Effectively Market Your Interior Design Services

Once you’ve cleared the hurdle of setting up your interior design business, there’s a whole new challenge: maintaining the high energy that originally motivated you and finding the clients that keep your business successful! But don’t panic. While effectively marketing your interior design business might require some planning and hustle, there are definitely ways to automate aspects of your plan and focus on the tools that work for you. As an OBM, I’ve helped clients identify marketing strategies that work for them, and I am very excited to share a few recommendations for effectively marketing your interior design services to your ideal client.

Solve a Problem

No matter how you go about it, it’s important to focus your efforts on solving a problem. Interior design is a luxury service—especially in today’s economy—all the more reason to diversify your services, hone your niche, and ensure that everything you offer solves a real problem your ideal clients face. 

Take a moment to brainstorm how your services and expertise can solve a key paint-point for your ideal client. How do your services make their lives easier? What solutions do you offer? What will they no longer have to worry about after signing their contract with you?

Now, on to some of the best ways to market your interior design services!

Word of Mouth

It might be hard to self-promote, but one of the best ways to spread the word is to tell everyone you know that you’re an interior designer. Take a few minutes to develop an elevator pitch to use whenever anyone asks what you do for a living. Use that elevator pitch at networking events and as your tagline on Houzz.

Networking

Invest in attending local and industry networking groups. Your local chamber of commerce is a great place to start, and finding your local chapter of IDS can be very educational. Additionally, industry markets (like High Point Market) are not only fun and informative, but they help keep you on top of trends and connect you with industry professionals who could be future collaborative partners.

Email Marketing

Emails have remained one of the strongest ways to market your business. Building your email list means that every time you send an email, your brand and business are seen by potentially hundreds of people all at once, even if they don’t open the email. Email funnels are a great way to also provide more information and connect on a personal level with potential clients. Just remember, the people on your list had to sign up to get information from you… that means they are already interested, even if it means they are waiting for the “right” time to work with you.

The best way to start is with a value-packed freebie that will attract your ideal client. This will inspire them to exchange their email for the freebie, and from there they will be entered into your email funnel of 5-7 emails that advertise your services, tell your story, and address client pain-points. Then, stick to a regular email schedule (once a month, once a week, etc.) and keep your audience engaged in your business.

If writing is not quite your area of expertise, this is a great opportunity to hire a copywriter or take advantage of AI!

Portfolio

Interior design is a visual experience. While a fluffy about me page or an enticing freebie are great lead generators, a well-curated and professional looking portfolio is what draws clients in to seal the deal. There are a few ways you can create a portfolio, the best usually includes a gallery page on your website with project features and a bunch of pictures. For SEO purposes, creating a case study along with each project to have it’s own page will help drive traffic as well.

Another option would be to hop onto Canva and create a portfolio that combines photos and text that gives some background on various projects that you can share digitally or print out.

No matter which route you choose, ensure your portfolio is optimized (quality photos, well-written copy, loads easily, etc.), reflects your design style niche, and shows off the best side of your work. 

Social Media

Ever an intimidating beast, properly managing social media can feel overwhelming and draining. However, there are some key things you’ll definitely want to do: stay consistent, stay on brand, focus on reels, and find the best platform for your ideal client.

Consistency is important in both consistent branding across all platforms you use and in posting schedule. Almost every platform favors accounts that keep to a regular schedule. Additionally, it is vital to keep your branding consistent—use the same color palette, utilize your elevator pitch, and stick to the same keywords and visuals. 

Additionally, you shouldn’t be afraid to talk about yourself. Decide ahead of time how much of your personal life you’re willing to share and throw in a few posts a month that show your face and talk about you! Being relatable will always drive followers. Another great post option is to invite followers behind the scenes and into the decision-making process. Show them the backend of the business to give them insight into how you work. Reels are a great way to do this and are also a preferred type of post on Facebook and Instagram.

Finally, find the best platform for your clients. Not all social media platforms are created equal, and your niche will determine the best way to reach your people. Who is your ideal client? Where are they most likely to hang out online? Consider Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tik Tock and Twitter. All of these places tend to attract certain age groups, demographics with specific interests, and might even be more popular depending on geographic location. A little bit of research in this area might help you narrow down your online focus and help you pick the platform that best serves you.

Invest in Yourself

Much like self-promotion, it can be difficult to justify investing in yourself and your business. It’s easy to feel like all of our focus should be on clients—and we easily forget that oftentimes investing in ourselves is investing in our clients.

So, I’m going to put on my Online Business Manager hat and encourage you to hire a website designer, bring a social media manager onto your team to run an audit and manage that side of the business. Find a local professional photographer and get quality photos of your designs, take an SEO course or hire and SEO expert. Hire a copywriter to create and clean up your website, blog, email, and social media copy.

It’s all worth it because at the end of the day you want to put your best foot forward so when your ideal client sees the fruit of your marketing efforts, they sign that contract!

My Final Note

You’re not alone. Remember, an Online Business Manager helps business owners every step of the way—both identifying areas that need improvement (including marketing efforts) and developing good strategy. We also offer resources and administrative assistance to reach all of your marketing and business goals!