3 Quick wins to start marketing your interior design business this January

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So here we are at the start of 2024. A New Year is often a time to reassess your marketing strategy taking in to account the successes (and struggles) of the year gone by making time to re-evaluate what will make the best investment in your time, resources and marketing budget in the year ahead. If you’d like to get started on a plan for 2024 just click  here to book a quick discovery call.

However aside from making grand plans for the year ahead I’m sure that many of you are keen to hit the ground running this year and make a sure start so here are 3 marketing wins for 2024 that you can start work on right now in January.

1. How would you like to become an award winning designer?

One of the first things you can do this year is enter your projects to be up for a chance of winning an award. The BIID Awards are now open for entries.

BIID Awards for UK Interior Designers

You don’t need to be a BIID member to enter the awards and if you enter before 13th March you’ll benefit from an early bird price for the entry fee. There are other awards to look out for throughout the year as well – SBID Awards, Andrew Martin Awards, The Design and Architecture awards etc.

2. Get ready to promote your business with your “Houzz Best Of’ badges

Every year in January Houzz awards it’s Best of Service and Best of Design Badges. If you’ve been collecting Houzz reviews from your happy clients throughout 2023 it’s highly likely you’ll receive a Houzz Best of Service Badge. Display the badge on your website and start crafting those posts for social media as proof of your outstanding service levels and a mark of quality and reassurance to potential new clients.

 

Win Houzz awards for interior designers

 

Reviews and testimonials can be a powerful force to promote your business and the Houzz badge is just one of the ways you can put them to good use. For more ideas take a look at this blog post on how to promote your interior design business with reviews.

If your images are amongst the most saved on the Houzz portal you’ll receive a Houzz Best of Design Badge, a coveted title showing that your design skills are at the cutting edge of the industry and very popular with home renovators.

Views and saves on Houzz are accumulated throughout the year up to this point so the earlier you put your projects on to the portal the more chance you have of gaining views and saves to ideabooks. So pleased to see that one of our clients has this year featured in the Houzz best of Kitchen Design Story featuring the 10 most saved images on Houzz last year, boosting their visibility and website visits.

Houzz Marketing Fiona Mostyn

 

If you have a stack of portfolio images waiting to appear on Houzz contact us and we’ll get your portfolio projects uploaded with titles and descriptions designed to rank highly in the Houzz algorithm and get found by home renovators across the UK.

3. Write a blog post

As you may already know blog writing is one of the best ways to promote the visibility of your interior design business online without investing in expensive ads. A long term investment in your SEO, creating evergreen content which can help your website get found on Google for many years to come. When people want something in their lives the first thing they do is go to Google. You’ve probably already done this several times yourself today to try and solve a problem. Help potential clients see your value by showcasing how you solve design problems to create beautiful homes.

If you need some help building your blog pages to help your website rank in Google do get in touch.

how to market your design business with reviews

We’ve got an excellent record of creating Google first page ranking blogs, beautifully written and filled with inspiring images from your own portfolio or our own wide-ranging sources of copyright free images.

 

 

If you’d like to write some blog posts yourself but need some inspiration grab a copy of my guide – 365 Blog Posts for Inter

ior Designers. Packed with tips to help you create blogs that not only get found in search engines but help you convert those potential clients in to confirmed project bookings.365 blog post ideas

I hope these ideas will help you get your marketing of to a positive start for 2024. If you need more help with content marketing through blog posts and social media management get in touch and see how we can help.

Why advertise on pinterest?

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WHY SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE ON PINTEREST

Pinterest shopping builds a whole experience around transactional online purchases with the ability to predict trends and connect to inspiring content from brands, bloggers and content creators to research and inspire every purchase.

Pinterest has even developed augmented reality features so pinners can “try on” furniture in their own home before purchasing.

1. Pinterest users are interiors and lifestyle focused
With a target demographic that’s mostly female, with above average income and a strong interest in lifestyle categories, Pinterest is a place where people go to find inspiration and discover beautiful things that they want in their lives. Lifestyle categories feature as the most popular on the platform including home renovation, fashion, travel, crafting, food, parenting and events such as parties and weddings.

2. Pinterest audiences are engaged and ready to buy
Unlike other social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, where users are scrolling to catch up with friends and family, Pinterest users are actively searching and in shopping mode. They are scouring Pinterest and creating Pinterest boards to fill with ideas and products that they want in their lives. New home renovation ideas from an interior designer, places to travel or recipes to try.

3. Pinterest is an inspiring place to be
Pinterest strives to create a positive online experience, combining inspiring images alongside articles and videos with easy access to buy and recreate the look. The perfect way to search for interior design inspiration, travel inspiration, fashion trends and life hacks. Now with the augmented reality feature you can try before you buy too.

4. It’s easy to link your products to bring traffic to your website
Pinterest integrates easily with e commerce platforms. As a merchant on Pinterest your catalogue and product pins are given priority in search. You can easily start feeding links to your website and products through a variety of engaging content formats on the pinterest platform

5. An evergreen and long term investment in SEO
As Pinterest is search driven your investment in the platform is evergreen and unlike Facebook and Instagram, with the right type of optimised pins in place, your presence on the platform doesn’t simply disappear as if you switched off a tap once you stop your promotions. When switching focus to new products or services your previously promoted pins continue to work for you in search bringing traffic and sales to your website.

Get Started: Open a Pinterest Business account and start advertising
The first step in running ads is to create a business Pinterest account or change your existing Pinterest account to a business account. Then become connect your product catalogue to become a verified merchant and start building your presence on Pinterest.

Book your discovery call by clicking here
If you have a home decor business and you’ve been considering Pinterest marketing and Pinterest ads to boost your brand awareness and sales contact us

3 Interior design copywriting mistakes to avoid…

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As you’ll know by now if you follow this blog regularly writing blogs is a core part of the services here at My Deco Marketing. I’ve written hundreds of blogs for interior designers and home decor brands – over one hundred for one designer alone! Each one is carefully crafted in topic, creative writing, image choices and meeting technical SEO standards to give them the best chance of ranking in search engines such as Google as part of a marketing strategy to reach a wider audience.

As part of my research I also read a lot of writing, within the interior design world and other industries too. However this isn’t always blogs but a combination of books, editorial copy, online sales copy and social media posts. Whilst reading this content I come across these three interior design copywriting mistakes time and time again. They scream at me off the page, make me put my head in my hands and just shout why would you write that?!

To be fair they’re not really interior design copywriting mistakes and to help with this I’ll list some copywriting tips in good practice and what to avoid further on in this blog. The technical name for them is homophones which is a word to describe words that are pronounced the same way but have different meanings. They could more suitably be described as simple spelling mistakes or typos.

However how they read is as is slightly embarrassing misnomers that just don’t make any sense to a client. Not a good look if you’re trying to attract prospective clients to your business with the brand values of creative ingenuity and attention to detail.

3 Easy to avoid interior design copywriting mistakes

So here goes let’s take a look at the top 3 interior design copywriting mistakes, homophones, typos, misnomers or however you’d like to describe them that make me wince in pain on a weekly basis and that you should probably avoid to appeal to real human readers (not just Google) and attract new clients to your site.

 

1. Colour Palette

There it is, one of the most intrinsic elements of interior design practice – The Colour Palette. The dictionary definition of colour palette is… “a range of different colours.” An essential to write about on your website, blog and social media posts. I’ve listed this one first as it is the most frequently misused word with the most variants out there. Here’s what I often see as a substitute for this simple descriptive term …

Colour Pallet – This phrase makes no sense whatsoever. A pallet is a flat wooden structure designed to hold goods so that they can be lifted by a fork lift truck. You’ll often see it with furniture deliveries. The only sensible use of the word pallet in interior design copywriting I can think is talking about instagrammers’ diy garden furniture and not colour; which won’t really appeal to get target audience.

