Determining a digital media campaign’s success isn’t always about one singular attention-grabbing event, but an ongoing cultivated effort that raises an organization’s profile, elevates the staff and engages current and future clients. serendipitous connections that were not available to us 3-5 years ago. For example, the firm established a Building Science Group in 2011 to better integrate sustainable design strategies into our design process. Today, this group has established a strong presence both online and off — from the over 50 blog posts published by the group in 2014 to the creation of new building science, sustainability and research sections on our website. Harnessing all that knowledge and organizing participation across the firm requires a particular skillset. One needs to demonstrate a comfort with the technology, but also an understanding for how to package the knowledge. Now, more than ever, firms need an internal channel through which to funnel all the content. That channel is responsible for establishing the firm’s voice, guiding the firm’s online presence and keeping the firm in touch with its mission. When I joined Payette in 2012, the firm had dipped a toe in the social media waters. The firm had re-launched its website with a blog featured on the home page, but that was the extent of the commitment. Without a system in place to produce blog content regularly, or a method for sharing that content, the firm had not yet fully embraced social media tools. Since that tentative first step, we’ve built a culture of participation. I encourage colleagues to submit content to the blog – about their projects, their research and their careers. In three years we went from publishing a few voices to publishing many voices. That culture of publishing and participation did not exist before. It’s become our standard of care. We see the success of our deep digital roots daily — in the anecdotal feedback we receive from colleagues about the client who felt like they already knew us based on our web content to the unexpected press inquiry because a Google search led them to our virtual front door. Our approach to digital media is holistic. Determining a digital media campaign’s success isn’t always about one singular attentiongrabbing event, but an ongoing cultivated effort that raises an organization’s profile, elevates the staff and engages current and future clients. We’ve sought to establish a clear and identifiable voice through a consistently growing presence. We’re highly engaged both inside and outside the firm. We want to give emerging professionals opportunities to have a voice, to speak up and speak as confidently as peers of those with 20 years of experience; to speak up in the community, to be activists in other places or to lead
at the local AIA level. The whole firm is deeper, bigger and better for that effort. I’ll say it again: The internet is a great equalizer. Embracing social media tools in an architecture firm does two very important and new things. First, it offers the staff a way to stay informed about what's going on at the firm and how all those goings on tie into the firm's larger goals and mission. When a colleague asks me about which conferences we've presented at, I can point them to the "conferences" section on our company blog. That's a rich, robust archive that didn’t exist before the blog. Secondly, social media offers both current and potential future collaborators an entirely new level of transparency. Our firm's blog is a bit like a window into the soul of our company. Readers get a sense of our identity, what we care about and what we spend time exploring. The internet is part of our daily life. Sharing on social media is almost second nature for our culture. And digital media, from email to websites to blogs to tweets, has changed how we communicate. Not just you and me, but our firms, too. Sure, we still call around. But those smartphones in our pockets might just be our most convenient and important gateways to the freshest ideas, advances, dialogues and thought leadership — the lifeblood of our industry — in A/E/C. ■
Above: Payette embraced the AIA’s “Look Up” campaign on their blog and the AIA reblogged a number of Payette posts, increasing the firm’s online presence and reach.
Karen Robichaud leads the online engagement, digital media and PR strategy at Payette. With previous experience in both marketing and design roles, Karen plays a critical role in the design and messaging of the firm’s client-facing materials, award submissions and published content. She has spoken at the Boston Society of Architects, ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX) and the 2015 AIA Convention.
WWW.AIA.ORG/YAF
AUGUST 2015
63