Speaking to Client Audiences

Challenge

Awards help business development efforts by elevating firms above their competitors. They also provide valuable visual assets for marketing and social-media content. Another benefit of entering professional awards is that prominent jury members review the submissions; jury members are often media professionals or other architects who sit on approval boards, project competition juries, and conference committees. The primary challenge is prioritizing which awards programs are the best matches for our clients’ budgets and goals—whether recognition for a specific project, firm, or individual.

Challenge

Taylor & Company’s clients derive several benefits from serving as industry spokespeople—elevating thought-leadership stature, demonstrating expertise in front of people who hire architects, and recruiting by presenting the firm as an exciting place with interesting projects. To gain speaking slots, it’s essential to plan ahead, as conferences are often booked many months in advance. We keep an active calendar of conferences that cover a wide range of topics applicable to our clients—real estate, healthcare, education, housing, hospitality, etc.—and suggest strategic events to both speak at and attend.

Strategy

Taylor & Company prioritizes clients’ specific speaking goals and identifies spokespeople with their respective topics and angles. When we place clients, Taylor & Company collaborates with them on submissions, often suggesting topics. We schedule pre-event interviews with the promotional staff, and draft and furnish speaker bios, firm backgrounders, headshots, and presentation overviews. As needed, we’ll rehearse the talk and provide feedback. We also review presentation recordings and make suggestions on refinements for future speaking opportunities. As online webinars flourished, we could more often place clients, since travel was no longer a concern.

strategy

Taylor & Company has chaired awards committees and uses this insight to council clients on which programs can provide the best platform for uplifting clients and their projects. We maintain a growing calendar of awards that includes deadlines and eligibility requirements. In addition to awards consultation, Taylor & Company can manage the submission process. This usually entails our team writing text to fit word-count requirements, gathering additional information, and re-formatting photography according to specifications. Each submission has different parameters.

Further, we serve as a resource for event bookers. We have often placed more than one client on a panel and have created panels for conferences. For the 2023 Disrupt Business of Architecture Symposium, we booked staff from the majority of our client base to speak on different aspects of professional practice. To maximize reach, we contact media covering events to highlight our clients’ expertise and offer their availability for editorial comment. We attend as many functions as possible, taking photographs and quotes for social media exposure. As well, we repurpose talks and presentations into additional media opportunities.

Results

For business development, Taylor & Company places our clients in front of people who hire architects, at both educational conferences, such as Hospitality Design Expo and Dwell on Design, as well as the sponsored venues Bisnow and GlobeSt., often negotiating favorable rates. For a multifamily trends panel, we arranged for an architect client and his developer client to present together with an added goal of solidifying their relationship. Client feedback reports that at least one project came directly from this panel, with multiple additional inquiries about potential future projects.

We have made an effort to find opportunities to bolster our female clients, booking them for Building, Design & Construction’s Women in Residential & Commercial Construction Conference, Green Pearl Real Estate Women’s Forum, and Bisnow’s Women Leading Real Estate.

Often overlooked, local awards offer opportunities to stand out in the community. Many business journals and urbanism groups offer awards programs that recognize local projects and staff for a variety of accomplishments. As well, several awards programs offer opportunities to support younger team members with “40 Under 40” and similar commendations for new talent. On the other end of the spectrum, senior staff may be eligible for “Life Achievement” and “Legacy” awards.

Results

Awards wins are marketing tools with impact, as they recognize important industry achievements. They provide engaging web and social-media content, and they bolster “About Us” boilerplates with impressive results. Taylor & Company reinforces award wins by creating and distributing announcements, which often result in additional coverage and features.

To supplement future individual awards submissions, show expertise, and sometimes convey a recruiting message, Taylor & Company will seek events with AEC audiences. These include programs with AIA chapters, Professional Practice classes, and media-sponsored opportunities. Having successfully offered speakers for the Architectural Record Academy panels, Taylor & Company has become a trusted resource to the organizers, receiving requests for panelists. Popular Academy programs have an audiences of more than 700 during the live webinar, with additional reach to on-demand learners watching the archived events.

Individual achievement awards can also help fuel future campaigns for other professional certifications, such as AIA College of Fellows admission, boards of directors candidacies, and other committees and endeavors. All previous project and individual award wins fuel submissions for firm awards.

More Results

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Ready to elevate your company’s presence in the media? Contact us today to learn more about our marketing and public relations team and how we can help you achieve your  goals in the industry. Let’s tell your story and make an impact together.