How to Get Press as an Interior Designer
Our client Hearth Homes Interiors was featured in Sunset magazine, complete with print, digital and social media coverage, which led to two new clients!
3 Ways to Get Visibility for your
Interior Design Business
Visibility for your business doesn’t have to mean shameless self-promotion. Of course, it can mean tons of press and accolades that propels you to super stardom, but it can also just mean that people are able to find you when they go looking.
Why it matters?
If nobody can find you, your client pipeline will dry up fast without a lot of work on your end.
The below will give you three ways that you can get visibility for your business. I have tried them all and stand by the fact that they work! I know because I get a consistent stream of new business inquiries every week from the things I have put into place—without having to constantly pound the pavement in search of dream clients. They find me. You can have that too!
1) Let’s get social
You don’t have to be on every single platform, nor do you have to show up every single day (despite what they’ll tell you). Pick the one that comes the most naturally do you and commit to it with consistency.
While, yes, Instagram is important for interior designers, if you hate Instagram, just treat it like a magazine, and make sure that when an editor or potential client lands on your page, it is representative of you and what you have to offer. Is the bio clear? Do you have your location listed (this is so important), are you showcasing your best photos? Followers do not necessarily equate paying clients, so if Instagram is not your thing, don’t make it the only way to find you.
Talk about other people. Not in the bad gossipy way, but in a way that will make other people want to reciprocate. It is so much more powerful to have someone else say how great you are than for you to constantly shout it from the rooftops. Is there a source you love? Share it and tag them! Did you visit a great shop tell people! It also provides value to the people following you.
Don’t confuse this with only posting other designer’s work on your Instagram feed. That is a great way to confuse your ideal client. You don’t want someone to land on your Instagram profile and question what work is yours. Save the shoutouts for stories!
Substack is making it (somewhat) easy to grow a newsletter (if it’s good)—there’s a feed where you can promote other people and share your work and they can in return share yours. I’m a huge fan, and if writing is your thing, this might be the platform for you.
2) Passive visibility
What is passive visibility? It means that you have created a way for people to find you without you constantly having to show up somewhere and talk about it. Essentially you do the work once, and then it only requires a small amount of maintenance to keep it going. Sign me up!
This could be SEO so that when people search Google, you show up on page one as the solution to their problem.
This could be Pinterest, which is similar in that it’s a search engine. Just keep in mind that in order for this to really work, you need to have a blog or other content that you can link your pins to.
3) Active visibility
PR falls into the active visibility category, and there are a few ways to approach PR and get press for your interior design business.
DIY PR: I ask myself two questions when it comes to DIY-ing anything in my business. Is this the best use of my time and do I love doing it? If the answer is yes, then I GO FOR IT. I’ll take a course, I’ll fumble my way until I’ve mastered something, I’ll spend hours of nights and weekends doing the thing until I get really good. But, nine times out of ten, I’ve found that the best way for me to spend my time is to focus on getting better at the thing that makes me money so that I attract better clients, and keep those clients happy for as long as possible. I leave the other things up to the experts.
A PR Membership: I built our Library Card membership for interior designers who want to dip their toe in PR without a big commitment. I built it for interior designers who want press NOW, but are waiting for projects to be finished and photographed. I built it for designers who don’t have any media connections and have no idea where to start. I built it for designers who love giving expert opinion and want more thought leadership opportunities.
A Design Well-Placed: Getting a beautiful magazine feature for one of your big home projects is the holy grail of interior design press! It gives you the credibility, validation, and confidence to stand behind your rates and attract more of your dream clients. We take on a select amount of projects each quarter for this service—so if you have a full home that is trend forward and full of layers and soul, get in touch!
Full Service PR: Ongoing monthly PR is for year-round clients who are ready to make a long term investment. We typically work with design firms who have a distinct point-of-view and a large portfolio of unpublished trend-forward projects or are launching something new such as a new design firm, a store, a book or a major collection.
