How to Strategically Grow Your Interior Design Business Through Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Imagine the following: You’ve figured out how to start an interior design business, and you even have a few clients, but despite that, you just can’t seem to grow — you may be left wondering what comes next for you and your brand.

For many interior design business owners, growth comes from referrals, but if you don’t yet have a robust network, getting those can become quite challenging. That’s where word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) comes into play, allowing you to organically grow your interior design business and helping you to get new clients without only relying on professional referrals.

The Basics of Word of Mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is a type thereof that focuses on getting customers to speak about your business and services, sharing positive experiences that can encourage others to also reach out to you.

WOMM is so effective because people trust it; upwards of 92% of consumers trust the opinions of their family and friends more than direct advertising. With these kinds of results, mixed with the fact that it is one of the least expensive marketing strategies for interior design around, it can be tough to understand why WOMM remains underused, especially in the world of interior design.

Nevertheless, one of the reasons behind it is that businesses are more focused on gathering social media followers than actually connecting with them. Having a few engaged followers is always better than having a slew of people following you only because they signed up for a giveaway or something similar in the past.

Marketing for Interior Designers: Strategies for Using Word of Mouth Marketing

Some of the best WOMM strategies for interior design companies that can help your business grow strategically are as follows:

Epic First Experience: Focus on Customer Service

Getting people to rave about you and your interior design business means going above and beyond their expectations. Always offer quality services and ensure that what you offer is on-brand. If you advertise your business as an environmentally friendly one, for instance, you want your studio and your portfolio to reflect that.

 That means you want to always strive to offer clients the attention and quality services they’re looking for. Make it easy for them to reach out to you with issues and address any concerns they have, and take that extra step to send clients thank you notes after working with them. If there’s a problem, you can still impress a client by the way you resolve it.

That said, however, customer service doesn’t just refer to in-person or over-the-phone interactions; you want the experience your potential clients have to be a positive one from the moment they log onto your website.

Only an average of 1.53% of all e-commerce website visits transform into actual conversions, and a primary reason for that is poor website experiences. Site functionality is essential, as is having plenty of information available for potential clients, so ensure your site is intuitive so that visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for. Provide thorough descriptions of everything you offer so that clients feel confident in choosing you.

Referral Programs: Get New Clients and Maintain Existing Ones

When you’re looking for how to get interior design clients, one of the best options is to turn to referral programs. Referrals offer existing clients an incentive to get others to work with or make a purchase from your business.

The rewards you offer can be as unique as your business: discounted rates on future services, access to special customer clubs that come with unique perks, or even a shoutout on social media; not only will these help you gather new clients, but providing them will help to create brand loyalty among your existing ones. Just keep in mind that a successful referral program hinges on having a clear idea of who your target audience is and offering rewards that work for them.

You also need to maintain contact with your clients if you want to keep the momentum going. Remind them regularly of the benefits they can get if they recommend you to friends and family, and offer gratitude for their advocacy by including personalized notes or other thoughtful gestures.

Gather Endorsements: Cultivate Online Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews and testimonials are powerful endorsements that help drive WOMM. It’s important that you have real reviews from real clients, as potential clients can sniff out inauthenticity.

Building a base of endorsements means reaching out to satisfied clients and kindly asking them to share their experiences on review platforms. Provide exact links and instructions on how to leave the review to make people more likely to follow through.

You also need to engage with your reviews, responding to client issues and trying to resolve them if you can. Doing so lets existing and potential clients alike see that you’re ready to put client satisfaction first.

You’ll also want to include these reviews and testimonials on your website and social media channels so that you allow potential clients to get a sense of the experiences others have had, all while also boosting your website’s credibility and enhancing its visibility on search engines.

Social Media: Engaging in Positive Social Media Use

Today’s WOMM relies on social media, but it’s critical that you engage with the right online communities and do so in a positive manner that reflects your brand’s voice. It can be great to have lots of followers and engagements with people who are in their early 20s, but those may not be the people who can help grow your business.

You can’t focus only on advertising your services, either; you have to participate in discussions and provide valuable insight so that others see you as a helpful authority on the subject.

Focus on building relationships, always post reliable, high-quality content that people know they can trust, and be as authentic as possible on social media. Gimmicks won’t work in the long run, and they can even make people less likely to trust the services you offer. You also want to avoid getting into any negative conversations or acting unprofessionally.

Influencer Partnerships: Boosting Your Reach

Influencers have become a driving force for WOMM as they provide a quick means of garnering lots of visibility. It’s crucial, however, that you ensure you choose influencers who have an audience that can benefit from your services. A teenage TikTok influencer will likely not be able to help your business grow very much because their audiences — other teenagers — will have no need for interior design businesses.

Instead, look for influencers who have a powerful reach in the home decor communities and other similar options, and take the time to understand if the influencer’s brand matches yours. Going back to the example of running an environmentally-friendly interior design business, you would want to find an influencer who holds those same values because their audience members likely do as well.

Once you’ve identified the influencers you want to reach out to, consider the type of collaborations you want to have. You could have sponsored posts, product placements, and even collaborations on design projects. The success of these kinds of partnerships comes down to finding the right influencer and coming up with strategic collaborations that target the audience you want to reach.

Improving Your Interior Design Business

Running an interior design business and getting it to grow organically is certainly challenging, but one of the most effective strategies you can turn to is the use of word-of-mouth marketing.

At Behind the Design, we offer marketing help for interior design companies that may be struggling to grow. Contact Behind the Design today to get started, and let us help your interior design business.