On 23 October 2019, the Museum of Architecture hosted a workshop called ‘Social Media Now’ at Build Studios. This aimed to bring marketing inspiration through social media to architecture practices.

The workshop focused on different marketing strategies associated with emerging social media platforms and ways to enhance online influence. It was lectured by Celeste Bolte, a design-focused communications manager specialising in strategy and social media. Celeste is the head of BowerBird UK, a platform connecting architects and journalists to get more coverage for architectural projects.

Participants enjoyed an interactive session, using a live example of one of their Instagram accounts to explore the various features available and how these could be used to maximise engagement.

Celeste also discussed how social media could be used to strengthen online marketing. Participants considered how factors such as the choice of channel, time of posting and appropriateness of the content were all important factors for marketing managers to consider. Above all, prior planning and systematic management of content was shown to be key in effective social media marketing.

By the end of the workshop, Celeste brought the table’s attention to the highly experiential feature of social media: “social media nowadays is more about connecting people to the world that they would want to live in”. For built environment practices in particular, this represents a great opportunity to inspire audiences through showcasing good design and the stories behind it.