How To Get Local Interior Design Clients Online
I'm not doing "eDesign" so I don't need to market online.
Unless your clients are cavemen with no internet access, your clients are looking for you online.
Marketing your interior design business online isn't an option.
You can pretend that your clients aren't online. You can continue to go to the shitty networking meeting with Sally the pyramid scheme insurance business, and Stan the real estate agent and don't forget Fred, the jack of all trades and master of none. You'll leave the meeting with a headache and probably no leads.
88 percent of smartphone users and 84 percent of tablet owners conduct local searches - source
Practically everyone uses the internet and if they're looking for you, they need more information than a listing in the yellow pages could provide. If they even print that anymore in your area.
People expect that you have a website and it must command their attention.
Your "competition" is marketing online.
You can run ads targeted Facebook ads to people in your city and surrounding areas
Blogging Works To Get Local Interior Design Clients
You'll score HUMONGOUS bonus points if you also have a blog. Your blog will position you as an expert. You'll be able to communicate, in depth, about who you are as a designer and the role design plays in your client's life.
Your blog content also gives you something to share on social media. If you blogged about the last client you had in Dallas, you can score some SEO juice and target new clients in that area with the added bonus of showing off your work with a story. And that is much more effective than just directing people to pretty pictures. People wanna know the story behind the design.
Advertising Is Another Option
Hands down, advertising online is way more effective than placing an ad in a print magazine. Of course, a strong SEO strategy is important because of the people who click on a search result link came to you without you paying a dime. But, sometimes you need to broaden your reach, so placing an ad can help you get some visibility if your website presence is fairly new.
SEO Is Important, But Not Without This Key Ingredient
I can hear you now... but the ALGORITHMS! Yeah, those fucking algorithms change all the time. But a keyword strategy is not enough. You still need content, AKA a blog, to get traffic to your website.
The search engines are in the business of bringing QUALITY links to the person searching. People don't want to read fluff or the same perspective that someone else already shared. Your unique voice combined with adding new content regularly will grow your visibility online.
Getting local interior design clients online comes down to the same key strategy as getting online design clients. You must have content to engage your prospects.
Oh, you can try this, too
And as a local designer, you can integrate talking about local items that the community is interested in. Realtors do this all the time. We have this schmuck in town who will go to a local business and do a video on it. Then he posts it all over the place.
The people here who may not be looking for a house will check it out and remember this guy. People who may be moving into the area wight put this guy at the top of their list to help them find a house.
Your content will take you time to create but the upside is huge. When you answer the burning questions your prospect has that your competition hasn't, guess who you could snag as a new client? Yep.
Content marketing is a long-term strategy that costs only your time and energy but over time can be an even more effective way to attract local clients.
What's your strategy for attracting local design clients? Tell me in the comments.
Hola! I'm Alycia Wicker and I help online interior designers grow their business.
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