Instagram for Architects

How to use instagram to promote your practice

Instagram continues to be a popular platform in the world of social media with over a billion monthly active users. But, can it still be useful for architects and designers to promote themselves? It can, and in this post we will look at some tips to help you get the most out of instagram and use it as a platform to market and promote your architecture practice.

Given the platform is based on visual content, it is particularly popular with architects and designers and a perfect place to share your drawings, renders, site photographs and finished projects.

Instagram gives you an opportunity to build awareness of your brand, drive traffic to your website and create a community.

At the end we will share our free Instagram for Architects templates.

Get your profile set up

Set up your profile as a business profile and make sure you have the link to your website in the bio.

A business account allows you to access analytics, which means you can see how well your posts and content performs, and track activities. You are also able to use Instagrams advertising platform should you wish.

A business profile also gives you authority to the Instagram audience, as it is more professional than a standard Instagram account.

Make sure your profile describes what services you provide, includes your logo and links to your website. If a client stumbles across your profile and likes what they see, they can easily click to visit your site.

What to post

This is the tough part. What should you post?

Be aware, posting regular content on Instagram can be time consuming and quite a commitment, it is good to make a plan so you know roughly when and what you will be posting in order to remain consistent.

There are plenty of options for architects when it comes to content on Instagram, here are a few ideas of what architects can post on Instagram:

• Sketches

• Snapshots from feasibility studies / planning drawings etc

• Development drawings

• Renders

• Architectural models

• Photographs of projects on site

• Photographs of completed projects

• Any media features

• The list goes on…

Try to keep up your branding and style throughout your Instagram feed, whether that is with your studio colours, a logo, or a format of posting. There are plenty of great accounts to look at for some inspiration when it comes to the styling of your instagram feed.

When to post

The most common problem architects have with Instagram is keeping up with regular consistent posting. It will help if you have a good content plan for sure.

Most argue that new posts should go live when your target audience is active. Usually Instagram users are most active at lunchtime and in the evenings. However, when it is particularly busy, you could get lost in the noise of all the other accounts posting at the ‘optimal’ time. Try a few different times to see when you get the best engagement. It takes a bit of trial and error but worth the exploration to see what works best for your target audience.

Using stories

Instagram stories gives you the opportunity to share photos, videos and text that will disappear in 24 hours. These are aimed at your existing following, those who want to catch up with you regularly and see what your company does on a daily basis.

Content that you can share in your stories can vary, you could try:

• Site visits

• Behind the scenes of projects or drawings

• Snippets of presentations

• Office shots/videos

• Inspiration and things other than architecture

• Events or other things that you attend

• And of course there are many more options

Engage with others

The whole premise of social media is that you have to be ‘social’! Make sure you engage with your followers and reply to comments and messages. You are building a community and also looking at engaging with your target audience or potential clients. As such, you would do well to respond quickly to any enquiries or messages as this could very well be the first impression for a new client.

Instagram Templates

Download our Instagram template sets for free! Here we have put together a template to help you plan out the style of your Instagram feed. This is really useful to help develop your proposed branding, and see how your profile will look as you develop your content.

We also include photoshop templates of the different size Instagram posts, so you can easily make sure all of your content is consistent. Instagram allows posts in square, portrait and landscape format, plus Instagram Stories. These templates are a great starting point for setting up your posts.

To download our Instagram Template Pack, completely free, just hit the button below and fill in your details.

Let’s Follow!

So in the spirit of Instagram – come and give First In Architecture and the Detail Library a follow! If you are an architectural practice just getting started with Instagram, tag us in one of your posts and we will follow you back!