Running a successful interior design business involves a lot more than just design. You also need to market your services and talents to your ideal audience, and this can feel overwhelming and intimidating at first. There are plenty of resources online that can help get you familiar with marketing, but we’re taking it a step further. We want to help you become an expert. To start, we’ll walk you through 13 innovative digital marketing strategies for interior designers + provide a list of online resources to help.
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13 best digital marketing strategies for interior designers
Here are our 13 best recommendations for digital marketing strategies for interior designers.
1. Create a stunning website
Your website is your digital showroom, the place where potential clients get their first impression of your work and capabilities. It needs to be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly.
Start with a clean, modern design that reflects your style as an interior designer. High-quality images are essential; they should showcase your best work and be professionally photographed. Include detailed descriptions of your services, and make sure your contact information is easy to find. A blog section can be incredibly valuable, as it allows you to share your insights on design trends, offer tips, and demonstrate your expertise. Regular updates to your blog can also help with SEO, ensuring your website appears in search results when potential clients are looking for interior designers.
2. Build & showcase a portfolio
A well-crafted portfolio is the cornerstone of your interior design business. It serves as a visual resume, demonstrating your skills, creativity, and unique style to potential clients. Your portfolio should be easily accessible on your website, showcasing high-quality, professionally photographed images of your best work (note: hiring a professional photographer to capture your projects is the best marketing investment you can make as an interior designer).
Each project should include detailed descriptions that highlight your design process and tell the stories behind your designs. Regularly update your portfolio to reflect your latest projects, ensuring it remains relevant. A compelling portfolio not only attracts potential clients but also establishes your credibility and expertise in the interior design industry.
3. Post Instagram stories
As an interior designer, Instagram may feel like your digital home. But it’s not enough to create reels and posts. Stories are an incredible way to build your brand, attract attention, and speak directly to your ideal clients. If you’re not sure how to tackle stories, here are some tips to get you started:
- Be real — your audience wants to see who you are. Clients are much more likely to hire a designer if they can see your human side. You’re also much more likely to attract like-minded people this way.
- Focus on personal connection — believe it or not, not everything needs to be related to interior design. While you don’t have to share every aspect of your life, and can keep whatever you want private, it’s always nice to share slices of your day-to-day, whether it’s a piece of art that inspires you at a museum or even just an amazing sandwich you had for lunch!
- Share behind-the-scenes action shots and videos — your viewers want to be on the design journey with you. You don’t need to wait until your project is polished and perfectly styled. Let your audience see the messy in-between moments, too.
- Share tips — Keep your viewers coming back with great actionable design tips and guidance, which also help showcase your authority and expertise.
- Create a “link” page for your profile — fill it with free guides, your website, and your other social media accounts. Ask viewers to check your profile for links when you talk about specific resources or sites.
For more ways to optimize your IG presence, view this complete Instagram marketing guide.
4. Join Facebook groups
Facebook groups can be an incredible place to connect with quality leads. Start by joining groups where your ideal audience is spending time. A few examples of the types of Facebook groups you might want to check out are:
- Local community Facebook groups — interact positively in local groups and comment on posts that are looking for help with design. In some circumstances, you’ll be able to share contact information for your business organically. In others, you may just want to share some tips and see where the conversation leads. It’s important to find the sweet spot between marketing services that community members need and being pushy.
- Facebook groups for interior design — these groups may have design opportunities pop up. Start by participating in discussions, sharing your opinion as an industry expert, and share your business information when appropriate.
- Home DIY or real estate Facebook groups — these groups could be local or more general. Share expert opinions and advice and lead back to your business when it feels natural to do so.
5. Offer virtual consultations
With the rise of remote work and virtual services, offering virtual design consultations can help you attract clients who prefer online services. Use video conferencing tools to conduct consultations, share ideas, and present design concepts.
Virtual consultations can be more convenient for clients, as they can be done from the comfort of their own homes. They also allow you to reach clients who are located outside of your immediate area, expanding your potential client base.
6. Participate on Pinterest
Pinterest is a powerful platform for interior designers due to its visual nature and the high level of user engagement. By getting active on Pinterest, you can showcase your projects, share design inspiration, and drive traffic to your website.
