14 Content Marketing Ideas for Interior Designers

Interior design content has never been more abundant and accessible. Today, with a few clicks, you can find interior-design related videos, TV shows, projects, personal stories, blog posts, and rich imagery that’s inspiring and enjoyable to view.

In fact, people today consume more content on a daily basis than at any time in history. And it’s for this reason that almost every type of business needs a content marketing strategy. These days, there’s an expectation that your brand should have a story to tell – and it better be interesting!

Content marketing presents a huge opportunity for interior designers to connect with their target audience. But at the same time, the competition for people’s time and attention is fierce. How do you develop the optimal content strategy while still having the time to do what you do best – providing superior design services to your clients? In this post, we’ll dive into all aspects of content marketing for interior designers.

What is content marketing and how does it relate to interior design?

Before the Internet existed, interior designers utilized content marketing in their portfolios with images, sketches, swatches, and color palettes. But with today’s digital tools, you can take things to a whole new level. At its core, content marketing is telling a story that inspires your audience.

Content marketing for interior design might include:

• Images and videos of your work, with stories about each project
• Before and after pictures
• Blog posts with tips, best practices, and creative ideas
• Stories about you and your team
• Social media posts that drive visitors to your website
• Projects that you post on sites like Houzz or Apartment Therapy
• A press release to announce a new milestone for your business
• Idea books and e-books
• Testimonials from your clients

Essentially, content marketing gives you a range of opportunities to connect with your audience. Using content in creative ways can engage them and get them excited to work with you.

Why is content marketing especially important for interior designers?

When conducting research on whether content marketing actually helps businesses or not, digital marketing guru Neil Patel found that businesses that deploy a quality content marketing strategy can generate eight-times more site traffic than those that don’t. And in our research, we found that nearly half of consumers will engage with three-to-five piece of content about a product or services before deciding to buy.

Here’s how content marketing can help you get and retain interior design clients:

• Search engine optimized content, such as cornerstone pages on your website and blogs posts, can get you top rankings in organic search results, which means people who are actively in-market and looking for interior design help can find you.
• Video-based content can get you ranked in both text-based search engines, like Google and Bing, and video search engines – namely YouTube.
• Short content and topic-specific hashtags can expand your brand awareness on social networks and connect your business with a new audience of potential clients. It can also help to build your brand authority and reputation as an expert in your industry.
• Content can be used to gauge people’s interest and enthusiasm for different topics related to your business. And content marketing gives you the opportunity to elicit feedback from your audience. You can gain valuable feedback in comments fields on your website and social media channels, and by using polls to survey your audience. Nothing beats customer feedback to help you make better strategic decisions about your messaging, your brand, and what you offer.
• Content marketing gives you an opportunity to build trust with your audience before directly trying to sell something to them. And, it lets you demonstrate your expertise, build your credibility, and strengthen your reputation as an expert in your field.

What if I’m too busy to create content? (In other words: How can a content marketing agency help?)

Many interior designers are solopreneurs who juggle all aspects of their businesses. This is why outsourcing your content marketing strategy, creation, and production can be the best option for your business. A content marketing agency has the benefit of economies of scale, with a cadre of copywriters, designers, and other specialists who can ideally produce high-quality content faster, and at a lower hourly rate, than you can on your own.

An agency can take your vision and run with it and come up with ideas you may not have thought of. Plus, if they specialize in interior design and other home services, as MS Tech does, they have the added advantage of knowing what resonates and what may not with your target audience.

A content marketing agency can help with:

• Generating content ideas
• Professional copywriting and editing
• Professional graphic design and video editing
• Content strategy, such as recommending the volume of content, the cadence, and scheduling in various channels, such as your website, email, and social media
• Analytics and reporting to get you the best ROI from your content marketing activities

A professional content marketing agency will help you hone in on your objectives, and then work with you to develop the optimal content strategy for your budget and goals.

14 Ideas for Interior Design Content Marketing

There are a wide variety of ways to connect with potential and existing interior design clients with content. Here are some of our favorite ideas that you can do on our own or outsource to a professional agency like MS Tech.

1. Get to know your audience first.

While your content marketing strategy may be designed to help you attract and retain clients, at heart, your content needs to be about them. Content marketing is all about the value-add to your interior design consumers.

One way we help our clients create customer-centric content is that we help them to develop buyer personas, which is an exercise to understand your ideal clientele, their interests, wants, and needs. When you truly know your audience, it’s much easier to create content that will wow them.

We deploy a practice called “agile management” that was first developed in technology product development, but which can easily be transferred to interior design marketing. Agile is about understanding your user and being able to iterate and improve a product or service quickly to better meet their needs. To understand your user, you put yourself in their head. Consider this sentence: “As a…, I want… so that I can…”

For example:

“As a homeowner with three young children and two dogs, I want a living room that can withstand muddy feet and lots of activity, while being easy to clean up when the in-laws visit.”

Or,

“As a retired couple with no children at home who travel five months out of the year, we are looking for a low-maintenance home with plenty of space to show off our travel souvenirs.”

