For licensed architects and architecture firms of 1 to 50 people
Marketing for architects and architecture firm marketing software
AiMarketer does the marketing a small practice never has hours for: project write-ups from your site photos and notes, a monthly note to past clients, builders and developers, and search ads for the work you most want. Every draft uses your firm's real role on each project, keeps the word architect where your license allows it, and goes live only after a principal approves.
The agent drafts a real starter campaign for your business: the angle, three ads, a five-post calendar and a budget split. One free run, about 30 seconds.
You have had your free run here. Create your account and the agent writes you a full 90-day marketing plan for your business.
Campaign for . Describe your own business above to run yours.
Campaign angle & audience
Ready-to-run ads
Suggested budget split
First week of content
This is a live generated draft. Want AiMarketer to actually launch and optimize it for you? Describe your business above to run this on yours, or have AiMarketer launch and optimize the campaign for you. You have had your free run on your own business. Create your account and the agent writes you a full 90-day marketing plan for it.
No card required for the demo. Nothing publishes without your approval, and every approved post, email and ad is logged.
The short answer
Marketing for architects is mostly keeping past clients, builders and developers aware of your recent work, because about 70 percent of architecture billings come from repeat clients. Architecture firm marketing software splits into lead platforms such as Houzz Pro at $99 to $399 a month, AEC CRMs that quote, and AI agents that write and launch the posts, emails and ads for $49 to $499.
The constraint is time, not budget. AIA's 2024 firm survey found that about 75 percent of US architecture firms have fewer than ten employees, so marketing lands on a principal who is also designing, managing projects and chasing invoices. Industry surveys put AEC marketing and business development at roughly 3 to 6 percent of net service revenue, most of it that principal's hours.
Prices were read on each vendor's own US page in October 2026. Vendors that only quote are named without a number.
Where architecture work comes from
70%
of architecture firm billings were from repeat clients (AIA firm survey, 2019 billings)
Repeat client shares from the AIA Business of Architecture firm survey as reported by AIA Architect; firm size from AIA's 2024 survey insights; the spend range combines PSMJ (3.1 to 5.3 percent) and NSPE (5 to 6 percent) figures for AEC firms.
What architecture firm marketing software costs
Five kinds of tool a US practice pays for to win work. They solve different problems: Houzz brings homeowners, an AEC CRM tracks pursuits and proposals, marketing automation sends the emails, and an agent produces the content in the first place. Most small firms need one or two, not all five.
Residential leads, profile and ads
Houzz Pro
$99 to $399
A month on an annual plan. Design $99 and Pro $199 for one user, Teams from $399 with unlimited users. Ads packages from $499.
Project management, Pipeline add-on
Monograph
$45 to $490
A month by headcount. Pipeline, its CRM, is sold separately with no published price.
Unanet CRM, Deltek Vantagepoint, BQE Core
AEC CRMs
Quote only
Pursuit, proposal and project data for firms answering RFQs. Priced after a demo.
Marketing automation
HubSpot Marketing Hub Pro
$800
A month with three seats, plus a required one-time $3,000 onboarding fee.
AiMarketer
AI marketing agent
$49 to $499
A month. Writes and launches project posts, client emails and search ads after a principal approves.
$8.33
Average cost per click for home and home improvement search ads in LocaliQ's 2026 benchmark, the closest category for residential architects. There is no published figure for architecture alone.
$90.92
Average cost per lead in the same category. Commercial work sits closer to business services, at $5.87 a click and $93.69 a lead.
1 project
One new residential commission usually covers a year of software at any price on this page, so judge tools by the hours they save a principal, not by the subscription.
Advertising for architects and the word architect
Architects may advertise. What US states control is the title. In the four largest markets, the word architect, and often architectural and architecture, belongs to licensed people and to firms a licensee runs, in ads, job titles and firm names alike. Generic AI writing tools do not know whether your designer is licensed, and they reach for "architect" in every headline.
AiMarketer stores who on your team is licensed and in which states, and uses the title only for them. For design-build firms and unlicensed designers it writes "design" and "designer" instead, so an ad or a team page never puts the firm in front of a licensing board.
California
BPC 5536 and CCR 134An unlicensed person may not advertise as an architect or architectural designer, and a business may use "architect" or "architecture" in its name or services only if a licensee controls it.
Texas
Occupations Code 1051.701 and 1051.801, TBAE rule 1.123Only firms whose architecture is done by a registered architect may use the word in their name. Advertising as an architect without registration is a misdemeanor, $250 to $1,000 a day.
New York
Education Law 7302 and 7306Only a licensed person may use the title "architect". Engineers, surveyors and landscape architects may not call their work architectural unless licensed as architects.
Florida
Statutes 481.223Using "architect" or "registered architect" without a license is a first-degree misdemeanor, and an affected person can sue for an injunction plus fees.
From the California Architects Board, the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners rules, the New York Office of the Professions and the Florida Statutes, read October 2026.
Architecture firm marketing it runs for you
Give it the firm brief once: project types you want more of, the towns and clients you serve, who is licensed where, your role on each portfolio project and the builders and developers you work with. Every draft starts from that brief, so a project post never credits you with work a consultant did.
Project write-ups
A case study for each finished project from your notes and photos: the brief, the constraint, the outcome, your exact role and the team you worked with.
Past client and partner updates
A short monthly email to past clients, builders, developers and lenders with recent work and what you are taking on next, where most new commissions start.
Search ads for the work you want
Local ads on searches such as "residential architect near me" or "restaurant architect" plus your towns, pointing at the matching portfolio page.
Houzz and Google profile posts
Fresh projects and photos on the profiles homeowners and owners check before they call, posted on a schedule instead of once a year.
