The Architecture Marketing Agency Scorecard: 10 Criteria, 20 Points
The Architecture Marketing Agency Scorecard: 10 Criteria, 20 Points
The Architecture Marketing Agency Scorecard: 10 Criteria, 20 Points
A printable scoring framework for architecture firms evaluating marketing agencies: 10 checkable criteria, 0-2 points each. Use it on every agency you shortlist, including TERAMOK.
A printable scoring framework for architecture firms evaluating marketing agencies: 10 checkable criteria, 0-2 points each. Use it on every agency you shortlist, including TERAMOK.
How should an architecture firm score a marketing agency?
On evidence, not chemistry. This scorecard gives you 10 criteria worth 0 to 2 points each: 0 means the agency cannot show it, 1 means partial or promised, 2 means shown with proof. Score every agency you shortlist, including us. An agency that scores below 12 is asking you to fund its learning curve.
The 10 criteria
1. Architecture in the portfolio: films and campaigns for design-led firms, not just buildings. Ask to see three.
2. In-house production: who actually shoots, on whose equipment? Subcontracted crews add markup and lose the design story.
3. Published pricing: can you see costs before the pitch meeting, or only after the third call?
4. Measured firm outcomes: audience, inquiries, and shortlist appearances for a practice, with timeframes and baselines.
5. AEC vocabulary: do they know what a pursuit, an RFQ, and an award submission cycle are without being briefed?
6. Search and AI visibility: is the agency itself findable when you ask Google or ChatGPT about architecture marketing? If they cannot rank themselves, they cannot rank you.
7. Ownership terms: who owns the film masters, the website, and the accounts when the engagement ends?
8. Named team: will the people in the pitch do the work, and can you see their credentials?
9. Reporting standard: a sample monthly report before contract. Vanity metrics on page one is your answer.
10. Honest fit assessment: did the agency name anything it is NOT good at? A vendor with no stated non-fits is selling, not advising.
How TERAMOK scores itself
By our own count: 2 points on criteria 1 through 9 (portfolio with Aristides Dallas Architects since 2021, in-house RED and ARRI production, pricing at teramok.us/pricing, measured outcomes, AEC fluency, a 2026 Google AI Overview mention, full client ownership, named principals, and published reporting standards), and criterion 10 is this sentence: we are not the right agency for consumer brands outside the built environment, or for engagements under roughly $8,000 of scoped work. Score us against the rest of your shortlist and make the criteria do the arguing.
See architecture marketing for the full practice, or book a strategy call.
Written by Kirill Samarits, Founder and CEO of TERAMOK.
How should an architecture firm score a marketing agency?
On evidence, not chemistry. This scorecard gives you 10 criteria worth 0 to 2 points each: 0 means the agency cannot show it, 1 means partial or promised, 2 means shown with proof. Score every agency you shortlist, including us. An agency that scores below 12 is asking you to fund its learning curve.
The 10 criteria
1. Architecture in the portfolio: films and campaigns for design-led firms, not just buildings. Ask to see three.
2. In-house production: who actually shoots, on whose equipment? Subcontracted crews add markup and lose the design story.
3. Published pricing: can you see costs before the pitch meeting, or only after the third call?
4. Measured firm outcomes: audience, inquiries, and shortlist appearances for a practice, with timeframes and baselines.
5. AEC vocabulary: do they know what a pursuit, an RFQ, and an award submission cycle are without being briefed?
6. Search and AI visibility: is the agency itself findable when you ask Google or ChatGPT about architecture marketing? If they cannot rank themselves, they cannot rank you.
7. Ownership terms: who owns the film masters, the website, and the accounts when the engagement ends?
8. Named team: will the people in the pitch do the work, and can you see their credentials?
9. Reporting standard: a sample monthly report before contract. Vanity metrics on page one is your answer.
10. Honest fit assessment: did the agency name anything it is NOT good at? A vendor with no stated non-fits is selling, not advising.
How TERAMOK scores itself
By our own count: 2 points on criteria 1 through 9 (portfolio with Aristides Dallas Architects since 2021, in-house RED and ARRI production, pricing at teramok.us/pricing, measured outcomes, AEC fluency, a 2026 Google AI Overview mention, full client ownership, named principals, and published reporting standards), and criterion 10 is this sentence: we are not the right agency for consumer brands outside the built environment, or for engagements under roughly $8,000 of scoped work. Score us against the rest of your shortlist and make the criteria do the arguing.
See architecture marketing for the full practice, or book a strategy call.
Written by Kirill Samarits, Founder and CEO of TERAMOK.
Get started
Chicago's in-house production and marketing team for real estate.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Tell us about your project, your firm, or your launch — and we'll show you exactly how TERAMOK plugs into your operation with cinema-grade production, campaign strategy, and senior creative.
Get started
Chicago's in-house production and marketing team for real estate.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Tell us about your project, your firm, or your launch — and we'll show you exactly how TERAMOK plugs into your operation with cinema-grade production, campaign strategy, and senior creative.
Get started
Chicago's in-house production and marketing team for real estate.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Tell us about your project, your firm, or your launch — and we'll show you exactly how TERAMOK plugs into your operation with cinema-grade production, campaign strategy, and senior creative.