How to market an architecture firm: 8 steps to more commissions

How to market an architecture firm, in one sentence: choose the clients who commission the buildings you want to design, document your built work so those clients can judge it without you in the room, and put that proof where they look before they draw up a shortlist.

That's the short answer. The rest of this article is the long one, written from the client side of the table. I'm Kirill Samarits, a real estate marketing executive and the Founder & CEO of TERAMOK. My team and I have worked with Aristides Dallas Architects since 2021 on photography, film and marketing, and most of our other work is for the developers who hire architects. So I see both halves: what practices publish about themselves, and what the people signing the fee proposals actually look at.

What architects are really asking

I looked at twelve months of TERAMOK's Google Search Console data. People reached our pages through 56 different phrasings of how to market an architecture firm, with about 6,200 impressions between them. The wording tells you where firms are stuck:

• "how to market my architecture firm" and "how to market my small architecture firm": principals doing it themselves, usually without a marketing hire.

• "target market for architectural firms": firms that haven't decided who they are for.

• "architectural firm marketing collaterals": firms preparing for RFQs and pitches.

• "how to market architecture and interior design firm": combined practices with two audiences.

• "how to market architectural services": firms thinking about the service, not the portfolio.

A newer pattern shows up too. Some queries read like prompts, for example "looking to hire a marketing firm experienced in brand building for architects". Those come from AI assistants searching the web on someone's behalf. More of your future clients will meet you through an answer written by ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews, and those tools can only quote what's documented and consistent. Keep that in mind through every step below.

Step 1: choose the clients you want more of

Architecture doesn't have one market. It has several, and each one buys differently:

• Developers buy on risk and speed. They want to know you can get a scheme approved, keep it buildable and help it sell or lease.

• Private clients buy on trust and taste. They want to see homes like the one they imagine and to feel the principal will listen.

• Hospitality and commercial owners buy on guest or tenant experience and on operating cost.

• Institutions and public bodies buy through formal procurement: RFQs, scoring criteria and past-performance references.

Pick one or two to lead with. A firm that says it serves everyone gives a developer no reason to shortlist it over a firm that has done three buildings like theirs. You can still take other work. Your marketing just shouldn't be written for it.

Step 2: write a positioning line a client can repeat

The test for positioning is simple: could a developer explain in one sentence to their investment committee why they hired you? "Award-winning, client-focused design" fails that test, because every firm says it. Something like "Cycladic hospitality projects that open on schedule and photograph beautifully for their operators" passes, because it names a building type, a place and an outcome the client cares about.

Write the line first, then check every project page, proposal and LinkedIn profile against it.

Step 3: document every built project properly

Most architecture firms don't have a demand problem. They have a documentation problem. The best project in the office often has twelve phone photos, no drone footage, no plans cleared for publication and no written story. By the time anyone asks, the building is occupied and the moment has passed.

For every project worth showing, capture:

• Professional photography at completion, before furniture and signage clutter it, and again once it's in use.

• Short film. A 60 to 90 second walk-through now does more on LinkedIn, Instagram and in pitch decks than a gallery of stills.

• Drawings and diagrams you're allowed to publish.

• The brief and the outcome in numbers: program, area, budget band, schedule, approvals, and what happened after opening (sales, occupancy, awards, press).

• Client permission, in writing, to name them and use a quote.

I'd rather see a firm with six fully documented projects than thirty thin ones. Documentation is also the raw material for every later step.

This is personal for me. I started in visual work before marketing: I was named European Photographer of the Year by Nikon Europe in 2018. And ArchDaily credits my photography on Pnoes Tinos Design Holiday Villas by Aristides Dallas Architects (ArchDaily credit). Editors choose projects partly on how they read in images. Good documentation isn't decoration. It decides whether the work travels.

Step 4: build a website that answers the client's questions

An architecture website usually does one job well: showing images. A client arriving from search or from an AI answer needs more. Each project page should state the building type, location, size, client type, your role and the outcome, in plain text, not only in a caption on a slideshow. Add a page per service or sector you lead with (Step 1), a team page with real bios, and a clear description of how you work and what the first conversation looks like.

Plain text matters because search engines and AI assistants read text, not photos. If the only place your firm says "boutique hotels in the Cyclades" is inside an image, you don't exist for that search.

Step 5: make collateral that survives an RFQ

Collateral is what you leave behind when you're not in the room. The set that earns its keep:

• A capability statement, two pages, built around your positioning line and three best-matched projects.

• Project sheets, one page each, with the facts from Step 3.

• Case studies for your top three projects: brief, constraints, decisions, outcome, client quote.

• An RFQ kit with team CVs, references, insurance and standard answers ready, so each response takes days, not weeks.

• A short film for proposals and first meetings.

Keep all of it in the same visual system as the website. Developers compare shortlisted firms side by side, and a coherent set reads as a firm that runs projects the same way.

Step 6: earn publication and use awards properly

Publication in ArchDaily, Dezeen, Designboom, national design magazines and local business press does two things. It reaches clients directly, and it creates independent references that Google and AI assistants trust more than anything you say about yourself.

Submit only fully documented projects. Write the submission like a story: the problem, the decision that made the building, the result. Lead with your best two or three images, not twenty. For awards, pick programs your clients have heard of, and plan entries a year ahead so documentation is ready.

When you win or get published, the recognition belongs to the studio, and your marketing partner should amplify it rather than claim it. That's how we handle it with Aristides Dallas: their awards are theirs, and our job is to make sure the right people see them. Over five years of that work, TERAMOK reports the practice's Instagram audience growing from about 8,000 to 20,000 followers. That's reach, not a count of commissions, and we don't present it as one.

