Creating a marketing strategy for your design biz doesn’t have to be a total brain-melter, but it does take some real soul-searching to figure out who your dream clients are and what they actually need. Marketing has a ton of moving parts (yes, even PR!), but today, I’m challenging you with three questions to kickstart your thinking.

It’s August, which can be slow for a lot of industries—including interior design. Everyone is either getting their kids ready for back to school or off on vacation, soaking up the sun, and suddenly those emails you usually get flooded with seem to have taken a little holiday of their own. But don’t let the quiet fool you; this downtime can be a golden opportunity. While everyone else is in summer mode, you can use this lull to recharge, get creative, and plan your next big move.

Think of it as the calm before the storm—the perfect time to update your website (is your press up to date??), plan out your goals for next quarter, or even catch up on those design books that have been gathering dust (guilty!). It’s also a great moment to nurture your network of industry peers, laying the groundwork for when things pick up again. So, while August might feel slow, it’s actually the perfect time to set the stage for an epic fall season!

When it comes to marketing your design business, or well, anything, people tend to mix up strategy with tactics.

A strategy is the overarching plan or approach designed to achieve a long-term goal or objective. It sets the direction and defines the "what" and "why" of your actions. For example, an interior designer’s strategy might be to establish themselves as a luxury brand in the market. It could be positioning your store as a design destination like we did for this client in the downtown L.A. Arts District. Once we achieved that, their strategy then changed to being taken seriously in the high-end design scene. The tactic was to first land their first major project published in AD—a goal we accomplished, and a dream for a new firm.

Tactics are the specific actions or steps taken to implement the strategy. They are the "how" of the plan. Tactics could include hosting exclusive events, collaborating with high-end brands, or hiring top tier photographers that work with the publications you hope to be in.

It's no secret that Maximalist interior design is having a big moment. Not only are we seeing this bold, unapologetic celebration of color, pattern, and texture all over social media, but magazine editors are really excited by it. After all, Maximalism has that wow factor that feels fresh and exciting —even if this daring approach to design isn’t necessarily what most people want to live in every day.

I always remind our clients that publishing is a business, and that business only survives if people read their stories. It’s also how magazine covers are decided—what person or image is going to sell it the most? This can shift based on trends. Remember in 2020 when all you saw were green kitchens? If you were a designer with a green kitchen in 2020, chances are, you were getting published!

So why do trends matter for your business if you want to get press? And what can you do if Maximalist Design isn’t your design style—or more importantly—what your clients want. Let’s dive in to all this and more:

In today’s world of ever-changing technology and endless content, information and news flies at us like rapid-fire. In order to cut through all the clutter and be heard amongst all the noise, your story needs to be more impactful than ever with several key factors that help determine whether it will be compelling to the media. Here’s a little “Journalism 101” based on some things everyone is taught in J-school about newsiness, plus what we know the press cares about based on our media pitching hustle over the years.

So here’s the thing—thought leadership is a buzz phrase that gets thrown around a lot these days, but for good reason.  As the marketing and public relations landscape evolves and the way consumers think, act, and buy changes in the digital age, brands must set themselves apart in ways that are more authentic and meaningful.  

A thought leader, as defined by Influence & CO’s CEO Kelsey Raymond in Forbes, is “an industry expert who shares his or her expertise with a broader audience for the purpose of education, improving, and adding value to the industry as a whole.”  Thought leadership positions a person or brand as an authority in their industry, while opening doors to new opportunities and building a more organic and loyal following.  Spanx founder Sarah Blakely and DryBar Founder Alli Webb are examples of thought leaders who get it right in our book, as they are accessible authorities in their space, who consistently lend their expertise in creative and powerful ways.  

If you are building a personal or corporate brand, at some point, you are going to need to understand the difference between traditional and digital PR, and why your strategy must include both approaches to garner the most success.

For some, being able to see quantifiable analytics that give an exact ROI is all that matters. And why not? If you're seeing sales, traffic, and engagement, isn't that the goal? It is, except when all h*ll breaks loose (as it has since March!).

In the last three months, I have managed more crisis communication than in my entire career. I have helped clients navigate divorce announcements in the middle of a pandemic. I have helped clients decide when or when not to let go of employees. I have helped clients figure out how to support Black Lives Matter in a thoughtful, public way that will extend way beyond an Instagram post.

Cancel culture is very real and we have all watched the take down ofcelebrities,CEOs,Editor-in-Chiefs, anddigital influencerswho gave very little thought (if any at all) to how their communication and actions/inactions would affect their long term reputation.

Your reputation is EVERYTHING. When people no longer trust you or believe in you, no amount of Facebook ads can save you.

I think we can all agree that the goal is to have people think positively when hearing your name, no matter the source of that positivity. It's why you have to first start with positive storytelling and thoughtful communication that will influence consumer behavior. When you have that foundation, digital PR is what can help take traditional PR to the next level. Read on for the difference and how they can work together.

Physically here, mentally on a boat in the south of France,
Molly