The Basics of Influencer Marketing STRATREGY for Interior Designers

TLDR: What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing can be a game-changer in building brand awareness and driving sales for the interior design industry.

With the rise of social media, interior design influencers have become an essential source of inspiration for many individuals looking to decorate their homes.

This strategy involves collaborating with social media influencers to promote a brand, product, or service, leveraging their large following and influence their audience.

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George Nicola
George Nicola

George is a seasoned interior designer and property marketing strategist with over 13 years of experience. He specializes in transforming properties into visually stunning spaces, helping clients recognize the potential and beauty in each property. With an impressive international client base of exciting projects throughout Europe and America.

In this article, we will explore the benefits of influencer marketing for interior design businesses, discuss key strategies for successful influencer marketing, and highlight popular interior design influencers to help you boost your interior business with influencer marketing.

Who is an interior Influencer?

An interior influencer has a large social media following and shares content about interior design. They can be anyone from professional interior designers to DIY enthusiasts. Influencers can help you reach a wider audience and promote your products or services.

When choosing an interior influencer, it is important to consider their credibility as well as their following size and engagement rate. You want to make sure that you are working with someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy, and who can help you reach your target audience.

There are four types of interior influencers:

Interior designers: These professionals have the expertise and experience to create stylish and functional spaces. They can share their knowledge and advice with your followers and help them make their dream homes. Designers are the most credible of all types. 

They have the education and experience to create stylish and functional spaces, and they can offer valuable advice to their followers. However, interior designers can also be expensive, and they may not be a good fit for all brands.

DIY enthusiasts: These people love to transform their homes with their own hands. They can share their tips and tricks with your followers and inspire them to get creative with their own projects.

Enthusiasts can also be credible influencers. They may not have the same experience as interior designers, but they can offer helpful tips and tricks for people who want to decorate their homes on a budget. DIY enthusiasts can also be more relatable to their followers, making them more effective at promoting products and services.

Home bloggers: These people write about their experiences decorating and renovating their homes. They can share their personal stories and style inspiration with your followers and help them find the perfect look for their homes.

Bloggers are no different from DIY people, except you must be careful and research if they practice what they preach.

They can share made-up personal stories, sometimes mixed with style inspiration, with their followers, which can help people find the perfect look for their homes. Although having a “good eye for design” does not require education, some experience is needed. Therefore advertising with this type of influencer requires more caution. 

Social media stars: These people have large followings on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. They can share their stylish home decor with your followers and help them stay up-to-date on the latest trends, but there are a few caveats.

They may have large followings, but they may not be credible sources of information. Some social media stars may be more interested in creating eye-catching content than providing accurate information, often promoting their products or services than giving helpful advice.

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Evaluating the credibility of an interior influencer

  • Check their credentials: Do they have any formal training or experience in interior design?
  • Review their portfolio: Do they have any examples of their work that you can review?
  • Read their reviews: What do other people have to say about their work?
  • Follow their social media accounts: Do they regularly post new content? Are their followers engaged with their content?

First Promo tips for Influencer marketing strategy

Creating a successful partnership with influencers starts with research.

It’s important to evaluate a potential influencer’s following size, engagement rate, target audience, and content consistency with your marketing strategy.

Once you find the right influencer, personalize your message to explain why you think they’d be a good fit for your brand.

Be clear about your expectations for the number of posts, type of content, and hashtags. Be flexible and respectful of their time and requests.

Additional tips for the first promo with an influencer:

  1. Give them a free product or service to try. This will give them a chance to experience your brand firsthand and see how it can benefit their followers.
  2. Work with them to create creative content. The more creative and engaging the content is, the more likely it is to be seen and shared by their followers.
  3. Promote the content on your own channels. Share the influencer’s content on your own social media accounts and encourage your followers to check it out.
  4. Track the results. Use a tool like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to track the number of views, likes, and shares that the influencer’s content generates. This will help you determine the success of the campaign and make adjustments as needed.
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Instagram influencer marketing partnerships

Businesses constantly seek new and innovative ways to promote their brand and increase customer engagement.

One such method that has gained significant popularity is influencer marketing.

By partnering with Instagram influencer marketing, interior design brands can tap into a vast network of potential customers who value the opinions and recommendations of these influencers.

Before diving into the uncharted territory, there are 3 essential steps to follow:

Authentic partnerships: Choose influencers who genuinely align with your brand and can create content that resonates with their audience. Do not fall for the cheap or most expensive options. Stay away from high promises.
Long-term collaborations: Build lasting relationships with influencers to maintain a consistent brand presence and foster trust with their followers. Start small and grow the idea of the brand; do not rush everything, as overnight success is a hoax.
Micro-influencers: Consider partnering with those with a more minor but highly engaged following. Chances for success with niche micro niche influencers are more significant than those with 2 million followers, who will be primarily teenagers.