Step 7: get found in Google and in AI search

SEO for architects isn't about blogging every week. It's about being the obvious answer for a small number of specific searches, such as "[building type] architect in [place]".

• Give each sector and each major project its own page with plain-text facts.

• Keep your firm's name, address, founding year, principals and awards identical everywhere: website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, directories, award listings.

• Add structured data (Organization, Person and project pages) so machines can read who you are.

• Get listed where clients and AI tools look for recommendations: professional directories, award winners' lists, review platforms and published project credits.

AI assistants build recommendations from these same sources. When someone asks for "an architect for a boutique hotel in the Greek islands", the tool looks for firms whose documented projects, press and listings all say the same thing. Consistency is the signal.

Step 8: run business development like a system

Most commissions still come from relationships: repeat clients, developers who've worked with you before, brokers, contractors, engineers and other consultants. Marketing's job is to make those relationships easier to start and to keep warm.

• Keep a simple list of the 50 to 100 clients and referrers who matter most.

• Share each new project with them personally when it's published, not only on social media.

• Have principals post on LinkedIn about decisions and outcomes, not just finished images.

• Track where every inquiry came from and which ones became commissions. After a year, you'll know which of the steps above is paying for itself.

Marketing a small architecture firm on a limited budget

If you're a small studio, do Steps 1 to 3 properly and keep everything else lean. Spend first on professional photography of your two best projects, a clear website with one page per project, and a positioning line. Then submit one of those projects for publication. Skip paid advertising at first: architecture is rarely bought from an ad, and a small budget spreads too thin across it.

Marketing an architecture and interior design firm

Combined practices have two audiences: developers and owners who buy buildings, and owners and operators who buy interiors. Keep one brand, but give each service its own pages, project sheets and positioning line. Show projects where you did both, since that's your advantage over a single-discipline firm.

Marketing an architecture firm vs marketing to architects

These are different jobs, and search mixes them up. Marketing to architects means building-product manufacturers trying to get specified, through trade content, CPD sessions and sales enablement. Marketing an architecture firm means winning clients who commission buildings. If an agency's case studies are about products being specified, it's solving the other problem.

What architecture firm marketing costs

Costs depend on how much is produced and how much you do in-house. For reference, TERAMOK's published prices are:

• brand identity: $25,000–$60,000

• launch websites: $25,000–$50,000

• films: $15,000–$50,000

• full retainers: $8,000–$25,000 per month

A small firm can start well below that by focusing on photography and a clear website. Whatever you spend, tie it to a result you can check: shortlists, invitations to tender, or commissions from the target client type.

How to choose a marketing partner

Ask to see work for architecture practices, not only for property. Ask who shoots the photography and film, because in-house production usually means better documentation. Look for independent reviews. For example, the CEO of FA Architecture and Partners left TERAMOK a 4.5/5 review on Clutch in July 2025 (Clutch profile). And ask what they'll report on. If the answer is followers and impressions only, keep looking. For a ranked comparison, see TERAMOK's guide to marketing agencies for architecture firms. I lead TERAMOK, so treat that list as a disclosed perspective.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best marketing strategy for an architecture firm?

The best strategy is focus plus proof. Choose one or two client types, such as developers or private homeowners, and write a positioning line they can repeat. Then document every strong built project with professional photography, film, drawings and outcomes, and publish that proof on a clear website, in design press and in consistent listings. Commissions follow when the right clients can judge your work without you in the room. Paid ads usually come last, if at all.

Who is the target market for an architectural firm?

An architectural firm's target market is the clients who commission its kind of building: property developers, private clients, hospitality and commercial owners, or institutions and public bodies. Each buys differently. Developers weigh risk and speed, private clients weigh trust and taste, operators weigh experience and running costs, and public clients buy through formal procurement. Firms grow faster when they lead with one or two of these groups instead of addressing all of them at once.

What marketing collateral does an architecture firm need?

An architecture firm needs a two-page capability statement, a one-page sheet for each key project, full case studies for its best three projects, an RFQ kit with team CVs and references, and a short project film. All of it should use the same visual system as the website. Developers compare shortlisted firms side by side, so a coherent set signals a practice that runs projects with the same care.

How can a small architecture firm market itself on a budget?

A small architecture firm should spend first on professional photography of its two best projects, a simple website with one plain-text page per project, and a clear positioning line. Next, submit one well-documented project to a design publication and share it personally with past clients and referrers. Paid advertising rarely wins architectural commissions, so it's usually the last place a small budget should go.

How do architecture firms get found in AI search tools like ChatGPT?

AI assistants recommend firms whose facts they can find and cross-check. That means plain-text project pages that state building type, location and outcome; identical firm details across the website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories; structured data; and independent references such as published projects, award listings and client reviews. A firm that is documented consistently in several trusted places is far more likely to be named in an AI answer.

Is marketing an architecture firm different from marketing to architects?

Yes. Marketing an architecture firm means winning clients who commission buildings, through positioning, documented projects, publication and business development. Marketing to architects means building-product manufacturers trying to get their products specified, through trade content, CPD sessions and sales support. The two need different agencies, different content and different measures of success, so check which one a marketing partner actually does.

About the author

Kirill Samarits is a real estate marketing executive and entrepreneur based in Chicago and Athens. He is the Founder & CEO of TERAMOK and the founder of BUY GREECE and FOS AI, with 13+ years in marketing. ArchDaily credits his photography on Aristides Dallas Architects' Pnoes Tinos villas, and Nikon Europe named him European Photographer of the Year in 2018. He also advises architecture practices directly; see architecture marketing.