The best content plans seamlessly integrate with a company’s marketing strategies. In the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, the content creation role often falls on a member of a design team or a manager with a wide range of responsibilities. As digital marketing has become a central component to practice, it’s important to establish content goals and a calendar that is accessible, manageable, and designed for the best results.
To avoid publishing content for content’s sake, you can maximize the efficiency of content creation in many diverse ways. But before you dive in, take the time to define why you’re setting up a content plan and what you hope to achieve by doing so. Your goals will help guide your production process and work, ensuring that each project or task is strategic and impactful.
The following ideas outline considerations for marketers, administrators, communication professionals, and all types of content creators. These ideas especially apply to those in the AEC industries looking to create engaging content for those inside and outside their respective discipline or field.
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READ MOREGoal 1: Position Your Firm as a Thought Leader
One of the advantages of a broader goal like thought leadership positioning is that it’s open ended; many people can expand on their individual interests or professional knowledge. This goal can take numerous forms, from publishing in trade publications and speaking engagements to project features shared on a blog or through your social media channels. Consider thought leadership both within an AEC office and how it can help your company build connections with others in the industry.
Share the work of those in the field, from key ideas to the strengths of project team members. Whether working as an architect, interior designer, engineer or construction manager, leaders can publish research, how they develop knowledge management resources, or simply what they think the future holds. You can utilize PR, as well as create your own content and share it, and in turn, showcase your talent as experts to potential hires and clients alike. It’s worth having a company-wide conversation to discuss thought leadership and existing projects already underway.
Goal 2: Recruiting New Talent
Setting content goals is not only about your team and the projects that are already underway, but also about how you attract the best talent to join your team and work with you. When you’re putting together this goal and how it plays out through content, consider what draws people to an AEC company. From office culture and benefits to career development and research, there are many ways to tell compelling stories that drive recruitment.
To hire the best and brightest, consider how you utilize your news section and celebrate employee achievements. Make it about more than job openings to form the narrative of your company, and at the same time, you can integrate news with your editorial calendar.
Goal 3: Refresh Existing Site Content
Even content creators who regularly bring new ideas to the table can benefit from looking back on what has already been done. More often than not, you’ll see opportunities to refresh past content that can really help with SEO, in addition to improving the content’s quality for those reading and engaging with it.
Setting a goal to refresh existing content can be implemented regularly, whether once a month, quarter or less frequently. The idea is that your best work is always what’s being presented, and you can remove what is no longer relevant or outdated.
Maybe the company has a neglected news section, or there’s simply information that has changed over time. Use this goal as an opportunity to take stock of what’s there and consider how you can improve what you create. Remember that upkeep reflects well on your brand, and at the same time, if a website or platform was specifically created to showcase a company’s best work, then you should take advantage of this.
Goal 4: Increase Social Media & Website Engagement
Often content creation can fall to the back burner, and for a variety of reasons. But establishing content objectives can help keep a company stay on track and reap the benefits of content that’s promoted on a regular basis. This holds especially true when you’re looking to drive social media and website engagement.
While engagement can take on many forms, the key here is making content goals measurable. You’ll not only be able to find opportunities for improving, but as well as how to best link content to business development. Track your progress and make adjustments as necessary. To drive engagement, consider the type of content you share, when and how it’s shared, as well as how others in your industry are finding success. It helps to dig into analytics for both social media and your website so you can address the findings with tailored content.
Regardless of a company’s size or market sector, content goals for the AEC industries will set content creators up for success. At the same time, great content plans are key to business and marketing strategies. Try to establish at least a few goals to help guide your process, and revisit these as you test new ideas and update your long-term strategy.
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