Top 10 Digital Marketing Tips for Interior Designers

Interior design is a rewarding profession that allows you to express your creativity, your love of spaces, and gives you a chance to work with interesting clients.

Whether you specialize in commercial or residential projects, are a freelancer or part of an interior design firm or are just starting out, you need to know how to do digital marketing for interior designers.

In this article, we'll teach you our 10 top tips for digital marketing. For interior designers to succeed, you need to be seen, and we'll show you how.

Slay social media marketing for interior design

Social media marketing is a must for interior designers as it allows you to showcase your finished projects, in-process work, and design ideas. In fact, 88% of interior designers use Instagram for their business.

Interior design content ideas include before and after photos, mood boards and design sketches, and photorealistic renderings. Adding video content is especially important as it's often preferred by social media algorithms.

Make sure your target audience is connecting with your interior design content. Ideas for high value posts include reels discussing popular interior design trends, top tips for small spaces, and the hottest colors of the season. Short but informative content allows you to present yourself as an expert and create relatability with your followers.

Growing your social media presence involves frequent, on-brand, and trending posts. It also means you'll need to figure out how to use hashtags, and you may want to consider social media ads if it's a good fit for your business.

If developing a social media strategy for interior design seems overwhelming, consider working with a social media manager or content creator. Many will work with you on a consulting basis to help you get up to speed on the best social media strategy, or you can choose to hire them to implement your social media marketing.

Give virtual tours of your work

One of the most convincing ways to land more clients is for them to fall in love with the work you've already done. This can happen organically through word of mouth, but that limits who will see your finished projects.

Virtual tours let you showcase your finished projects and are an impactful form of marketing for interior designers. There are many software platforms that help you create 360° 3D virtual tours that can be posted to your website. You can also film old-fashioned walkthroughs which make excellent video content for social media, especially if you add commentary.

Because the most effective online marketing for interior designers is heavily visual, virtual tours are a great way to get your work out to the highest number of people possible.

Design a stunning interior design portfolio

An interior design portfolio is a great form of digital marketing for interior designers. An interior design portfolio showcases your work and your design process and can be easily shared since it's digital. Interior designers can develop a portfolio that markets to their target audience and use it as a powerful marketing tool.

A good interior design portfolio includes before-and-after photos, 3D designs, case studies and client testimonials. You can include social media follow buttons and email newsletter signups to help keep potential clients connected. A well-worded About section can introduce clients to your style and experience. It can also include embedded video content like 3D tours and any press, media or awards you've received.

An impressive portfolio can be a powerful digital marketing tool for any interior designer. Marketing using your portfolio includes linking it in your social media bios, email signature, and e-business cards. You may also consider making it SEO-friendly through utilizing SEO best practices such as keywords and consistent updates.

Check out our guide to designing a stunning interior design portfolio for more suggestions.

Develop brand partnerships

Brand partnerships increase your reach to include followers of the brand you're working with. They also give you a sense of legitimacy that can elevate you in the eyes of your own target audience.

Brand partnerships have been a staple technique for digital marketing for interior designers working for design firms, but they can be equally effective for solo designers. Even if you aren't ready to land a brand partnership with a large brand, you can get a lot of benefit by working with smaller, boutique brands or local businesses.

Start by reaching out to brands and businesses that align with your style or whose products you already use. If they are small or local, you may be able to find mutual connections to work through. Once you've established a relationship, discuss potential promotions and interior design marketing strategies that will help both of you.

If one partnership doesn't work out, continue networking until you develop connections to multiple brands that can help you grow your business. 

Work with influencers

Social media and Google interior design ads can be helpful digital marketing for interior designers, but an even more effective strategy for interior design marketing is to work directly with social media influencers.

Influencers have already established a following and have created trust with their audience. Their recommendations carry weight, and the products and services they use are often emulated by their followers. Working with even a single influencer with a following that overlaps your target audience can grow your own social following quickly and expand your clientele exponentially.

Begin by researching influencers in the lifestyle space. You want to make sure that their aesthetic and brand matches your interior design style. You also want to check how many followers they have across platforms. A large number of followers is excellent for marketing but may be expensive. A more niche influencer can be more affordable and more effective, especially if they live in the area where you tend to work.

Many influencers list their email contact in their bios or Linktrees, so you can reach out and let them know what you have in mind for a partnership.

