Communications Strategy for Architecture Firms: A Practical Roadmap
Who Needs a Communications Plan?
Architecture firms plan for a living. You set intent, study constraints, test options, and commit to a direction. You do it because you know the alternative: drift.
Yet ask most firms, “Do you have a communications plan?” and you’ll hear a pause. Not because they don’t communicate. They do. They post. They submit awards. They update the website when they can. They chase a deadline, then chase the next one.
That’s not a plan. That’s motion.
A communications plan gives your firm the same advantage a good design concept gives a project: focus. It helps you choose what you want to be known for, who needs to know it, and how you’ll prove it over time. It turns marketing from “we should really…” into a steady, intentional practice that supports growth.
Why every architecture firm needs one
Firms hire a communications partner when they feel the symptoms:
Your work outpaces your reputation. You deliver excellent projects, but the market still misreads you.
Your message shifts with every proposal. You sound different to every audience because you haven’t committed to a point of view.
You rely on referrals and luck. You want more control over pipeline, talent, and visibility.
You want to move upmarket or sideways. New sectors. Larger scopes. Different geographies. Better clients.
Your team carries marketing in their “spare time.” No one owns the system, so no system exists.
A plan solves for clarity and follow-through. It aligns communications with business goals so you can build momentum in the direction you choose.
What a communications plan is (and isn’t)
A communications plan is not a content calendar. It’s not “post three times a week.” It’s not a list of tactics.
A communications plan aligns four things:
Business goals: what you want next
Positioning: what you want to stand for, and how you differ
Proof: projects, expertise, and evidence that make the claim true
Audience: the clients, collaborators, and influencers who can unlock those goals
From there, the plan gets practical. It sets priorities, channels, cadence, responsibilities, and measures of progress. It creates a simple system your team can run.
A real example: how a firm earned a new reputation
Earlier in my career, I worked with a large international design firm known primarily for commercial interiors. The leadership wanted to shift perception. First, they wanted the market to see them as architects. Then they set a sharper goal: they wanted the firm to win and deliver tall buildings.
Tall buildings don’t reward generalists. They demand specialized knowledge, credibility, and visibility in the right circles. The firm faced a challenge: it had limited completed work that fit the category it wanted to own.
So we built a plan with a long horizon and clear steps:
We defined what “tall” meant in the market, including the categories the industry uses to judge expertise.
We mapped the ecosystem, including the organizations and convenings that shape credibility, such as CTBUH.
We audited the portfolio and identified the strongest relevant experience across offices and teams.
We created a narrative the firm could defend, supported by technical insight and built work.
We published, spoke, participated, and showed up consistently where tall-building decisions get made.
We tracked every win and every milestone, and we promoted each one with the same positioning lens.
That plan ran for seven years. Over that time, the firm built an unmistakable association with tall buildings. The reputation arrived before the first supertall opened, which mattered. By the time the market saw the building, the market already knew the story.
That’s what a communications plan can do. It helps a firm earn permission, then earn work.
Where do you want to go?
If you want better clients, stronger talent, more influence, or a new category of work, don’t leave it to chance. Decide what you want, then communicate like you mean it.
The Raygency builds communications plans for architecture and design firms that want to grow with intention. We’ll help you clarify your direction, sharpen your message, and put a system in place that makes your reputation catch up to your work.
E-mail The Raygency to start the conversation.