a professional services firm?
• Do the logo, font, and tagline work together?
• Do you have tagline, or slogan? If so, does it enforce your brand?
• Is the logo original in its design?
• Does the logo make use of a subtle creative visual feature to
engage viewers?
Your brand should be reflected in all of your proposals, statements of
qualifications, project profiles, and resumes. A client must see consistent
branding reflected across your documentation, or you run the risk of losing the
project to a client with more consistent branded content. Treat your branded
content like your plans…with the utmost professionalism. l
An excerpt from…Designing
an A/E Brand that DRIVES
Selections by Brian M. Fraley
Brian M. Fraley is the manager and founder of Fraley A/E/C Solutions, LLC,
a marketing and public relations firm serving the architecture, engineering,
and construction industry. He has more than 20 years of experience in
the construction and design industry throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
Brian’s expertise includes marketing, public relations, writing, and business
development. He can be reached at bmfraley@fraleysolutions.com. You can
download the full e-book at www.fraleysolutions.com.
Just one percent
by Lauren K. Terry
That’s all the inspiration Edison claims we
need to be a genius. Apparently, that’s all
he needed—by the time he died at age 84 in
1931, he had patented 1,093 inventions.
Though we can’t all be Edison, there’s no
reason we can’t learn from him and others
of his ilk. When all that stretches before us
is that 99 percent of perspiration, maybe it’s
time to take a break—and try to spark the
flighty flame of that one percent.
One of these quotes—all of which specifically
relate to marketing—should help:
“The objective of all advertising is to buy new
customers at a profit. Learn what your customers
cost and what they buy...spend all of your
ammunition where it counts.” ~ Claude Hopkins
“In marketing I’ve seen only one strategy that can’t
miss -- and that is to market to your best customers
first, your best prospects second, and the rest of the
world last.” ~ John Romero
“What helps people, helps business.”
~ Leo Burnett
“Good advertising does not just circulate
information. It penetrates the public mind with
desires and belief.” ~ Leo Burnett
“Yes, I sell people things they don’t need. I can’t,
however, sell them something they don’t want. Even
with advertising. Even if I were of a mind to.“
~ John O’Toole
“The philosophy behind much advertising is based
on the old observation that every man is really two
men -- the man he is and the man he wants to be.”
William Feather
“In order for you to profit from your mistakes, you
have to go out and make some.” ~ Unknown
“Vision without action is a daydream. Action
without vision is a nightmare.” Japanese Proverb
“They may forget what you said, but they will
never forget how you made them feel.”
~ Carl W. Buechner
”There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative
painter than to paint a rose, because before he can
do so he has first to forget all the roses that were
ever painted.” ~ Henri Matisse
“Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication”
~ Leonardo Da Vinci l
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Book Review: Bold Brand by Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM
Josh Miles is passionate about branding.
He’s passionate about your company’s
brand, too. But he’s got some news for
you: it needs help! This is the premise
of his book, Bold Brand: The new
rules for differentiating, branding, and
marketing your professional services
firm. He believes that B2B (business-
to-business) brands aren’t as evolved
as their B2C (business-to-consumer)
counterparts, but with the prevalence
of social media and other web-based
technologies, professional services
firms are finally waking up to the new
realities.
But first, he wants you to understand
your brand. As the owner of Miles
Design, a branding strategy and design
firm in Indianapolis, Josh regularly
works with clients that think about
branding too narrowly. He writes,
“We believe your brand encompasses
every element of your organization.
It’s in the delivery of your
product or service, your
office space, your building,
your visual identity… your
use of language, signature
sounds, and images… and
just as importantly, your
user experience, policies,
customer service, and
the conversations being
had about you. In short,
it’s everything from your
physical existence to your
reputation.”
Josh then provides direction
for evolving your brand and
creating a brand strategy.
He has a particular focus on professional
services, although his insight and
examples go outside of the professional
services realm as well.
He wants you to ask tough questions,
throw away your useless mission
statement, and truly focus on your niche.
The importance of “brand essence” is
presented, with a recommendation to
create a Bold Brand Positioning Brief
that encompasses:
- Your market category
- Who you are
- Who you aren’t
- What you believe
At the intersection of these attributes
you’ll find your brand essence, which is
critical for launching your branding or
re-branding strategy.
Josh next providesuseful guidance about
several brand implementation tools
including corporate identity, marketing
collateral, websites, and social media.
You’ll also find suggestions for rolling
out your new brand (or rebrand) and how
to engage your clients as well as your
staff (for instance, “Throw a brand launch
party”).
The book is filled with great content,
and includes a very actionable chapter,
the DIY Bold Brand Audit. Within these
pages Josh outlines his firm’s process
through a series of questions related
to positioning, voice and style, visual
identity, collateral, website, social media,
and other brand exposures—internal
and external. It’s like having a branding
expert ask you the tough questions that
maybe you were afraid or never thought
to ask yourself.
Whether or not you are planning to go
through a major rebranding process, these
questions offer a great way for you to at
least better know who your firm really
is—and the answers to these questions
can either be a springboard to evolving
your brand and moving to the next level,
or at least serve as a great reminder and
teaching tool that you can use to educate
your employees and empower them to be
better brand ambassadors for your firm.
To learn more about the book and
download a free chapter, visit www.
boldbrand.com. l
Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS,
CPSM is vice president of JDB
Engineering, Inc. (www.jdbe.
com) and president-elect of the
SMPS Foundation. He has more
than two decades of A/E/C
marketing experience and is
a Fellow of the Society for
Marketing Professional Services.
Whether or not you are planning to go through a
major rebranding process, these questions offer a great
way for you to at least better know who your firm
really is—and the answers to these questions can be a
springboard to evolving your brand.
