It’s no secret – interior design projects don’t come easily these days. Even in social media, things can get crazy busy it’s a feat to get yourself some decent and profitable attention. Still, you can’t deny that social media is where business rolls these days. Maybe you just need to focus on the right channels instead of throwing your efforts everywhere, and as an interior designer whose talent is best captured in pictures, Pinterest is your game.
Of course, even Pinterest is no magic bullet. As a professional marketing your services, you need to have a system for things to work. Once you establish that system, the site will practically haul in interior design client leads even as you sleep.
Here’s our guide to leveraging Pinterest for interior designers…
Why Pinterest?
Indeed, why Pinterest in particular for your interior design business? People go to Pinterest for images for starters. Compare this with Facebook, even Instagram and all the rest, where there’s at least equal parts visual and a whole lot of other stimuli.
Pinterest is all about the pictures, which perfectly rhymes with your talent being best manifested in the said form. But make no mistake. People on Pinterest aren’t there just for the eye candy. Usually, it’s because they have something in mind, a project they plan to undertake, probably an interior design project they need professional help with – which is exactly where you come in.
When you invest in fantastic images of your designs and flaunt them them where the interior design clients hang out on social media, you get free traffic to your website and possibly straight to your sales funnel. Of course, you can always market your designs anywhere, but what’s the point if the business isn’t there? The idea is to pick your best channels and build a profitable audience there.
Laying the Foundation
There’s no question about Pinterest being one of your choicest picks, but before you start pinning like a machine, remember, SYSTEM. You need a system, and it all begins from the bottom:
Set up your email marketing base
This is fundamental. Don’t start yet until you have this set up. It’s easy though as all you need is a form through which you can collect people’s email addresses. Make sure that form is on each page of your website pinned to Pinterest or in your site’s or blog’s footer. In any case, make sure it’s visible enough.
When you’re done with your list, set up your freebies, which should be automatically sent to each new prospect you list. And don’t forget to set up your autoresponders so you can maintain connection with your leads on auto-pilot.
Invest in great content
Aside from catchy, professional pictures, you also need same-level content to impress some serious lookers. After all, you probably won’t be the only interior designer out there, but with a really clever headline, you can quash your competitors and take people to your awesome content in your website.
Set Up a Business Account
A Pinterest business account is more than telling people you’re mean serious business. It gives you access to the site’s analytics, or simply data that show how your pins are doing, how many people are checking them out, how many clicks you’re getting on that link to your website, and so on. Aside from analytics, a business account also gives you access to many other tools that help you establish your professional presence on the site and social media in general.
Once you have completed your business profile, you can link it to your personal account (up to 4 business accounts per personal account) and switch between the two as you like. If you plan to access an ad account through a business account, it’s better to use your work email and your real name rather than your business name so advertisers can easily identify you.
Keep Your Images Pinnable
Of course, it’s smart to keep all of your images pinnable, whether in your blog or website. And try to maintain a constant feel to your pictures so you can create a visual mark that lets people recognize your images even without your logo (or any expressed indication they’re yours).
Research the Right Keywords and Use Them
Yes, you should use keywords on Pinterest too. While your pictures will pique your potential clients’ interest, it’s keywords that will make them find you. Pinterest is essentially a search engine, and if you want to be found, especially for the right reasons, you have to use the right keywords in your description. Remember, DESCRIPTION (hashtags are obsolete).
Make Your Boards Entertaining
Don’t forget that aside from you being an interior designer and Pinterest lookers being potential interior design clients, other things are happening in the world. In short, don’t just make your boards about interior design. If you work with out-of-town clients, for instance, create a board that feature your travels. If you have a passion that many people can relate to, such as cooking or a popular sport, create a board on them too. At the end of the day, you’re humans and it’s human connection that lasts between you and your client.
Be Consistent
If you don’t have time to pin everyday, use a scheduling service that lets you put those pins out automatically. There’s no hard and fast rule on how many pins you should have per day, but 5 is usually a good start. Besides, Pinterest has begun using a smart feed system, which means you don’t have to worry about annoying people with too many pins.
Maximising Pinterest
It’s amazing how Pinterest has been around for a while and yet few interior designers have discovered it enough to take advantage of its benefits. Everyday is always a good time to start leveraging Pinterest for your business. But again, you can’t jump in without a plan.
The goal is to get word out about your interior design abilities and services in the most attractive way possible: pictures. By impressing people with your designs, you can get them interested enough to check out your website, and then you can start building that connection after turning them into subscribers. Offer them value, and when they appreciate it, send them an offer.
Of course, you can also rely on your past clients and referrals to grow your business, but why restrict your interior design network when you can create it without bounds? Pinterest helps you do that.