Create boards that reflect different styles, rooms, and design trends, and pin high-quality images from your portfolio. Use descriptive captions and relevant keywords to improve the visibility of your pins.
Engage with the Pinterest community by following other users, repinning content, and commenting on posts. Additionally, join group boards to expand your reach. Regularly update your boards with fresh content to keep your profile active and attractive to followers. Being active on Pinterest not only helps you reach a wider audience but also positions you as an authority in the interior design space. For more recommendations on marketing your e-design business specifically, check out our free guide here.
7. Send regular emails
Email marketing begins with building a robust list of ideal clients. The best way to collect email addresses of ideal clients is to offer a high-value opt-in on your website. This opt-in should be created to fill a need of your ideal client. If you’re looking for examples on how to create a high-value opt-in, check out this guide.
Once you’ve started collecting email addresses, be sure and send regular emails with high-value content. This will help you to not only build trust and credibility, but also stay top of mind with ideal clients when they’re ready to begin their interior design project. And if you’re wondering how exactly you’re going to find the time to write this email content, we’ve got you covered. Check out our detailed guide on how to use Chat GPT to do the heavy lifting (it can create up to 90% of your content for you!).
Some tips to master your email newsletters:
- Send regular email newsletters (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly at a minimum) so your readers know what to expect
- Write attention-grabbing subject lines.
- Provide links to free resources you have created, such as interior design blog posts or social media before-and-after posts.
- Personalize every email by making it address each contact by name, either in the subject or at the top of the email body.
- Stay on brand by adding your logo, keeping your content relevant, and using on-brand colors and images.
- Include CTAs to reach out to you to learn more about working together, and linking out to other helpful resources.
- Avoid using spam trigger words in your email newsletter.
8. Showcase client testimonials
Client testimonials are a powerful way to build trust and credibility. Positive testimonials can reassure potential clients that you are a reliable and skilled interior designer. Daunted by the thought of approaching past clients for a testimonial? Check out this blog post on how to both request and receive great testimonials that will help boost your business.
Once you’ve gathered your testimonials, feature them prominently on your website and social media profiles. Video testimonials are particularly effective, as they allow clients to share their experiences in their own words. Written testimonials can also be powerful, especially when accompanied by before-and-after photos of the projects.
Not all testimonials need to be formal. Whenever a client sends an email or a text complimenting your work, ask them for permission to screenshot and use their words on your social media and website.
9. Get your SEO (search engine optimization) straight
To do this, you’ll want to optimize your website for the keywords you want to show up in on search engines (SEO). Use Google’s Keyword Planner (which is free) or a paid tool like Semrush or Moz.
Make sure your website has keywords in:
- URLs
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Body content
- Alt image tags
To expand your keyword usage on your website, add a blog page and write valuable resources around each keyword you want to rank for.
Keep in mind that there are many aspects to SEO. It’s never a bad idea to hire a professional to review your search engine placements and strategies. If you’re doing the work on your own, take it one step at a time. Start with the tips above to get your basic system down. When you’re ready to dig a little bit deeper, head over to our SEO guide for interior designers.
10. Collaborate with relevant brands
Earning a collaboration spot with a big brand is the ultimate digital marketing coup for interior designers. Collaborations grow your following significantly, while simultaneously earning you the trust of the brand’s audience.
Tips for snagging that coveted brand collaboration:
- Tagging: Tag manufacturers when you share images of your designs that feature their products.
- Identify the right brands: Choose brands that align with your design style and target audience.
- Build a strong online presence: Maintain active social media profiles and a professional website to showcase your work.
- Create a media kit: Include your portfolio, audience demographics, and previous collaboration successes, if any.
- Network actively: Attend industry events, webinars, and join professional groups to make connections with potential brand partners.
- Offer mutual benefits: Clearly outline how the collaboration will benefit both parties.
- Reach out professionally: Craft personalized pitches that explain why you’re a good fit for the brand and what you can offer.
- Follow up: If you don’t get an immediate response, follow up with a polite reminder to keep the conversation going.
