Architecture marketing consultant for practices and studios
Kirill Samarits works as an architecture marketing consultant for practices that want to win better commissions, and he is the Founder & CEO of TERAMOK, the marketing and production agency whose team does the execution from Chicago and Athens. This page is about marketing an architecture firm: how a practice is positioned, how its built work is presented, and how that presence turns into shortlists and signed appointments.
Marketing an architecture firm is not marketing to architects
The two get confused in search. Building-product manufacturers who want architects to specify their products need specification marketing, trade content and sales enablement. That is a different job and it isn't what this page covers.
An architecture practice has a different problem. Its clients are developers, private owners, institutions and public bodies. They hire on trust, on relevant past work and on a feeling that the firm understands their commercial goals as well as the design. The marketing has to show all three, clearly, to people who are not architects.
Proof, with sources
How developers buy. Many architecture practices depend on developers for work. The TERAMOK team spends most of its time on the developer side of the table, which is useful when a firm needs to understand what a developer is being measured on. Examples, all TERAMOK-reported and not independently audited (case studies):
- In Chicago, 22 of 48 units reserved before groundbreaking after a seven-month pre-construction campaign, with 180+ qualified buyer inquiries. The client is under NDA; reservations are not completed sales.
- In Europe in 2025, 2 of 3 villas sold 70 days before completion, $17M in sales, for a luxury villa development under NDA.
How the work is told. TERAMOK received two Honorable Mentions in PR Daily's 2025 Content Marketing Awards (Agency of the Year and Short-Form Video). Kirill also holds director credits on IMDb (nm13663464), which is relevant because project films are now a standard part of how practices present work.
How architecture is seen. In 2025, ArchDaily published Pnoes Tinos Design Holiday Villas by Aristides Dallas Architects with photography credited to Kirill Samarits (ArchDaily credit). It is an independent, third-party credit, and it matters here because it shows he knows what editors choose to publish and how built work reads in images. He was also named European Photographer of the Year, Nikon Europe (2018). Both are supporting credentials; the job on this page is marketing.
Working with an architecture practice. TERAMOK reports working with Aristides Dallas Architects since 2021 on project photography, film and architecture-focused marketing, with the practice's Instagram audience growing from about 8,000 to 20,000 followers. Audience growth shows reach, not commissions won. The CEO of FA Architecture and Partners left TERAMOK a 4.5/5 review on Clutch in July 2025 that mentions the team's eye and its knowledge of architecture and real estate development (read the review on Clutch).
To be clear about what's missing: TERAMOK hasn't published figures for commissions won by architecture clients, so none are claimed here.
Who this is for
- Small and mid-sized practices (roughly one to fifty people) with strong built work and weak visibility outside their existing network.
- Studios moving into a new sector, such as hospitality, residential development or mixed-use, that need to show relevant credibility before they have a long list of projects in it.
- Architecture and interior design firms that want one clear story across both disciplines.
- Principals who do business development themselves and need better material and a steadier pipeline, not a large internal marketing team.
- Practices in Greece and Europe looking for international clients, and U.S. practices working abroad.
Who this is not for
- Building-product brands marketing to architects (see above).
- Firms looking for a quick social media package with no link to commissions.
- Practices that are not ready to share project information, drawings or client stories. Without material, there's nothing to market.
The approach: six steps
- Positioning audit. List the commissions you want in the next three years: sector, size, client type and location. Then compare that with what your website, portfolio and principals' profiles actually say. The gap is usually large, and closing it is the first job.
- Project selection. Choose the six to ten projects that prove you can do the work you want next, not simply the most beautiful ones. Retire projects that attract the wrong inquiries.
- Project storytelling. Each selected project gets a case study written for a client, not a jury: the brief, the constraints (budget, site, planning, program), the decisions and the result for the owner. Photography and short film come from the same brief so the images support the argument.
- Publication and awards plan. A calendar of which projects go to which publications and award programs, when, and with what package. More on this below.
- Website and search. Sector pages, project pages with real detail, principal bios and structured data so that search engines and AI assistants can understand what the firm does and where. This is where queries like "architect for hotel renovation" are won or lost.
- Business development. Turn visibility into conversations: developer and owner target lists, RFQ and proposal material, shortlist interview decks and a simple routine for principals on LinkedIn and at events. Measure inquiries, shortlists and wins by source.
Common mistakes in architecture firm marketing
Most practices that struggle with visibility make the same few mistakes, and none of them is about budget.
- A portfolio organized for peers, not clients. Beautiful images with a one-line caption tell a developer or a school board nothing about cost, program or approvals. Clients need the reasoning, not only the result.
- Every project on the website. Showing all work makes a firm look general. Showing the right work makes it look expert in what the client is buying.
- Waiting for referrals. Referrals are valuable but unpredictable. A practice that wants a new sector has to reach people who don't know it yet.
- Marketing that stops when the office gets busy. Visibility built in a quiet year pays off two years later. Stopping and restarting costs more than a small, steady effort.
- No link between marketing and business development. If the principal leading a proposal can't find the right project story, image or film in minutes, the marketing isn't doing its job.
An architecture marketing consultant is useful mainly for fixing these structural issues. The creative work follows from them.