Colour Palate – Palate describes a part of your anatomy in the roof of your mouth. Palate also describes a sense of taste, both physically for food or intellectually and aesthetically for your taste in choosing things you like.

This is a tricky one as you may use the word palate to describe someones taste in colours. However more often than not people use the word palate not in the sense of a person’s tastes or appreciation but when they simply want to describe a range of colours.

 

 

2. Pared Back

The verb to pare means to trim or cut away at something from the outer edges. In a sense to cut away and reveal the essential core. Pared back is a common term in interior design copywriting. Often used in describing interior design schemes with a minimalist or very clean aesthetic where the design does away with frills, bells and whistles and makes a statement through it’s simplicity and clear focus. I bet you can guess what I’m going to say now! Which is that when you mean to write about paring back…. don’t write paired back!

Just one little letter makes all the difference here. I see this mistake so often… everywhere! I read it just yesterday, which is actually what prompted me to write this blog, on the Houzz profile pages of a large upmarket UK interiors brand. I went on to read the content to check that it wasn’t an ironic reference to symmetry in design or a pun to promote a new collection of something in pairs. Unfortunately not, the content refers to the simple aesthetic of shaker furniture with no mention of anything available in pairs.

 

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3. Kerb Appeal

Finally let’s talk about kerb appeal. I’ve written about this in a few incarnations. Usually it appears in blogs about home staging or quick DIY tips such as bank holiday makeover projects. So what could be wrong with this one?

Kerb appeal describes a home that looks attractive from the outside, essentially meaning the property is attractive to home buyers. A very good topic to write about and give tips on. However the trouble comes with the word ‘kerb’. The American spelling of ‘kerb’ is ‘curb’ and here is where the confusion sets in. Here in the UK the meaning of the word ‘curb’ is to limit or control.

 

interior design copywriting service for marketing

 

I’ve seen the expression ‘Curb Appeal’ so many times on Pinterest promoted blogs which is fine if your business is US based however if your business is based in the UK and aimed at attracting UK customers posting a blog or social media post about curb appeal is essentially advertising that you are limiting the attractiveness and appeal of their home – not a good look for a design business.

So there we have it 3 very easily avoidable mistakes when it comes to interior design copywriting. There are many more that I could mention – I don’t see them as often, yet frequently enough to feature here so believe me that they are out there, here’s just a few…

  • Sealing – Ceiling
  • Missed Coat – Mist Coat
  • Draught plans – Draft Plans
  • Window pain – Window Pane
  • Footstall/otterman – Footstool/ottoman

How can I avoid these mistakes as an interior design business

Well firstly you could take all of the stress out of your day and get a professional interior design copywriter to do it for you – get in touch if you’re ready to do this. We’ll start by looking at the topics that would best suit your business and analyse how we can write them to get your business found in the search engines. We’ve done this for many interior design studios and we’d be pleased to share some of our first page results with you that bring our clients traffic day after day.

Secondly these aren’t the only mistakes I see from novice writers within the interior design marketing world. If you’re ready to take on your own blog check out our tips on How not to write an interior design blog or buy the 365 Blog Post Ideas for Interior Designers ebook if you need tips to help your writing.

For more details about our copywriting and interior design marketing services get in contact through our website to discover how we can create more clients for your business

Click here to learn about the services we offer.

 

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A guide to tagging brands on Instagram for interior designers

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Well hello there. It’s been a while since I shared a blog post with you all here. I was wondering what I should write about and decided to take my own advice which also happens to be one of the first insights I share in my guide for interior designers on blog writing in my ebook – 365 Blog Post Ideas for Interior Designers.

Q. What should I write about in my blog?

A. Write something which you get asked about all the time

So here is a question that interior designers ask me all the time…

 

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When I post a project I’ve designed on Instagram should I share the suppliers that I have used by tagging them in the post?

It is a straight forward yes or no question… or so you might think, however this one splits opinion between interior designers.

One of the major objections that interior designers have about this is they feel that if they tell everyone where they sourced everything the clients will just go out and buy the items themselves, and not use their interior design services.

This really doesn’t matter at all and here’s why. If the reader is a DIYer who’s looking for inspiration for furniture shopping then they are simply not your ideal client or target audience. There is probably no way on earth you could persuade them to use your interior design services. In this case listing the suppliers actually stops those time consuming comments like, “Please could you tell me where you bought…”

On the other hand the client you’re looking for is someone who appreciates your taste and experience and your ability to design, source and curate the perfect look for their home. Alongside this you’re also taking on the time-consuming logistics of doing all that.

You’ve probably heard of the phrase cash-rich, time-poor, add to this a love of beautiful décor and an appreciation of skilled professional advice to get the right result… and you’ve found your ideal client, and relevant audience … and they’re not looking for furniture, instead they’re looking for an interior designer to find them the perfect furniture to create beautiful interiors.

As well as this depending on who your perfect client is, your suppliers may be trade only furniture retailers who don’t sell to the public at large. You may be tagging an artist, craftsperson or designer maker who has created something bespoke especially for your client. This shows that your business goes the extra mile in finding innovative and original solutions for clients. A step beyond what they may find in high street showrooms which homeowners may just as easily do themselves.

So in summary my answer is yes, tag your suppliers on your Instagram posts. There are some very positive reasons why, there’s also some pitfalls you should be aware of, read on to discover more.

One of the main reasons I believe you should tag your suppliers is that it can be an excellent way to grow your account and increase engagement. To understand more about this you need to understand how tagging works so let’s look deeper in to that.

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How can you tag an Instagram post with a brand account?

You can tag a brand Instagram account in any post format by tapping on Tag People and then typing in the account name of the brand you wish to tag. In a still image you can tap on the picture in the place where you want the tag to appear so it is in line with a particular product

What happens when you tag a brand in your Instagram post, reel or story?

Once the post is live several things happen. Each of which gives your account more visibility on Instagram in various ways

  •  The brand will receive a notification in their activity feed that you have tagged them in a post, reel or story
  • Your post will appear in the Tagged feed of the brand – as long as this is switched on, some brands switch this off to an approval mode to avoid showing pictures that don’t fit their brand aesthetic
  • The brand will get a request to add your image to their Instagram shop to showcase the products featured in the post
  • If you have tagged them in a story they will have the option to share the story on their own story feed

How does this help my interior design Instagram account to grow?

Home décor brands rely on content marketing to showcase their products to potential buyers across social media and marketing material. Photography is expensive and social media moves so quickly these days, with multiple platforms to provide content for it requires a fairly constant feed of new material for brands to keep their portfolios looking fresh and interesting. It is a common social media strategy for interior design brands to reach out to to the design community who have tagged them in a post, or even shared their brand hashtags and ask if they may share your image to their social platform.

When a brand shares your Instagram photos it instantly shows your business to thousands of people that you wouldn’t have been able to access through your account alone. This has happened to several accounts I’ve worked on and the result has been an almost instant influx of hundreds of followers to the designer’s account over the following 48hrs.

What you need to know about brands sharing your images as an interior designer

When a brand wants to share your image you’ll usually get a comment in your feed that looks like this one from one of my client’s posts…

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I can’t stress enough the importance of going to that link and reading those T&Cs before replying with that hashtag. Whilst this is a great opportunity there are a few things you should be aware of. With the rise of social media and content marketing it’s more important than ever to invest in quality photography to showcase your work. If the image is one that you took on your iPhone then you needn’t worry too much however I expect your portfolio images will have been taken by a professional photographer and here’s where things can get tricky.

