Riddle me this… You’re fresh out of design school, you’ve watched enough TikTok videos to know you don’t want to work for that big design firm your dad always talks about, and you’re pumped to go off on your own and get your fresh new interior design business off the ground. What do you immediately need to work on?! 

How to market your new design business.

There are a few things you don’t always learn in design school, and by “don’t always” I really mean never. Designers are never taught how to build a successful design business. From hiring the right personnel to figuring out which tax forms to file, there are a lot of unsaids in the realm of entrepreneurship. Trial and error WILL become your new best friend, and maybe Moscato.. or any kind of wine that gets you through the night really. But in all realness, being an entrepreneur takes HARD WORK so it’s best to be prepared.

I remember back when I first started GAI, I thought I was going to have it all figured out. Mind you, I have a background in marketing so I definitely had an advantage when I started, but boy was I about to get a strong pungent whiff of reality. I mean, look at these past couple of years. Who could have EVER predicted a global pandemic that froze the entire world? Definitely not me!

With that being said, one of the most important things I can share with you on your new journey to entrepreneurship is to be organized, be patient, and master the art of marketing yourself and your new design business. Your success will depend on you, so make sure you have a strong support system to rely on, learn by example, and just keep swimming.

Here are 7 ways you can immediately market your new interior design business:

1. Branding

You’ve heard this saying millions of times now, but first impressions matter. Branding your business effectively is the first step to leaving a positive impression on a new customer that has never heard of your business before. 

“Brands are essentially patterns of familiarity, meaning, fondness, and reassurance that exist in the minds of people.”— Tom Goodwin

What some folks don’t understand is that branding goes beyond logos and colors. It doesn’t just leave a memorable impression on a consumer, it’s what allows your customers to know what to expect from your company. In fact, whether you know it or not, you choose companies all the time based on branding. It’s what differentiates HGTV from Good Housekeeping, Benjamin Moore from Sherwin Williams, and you from your competitor.

So with that said, here’s a quick branding checklist to run through:

• Logo or Logo Suite (for multiple logo variations)
• Brand Colors
• Typography & Fonts
• Brand Photography
• Elevator Pitch
• Tagline
• Brand Story

You’ll want to make sure that these are all taken care of so that you can be on your way to a cohesive, well-put-together brand that makes a statement and leaves a lasting impression!

2. Set Up Joint Ventures

A joint venture (JV) is a business arrangement in which two or more parties agree to pool their resources for the purpose of accomplishing a specific task. This task can be a new project or any other business activity. (Definition by Investopedia)

Community is everything, especially when you’re just starting out, so I encourage you to network with members of the community and set up mutually beneficial business arrangements. Whether that may be with realtors, architects, brokers, etc., ask them if they’re interested in working with you in an effort to gain new business for both parties.

Related Article: How to Identify your Competitive Advantages as an Interior Designer

By networking with professionals in non-competing businesses that are already dealing with the same target population you’re interested in, your business gains exposure and you gain a long-term relationship with a professional that could support you long-term. 

3. Google My Business

Did you know that Google is not only the largest search engine in the world but it’s also a small business directory used every day by millions of people? Google My Business offers interior design companies a fantastic opportunity to appear in Google search results, and one of the best things about creating a Google My Business listing… it’s completely free!

Google My Business allows you to:

• List your local business on Google maps and search
• Get noticed easily by people already looking for the services or products you provide
• Improve your business’s reputation since customers can leave reviews for your business

Odds are you’ve more than likely done a Google search yourself. Perhaps that one night you got extremely hangry after hours of trying to figure out how to do a 3D model on SketchUp so you Googled ‘places to eat near me’, and then Google returned a list of locations you can eat at based on your current location? Well, these businesses showed up on your search results because they have a Google My Business listing and are one step closer to attracting a new, very frustrated, but very hungry customer. 