Social posts from site visits
Process shots and finished photos turned into LinkedIn and Instagram posts, with credits for photographers and collaborators.
RFQ follow-up
Thank-you notes after interviews and a check-in when a shortlisted owner goes quiet, drafted for the principal to send.
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1
It drafts
The month's project posts, client emails and ads, each with audience, budget and dates.
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2
A principal approves
Edit a line or approve it. Approved work goes out through the accounts you connect.
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3
It reports
Every Monday: spend, inquiries, and which projects and posts brought them.
Five lines an architecture firm ad should never carry
State title laws and the AIA Code of Ethics catch the same handful of phrases again and again. Each one is stored as a blocked claim, so a draft that uses it never reaches you, and the middle column shows what it writes instead.
Jane Ruiz, Architect (unlicensed staff)
Jane Ruiz, Project Designer
California Architects Board, NY Education Law 7302
Architectural design services (design-build firm, no registered architect)
Residential design and build services
Texas 1051.801, California BPC 5536
Our architects designed the Main Street library
Interior architecture for the Main Street library, with the architect of record named
AIA Code of Ethics, Rule 4.201
Guaranteed permit approval in 30 days
We prepare permit sets and answer plan check comments
AIA Code of Ethics, Rule 3.301
Award-winning firm (no award named)
The award, the year and the project it was for
AIA Rule 4.201 on performance claims
Credit is part of the claim
AIA Rule 4.201 asks members to state the scope and nature of their responsibilities on work they claim credit for. Design architect, architect of record and interiors are different claims, and a portfolio post should say which one.
The firm name counts as an ad
Texas and California rules reach the business name and the description of services, not only paid ads. A design-build company called "Smith Architecture" without a qualifying architect is a problem before any campaign runs.
Results are not promises
Rule 3.301 bars misleading clients about the results your services can achieve. Permit timelines, budgets and resale value belong in a conversation with the client, not in an ad headline.
A planning summary, not legal advice. Your state board's rules and your own counsel come first, and other states have their own title laws.
Which architecture practices it fits
Sole practitioners
One licensed architect doing design, drawings, site visits and billing, with marketing done in the evenings or not at all.
Residential studios of 2 to 9
Custom homes, additions and renovations, where Houzz, Google and builder referrals decide the pipeline.
Commercial and institutional firms of 10 to 50
Pursuing RFQs from owners and developers, with project write-ups and partner updates that never get done between deadlines.
Firms entering a new market type
Moving into healthcare, hospitality or multifamily and needing a steady run of content that shows the relevant work.
Engineering, accounting and law firms sell on the same reputation and referral pattern. They are covered on AI marketing for professional services, and every industry we write for is listed on use cases.
Which plan
Starter at $49 a month runs one channel, usually the monthly email to past clients and partners or the project posts. Growth at $149 runs posts, email and search ads together with budget optimization, which is where most firms should start. Scale at $499 covers up to 15 brands, for firms with separate studios or a sister design-build company, each with its own approver.
What we are not: a project management tool, a pursuit CRM or a Houzz replacement. Keep Monograph, Unanet or Deltek for projects and proposals. The agent works through the website, email, ad and social accounts you connect.
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Questions about marketing an architecture firm
How do architects get clients?
Mostly through people who already know them. AIA survey data shows about 70 percent of architecture billings came from repeat clients in 2019, and small firms earned 51 percent of billings from repeat clients hired without competition. New clients come from referrals by builders, developers and past clients, a portfolio site and Google profile that show the work, Houzz for residential, and RFQ responses for public and institutional projects.
How much should an architecture firm spend on marketing?
AEC industry surveys put marketing and business development at roughly 3 to 6 percent of net service revenue, labor included. PSMJ reported 3.1 to 5.3 percent and an NSPE article 5 to 6 percent. A firm billing $1 million a year would spend about $30,000 to $60,000 by that measure, most of it partner and staff time rather than ads.
Are architects allowed to advertise?
Yes. The AIA Code of Ethics has no ban on advertising, and it requires that claims about qualifications, experience and performance are not misleading and that project credit states your real role (Rule 4.201). State law limits who may advertise as an architect: in California, Texas, New York and Florida only licensed architects or qualifying firms may use the word in ads or a firm name.
What is the best CRM for architects?
For a firm under about ten people, the CRM inside the tool you already use is usually best: Monograph adds Pipeline to its project management, and HubSpot works if someone owns it. Larger firms chasing RFQs tend to use AEC CRMs such as Unanet CRM by Cosential or Deltek Vantagepoint, both quote only. Pick by who will update it weekly.
How much does an architecture marketing agency cost?
Architecture marketing agencies rarely publish prices. General marketing agency retainers are commonly reported at $3,500 to $10,000 a month, and one AEC agency says its clients invest $3,000 to $30,000 a month. Ask what the fee covers, whether ad spend and photography are extra, and who owns the website and ad accounts.
How do you market an architecture firm with a small team?
Pick two channels and run them every month rather than six channels once. For most small firms that is a portfolio and Google profile kept current with finished projects, plus a monthly email or post to past clients, builders and developers. Add search ads only for the residential or commercial work you most want, and write every project up with your exact role.
Can AI do marketing for an architecture firm?
AI can draft the production work: project write-ups from your notes, posts, emails to past clients and builders, and search ads, which is where small firms run out of hours. It cannot judge design quality or decide which clients you want. A licensed principal should approve anything that names the firm's services or credits a project.
Related reading
Pricing outside help before you commit? Fractional CMO cost sets out retainers and hourly rates, and Google Ads management cost lays out the three ways to pay for search ads. If you already run search campaigns, AI for Google Ads covers what Google's automation decides on its own. For the email to past clients, marketing automation software compares the senders you might already own.