At first glance you may assume that the brand just wants to share your images on their Instagram. However they will only do so if you add the hashtag or specific phrase they request in the comment. The reason for this is that often if you read the T&Cs that placing that hashtag or phrase in the comments allows them to share your content across social media channels, online platforms, print assets and third-party platforms.

 What does this mean in plain English?

Essentially that you allow them to use your image not only on Instagram but on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook, their website and printed catalogues they produce. In addition third party platforms could see your image on a retailer’s website or in a magazine advert, newspaper or online article… pretty much anywhere really.

 Why is this a problem for my interior design business?

As I mentioned earlier if you took the photo on your iPhone then it’s unlikely to be a problem. However if you’re using professionally shot images before agreeing to anything you’ll need to check your agreement with your photographer.

Photographers will often license the images for online use on your website and social media however these agreements may not include use on other social media or printed materials. Always check with your photographer and give the brand the option to contact them to license the pictures if necessary otherwise both you and the brand could find yourself in hot water.

Overall I recommend tagging your posts on Instagram where possible. It can raise your profile, bring you more followers and create more engagement almost instantly, but just before you agree to that hashtag please do make sure you check with your photographer!

Has a brand Instagram account ever shared one of your interior design images on Instagram? I’d love to hear about it. Did it bring you any more followers? Did you get some enquiries? Leave me a comment below.

Learn more about how to reach your ideal clients through social media marketing strategies, click here to get in touch with our team …

 

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How Not to Write an Interior Design Blog

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Writing blog content is an excellent way to market your business. On the surface, well written blog content provides thoughtful content that your clients will enjoy. Behind the scenes, however, it also boosts your SEO and online presence, making you more visible over your competition. Getting the balance right between engaging content and foolproof marketing material is not easy.

 

how to write an interior design blog

5 Top Tips on How to Write An Interior Design Blog

With this in mind, I’m sharing 5 tips to help you write a successful interior design blog, without falling into some of the most common pitfalls I see all the time from novice interior design bloggers.

1. Don’t Write the Same Blog as Everyone Else

The first common blogging mistake happens before you even begin to write when choosing the topic of your interior design blog. The first critical step is to try to avoid writing the same thing as everyone else. Choosing a subject that is unique to your brand will set you apart from the rest, whilst picking a trending topic will set you up for an additional competition that could have been avoided.

It’s always tempting to write an interior design blog on topical themes. Remember though that whilst a popular subject might see some increase in website searches, it will ultimately also receive more competition. Read on to discover how to set yourself ahead.

One such blog topic that surged during lockdown was centred around demonstrating how to create a home office. Whilst this is a relevant topic, a generic blog on such a specific theme only adds to the pool of thousands already out there. To create interest, the blog content has to be unique and relevant to your specific audience.

interior design blog and blogger

Some seasonal topics are unavoidable. Within the interior design calendar, there are a few key moments where we’ll all be writing about the same thing. Take for example the Pantone and Dulux colour of the year or a visit to an interior design event. Although these topics are extremely popular, there is no need to shy away from writing about them. The key is to add your own personal spin to the blog and make it relevant to your audience.

Tailor the topic to your audience persona. You know your audience best so consider how you can make it attractive to them. For example, let’s look at the topic of creating a home office. Instead of a generic blog let’s look at titles that tackle the problems your audience might be facing

  • How to create a home office in a small space
  • Create a work from home and homeschooling space
  • How to create a home office in your living room
  • How to create a garden room office
  • 5 Things you need for a perfect home office set up

Where possible use your own projects or examples of your own personal taste when talking about the topic. This will make the post more genuine and give it your unique style and flair. And remember – you don’t always have to love the colour of the year!

2. Don’t Talk About Things That Your Client Wouldn’t Actually buy

Following on from writing about what you like, the next tip is to pay attention to what your audience likes. Writing blogs that are un-relatable to your clients will alienate loyal readers and confuse your marketing niche.

To avoid talking about things that your client wouldn’t actually like, first pin down who your target market is. Check out my content marketing blog for tips on how to determine your audience and create content that resonates with them. When choosing the topic of your blog, consider carefully if this is something that they would find interesting. If your target market is financially secure but strapped on time, a blog post on DIY upcycled furniture may be amiss.

Similarly, if you are in the mid-range of the product market, avoid showcasing products that people simply cannot afford. For example, if your client shops within the ranges of say West Elm or John Lewis, try to avoid promoting bespoke furniture which is out of their price range. Keeping your client’s priorities and limitations in mind will help you to create popular blog content amongst your target market.

3. Don’t Talk about your Holiday or Anything too Personal

When you are running your own business, it can be difficult to draw the line between your personal and professional life. However, unless you are a lifestyle blogger, it is important not to blur the lines between the two too much. For example, you may find inspiration in your holiday travels. However keep the blog sharing part to the inspiring buildings, hotels, galleries, shops, or restaurants you visited. Sharing pictures of your family around the pool is to be avoided.

Keeping your interior design blog relevant to your services means also keeping it professional. When building an audience through your blog, it is important to keep the posts consistently in line with your brand. Posting about anything personal or off-topic, could lead to your clients viewing you as less professional.

If you are keen to share parts of your personal life, do so by keeping it on-trend. If you have visited a marketplace with antiques, or have spied a luxurious holiday villa, stately home or beautiful garden whilst on your travels, these are the snippets that your audience may find interesting. Remember to keep it super relevant to your clientele and business.

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Click here for 5 Essential free blogging tips for interior designers

4. Don’t Forget About the Importance of SEO

Writing interesting content for your clients is a fantastic tool for keeping up views and engagement on your website. However, it is important not to forget that new viewers can also be reeled in through relevant website searches. When writing your blog, keep in mind how you will need to factor in keywords to boost your SEO.

Using keywords to enhance your SEO will help your site to become more visible on search directories. Focusing on the long-term goal of getting your keywords into each blog, will help to build up visibility over time.  If you follow the tips above and keep your blog relevant to your brand, it will be easier to integrate your keywords into each entry. At My Deco Marketing, we consistently achieve excellent results in ranking our client’s blogs above their competition. Contact us if you’d like to find out more about our blog writing services.

5. Don’t Use Low Quality Images

As we all know, interior design is a very visual business. It would therefore come as no surprise how important is to have great quality images on your blog. Aesthetically pleasing images will help to entice clients to your blog and give off the right impression for your services.

The aesthetic can be a great tool for guiding a blog post. Pictures that you source or take yourself, could be a fantastic source of inspiration. If the images can inspire you, they may also inspire your clients.

If your blog showcases an interior design project you have completed, it is even more important than the images show the project in the best light. However, this rule should be enforced for all images you upload to blogs. Any images that are not high enough quality reflect badly on your brand.

Take a look at this blog for tips and tricks on how to create great interior design images to promote your business.

I’ve written hundreds of interior design blogs for both designers and home decor brands. If you’d like to find out more about our done for you blog writing services do get in touch. Alternatively if you’re raring to go off and start your blog but still stuck for ideas on how to write the perfect interior design blog I’ve got you covered with the definitive guide in my ebook.

365+ Blog Post Ideas for Interior Designers

Discover how to write blog posts that convert readers to clients. An almost limitless list of blog titles you can use to build your blog and promote your interior design business.

In this 50 Page ebook You’ll discover how to craft perfect blogs with step by step guides for…

  • How to write blogs that sell design services
  • Blog Planning Checklists
  • SEO Tips for your blog
  • How to promote your blog
  • Instagram tips and content ideas from your blog posts

 

PURCHASE NOW

Take a look at what’s inside…

365 bog post ideas fiona mostyn

 

 

You’ll never be stuck for ideas with 365 blog post ideas to choose from plus a matrix of blog post title content designed to help you craft the perfect blog post to showcase your interior design knowledge and services.

