Social media is an essential marketing tool for interior designers and home decor brands. However, whilst an effective social media strategy brings results and new clients, throwing all your energy into social media can be time consuming and a drain on valuable resources. How can you make sure you’re investing your time wisely to get the results you need? Step one is to focus your energies on the right social media channels. Here’s my guide to where to promote your interior design business on social media
1. Pinterest
Pinterest is the number one social media platform your business should focus on and here’s why. It helps to think of Pinterest as less of a social media tool and more of a search engine. Unlike other social media platforms when people use Pinterest they are in research and buying mode, looking for inspiration and saving ideas for their dream home.
With 250 million active monthly users (Sept 2018) Pinterest is driving trends. Designers often tell me that they can predict what clients will ask for from season to season by what’s trending on Pinterest. Interior Design and Home Decor is one of the most active categories on the platform and your business needs to be visible in it.
In addition unlike Instagram and Facebook where content is famous for 15 minutes, on Pinterest good content is shared and re-shared giving it longevity Sharing your content on Pinterest should be a well planned part of your content strategy in order to drive traffic to your website.
Additionally if you are considering social PPC advertising take a look at Pinterest. Facebook and instagram are reaching saturation with advertising especially at times of the year like Christmas when you’ll pay even more to reach your audience. Another interesting fact is that Pinterest users also spend more per purchase than Facebook users when they click through from pins. As a place where people research expensive purchases it’s geared towards a higher spend.
As a designer Pinterest is also a great place to collaborate with your clients. You can share boards with pins to build ideas together for projects.
2. Instagram
As interior design is a visual business Instagram is a great place to showcase your work. It also allows you to connect with your audience. Success on Instagram relies on sharing inspiring content which brings value to your audience. Think of your Instagram post as a daily mini blog. It’s a great way to connect with people tell them what you’re up to, what you’re interested in and showcase your work. Using hashtags you can quickly find your tribe and grow your followers. Don’t get hung up on numbers but instead focus on quality connections.
The internet loves video and IGTV provides a platform for interior designers to share their expertise with the world. For Instagram tips… can you guess what I’m going to say… follow me on Instagram @fiona.mostyn
3. Houzz
Houzz is the world’s biggest platform for connecting home renovators with the professionals they need to get the job done. A place where interior designers, architects, builders and landscapers and home decor brands showcase their work for home owners to discover.
houzz.co.uk has around 200,000 users in the UK. Similarly to Pinterest, users on houzz are in active buying mode and searching for professionals to help with their project. It’s a great place to collaborate with your clients through the use of ideabooks to plan out your projects. Unlike Pinterest you can use ideabooks to get feedback, integrating them into workflow as a project management tool. Get active on Houzz with a well optimised profile and qualified leads to your business will follow
For home decor brands create a profile on Houzz to reap the benefits of their powerful SEO and showcase your products to the thousands of users searching their site each month. You can tag your products with direct links to your ecommerce pages to buy.
Did you know I’m a qualified Houzz Marketer. I’ve even got a certificate!! You can download my top 5 tips to boost your business on Houzz here. If you want to boost your business find out more about my Houzz Marketing services.
4. Facebook
I actually debated whether or not to put Facebook in the list and this might be a controversial decision but here’s why. Facebook is still the world’s biggest social media site so yes you do need a Facebook page. You also need a Facebook page to run your Instagram as a business account.
Every profile you have on social media benefits you with links back to your site building your profile across the web. If you have all the time and resources in the world build profiles and host a consist presence on every channel you possibly can. If your time and budget are limited concentrate on the ones that will give you the best return.
With this in mind here’s what I think works for Facebook. In recent times as Facebook has streamlined their business to increase their revenue, organic reach from businesses to potential customers has plummeted. On the plus side Facebook has some of the most sophisticated customer targeting of any media out there. Facebook advertising used to be an easy way to reach customers but businesses are now spending more than ever on Facebook ads to maintain their reach.
If you are a home decor brand selling low to mid price-range products Facebook is a great place to find your audience and sell products through paid media. If you are an interior designer working on high-end homes it’s unlikely you’ll persuade someone to spend £50K+ on a kitchen from a Facebook advert, that business is far more likely to come Houzz. However as with all aspects of your business and your branding on social media maintain an up to date profile and share inspiring content to show your business in it’s best light.
As I mentioned before any social media profiles you create that link back to your site are good for your presence on web. Twitter and LinkedIn are great for meeting other businesses. You Tube is the domain of influencers so where you can’t build a presence yourself collaborate with influencers to build your profile.
Social media can be time consuming to manage whilst you’re busy planning, sourcing and project managing. My Deco Marketing offer social media management specially focused for interior designers and home decor brands. Build your reputation and find new customers whilst you get on with running your business.