Get SEO Savvy

Whether you have a website, an online portfolio or both, you'll need to get smart when it comes to SEO for your site in order for it to show up on searches.

Search Engine Optimization refers to the practices that make a website attractive to search engines like Google. SEO is the way you get your site seen and is an important part of digital marketing. Design your site with SEO in mind, and you are much more likely to land on that coveted first page of a search.

SEO practices like utilizing keywords and making sure your site uses clean coding can seem daunting if your expertise is in design. Digital marketing experts and website designers that specialize in SEO can help you build or overhaul your site to make the most of SEO. You can also use a web building platform like Journo Portfolio that takes care of much of that work for you.

Create a successful interior design blog

Speaking of SEO, blogs are a great way to make your portfolio site more SEO-forward by utilizing keywords in your posts and adding new content to your site on a regular basis.

A blog can be excellent marketing for interior design as it allows you to present yourself as an expert on your subject. The longform format of blogging means you can dive into trends and design advice for clients. It also creates a strong connection between you and your target audience.

New blog posts can be shared on social media or sent out in newsletter form. A blog also helps build out your portfolio or website to include more robust content. That can help potential clients to see you as an authority and learn more about your design process, which is great digital marketing for interior designers.

Some interior design blogs have lifted their designers to new heights of fame. But even if you don't become a famous blogger, a blog can help boost modest growth and increase trust in your brand, which makes one of the most effective interior design marketing ideas.

Highlight reviews and testimonials

Part of your interior design marketing plan should include gathering positive reviews and testimonials from your clients.

Potential clients are more likely to hire you if they read positive reviews of your business. In fact, 72% of consumers say that positive reviews and testimonials increase their trust in a business, and 95% of people say reviews impact their purchasing decisions.

Thankfully, it's easy to get the benefits of positive reviews by asking current and former clients to provide you with a testimonial you can share on your website and social media. You may consider sending out a standard thank you email after you work with someone with a gentle request for a testimonial. You can even create a fillable form for feedback that can help you garner reviews.

You can also ask clients to review you on review platforms such as Google reviews or Yelp. Creating a business profile with them means you can share a link with customers so they can leave a review. In addition to being a great marketing technique, this can also help your business's profile to rank higher on searches.

Websites are also a great place to share client testimonials. You can include them alongside the relevant photos or case study, create a separate testimonials page, or sprinkle them throughout your portfolio. Whatever way you choose to highlight your positive reviews, testimonials are a compelling way to let your satisfied customers do your marketing for you.

Up your email marketing game

Sending a regular email out to your audience helps to keep your interior design business top of mind. It's also an excellent way to offer discounts and let people know about new projects, blog posts, and brand partnerships. It's another great marketing tool that helps deepen your connection to your pool of potential clients.

Developing an email list takes time but is usually straightforward. Most interior design portfolio sites or websites give you the option of adding an email sign-up for site visitors, through their own customization options or through an add-on. You can also include an email sign-up link on your social media account bio. In addition, be sure to collect email information for any event that you put on.

Email newsletters are best sent 1 to 2 times per month at most. Keep them short (no more than 200 words), and include visually appealing images and links to important information. Make sure you write in your brand voice, and don't be afraid to hire someone who is an expert in email campaigns to do it for you if you lack time or experience.

Offer online-only sales and discounts

Offering online-only sales and discounts can be a great way to build your online market, especially if you learn how to leverage them through multiple marketing channels.

You can use your social media channels to post flash sales, and you can advertise special offers to your email list. You can also offer discounts on products and services through your website.

Another way to use online sales to build your digital following is to require people to follow and comment on a post on your social media in order to receive a discount code. You can do something similar to build your email list.

Remember, special offers don't have to be massive to be effective digital marketing for interior desingers. It can be as simple as offering a downloadable pdf or a free 30-minute consultation. You can also partner with a brand or another business to create a special offer.

Keep sales campaigns simple and on brand, and they can turn into one of your most valuable marketing strategies for interior design.

Digital marketing for interior designers

Now that you've learned some top strategies for digital marketing for interior designers, it's time for you to implement your own marketing strategy. We recommend starting with one technique at a time so you can focus your efforts and evaluate its impact. And if you'd like some inspiration for your portfolio, check out these interior design portfolio examples from Journo Portfolio.