Once you’ve decided on the title, use the guides and checklists inside to help you craft blog posts designed to help you sell your interior design services.

Interior designers who’ve purchased this book love it as it’s helped them quickly and easily take control of their blog writing to make it effective in promoting their businesses

“The 365+ blog book is a brilliant source of ideas for the Decorbuddi website and social media. The checklists, planning tools, and SEO tips are particularly useful, helping us to ensure that every post is as effective as possible. I am sure that it will be an excellent resource for creating content for the Decorbuddi blog for many years to come.” Amy Dhala, Co-Founder Decorbuddi

Your blog booklet inspired me. It’s so good and packed full of brilliant info. I actually managed to write a blog post today, which is quite an achievement for me! Alison Anderson Interiors

 

PURCHASE NOW

 

Instagram Hashtags for Interior Design Businesses

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Are you feeling stuck with instagram hashtags ? Finding effective hashtags for interior design businesses can be the key to a successful strategy on the platform. I’m here to simplify social media for you. Especially for those of you in the world of interior design and home decor, where social social media and instagram are key to your marketing strategy to connect you with your ideal customer.

Here’s my guide to everything you need to know about how to use hashtags to grow your reach and following on the platform.

instagram tips for interior designers

What are Instagram Hashtags

Simply put they’re a descriptive word or phrase which is prefixed by the # symbol. The #hashtag represents a collection of posts that will be seen in an Instagram search.

Think of it as a way that the app categorizes and files posts so that they can be found by people searching for content that interests them. For example, if you’re interested in the design of colourful rooms you might try clicking on ‘Tags’ in the search bar and type colourful interiors. This brings up images that have been saved to that list of posts because #colourfulinteriors was added in the caption or comments. It will also bring up a list of similar words to choose from which are popular tags in that search category.

Under this, you’ll find two tabs Top and Recent. The most popular posts with the most interaction and engagement are shown under Top and the newest under Recent.

interiors social media

Instagram Hashtag Search

As well as being descriptive of the content, they are also a way to represent communities and brands on the platform. Instagrammers gather together sharing and engaging on content under specific tags to help each other grow. Interiors bloggers, Instagrammers and interior designers are very active in a range of tags through popular communities. Read on to discover more about how interior design communities connect with each other later on in this blog.

Why Should You Use Hashtags

Increase your reach by allowing you to get seen in Instagram searches

This happens by helping your posts get discovered by people searching for specific content. Especially for inspiration in the architecture, home decor, and lifestyle category. In short, if you didn’t use hashtags your content would only be seen by people who follow you. Not only that but Instagram doesn’t show your posts to all of your followers. It’s simply not possible with the number of people that use the app. It tends to reward popular content so in that sense, it sometimes feels like a bit of an uphill climb.

How does my content get seen if I don’t have a lot of followers?

Hashtags is the answer you’re looking for. When you use them it ensures your pictures are seen by people searching for the type of images you’re sharing.

Hashtags make you appear in all the right places

Additionally using hashtags is one thing that helps to tell the app what your account and business is all about. The other is what you search on to see the tip below. Along with the recent ability to search on caption text, using hashtags about homes, design, furniture and decor will let Instagram know that you want your content to be seen alongside other homes and interior design accounts. For example, your explore feed serves posts that are based on what you, your followers, and similar accounts are engaging with. Using hashtags for interior design content will help this process.

Tip: Click on that magnifying glass and look at your explore feed. Are you seeing pictures of interior design, home decor, and other designer’s images? You should be. If you’re seeing recipes, make-up tips and memes that’s because that is what the app thinks you are interested in. Try and keep your business account focused on interiors and use another account for your lifestyle and hobby searches.

Connect through community

Using tags can connect you with other similar accounts that will follow and engage with you. Searching on hashtags for interior design posts is a great way to find and connect with other accounts. Whether they are suppliers, other designers, or inspirational content creators, many Instagrammers start engaging with each other by sharing an interest in the same hashtags and the Instagram posts under them. The interior design community is strong on this platform and there are many popular and highly active community groups to join in.

Hashtag Challenges

Challenges are daily, weekly or monthly competitions that invite you to share your content with their community under their tag. Taking part in these challenges is a great way to find effective hashtags for interior design businesses. You’ll gain an opportunity to connect and engage with similar active accounts (which the algorithm loves), your content may get shared and seen by a wider audience. You might even win a prize! Here’s some of the challenges and communities with active followers that you can join in to grow your audience

  • #myhousethismonth
  • #myhouseismycastle
  • #mydailyrenovation
  • #myhousedownsouth
  • #mymonthincolour
  • #mycolourfulinterior
  • #myhomevibe
  • #storyofmyhome

 

social media posts for interior design

 

There’s many more of these out there. If there’s others that you think to deserve a mention please do add them to the comments below.

There are a few ground rules to follow for success:

  • Follow all your hosts
  • Follow the sponsor or prize giver
  • Check for daily, weekly, or monthly theme prompts. These will tell you what type of content to post for a chance of a share or win. Make sure your images are relevant to the theme.
  • Make your caption is as engaging as your images, making sure it is also relevant to the theme and conversation
  • Engage with other posts and accounts which use the hashtag
  • Post consistently. In some challenges this is part of the winning criteria

How to Use Hashtags Effectively

Here’s a few basic tips that will help you get started. If you would like to find the most effective hashtags for your business to use try our tailor-made hashtag strategy.

Do

  • Use up to 30
  • Have a mixed strategy to include tags of different sizes
  • Use tags that are based on describing the content of your post, location, and community
  • Research your hashtags well to find new active tags
  • Put your hashtags in the caption*

There is a lot of debate about this one. The jury is still out on this and I think it depends on many other factors of your account. I’ve always preferred to put them in the caption rather than the comments. After reading this article, which details a comprehensive study of over 650,000 Instagram accounts, one of the recommendations is that sub 100K accounts have a better reach rate when using hashtags in the caption – so I’m sticking with it!

  • Use them on reels

Reels are currently favored in the algorithm. They are being shown at the top of the list under searches of hashtags. A great place to get visible.

Don’t

  • Use the same tags over and over again

Instagram sees this as an attempt to game the system and it can result in your content not showing up in the searches at all. Read on to discover what to do if you get stuck with a hashtag ban

  • Use hashtags that are very popular

The chances of being seen in popular hashtags such as interior design, interior, interiors or home decor are not good for small accounts. There’s simply too many posts coming in a minute after minute

  • Use hashtags that aren’t relevant to the image or the caption

Be consistent in the subject of your content and caption. Even if your posts get to the top of the list if they’re not your ideal audience there isn’t much to gain from it

  • Use hashtags in your bio

Putting #interiordesigner in your bio, for example, gives the user the opportunity to click on that tag and take them away from your account down an Instagram rabbit hole to who knows where – they may never come back! The only exception to this is if it is related to your brand, #mydecomarketing  for example where all the content will relate to you. Avoid generic terms like #interiors #minimalist, #colourlover or anything else descriptive.

  • Use hashtags in your comments on other people’s posts

Putting a link in to take people off a post to other people’s content can be seen as a little underhand. Whatsmore when I recently tested this the app stopped these from being active, they no longer click through, so it just looks spammy.

What to Do if you Stop Appearing in Hashtag Searches?