In addition to user stories, other ways you can get to know your clients so you can develop targeted content that resonates with them is through key questions, for example:

• What are their favorite movies, TV shows, and magazines?
• What are their favorite periods in history from a design-style, such as Victorian or mid-century modern?
• What celebrity homes do they envy?
• What are their problems and pain points?
• What stresses them out?
• What relaxes them?

Asking these questions will give you a better sense of what your clients will love.

2. Hone in on what stresses your clients out and what relaxes them.

You’re in the business or creating environments where your clients can function at their best. Zeroing in on the things that cause them to stress out and those that relax them can help you develop content ideas that address these topics.

For example, if you have the type of clientele who are working parents and who get stressed out when they walk in the door and all they see if chaos at home, create content that addresses those pain points. You might have a blog post that has tips on organization, storage ideas, and flooring that’s easy to clean. On the other hand, if you have clients who mainly live in the city, you might provide content that has urban gardening ideas or mini fountains that work in small apartments.

3. Provide content in varying lengths.

When developing content to attract and retain your interior design clientele, consider that people have different attention spans at different times. Long-form content, such as an article or blog post, can be great for Sunday afternoon reading. While short tips posted on social media can get people’s attention on their lunch break or daily commute.

4. Repurpose content into different formats for various channels.

In addition to content length, providing content in different formats can appeal to a broader audience. You can take one topic, such as “What to do if you don’t have enough closet space,” and create content related to that topic in different formats for different marketing channels. These formats might include infographics, slide presentations, static images converted into a video, blog posts, or recorded audio, such as podcasts.

5. Optimize your content for rankings in Google and YouTube.

As mentioned above, content that gets top rankings in search engines, like Google, Bing, and YouTube, can deliver traffic your site month after month. This is where an agency that specializes in search engine optimization (SEO) can be especially helpful. An SEO specialist can help create content in your specific niche using what are called long tail keywords. Using long tail keywords gives you the best opportunity for your content to out-rank competitors in your market. In addition, an agency can help you with local search in your market, giving you the best odds of connecting with potential clients in your geographic area.

6. Optimize your content for sharing on social media.

Aside from giving people the opportunity to self-publish, social media gives you the opportunity to reach an audience well beyond your immediate network. Creating content that has sharing potential is a great way to reach a whole new set of potential clients. Great shareable content might include how-to videos or lists and rankings. For example, you might have a list of the top things to avoid when it comes to kitchen organization or indoor lighting. Or, you might share a list of must-haves for a child’s nursery. This type of content will ideally get your followers to share it with their own networks.

7. Share before and after stories.

People love to see transformations, and as an interior designer, you have the opportunity to share a lot of before and after photos. Be sure to get photos and videos of your projects before they start and once they’re done. Then share these stories on your website, in email, and social media channels.

8. Turn static images from your portfolio into animated motion graphic videos.

You can add life to static images by turning them into a video montage. This is where an agency like MS Tech can help. A professional motion graphics editor can bring a collection of static images to life by turning them into a video sequence with text overlays, narration, and background music. Then you can share the videos on your website, social media, and elsewhere.

9. Produce personal video messages from you and your team.

Today, we have more opportunities than ever to “meet” the people behind a brand. Since you’re in the service business, your clients will want to know who you are – who the person is behind the work. Personal videos, whether formal or casual, can go a long way in letting potential clients know who you are.

10. Share client testimonials.

Whether written or in video format, testimonials from past clients are one of your best selling opportunities. Combining a recommendation from a client with details and images on the client’s project can be incredibly impactful when a new potential client is evaluating whether to work with you.

11. Create top 10 lists.

People love lists and there’s an endless supply of interior design topics that you can provide lists for. Some examples might be:

• The best houseplants if you have pets
• Your favorite vintage writing desks
• Outdoor lighting ideas
• Colorful accent ideas to bring life to a dull room
• Movies that inspired your design ideas
• Ideas for home office organization
• Couches for small spaces

12. Create content related to specific rooms or areas.

Another way to brainstorm content ideas is to focus on specific sections or rooms in a home or office, such as:

• Patios and porches
• Garages
• Decks
• Living rooms
• Guest bedroom
• Guest bathroom
• Mud room
• Home office
• Kids’ shared room
• Nursery
• Dining room
• Pantry
• Hall closet
• Master bedroom
• Laundry room, etc.

13. Create content around specific styles or themes.

Another way to generate content ideas is to focus on a particular theme, and then brainstorm ideas related to that theme. For example:

• Bohemian
• Minimalist
• Tropical
• Cozy
• French Country
• Masculine
• Feminine
• Family
• Neutral
• Nautical
• Vintage

14. Create content around a specific color.

You know the vital role that color plays in interior design. But your clients may or may not think about the subtleties of color. Here are some ideas for interior design content that centers around the use of colors:

• Good and bad color combinations
• Popular colors from different times in history
• Things that are cobalt blue
• White kitchens
• Pink bedrooms
• Choosing a color for an accent wall
• Choosing flower colors for your garden

As an interior designer, you already have a creative bent. This gives you a special opportunity to use content to enhance your brand and what you offer. Hopefully, with these tips, you can see how the right content marketing strategy can help you grow your clientele and build your reputation as an expert in the field.

For more great content ideas, contact MS Tech today.