Even though your efforts aren’t guaranteed to land you a partnership, the potential exposure is well worth your time.
11. Start a blog
Blogging isn’t only for SEO purposes. Blog posts should serve as valuable content for your leads not only to help them find you in the first place but also to position yourself as a design industry expert and to keep them coming back for additional content.
To make a useful blog that drives traffic to your website:
- Start with a list of keywords you want to rank for.
- Identify valuable topics for each keyword.
- Write content that is useful to your ideal client, using the keyword in the title, the meta description, a heading, and the body text.
- Link to other valuable resources.
- Share your blog posts in email newsletters and on social media.
Make sure you’re posting often (at least 1x a month) to cover a variety of keywords and to keep your leads coming back to learn more.
12. Schedule your content
Online marketing for interior designers can feel overwhelming, but thankfully, there are tools to help. One of the best ways to use tools to automate your marketing efforts is to schedule content. You can schedule email newsletters and campaigns, social media posts, reels, and stories with the help of:
- Social media scheduling tools, like Later or Sprout Social
- Email marketing tools, like MailChimp or Zoho
Scheduling content not only takes daily tasks off your plate, but also ensures that your audience hears from you consistently, which builds brand credibility and awareness.
13. Join online directories
Listing your business on online directories like Yelp and Google My Business can help you attract more clients. These directories are often the first place potential clients look when searching for interior designers.
Create a detailed profile that includes high-quality images of your work, a description of your services, and your contact information. Encourage satisfied clients to leave positive reviews, as high ratings and positive reviews can boost your credibility and attract more clients.
7 digital marketing resources for interior designers
Use these free resources to start improving your online presence today. For more tips on digital marketing for interior designers, check out our free webinars, guides, and e-books.
1. Facebook Marketing for Interior Designers
This ultimate guide to dialing in your marketing strategy via Facebook will help you use your page and profile to attract leads and get more ideal clients.
2. Instagram for Interior Designers
Due to its highly visual interface, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms for interior designers. This guide will help you understand everything you need to know about using Instagram to market your business.
3. SEO for Interior Designers
There’s so much info about SEO out there, it can be overwhelming and difficult to decipher. This guide breaks it all down for you in an easy to understand way. And it’s specifically for interior designers, so you can apply everything you learn directly to your business.
4. Capturing and Nurturing Leads + Email Drip Campaign Template
Templates are lifesavers when it comes to DIY-ing your own marketing, which is why we created this Email Drip Campaign Template to help you get started, along with actionable tips for capturing and nurturing the right leads for your business.
5. Interior Design Websites that Sell
A high-converting website can make all the difference in the success of your interior design business. Check out our comprehensive guide (plus templates!) to transforming your website into a sales machine.
6. The Website Copywriting Formula That Consistently Wins Clients
Check out how to use the power of copywriting to consistently attract and win the right clients.
7. How to Win Interior Design Clients with Facebook Groups
Facebook groups can be a goldmine. Check out this video on how to use Facebook groups to win interior design clients.
Frequently asked questions about digital marketing
There are several softwares that work well for interior designers, depending on which area of digital marketing you need support with. Here are some of our favorites:
Email marketing — Mailchimp or Zoho
Social media scheduling — Later or Sprout Social
Website SEO — Semrush or Google Keyword Tool
All-in-one software — Design Files
Your main promotion platforms will be: your website, your social media accounts, and your email list. Start by creating a presence that represents your brand (and your work) well on social media. If you’re overwhelmed at first, begin with just one site that your ideal audience frequents. After you have a solid social media presence, focus on building your website. Add quality content to each page and extend with a blog or resource section as you’re able. Share content from your website and social media via email to reach your clients directly (newsletters, campaigns, etc).
For more advice, check out our resource with 17 proven tips to get more interior design clients.
Focus your efforts on platforms where your ideal audience is hanging out, provide them with quality content, and use CTAs to point them toward contacting you to learn more about your business. When you focus on these three essential strategies, you will see results.
Streamline your business with the top-rated platform for interior designers. Learn more about DesignFiles.