The hashtag ban or shadowban is real? Well here’s the thing. Instagram doesn’t call it a shadowban so apparently it doesn’t exist however some of you will know not appearing in hashtags it is all too real. This happens when your posts don’t appear under the hashtag searches that you have added to the post. Instagram tell us that they choose not to show all posts under the hashtags for various reasons

But how will you tell if your post isn’t appearing in hashtag searches?

Check your insights to see where your post has appeared. Are the hashtag impressions low? Ask a friend to use their account to click on one of the hashtags used in your post and see if they can see your post listing under the tag. If it doesn’t appear I’m afraid you’re on the naughty list.

Why me?

You may have put a hashtag into your post which Instagram has banned. There are some which obviously go against community guidelines that exist to protect us all from things we shouldn’t see. Anything that might relate to sex, nudity, drugs, and hate speech are obviously no go. However other innocent tags sometimes get spammed with offensive content which causes them to appear on the banned list. These three for example are all banned but could easily appear in a relevant context in a post about decor

  • #boho
  • #desk
  • #elevator

Your account has been reported. Violating the terms of service or Community Guidelines causes your account to get reported. Copyright infringements for example if you post other people’s content without permission. Or use a copyrighted music track. There is a three strikes and you’re out for this one. Instagram may disable your account if this happens but in the meantime it could give you a lengthy timeout. You’ll get a notification if this happens.

You’ve exceeded your daily limits. You’re simply too active on your account with comments, likes, follows, DMs, etc. This can be a problem especially if your account is very new. As I mention earlier actions that are repetitive and bot like can get seen as such and the app will put you in time out for this including not appearing in hashtags and/or limiting your activity. Again you’ll get a notification of a timeout if this happens.

In my experience here are some things that help posts do well in hashtags

Great content. It all starts here. There’s no secret formula to this. Simply keep putting out great content that engages the people likely to search or follow the hashtags you use. Good quality photographs, engaging, humourous reels and storytelling or content that gives value in your captions. To check this search up your tags and make a note of the type of images and content that is reaching the ‘Top’ page in the hashtag. This is what you need to emulate

Single Images and Reels. For my posts these are what perform best in hashtags. Reels are a great way to get visible and Recently I’ve found carousel posts don’t do as well in hashtags. Check your insights and see what works best for your posts.

Here’s what to do next if you experience the problem of not appearing in hashtags.

Take a few days off. Make a clean break and stop all your activity on the app for a few days. Next prepare for a fresh start. Delete your hashtags from your last few posts. Create your next posts with just a few hashtags to start with and work up. Some users report putting hashtags in the caption, if they didn’t before, helped their hashtag reach.

How do I Find Relevant Hashtags to Use in My Posts?

Finding effective hashtags for interior design businesses to use on Instagram will build and grow your following quickly. The easy way to do it is to purchase a My Deco Marketing Hashtag Strategy and list.

Buy this service and you’ll receive a questionnaire to tell us about your business and Instagram goals. Within 7 days you’ll receive in your inbox your tailormade list of 150+ tags. Alongside this, there’s a best practice guide on how to use hashtags to grow your reach and engagement. We choose your hashtags based on your account size, location, business goals and competitive activity. Our hashtag data is pulled from an extensive search across thousands of accounts in the niche of the interior. It is refreshed every two weeks to help you find the top most effective up-to-date tags to use on your posts.

I use it on my own account and my clients and it has made an incredible difference to the reach of posts. Take a look at these examples here.

In the first image, you’ll see an image that I posted before I started using my strategy. Take a look at the insights on post-performance. You’ll see I posted the same picture a little while later and look at the difference in results. There’s also an image of another post that did very well in hashtags. Worth noting that all of these results are organic with no money spent on advertising or promotion.

social media for interiors

 

social media for interior design

 

social media for home decor

Buy the Strategy and List – How it Works

You’ll receive a tailor-made list for your business based on your goals, niche, target clients, and location. As well as this, if you’ve enjoyed the tips in this article you’ll get an even more detailed step-by-step guide on how to use your hashtags and how to research your own effective hashtags for interior design posts.

The strategy and list are just one of the Instagram services offered by My Deco Marketing. From 1-1 consultation to ongoing monthly management. Contact us to find out more!

Instagram reels ideas for interiors businesses

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Updated Sept 2022 – With Instagram’s announcement in late 2021 that it was no longer a photo sharing app and with their prioritising of video formats, users are now seeing reels all but takeover the Instagram feed. If you’ve not yet started using video and reels this is something you need to get to grips with to make the most of your Instagram marketing strategy.

Read on to discover everything you need to know about Instagram Reels for your interiors business. How to create them, why you should use them, and a list of ideas to help you with topics for creating Instagram reels content.

 

ideas for creating instagram reels

What are Instagram Reels?

Firstly let’s start with the basics – What are Instagram Reels. Reels are a way to create entertaining, quick-fire video content on your Instagram feed which lasts up to 90 seconds. Video content is simply exploding across social media and Instagram won’t be left behind. The ever-rising trend of short video content started through Snapchat and Instagram countered by creating the stories feature. Now with the popularity of quick-fire video content on Tik Tok Instagram has brought out Instagram Reels.

How to Create a Reel?

Firstly make sure you’ve updated to the latest version of the app and then head over to the Create + button in the top right of your screen. The first option will be Reel

You can record reels live or upload a pre-recorded video. You can live record one continuous video or stop and start to piece together multiple short clips as one video. When you’re on the Reels screen you’ll see some icons to help you create more engaging videos.

Audio

Audio allows you to add audio tracks to your video. There’s a huge selection of music to choose from. Instagram makes suggestions for you and you can browse your favourite artists, songs, or music genres in the search bar to find the perfect track to match your video. A word of advice here is that I highly recommend that you use the tracks within the app. If you don’t you may find that your Reel gets removed due to copyright issues – even if it is one that appears in the app’s music listings.

Effects

Add effects to your videos to enhance the appearance. Instagram will suggest trending effects to you and you can also save effects that you like from other reels. Tapping on the effects button changes the menu to show a row of effects that you can choose from. Scroll through and test the effects to choose for your video. Tapping on the effects button also starts to record the video. So it’s worth getting to know the effects before you actually start recording.

Speed

The speed icon controls the speed of your video allowing you to speed up or slow down. Speeding up a video to get a fast moving piece of content really does suit this style of media.

Layout

Allows you to split your screen recording different videos across different areas of the screen.

Timer

Using the timer helps if you are self-recording giving you time to get into position before the video starts and record from your phone hands-free.

Duel

Allows you to record an overlay of yourself over a video

Align

The final icon in this list is Align which appears in the live record mode. Tapping on Align takes the last frame from your previous clip and applies it as an overlay over the next clip in your video. This makes for very smooth cuts and seamless transitions. For example, when people do those quick outfit change videos and they always appear in the same spot, no cuts or jolts – this is the tool that makes it happen. Test it out and see what you think.

Text and Stickers

You can also add text and gif stickers just as you can in stories. If you’re looking for interior design themed stickers head over to my Giphy Channel to choose some or search my deco marketing in the Gif section

Publishing your Reel

So now you’re ready to publish your video. I’d always recommend saving a copy of your video to your phone as well as a draft. When you download it to your phone it will remove the audio but you can easily add it back on again. This gives you the opportunity to review and make sure you’re really happy with your video before publishing.

Choose a cover image for your reel. You can either choose a still from your video or upload a picture from your camera roll.

If you want to use an image from your camera roll you’ll need to have the image already in there to select so if you don’t then save your reel as a draft so you can add this later.

You can choose to share your reel just to your Reels page or to your Reels page and your feed and also to Facebook. The image you choose as your cover will be the image that shows on your feed and in your Reels page.

