The Ultimate Marketing Blueprint for Interior Design Business

Your passion to create beautiful and functional spaces deserves more than just word of mouth strategy for your interior design business.

There has never been a better time to market yourself online because the way businesses operate post-pandemic has changed for good. So, instead of treating marketing as another task on your to-do list, see it for what it is. An incredible opportunity to grow and expand your business.

As an interior designer and a small business owner given the current landscape, you’ve got to have a marketing plan for your interior design business. It will work for you 24/7 because, when the referrals dry up, your personal brand online should stand on its feet.

Marketing blueprint for interior designers

As you start creating an interior design marketing plan for 2022, consider these strategies that have proven to work for other successful interior design brands.

1. Know Your Audience

Having a clear idea of who you want to cater to and aligning your interior design marketing strategy accordingly has its benefits. Easy to market, time and cost effective, less competition… the list goes on.

Niching down. Sounds terrifying as niching down implies you have a smaller prospective audience. But what most people tend to forget is the community aspect of marketing to a niche. Also, by niching down, you automatically define your Unique Selling Proposition which will help you stand out from your competition.

Target a specific group of people and establish yourself as their go-to. Satisfied clients will eventually bring in leads and referrals.

Incorporate key insights from discovery sessions and consultation calls in your interior design marketing plan. Addressing your client’s pain points and getting instant feedback will help you grow as a business and strengthen your brand.

Having a hit product (or service) in a tight knit community which takes off on a broader level is always better than a mediocre product that caters to everyone.

2. Well-designed Website to Market Your Interior Design Business

Do you really need a website in this day and age of social media? Remember when MySpace was a thing?

Relying on social media as your only form of marketing to find potential clients is a rookie (not to mention risky) move. Especially if you want to grow your brand and stay relevant.

By setting up a well-designed website that is easy to navigate with a blog, you establish authority in your niche.  And you create a passive lead-generating channel. According to Hubspot, businesses that blog consistently get 60% more leads compared to those who don’t.

But, having a website with 90% images, no evergreen content and an outdated portfolio will do you no favor. A dedicated blog section can help you showcase your expertise and subtly sell your services. A testimonials section will provide social proof and past experiences. And a strong call to action will get people on your email list/book an appointment.

Bottom line, your website should be the one stop destination that attracts your dream clients for you.

I discuss other interior design website mistakes most designers make. I highly recommend you give it a read.

3. Email List- Most Ignored Part of an Interior Design Marketing Plan

Do new social media updates terrify you? The constant changes in the Instagram algorithm, ads, shadow bans, video content, hashtags… The list of features you need to keep up with just to make sure your content reaches your followers goes on.

An alternative to this exists. A platform where you set the rules. No algorithms to control your reach. No regulations or guidelines on how much content you can post. A platform where you can send personalized messages to your audience. And connect with them on a deeper level.

Email list.

Your email list.

Something most interior design businesses (and businesses in general) ignore is starting an email list. Do people even read emails?

Yes. In fact, two thirds of customers that made a purchase state that it was a direct result of the email marketing message they received according to Hubspot.

Still hesitant? The fact that you don’t own any of the likes, shares or follows on all of your social media platforms should convince you to start an email list right away.

With an email list that you own completely, you can educate, inform and impact peoples buying decisions, making inbound marketing child’s play.

Hiring someone to do this can change a lot for your business. From brand awareness to sales and leads. If writing snappy email subject lines (or emails in general) that convert and that people actually want to open and click through is not your forte, I’d be more than happy to help.

4. Solid Interior Design Content Strategy

Do you have a blog on your website because it is “nice to have one” and publish content because “that is what content writing is”? Or are you on the other side of the spectrum where you have no idea what to write so you don’t have a blog section?

Reconsider how you approach your content strategy.

In a nutshell, content strategy is your why.

With a well-defined content strategy, you can publish content that sells (while you sleep). As opposed to posting random generic messages or nothing at all. Once you define your why, it becomes easier for you to attract the right audience. And convert them into loyal customers through your content.

Think of content strategy as a marketing blueprint for your interior design business. You write a blog post about problems people face in your niche and offer your product or service as a solution. So, next time you sit down to write a blog post, make sure you have a rock solid why defined.

What not to do for your interior design content

For example, don’t blog about how to DIY your powder room if you don’t want to attract the DIY type of market. Instead, target people you actually want to work with. Create educational content in a way that showcases your talent and creativity. Which leaves your audience wanting to hire you to do it for them, as opposed to learning from you and DIY it.

I know this can seem overwhelming for an interior designer as squeezing website copywriting into your busy schedule is not time effective.
A professional copywriter can take this off your plate by tapping into your brand and connecting with your audience using the right words. I would love to help you identify your voice and produce content that resonates with your audience. Reach out to me here.

5. Social Media Presence

When was the last time you had the patience to find a small business in your area? On the contrary, if I asked you to name a few small businesses you found on Instagram, I’m sure you’ll come up with an answer.

2020 changed the way the world functions. This changed so much for how businesses operate too. In this digital world, you can go only so far with word of mouth strategy. Hence, it is important to have a social media presence.

Social media for your interior design business is the easiest way to get access to a specific group of people and connect with them on a personal level. People buy from those they trust. With social media, building the know-like-trust factor has become easy. Take advantage of this to talk to your target audience directly.

When starting out, it is important to pick one or two social media platforms where your audience hangs out the most. Understand the ins and outs of one platform, build an audience by creating content consistently and engaging with them.

This is always better than trying to master multiple social media platforms at once because each one of them has a different tone and you’ll get lost trying to keep up with all of them.

6. Borrow an Existing Audience

Growing an audience from scratch is a tedious process.

When starting out your interior design business, it’s always a smart move to borrow an existing audience from credible people in your space.

Collaborating with people in your niche by writing guest posts not only gives you access to their audience, but can also act as a sustainable way of building high quality backlinks to your website, an essential part of SEO.

Look for reputable magazines and online publications to publish your work and build a profile as an industry expert.

Podcasts and interviews are a great way to grow your personal brand and build relationships with people in your industry.

Strong partnerships with vendors, third-parties and suppliers will make it easy for you to get referrals and more work opportunities as they are most likely in touch with your ideal clients.

Get involved in your local networking groups, LinkedIn and Facebook groups. This will help you gain exposure when starting out.

These were some interior design marketing tips you can incorporate to build connections with your ideal audience. If you’re ready to pull in your dream clients through the content on your website, feel free to reach out to me.