If these places didn’t have a GMB page, then they would not have gained a new potential customer that night. So the next time you do a Google search for a product or service, think about the benefits you as an interior design business owner could be missing out on if you didn’t have a Google My Business listing.

Side Note: If you really are frustrated with 3D Modeling, I have a FREE SketchUp Tips & Tutorials Library you could surely benefit from, just click here or on the image below and you’ll be redirected!

4. Leverage Social Media

Social media has become one of the top ways to gain new business and strengthen existing relationships in the post-pandemic digital era. According to Hootsuite, seventy percent of social media users log into their accounts at least once per day, according to a 2021 study by Pew Research Center, and many people (49 percent!) admit to checking social multiple times per day. So with 2022 slowly approaching, creating a social media strategy that works for your business is no longer optional and completely essential. 

Here are some cool ways you can interact with your audience on social media as an interior designer:

• Share educational, inspiring, convincing, or entertaining content consistently (at least once a day).
• Share unique polls with your audience. For example, have them choose between two different interior design styles.
• Go live with a home decor influencer you partnered with.
• Cross-post your website’s blog post on your LinkedIn company page via the ‘write an article’ feature.
• Create fun or educational one-minute videos on interior design tips and tricks and share them across your social media pages.

 

Related Article: How to Create a Company Page on LinkedIn that will Jumpstart your Marketing Efforts

5. Referrals

At the beginning of my career, I was regrettably sometimes embarrassed and nervous to ask my friends, family, and colleagues for referrals. I cared about what others thought for a bit until I realized that people are often more willing to help you than criticize you. 

I encourage you to take my experience as a lesson and ask as many people as possible for referrals. People talk and word gets around faster than the Polar Express, so talk about what you do, let people know you just started a new design business, don’t shut yourself out to possibility, and pretty soon you’ll have new consults and projects that you wouldn’t have had unless you decided to step out of your comfort zone!

6. Local Business Directory Listings

According to BoostMedical, local business directories list vital information about your business including hours, location, and contact information, along with pictures and other relevant information (e.g., reviews or other links). Angie’s List, Yellowpages, Thumbtack, Home Advisor… these are only a few of the networks you should be promoting and marketing your interior design business on.

Great websites like the ones I just mentioned have already established a solid reputation for themselves and have acquired mass amounts of traffic to their sites, something you should definitely take advantage of. Some business listing networks are free while the better ones might cost you a pretty penny, but nonetheless, these are great business directories to list your design business on to get leads.

Here are 25 Free Local Business Directory Listings that I borrowed from Boost Medical:

• Google
• Moz
• Yelp
• Angie’s List
• Foursquare
• Superpages
• Yahoo! Local
• City-Data
• Better Business bureau
• American Towns
• Local Guides
• Facebook
• Bing
• Express Update
• Local Stack
• HubSpot
• Manta
• Thumbtack
• Yellowbook
• Spoke
• Blogorama
• Chamber of Commerce 
• HotFrog
• MerchantCircle

7. Website

Last but certainly not least are websites. Having a website for your interior design business is a no-brainer, mainly because it increases your business’s credibility. Without a website, potential customers might question your legitimacy, be uninformed about what you provide, and ultimately run off to your competition. 

What must-haves should you include in your interior design website?

• A clear description of who you are and what your business provides
• Contact page with your contact information or form where a lead can schedule a consultation with you 
• Customer testimonials
• Easy mobile navigation for users looking you up through their mobile devices

So you made your website, now how do you get seen?

If you have no idea how to drive web traffic to your website, that’s understandable! However, this is something that you’ll need to work on if you plan on having a website that actually works for your business. Luckily enough, I recently launched an e-book on driving traffic to your website, so I encourage you to download it, completely free of charge, and implement the tips and hacks that I share.

Want to know more about branding? Check out our newly launched course "Build Your Brand Identity Beyond Logos: How Interior Designers Can Use Branding to Build a Successful Design Business". This is a 1.5 IDCEC credited course and is $49!