After you publish, or save your reel for the first time, the reel icon will appear above your feed to show people that you have Instagram reels to view. You can also now go to your reels and share your video to your story or send it to another Instagram account.

If you want to use an image from your camera roll you’ll need to have the image already in there to select so if you don’t then save your video as a draft so you can add this later.

You can choose to share yours just to your Reels page or to your Reels page and your feed. The image you choose as your cover will be the image that shows on your feed and in your Reels page.

After you publish or save your reel for the first time the reel icon will appear above your feed to show people that you have Instagram reels to view. You can also now go to your reels and share your video to your story or send it to another Instagram account.

 

Why You Need to Use Instagram Reels?

Whenever a platform tells you they are prioritising a feature it is a good idea to use these features and build them into your content plan as soon as you can. The objective of using any social media is to use it to showcase content that will make your business visible to the app users. This way you can build a following and fans that you can later invite to buy your product or service. Take a look at my blog for Instagram tips to grow your following or head over to my instagram services page to see what my clients say about growing their Instagram with me.

As you may well know it’s not as easy as it once was to get seen on Instagram. Instagram is busy and competitive. Because of this it now only shows your content to a small percentage of your followers. Instagram now prioritises Reels content over other content such as still photos.

If you’ve been scrolling through Instagram recently you’ll notice lots of Reels coming up in your feed. You’ll also notice the new Reels explore feed is now front and centre, encouraging you to scroll through that content first. As you can see from this picture reels take up about two-thirds of the space on the explore feed. Like I said – Instagram really wants you to see these videos!

There you have it – the exact reason you should be using reels – because Instagram is making them more visible. So for a better chance of being visible make content that is already a front runner in the Instagram algorithm.

There you have it – the exact reason you should be using reels – because Instagram is making them more visible. So for a better chance of being visible make content that is already a front runner in the Instagram algorithm.

I’m also saying this inspite of myself as I’m really not a fan of Tik Tok style videos. I find them busy, confusing, and kind of exhausting. However, if you want to get more visible on Instagram you’re going to need to use them. I’m hoping Instagram creators will bring a bit more style and grace to this form of content so I might find the short-form videos a bit more enjoyable on this platform. I’d love to know who your favorite creators are for Reels so leave me a message with their account handle in the comments.

Amazing Instagram Reels Ideas for Interiors Businesses

As always I’ll repeat the mantra that the best kind of content informs and inspires. A tip to discover Instagram Reels ideas that work is to search #interiordesign on Tik Tok where you’ll find endless interiors videos. Take a look at what is popular and trending in the hashtag to help develop some ideas. Here are some Instagram Reels ideas you could try

Inform and educate

  • Reviews – Quick look around a new product, design showroom, hotel room, or restaurant
  • Design hacks – Teach some how to tips and tricks
  • In the studio – a quick look behind the scenes

Inspiration and aspiration

  • Moodboard ideas – here’s one I made earlier
  • House Tours
  • Quick room changes
  • Styling a coffee table, dining table, shelfie, bed, or sofa with cushions and throws
  • Flower arranging
  • Compare rooms – Ask your followers to comment on which they prefer
  • Ask for opinions on design choices – fabrics, finishes, hardware, etc

Quirky Video Ideas

  • The quick fire content format lends itself to quirky little moments which are oddly satisfying to watch. Here are some ideas to try.
  • Strangely satisfying – Stirring paint, painting walls, wallpaper hanging, using power tools, stencils
  • Stop motion animations and transitions. Try speeding up, slowing down and adding transitions and effects into your videos
  • Funny moments – As with Tik Tok people don’t take life too seriously on Reels! Try creating a fun prank or film your pets doing something cute or silly – in a beautiful interior of course!

So that’s my guide to Instagram reels for your interiors business. If you’d like to, grow your Instagram feed, add more video into your content planning, whether it’s short pieces for social media or longer testimonials and house tours to share with potential clients take a look at the Instagram services page to see how I can help.

How to Market Your Design Business with Reviews

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In this blog I will be breaking down how you can market your design business with reviews, using testimonials to boost your digital profile. Reviews are no longer confined to simply deciding your next meal out, or figuring out whether that product from Amazon looks the same as it did in the photo. Used shrewdly, they maximize the impact of your business online, and here I’m going to show you exactly what they are good for and, more importantly, how to use them.

Market Your Design Business with Reviews

 

interior design business reviews

Why Reviews are Good and Why You Should Use Them

Traditionally, reviews reassure potential clients that you are an expert in your field and a trustworthy service or trader. A compliment from a happy customer gives your work credibility and new clients the confidence to choose your services.

The number of reviews accredited to your business will give your company a further layer of integrity. Keeping a catalog of happy customers indicates experience in your field, the sheer number of reviews expressing that people keep coming back.

Digital media now gives the power of reviews an extra value, advancing their reach so that they provide an additional marketing service. Careful placement of reviews across the web will increase the visibility of your business and entice more consumers to browse your goods or services. Links created on partner websites and review site directories will also benefit your SEO.

Where To Use Reviews

Your Website

So now that we have established how fantastic reviews are for proving credibility and drumming up a new business, let’s take a look at the best placements for your winning references.

The first step is to integrate reviews onto your own platforms. You can control which testimonials are highlighted where, and use them to boost the impact of your content. Use all of the channels you have available. Posting reviews on your website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, will ensure you are reaching as wide an audience as possible.

When integrating reviews onto your website, be sure to make them super visible. Whilst it is great to have a page dedicated to testimonials for clients to have a scroll through, the best reviews should be present on your main pages, displayed in alignment with your brand and product. Check which of your pages get the most traffic and seamlessly weave reviews into your site. Add a stand-out review to your home page, or some glowing testimonials which are specifically relevant on your services page.

Your Social Media Channels

Social media as a platform for reviews is more visual in general. The best way to catch the attention of people scrolling through their feeds is with an eye catching image.

For Facebook and LinkedIn create graphics in line with your branding to showcase your reviews. Here is one I made earlier:

how to market your design business with reviews

Take a more subtle approach when posting reviews on Instagram. Instagram is a visual medium that likes you to post images of interiors. Rather than posting text graphic posts of reviews, which could distract from the focus of your feed, follow these tips for sharing on the platform:

  • Post a picture of the project and put the testimonial from the homeowner in the caption. The image of the finished project will complement the review, whilst keeping your feed looking fabulous!
  • Use a text graphic of the review in the same post, but as the second swipe. Branded graphics can be used to make the review stand out, and also the swiping keeps viewers on the post for longer.
  • Share graphic testimonials on your stories and collate them all into one highlight. Use this as a mini testimonials page on your Instagram. Viewers can swipe through all of the projects and their reviews in one go.

External Sites

Reviews posted by search engines, such as Google, are a great way to reel in fresh clientele and market your design business. Use these large scale platforms to access a broader audience, and build your presence across the web.

For reviews on Google, first, ensure you have a Google My Business account. This will allow you to monitor your presence across the site. Direct your clients to your Google page to write reviews to build up your profile. Adding the reviews to your profile will help you to be found in local searches for your field. You can then monitor these using the Google My Business account – it’s that simple!

Interior design websites, such as Houzz UK, Homify, and the Decorcafe, are another great outlet. Prospective clients browse through these platforms, looking specifically for design businesses. Having strong testimonials will make your business stand out amongst the other services.

It is particularly important to have reviews on Houzz, as having reviews pushes your profile up the rankings of businesses in your area to be more visible to homeowners looking to hire a designer. The higher your rating, the better your exposure. It will also help you get found in Google searches such as “Best interior designer in Brighton”. You can test this right now by typing in the same query with your own nearest town or city and you’ll see Houzz is usually at the top of the list.

