Digital marketing is the backbone of nearly any modern business. At least some of your time each week should be dedicated to marketing efforts. If you don’t spend time marketing when you’re busy on a project, then you probably won’t have anything in the pipeline for when that project is over.
Compared to other industries, interior design relies heavily on word-of-mouth and personal connections. But even in this highly personal field, digital marketing is still important. Hiring a designer is big decision, and clients will often research online before making a choice.
Between keeping a full pipeline, and meeting your potential clients where they spend their time, spending time on marketing is clearly a critical aspect of your business. That’s why in this article, we will showcase five different marketing strategies that you can try in 2025.
1. Optimize Your Website for Local SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is an important part of digital marketing. Put simply, a website that has strong SEO will show up in online search results higher than others, when users search specific keywords. You can work on optimizing your website for certain keywords that relate to your business. This can be certain aspects of design, specific services, or phrases that relate directly to your local area.
This last type of SEO might be the most important for your business. Local SEO is hyper-specific optimization aimed at attracting clients that are located near your business. This is effective if your business only operates within a certain region. Potential clients also tend to search based on their location, or search engines will automatically show them results for local businesses. Therefore, it’s important to tell search engines where you’re located.
There are a few ways to accomplish this. The first, and easiest, is to have your contact information, including address, prominently displayed on your website. You can have a Contact page with this information, and you can put it into your footer. You can also create a Google Business Profile. This ensures that your business will be listed on Google search and maps results, and that that listing will tie to your website.
Handcrafted content is another great way to improve local SEO. If you’re able to write blogs or articles and reference your local area, that is a treasure trove of relevant content! You can also include local projects in your portfolio. Just don’t forget to include written content on these pages that reference the local region.
Also consider including testimonials on your website, or embedding reviews from a third-party site if possible.
2. Use the Visual Side of Social Media
Social media can feel like a chore or a waste of time to some designers. To others, it’s the lifeblood of their marketing pipeline. Whether you’re a master of social media, or are still getting the hang of it, interior designers are uniquely matched to the visual aspect of social media. Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok are possible platforms where you can succeed with your stunning design images or walkthrough videos.
If you have images and videos, don’t hesitate to use them. When posting, be sure to make use of relevant hashtags. These tags can be trending topics around interior design, descriptors for the styles or products used in the photo, and brand-specific hashtags that you create during the research process.
However, keep in mind that social media is a strategy, not just something you should feel like you need to do. Keep in mind what your goals are. Do you want to generate more followers to look more impressive to potential clients? Do you want to use social media to generate warm leads and network with prospective clients directly? As many posts as possible should contribute to that goal. For example, beautiful interiors may appeal to a wide audience and get you many followers, but not many of those followers will be potential clients, as they may be located outside of your local area.
Feel free to get creative with social media based on your strengths! Maybe you’ll have good luck with live streams, behind-the-scenes content, video testimonials, or content that has a personal touch.
3. Utilize Paid Ads to Reach Your Target Audience
Digital advertising can be scary-good. Whether it’s Google ads that appear in search results, or Meta ads that get placed on Facebook and Instagram, these ads can target incredibly specific audiences.
These ads are great for all types of designers, but can practically guarantee that you can get in front of local prospects.
Consider the content of your ads carefully. What is the goal? Since clients may do a lot of research before making a final decision, you shouldn’t expect someone to book you based off of a single ad. So instead of your ad asking to book a call, you can start smaller. Advertise an ebook or blog about working with a designer, a link to schedule a free design consultation, or something else low-stakes.
Ads are a staple of digital marketing, so you should highly consider experimenting with them as part of your 2025 strategy.
4. Build and Nurture an Email List
Even in 2025, email is a powerful digital marketing tool. An engaged and relevant list is a great way to get your message out, but it’s not easy.
The first step is building a list. You want your email subscribers to be made up of potential clients and past clients that could refer their friends to you. What you don’t want is to purchase a list of irrelevant contacts, just to say you have a large list. Build your list from the ground up, naturally. But, people won’t sign up without some incentive. You can offer free resources in exchange for an email address, such as a small ebook, or a webinar.
Then plan a periodic newsletter that is packed with value. Company news, industry trends, project highlights, and design tips are all great options. But as always, consider your audience. If you’re using your email list to engage with potential clients, give them opportunities to learn about you while focusing on giving them useful information. In the early stages, they are likely more interested in what you can offer them than your personal stories.
If you’ve never managed an email newsletter before, it probably sound more intimidating than it really is. Depending on the software, email addresses from forms are automatically added to your email list. If you’re not as creative with emails as you are with interior design, you can choose from template designs to get started. Not only that, but the software can automatically pick the most ideal time to send!
5. Utilize Chatbots and Auto Replies
If you feel like life would be easier if you could just clone yourself, using chatbots on your website and social media may help with that. A chatbot on your website can help answer basic questions, guide users to your Book A Call page, or prompt them with promotions. Social media messenger tools also allow you to set up automated replies and guide your followers in the right direction. If that feels too impersonal, you can at least set up an automatic reply. This can include a mention of your active hours, when they can expect a response, and a quick link to frequently asked questions in the meantime.
Invest in these tools to free up time and spend more of your day designing!