Interior designers often cringe at the idea of being compared to sales people. Sales professionals sell TVs and cars, and they are, well, interior designers right!
I’m sorry to have to break it to you, but interior designers are salespeople. They sell beautiful homes to clients instead of electronic equipment or automobiles.
Now, if you have been in this business long enough, you understand the importance of maintaining an influential Houzz profile. For the newbies, Houzz is a social networking platform for architects, designers and other home improvement professionals with over 20-million active users.
Hence, if you are looking for an effective marketing plan for your interior design business, setting up your Houzz profile would be the best start. Read our guide on How to Create an Alluring Houzz Profile in 5 Simple Steps if you do not know where to start.
Why Use Houzz for Interior Design Advertising?
#1 Business is booming, and according to the 2018 Houzz and Home survey, nearly 51% of homeowners on Houzz plan to commence or continue renovating their home in 2019, on a median budget of $10,000.
#2 Nowadays people search for everything online, and reviews play a key role in bringing in business. Houzz allows interior designers to showcase projects and display testimonials in front of a huge crowd of potential clients and fellow competitors. Thus, strengthening the community.
#3 Interior Design subcategories are indexed separately on Houzz, making it easier to search for your specific requirements.
How to Find Interior Design Clients Using Houzz?
For starters, your ranking on Houzz depends on these six factors listed below.
a. A large assortment of quality photographs showcasing some of your best work.
b. Informative image descriptions
c. An active and updated profile
d. Use of popular and relevant keywords
e. Plenty of good reviews – at least three!
f. Adding a Houzz badge to your website
Once you have covered the basics, it is time to move onto a more detailed Houzz marketing strategy.
1. Keyword Research and Utilization
Homeowners will search for projects, ideabooks and images on Houzz using keywords. Hence, spend your time researching the most popular keywords on Houzz and include them in image descriptions and other pieces of text that you add to your profile.
However, make sure you do not stuff your content with keywords, as that qualifies as scam. Ensure that your content adds value to your profile.
2. Upload Projects and Get Featured
Submit your best projects to the Editor and grab a chance to get featured on Houzz. This is free advertisement, and one with a huge audience base. Now who would want to let slip an opportunity like that! Follow this link to Know More.
Budget-friendly projects are always in high demand. If you think your services qualify, feel free to submit your work to the Editor.
3. Be Socially Active
Community interactions increase your social exposure on Houzz and is highly recommended. Not simply because Houzz prefers an active profile, but also since it boosts your chances of being found in the forums.
Follow local businesses or competitors outside your area. You never know what networking opportunities await!
4. Engage with Your Fellow Members on Forums
Houzz members often leave questions on your profile or uploaded images. Make sure you keep a keen eye out for such queries and answer them swiftly. Even though answering such questions may not directly lead to a sale, it will give out an impression that you are helpful and courteous.
People often ask questions such as what paint color you used, or how large the living room is, or where you purchased the wall-hanging. You might feel irritated, but answer them anyway.
5. Answer Questions Meant for Others, If You Qualify
Just like any other social media platform, many established interior designers might not bother responding to questions on their profile. If you find such unanswered questions lying around for a few days, consider replying.
But remember, answering questions meant for someone else before they get a chance to respond, is simply rude. Make sure that the questions are at least a few days old before you plunge in and grab the opportunity to generate a lead.
6. Browse Through the Discussions
Homeowners often run into design dilemmas, especially when they have chosen the DIY path. As a simple way out, most people seek help on Houzz. Browsing through the discussions will lead you to a few such threads every day.If you find something interesting, do reply with a link to one of your published projects on Houzz.
Do not worry about participating in discussions away from your location. Even though the person that need help might not be from a city near you, people participating in the thread might be!
7. Start a Poll
Ask your potential clients what they want from an interior designer, the challenges that they face or their priorities. You could leave a link to some of your published content on Houzz at the end of the poll for the people to view.
8. Use Ideabooks
You can utilize ideabooks to express your style, even though you might not have worked on a similar project yet.Do not worry about promoting a competitor’s business, as location is the key in any service industry.
You can use Ideabooks to share concepts, color schemes or other ideas with your audience. You could also design an invitation-only eBook for your clients to view and leave their feedback on.
9. Lookout for Networking Opportunities
Collaborating with other creators on Houzz can lead to great business ventures in the future. You could also ask for suggestions, recommendations and help from people in the industry discreetly, as non-professional users are not able to view these threads.
The 9 tips discussed above should answer your questions on how to use Houzz for marketing or how to use Houzz for business. These combined with the three Golden Rules of Marketing that are discussed below,should help you reach out to clients on Houzz and convince them to bring you their business.
a. Listen to Your Clients
It is important to ask questions and listen to what your clients have to say. Understanding the requirements is of paramount importance on the quest to deliver excellence.
b. Write Down the Details
The next step is to write everything down in detail for future reference. Keep a note of every instruction that a client gives you, any subtle behavioral hints or ideas that that you can incorporate in your design. Attention to detail is always rewarded at the end!
c. Repeat
When you approach the client for final referencing, repeat their instructions verbally and use the same lingo that they had used, from your notes. Your client will be visibly surprised, as if you have read their mind!
Reading your client’s mind can mean all the difference between a successful presentation and a failure! Click To Tweet
If you like what you have read so far and want to create your Houzz profile, read our step-by-step guide on How to Create an Alluring Houzz Profile.
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