Getting reviews from Houzz throughout the year is really important, best of service badges are awarded annually, based on the number of good reviews you obtain throughout the year. Once you have three reviews or more, you can also place the reviews widget on our website. This updates automatically as clients leave new reviews. Here’s my reviews widget which I can place anywhere on my website:

Reviews Sites

Home Decor companies selling large quantities of goods should consider integrating Feefo or Trust Pilot into their website, adding an extra layer of credibility. These services give you the opportunity to build the review process into your customer journey. They also seamlessly automate review requests once an item is purchased. The reviews also create a more engaging user experience by adding a photo or video reviews to help tempt new buyers, whilst social proof helps to increase online conversions.

Consumers are more likely to buy from a peer recommendation, review, or user generated content than a brand’s advert. This is why influencer marketing and review sites are so popular. Additionally, the strong SEO of these platforms helps to make you more visible online. When customers are looking for validation on a product they have in mind they will now specifically search for reviews on that product. Sites such as Feefo allow your products to appear more often in those searches. The Feefo 5 star rated table lamps, for example.

Printed Marketing Material

Let’s not forget that not all marketing is in the digital sphere! Go old school and integrate reviews onto printed materials. Consider the size and format of these materials carefully. Design is a visual medium, and so much of what you do relies on visual representation.  Small, one-liner reviews could work on a business card, but if you are an interior designer or owner of a creative business, you may find that a more visual card has a bigger impact.

Having a larger format will allow more room for visual designs. Postcard sized cards that can be delivered door to door or given to estate agents if you’re a home stager would be great! Cementing your top reviews onto these would be a sure fire way to create a bigger impact on potential customers.

How to get the Best Reviews

Whilst it is all good and well to have the perfect placements, in order to market your design business with reviews, we need to take a look at the content of the reviews themselves.

There is a significant difference between good reviews and the best reviews. Good reviews will give you compliments on your work, but the best reviews will quantify the results that you achieved. Take this review from one of my lovely clients, Fleur Ward, for example:

‘Fiona was so helpful during my power hour. She talked through helpful hints and tips regarding an appearance on Instagram, how to follow up and generally improve my social appearance to attract followers and send traffic to the website. I have already seen an improvement on both of my accounts. Highly recommend”

Fleur highlights specific positive points from my services. She also gives a quantifiable result from the power hour; an increase in followers. The review gives browsing prospective clients confidence in my abilities, and an indication of what I could achieve for her.

But how to obtain these reviews? Although you cannot actually write the reviews yourself (if only!), there are some great ways to ensure that your client is writing their review so that it remains honest, whilst giving you the best reference. Firstly, ask your client for a review as soon as possible after the job is completed or the product purchased.

This way the project is fresh in their mind and they are able to give more detail. Prompt things that worked well, such as completing the project in good time or sticking to the budget successfully. Guiding the client gently through the review process will ensure the reviews are as impactful as possible.

So there you have it! Reviews are not just compliments for your brand, but a solid marketing tool that could be used to reel in new business. Follow these tips to market your design business using reviews, and improve the digital presence of your brand. If you need help setting up Houzz or putting systems in place to get great reviews from your customers, contact me.

 

Future Vision – 3D Design for Interior Designers

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Why is 3D interior design a standard tool for interior designers in this day and age? How is it going to boost your business? I’ve invited Anna Klepikova of Anna K Studio to tell us everything you need to know about 3D design for interior designers. It’s history, its reach and its essential values.

About Anna K Studio

Firstly let me introduce Anna. A successful interior designer with an MBA and a degree in interior design from Chelsea College of Arts. Anna has worked on residential and commercial projects across Europe, collaborating with property developers to provide visual representations of new apartments. Anna later took a lead role as Head of Design at O & A in London, before deciding to build on her ten years of industry experience by opening her own 3D studio.

3D living room designs by Anna K Studio

Spotting a gap in the market to provide 3D design for interior designers and property professionals to help them envision the future with their clients and deliver successful projects, Anna started Anna K Studio. Anna is passionate about the role this evolving technology will take in the future of design. I also feel this is even more relevant as we adapt to our recent changing circumstances and navigate and connect more than ever through virtual spaces in our lives and businesses. So now read on to discover from Anna everything you need to know about 3D design for interior designers.

A Short History of 3D Design for Interior Designers

We don’t have a precise date when 3D design started, but we know that the first 3D models were developed in the 1960s. You’d probably assume that architects were the creators of 3D software. Surprisingly, this is not the case. 3D modeling was first created by computer engineers who worked on the automatization of data. It was Ivan Sutherland, who created the first ever program for drawing 3D models. He called it Sketchpad. Together with David Evans, Sutherland established the computer technologies department at The University of Utah. To this day most 3D programs’ interface is based on Sketchpad.

In 1969 Sutherland and Evans launched their company specializing in 3D graphics. Their first clients were advertising companies and TV channels but soon this kind of service spread out to different industries, especially architecture and interior design.

The Process of Creating 3D Models

To become part of this progressive movement we need to get some insight Let’s have a closer look at the process of creating 3D models.

3D Bedroom Design by Anna K Studio

 

The main purpose of interior design visualization is to get images of an object or interior from different perspectives. To achieve this, 3D designers use specific software to create a geometric vision of a space, add materials, create natural or artificial lighting, they even include an impression of the surrounding environment (for example a view from windows) and they make sure that the appearance of surfaces resembles real-life texture.

After everything is ‘built’, 3D designers render the interior to get photorealistic images. For high-quality final images, 3D designers usually edit final renders in Photoshop, because it allows them to adjust the light and colors of the images.

The Stages of 3D Visualisation:

  1. Step One: Creating Geometric or 3D Models

You need to know the precise measurements of the space and each and every object in the room before you start building it. The main objective of 3D visualization is to show everything in precise scale, as it is in reality. The benefit of applying exact dimensions is that you can be 100% sure, that objects not only fit but are also proportional to space.

Programs used to the model are Autodesk 3Ds Max, V-ray, ZBrush, Google SketchUp, Blender, Revit, Rhino.

  1. Step Two: Materials and Textures

To make your interior appear as realistic as possible you have to add materials and colors as they are in the specification. 3D proficient software allows you to choose the precise materials you want to see in an interior. One of the major benefits of 3D programs is, that they can also demonstrate how different materials interact with light.

To add materials, you can use all programs listed in Step One.

  1. Step Three: Light

One of the strongest features of 3D design programs is, that they allow you to ‘build in’ light sources. It can be natural daylight (the sun) or artificial lighting at night. You can create two versions to show how the same space might look at different times of the day.

Why is using the light feature so important? Only natural light makes images look realistic. It creates depth, brightness, and shadows. When you work digitally, the effects of light have to be properly adjusted to make sure the images look realistic.

  1. Step Four: Positioning virtual cameras

Cameras allow you to take photos of the space and make videos. Cameras have their own settings, where you can choose the quality, size and different effects for each image.

  1. Step Five: Rendering

Rendering is the process of projecting 3D space into 2D photos or videos. This should be done after Steps One to Four have been completed.  The most common rendering software applications today are Maxwell Render, Corona Render, and V-Ray.

With new technology, you can create not only 3D images and videos of interiors but also 360-degree panoramas, 3D tours, and VR experiences. Go to the Anna K Studio website to learn more.

The Role of Technology in Interior Design

The design industry has changed in the past decade with a significant increase of different new technologies. There has been much progress and still, the industry continues to change and evolve. Even though we still have tools that are “the norm” for technical drawings, we are already witnessing the appearance of many new apps that work faster. They are also are more versatile, offer more features and tools. This in turn helps to make the design process faster, easier and more inspired.