Influencer Marketing Benefits

Interior design influencer marketing
Interior design influencer marketing benefits

The benefits of influencer marketing for interior design brands are well-documented.

One of the most significant advantages of influencer marketing is the ability to increase brand awareness.

By collaborating with influencers with a large and engaged following, businesses can increase their reach and exposure to potential customers.

This can lead to increased traffic to a business’s website or social media pages and, ultimately, more sales.

Another benefit of this type of promotion is the ability to improve audience engagement. Influencers have built a loyal following of people who trust and respect their opinions.

By partnering with influencers who align with their brand values and aesthetics, businesses can tap into this audience and build relationships with potential customers.

Measuring the ROI of influencer marketing can be challenging but very important!

By tracking key metrics such as engagement rates, website traffic, and sales, businesses can determine the effectiveness of their campaigns and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Leveraging Instagram for Interior Design

Interior designer looking at a mood board
Interior designer looking at a mood board

Instagram is widely recognized as the dominant platform for promoting interior design brands and connecting with influencers with a large and engaged audience.

With over one billion monthly active users, Instagram provides businesses with a platform to showcase their products and services, engage with their audience, and build relationships with influencers.

Many Interior design brands leverage Instagram’s visual nature to showcase their products and services appealingly.

Influencers can create sponsored posts that showcase products and services in an authentic way that resonates with their audience.

Building relationships with influencers is critical to the success of influencer marketing campaigns.

Interior brands should identify influencers whose followers align with their target audience. Engage with influencers regularly, build rapport, and create a mutually beneficial relationship.

3 ideas for interior design influencer campaigns

Interior designer photographing a large open space
Interior designer photographing a large open space
  1. Product review campaign: Partner with an influencer to review your products or services. This could involve creating a video or blog post in which the influencer gives their honest opinion of your products or services.
  2. Design challenge campaign: Host a design challenge in which influencers compete to create the best interior design for a specific space. This could involve providing the influencers with a set of materials and instructions, and then having them share their work on social media.
  3. Mood board showcase: Partner with an influencer to showcase their mood boards. This could involve creating a gallery of the influencer’s mood boards, or having them share their mood boards on social media.

Product Review Campaign

  1. Choose the right influencer: When choosing an influencer for a product review campaign, it’s essential to find someone with a large following of people interested in your product or service. You also want to ensure that the influencer has a positive reputation and that their content is consistent with your brand.
  2. Set clear expectations: Before you start working with the influencer, you must set clear expectations about what you’re looking for in the review. This includes things like the length of the review, the format of the review, and the keywords that you want the influencer to use.
  3. Provide the influencer with the necessary materials: Once you’ve chosen an influencer and set clear expectations, it’s time to provide them with the necessary materials. This could include your product, a service sample, or any other information they need to create a comprehensive review.

Design Challenge Campaign

  1. Come up with a creative challenge: The first step in creating a design challenge is to come up with a creative challenge that will engage influencers and their followers. The challenge should be relevant to your brand, and that will showcase the creativity of the influencers.
  2. Provide the influencers with the necessary materials: Once you’ve come up with a challenge, it’s time to provide them with the necessary materials. This could include a set of materials, instructions, or a budget.
  3. Promote the challenge: Once you’ve provided the influencers with the necessary materials, it’s time to promote it. This includes sharing it on social media and encouraging followers to participate.
  4. Select the winning design: Once the challenge is over, it’s time to select it. This could be done by a panel of judges or by the public vote.
  5. Promote the winning design: Once you’ve selected it, it’s time to promote it. This includes sharing it on social media and encouraging followers to check it out.

Mood Board Showcase Campaign

  1. Identify the right influencer: Partner with an influencer with a keen eye for design and a strong following in your target market.
  2. Define the mood board theme: Collaborate with the influencer to decide on an article for the mood boards that align with your brand and target audience.
  3. Provide resources and guidelines: Offer the influencer access to your product images, color palettes, and other design elements to create their mood boards. Provide clear guidelines on the campaign objectives and expectations.
  4. Promote the showcase: Encourage the influencer to share their mood boards on social media, tagging your brand and using relevant hashtags to increase visibility.
  5. Feature the mood boards: Create a gallery on your website or social media channels showcasing the influencer’s mood boards, and encourage your audience to engage with the content.

We can help you establish your interior design practice with beautiful interior renders >