Awards and publication strategy
Publication works best when it's planned rather than hoped for. A few principles the team follows:
- Photograph completed work properly and early. Editors choose on images. Schedule photography before occupants change the space, and clear image rights with the client and photographer at the start.
- Pick the outlet for the audience. Design outlets such as ArchDaily build peer reputation and recruiting appeal. Trade and business press reach developers and owners. Local press reaches public-sector and community clients. Each needs a different angle.
- Submit fewer, better entries. A small number of carefully prepared award entries usually beats a wide spread of rushed ones.
- Reuse every result. A publication or shortlist should appear on the project page, in proposals and in the principal's outreach within days, not months.
How an engagement works
Kirill as consultant. He leads positioning, the project story, the publication plan and the business development routine, and he meets with the principals regularly. His fee is not published; it's scoped after a first call. For practices that want ongoing senior leadership, the fractional CMO page explains how that works.
TERAMOK as the execution team. TERAMOK's team handles photography and film, writing, design, websites, search and campaigns. Brand identity projects run $25,000–$60,000, and full retainers run $8K–$25K per month. Kirill discloses his role as TERAMOK's founder at the start. If you already have a photographer, designer or agency you trust, he can work alongside them.
For practices that also develop or co-invest, the real estate marketing page covers launches and presales.
Related pages
- How to market an architecture firm: 8 steps to more commissions: the full playbook, from choosing target clients to AI search.
- Real estate marketing: development launches, presales and lease-ups.
- Fractional CMO in Chicago: ongoing marketing leadership for developers, practices and B2B firms.
- LLM and ChatGPT SEO for real estate: how developers and architecture firms get named in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
- About Kirill Samarits: background and ventures.
- Press: company-issued releases, labeled as such, and recognition.
Frequently asked questions
How do you market an architecture firm?
To market an architecture firm, start with the commissions you want, not the channels. Kirill Samarits uses six steps: a positioning audit against target sectors and clients, selecting the projects that prove you can do that work, writing client-focused case studies with photography and film, a planned publication and awards calendar, a website built around sectors and projects with structured data, and a business development routine for principals. Success is measured in inquiries, shortlists and commissions by source, not followers.
What should a marketing agency for architects actually do?
A marketing agency for architects should help a practice win the right commissions. That means clarifying positioning, choosing and presenting projects for the clients the firm wants, planning publication and awards, building a website that explains sectors and expertise clearly, and supporting principals with proposal material and interview decks. The TERAMOK team, led by Kirill Samarits, does this work with photography, film, writing and search under one plan. An agency that reports only on likes and reach is measuring the wrong thing.
How do architecture firms win more commissions from developers?
Developers hire architects who understand their numbers as well as the design. Firms win more developer work by showing project results in commercial terms (budget, schedule, approvals, how the building sold or leased), by presenting work in the sectors the developer builds in, and by keeping in regular contact before a project is tendered. Kirill Samarits and the TERAMOK team work mostly for developers on launches and presales, so they bring direct experience of what developers are measured on.
Is it worth submitting projects to ArchDaily and design awards?
Often yes, if it's planned. Design outlets such as ArchDaily build peer reputation and help recruiting, while trade and business press reach the developers and owners who hire firms. The value comes from strong photography, a clear written story and reuse of the result in proposals and on the website. Kirill Samarits has an ArchDaily photography credit for Pnoes Tinos Design Holiday Villas by Aristides Dallas Architects (2025), so he knows how editors judge built work.
How should a small architecture firm market itself on a limited budget?
A small architecture firm should put its limited budget into three things: professional photography of its best completed projects, a clear website with detailed project and sector pages, and a steady routine of personal outreach by the principals. Paid advertising rarely comes first for a small practice. Kirill Samarits recommends choosing a narrow set of target clients, writing case studies for them, and reusing each project story across the website, proposals, LinkedIn and publication submissions before producing anything new.
How do I select an architecture marketing agency?
Ask how the agency will measure success, and expect an answer in inquiries, shortlists and commissions, not followers. Check that it can produce photography, film and writing to a standard your peers respect, and that it understands your clients' side, such as developer economics or public procurement. Ask for published, dated examples and whether results are independently verified. Kirill Samarits's TERAMOK labels its results as TERAMOK-reported and not independently audited, and hasn't published commission figures for architecture clients.
What is the difference between marketing an architecture firm and marketing to architects?
Marketing an architecture firm helps a practice win commissions from developers, owners and institutions through positioning, project storytelling, publication and business development. Marketing to architects is what building-product manufacturers do to get their products specified, through trade content, specification support and sales teams. The two are often confused in search. Kirill Samarits's architecture work is the first kind: helping practices present their built work and win better clients.
How much does architecture firm branding cost?
At TERAMOK, the agency founded by Kirill Samarits, brand identity projects run $25,000–$60,000, depending on scope such as naming, visual identity, website design and photography. Ongoing marketing retainers run $8K–$25K per month. Kirill's own consulting fee is not published and is scoped after a first call. A smaller practice may not need a full rebrand; often the better first spend is photography and a clearer website built around the projects it wants to be known for.