3D Design Apartment interior design

New technology for New Experiences

Revit (for architects) and Sketchup (for designers) are already starting to replace AutoCAD. These software solutions offer a better user experience with more options, like easier 3D render within a programme. This is becoming a must-have feature in software because it gives designers the ability to work in 3 dimensions straight away.

Using this they can produce pictures, videos, specifications, and technical drawings much more quickly and efficiently. More and more clients are aware of this useful technology and they expect designers to provide them with 3D presentations.

3D Design by Anna K Studio My Deco Marketing Blog

Before and after: A new build apartment photographed as it exists in reality alongside the 3D design visualisations for the proposed  interior design scheme

The design industry is not exempt from the effects of the unprecedented economic and financial downturn, which we are currently experiencing. Interior design clients will be more aware and more selective as far as their investment is concerned.

Digital design technology offers designers effective tools to get through these times. This is done by demonstrating to their clients in a very impressive and convincing way that not only is their idea budget effective but also works well for the client.

Design in the New Normal

Another reason for using advanced technology is the e-tendency. We are going online and that is not going to change for a while. Some companies might not return to office-based work routines if working remotely can be done more efficiently. What about interior design? New technology allows us to have Zoom meetings.

We can now do virtual home tours, which means there is no need to go to a client’s house. In addition we use project management programmes to control our progress.  We use online platforms to order furniture and so on. Digital design is more than just technology – digital design is a new way of communication, it is a new way of presenting your ideas as well as a great way to win a project. Sometimes we have just one chance to present our ideas and we should not waste them.

What to Expect Next?

We can all agree that technology is advancing faster and further than Sutherland and Evans could have predicted. The next steps will see architecture and design merging with virtual reality and augmented reality. There is no big rush. You don’t need to integrate these technologies into your business right now. But for those like me, who like to stay ahead of the game, this is something to be aware of and to stay engaged with.

Thank You to Anna K Studio for an insightful round-up on the use of 3D design . For more articles on the business of design take a look at the My Deco Marketing Blog. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date.

 

Interior Design Content Marketing Made Simple

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There’s a saying that goes, when you love what you do you’ll never feel you have to work a day in your life. Interior design content marketing is very similar. When you create pieces of content that talk to your ideal customer, service their needs, solve their problems and align with the way that they want to live their lives, you’ll stop feeling like your spinning a sales pitch and start feeling like your having conversations.

 

My Deco Marketing digital marketing for interior designers

What is Interior Design Content Marketing?

These days there’s so many choices in the way that people purchase the things they want in their homes. Buyers want to support brands that align with their lifestyle. This means speaking to them about more than just the actual product or service on offer.

Here is where what makes your business unique really comes into play. Content marketing is an opportunity to tell your story by communicating with your customer. Using multiple marketing channels both online and in the real world.

There are two really important aspects to this.

  • what you communicate
  • how you deliver that communication for the best impact

Communicating with Great Content

To do this you first of all need to define your ideal customer and speak to them in their language. Think about who they are and how you can help them. The more you can hone in on this the better you will be able to communicate with them.

Determining your ideal client is one of the cornerstones of your overall marketing strategy. Get this right and the results will drive success across all of your business activities. Feel free to hit the contact button if you need some help with this

Let’s look into this in a bit more detail.Whilst you may think your ideal customer is just anyone who wants beautifully co-ordinated interiors, the latest trends in furniture or a new kitchen, we really need to dig deeper.

Instead, think in terms of…

  • where they live
  • their profession
  • what their income is
  • their age and life stage
  • do they have children

Then think about things like…

  • their personality
  • how they spend their time
  • do they enjoy activities or sports
  • are they interested in arts
  • how concious are they about sustainability and environmental impact
  • do they spend a lot of time at home

Now when it comes to creating content such as writing a blog post or creating a piece of video, you now have some options. You could simply talk about designing a new kitchen, that would be a piece of content. However, depending on your ideal client you could write, for example, about kitchen design ideas for a family in a large detached house in a leafy suburb. Or what about kitchen design ideas for a busy professional couple who work from home in a small city apartment.

Delivering Stories Across Multiple Platforms

Now when it comes to how to create and present your content you have multiple options. Blogs and videos are usually the most popular forms of content. Other things you might like to try are creating lead magnets and ebooks or webinars. As well as pre-made video content try live appearances through social media such as IG live video. If you’re stuck for ideas take a look at this blog post on 35 ideas for interior design blog posts to get you started. As well as blogs, many of these ideas could also be translated into video content too.

interior design content markting by My Deco Marketing

 

Once you’ve created your blog post or video you need to get it seen by as many people as possible by sharing it through

 

People often ask me how to grow on instagram and other social media and the answer is really simple. Keep showing up with great content your audience loves.

Having a regular supply of great pieces of content makes you visible on social media. It gives you another good reason to show up and grows your audience.

Remember that people consume content in different ways. For example, some might prefer scrolling Instagram to read blogs, so to start with you’ll want to hedge your bets and create content across multiple platforms.

As time goes on you’ll discover which are the most popular with your particular audience. This will determine where you should focus your efforts. Again knowing your ideal audience also helps here.

If you haven’t done the research to profile your ideal customer how do you know where they consume most of their content?

Invest in expertise

Here at My Deco Marketing we regularly create content campaigns through social media and paid advertising. Knowing how to target your ideal client firstly by creating content that makes an impact, then following through by sharing content both organically and with well targeted paid search and social media.

Precise targeting results in more cost effective campaigns which reach more of your core audience.

Interior Designer or Design Blogger?

Too often I see designers who fall into the trap of taking their inspiration from interior design bloggers and content creators. This can be a bit of a novice pitfall and here’s why. The best content creators produce beautifully presented blog posts and videos that usually showcase other people’s products and services.

They work hard on driving traffic to their sites. However for the most part that’s all they have to do. Before succesful influencers post anything on their site or social media channel they’ve usually been paid for it.

As a designer on the other hand you have to work twice as hard. Firstly you must produce the attractive content that get’s eyeballs on your business.  Secondly, you need to make sure it persuades them to make the leap from viewer to the consumer.

It’s true that content creators do use their influence to persuade people to click the buy link. However, the product or service on offer is usually a much less considered purchase than thousands of pounds of interior design services.

Showcase your Expertise

Think of your content marketing as part of your customer journey in building your relationship together. Avoid creating a magazine style look book of images for them to simply source inspiration from. Someone who is preparing to spend thousands on a design project will be more interested in aspects of your service delivery, expertise, specialist product knowledge as well as connections with trusted trades and problem solving skills. This is the kind of knowledge sharing that will raise the bar on your content – and most of all it’s all unique to you.

It takes time and consistent effort (see tip 2 below) to position yourself as an expert authority that people will trust. Think about this as part of your content strategy planning. I’m afraid if you are expecting someone to pick up the phone after you post your first blog you’ll more than likely be sorely disappointed. However, it has happened to one of my clients – see the testimonials at the bottom of the page!

Interior Design Content Marketing tTips for Success

content marketing tips for success

 

Finally here’s a round-up of my tips for success for your content marketing strategy

 

  • Know your customer
  • Be Consistent
  • Create content across multiple formats
  • Promote your content effectively
  • Collaborate to create great content
  • Monitor your results to define what your audience likes
  • Rinse and repeat

 

 

My Deco Marketing works with interior designers and home decor brands to create highly engaging content that drives traffic, making your business visible and generating leads. Contact us if you’d like to find out more about how we can work together on your interior design content marketing strategy.