Instagram Marketing Tips for Interior Designers
Instagram is one of the world’s most popular social media sites.
For interior designers & decorators, it should be much more than that…Instagram is an opportunity to show the world how you impact the lives of your clients by transforming their homes into something beautiful, functional & liveable.
For ultra-savvy interior designers, Instagram is a powerful marketing tool that helps:
attract new clients,
grow their businesses,
and make more money.
So…how do you use your Instagram business account?
to be social & have fun?
as a showcase for your interior design business?
or to build your client base, grow your business & make more money?
Because we want to use Instagram to grow our own interior design business, we contacted Instagram Marketing guru, Kat Coroy and begged her to give us a peek into her giant Instagram marketing brain.
Here’s what Kat had to say:
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: How do you define being successful at Instagram for yourself & your clients? - new business, client leads, IG followers, IG likes, IG comments?
KAT COROY: To me, success on Instagram is when you have become so clear about your message and are able to express it really clearly and visually that you begin to attract your tribe. That is when you make the connections and form a community and then this leads to sales and engagement on your account… So it all goes together really it's finding your true tribe and then the engagement on the sales will follow but to be successful you have to be really clear about your call message… What I call your brand soul essence, that is the secret to success.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: Is it realistic to think that Instagram can bring in new client leads or should we think of Instagram as a "brand builder" but not an actual source of clients and money?
KAT COROY: I have lots of students that when they get their accounts right and learn how to connect properly with people that they start to see immediate results in terms of sales. But it's also a matter of having the right business that you want to do AND know how to communicate clearly. Instagram is a great place to gather people into your world and then leave them into a sale elsewhere but sales do happen on Instagram for sure as well. Every time I post something, I know that people are going to click on the link in my bio if they like what they see and this will funnel them into my webinar and then onto a sale, so it does work.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: Can you explain briefly how to build our organic followers?
KAT COROY: Organic followers come from the advice I outlined above, so being really clear first about your brands essence and then figuring out how to represent it visually so that you can shine out and people can see what you were all about in three seconds. Then it becomes easy to get followers because they will automatically see that what you have is for them and they will be attracted to you instantly. Of course, you can't just sit there with a fabulous account and expect people to come and follow her you have to be active on the platform.
You have to be reaching out to people, being sociable and saying hello to people and this is how you get people to come over and look at your account and then if they like what they say they will follow you...
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: Can you explain briefly how to turn organic followers into engaged organic followers?
KAT COROY: Having a good engagement strategy is all about the intention behind your posts and your content… If you are creating content that is going to inspire and encourage and you are thinking about your followers with love and caring when you are creating your posts, they will feel this and this will create the engagement that you want.
If you have a VA creating your captions for you and you just create it because it's another thing on your to-do list, you will not get engagement. It's all about the love that you put into your business and your followers… They will feel this and want to be part of your community… If your followers feel that you genuinely care about them and you are speaking the truth then they will want to engage with you… There is a real person at the end of the little profile picture and people want to be treated with respect and love and that is what it's all about...
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: If I run an interior design business under my own name, do I need an Instagram business account or can I make do with my personal account? If not, why?
KAT COROY: I usually advise to have a business account because you get more features with the business account and it works well… So what I usually say to people is to begin with the account that you have that has the most followers on it whether it is your personal or your business and change it to be how you want it to be and go from there.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: Is there a "right way" to set up my business account?
KAT COROY: No. Just set it up and it will be fine. It is not complicated.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: How important is it to have a consistent look for my Instagram profile, posts, videos, etc?
KAT COROY: It is so important to have a good looking Instagram account… It is fine for people with millions of followers to not bother having a great-looking account because they have so many followers it doesn't matter but particularly when you are getting started if you are going to stand out from the sea of millions of other Instagram accounts you have to make it look good because Instagram is a visual platform.
But I am not talking about just making a pretty looking Instagram account… Far from it, I am talking about creating an Instagram account that looks amazing that is based on the deep work of figuring out your brand soul essence and then expressing that visually… So it is not about having a pretty Instagram account it is about having an Instagram account that looks amazing but expresses who you are as a person and a soul.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: To be successful at Instagram, what should I be doing regarding the images I choose, how I prepare those images & how those images are presented on my Instagram page?
KAT COROY: This is a really big topic that I can't go into now because there are lots of ways to do this and it depends on the business you are… different businesses will do different things. It is not a one-size-fits-all system.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: Can I just use my smartphone for my Instagram pictures?
KAT COROY: Yes. I use my phone for everything… for making my videos and my images etc. Although there are things that you can do on your desktop for organizing your account. But for creating your pics yes your phone is fine.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: How important are videos to my Instagram?
KAT COROY: Video is crucial now because people are consuming more and more video content… Video also helps you connect with your followers on a deeper level. Somebody can get to know you in a video instantly because they can feel your energy they can hear your voice they can feel what you are all about and your intention everything comes across in a video… they can feel if you really care or not on a video… Plus you are able to show your expertise and add value. It's all about giving amazing value to your followers.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: How important are stories to my Instagram?
KAT COROY: Stories give another peek into your world and can be more relaxed so they just show another side of you and your business… Stories are one part of the whole package because some people are scrolling through stories and not in the feed and some people are scrolling in the feed and not in stories so you really need to be in all the areas to catch people where they are.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: What about IGTV?
KAT COROY: I have never used it...is it an important tool for my interior design business? If you are going to make a video then make sure you make it more than one minute long and then you can have it as an IG TV… IGTV is great because you can make your videos into a series and then when people are watching your videos they will go onto the next video in the series… So there is no point just making a video in your feed you want to have it as an IGTV as well I'll be using this opportunity.
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: What's the right way to use hashtags?
KAT COROY: Hashtags you don't want to be using the really massive hashtags because you will get lost in the # hub. I recommend as a rule using hashtags between 50,000 and 500,000 in size but the most important things about hashtags is that you want to use hashtags that when you go to them and you look in the # hub and you think to yourself all my people in here… So it may not always be the obvious hashtags that you might think of using for your industry you need to use the # that your clients and customers I actually posting in and using… So always say to yourself "all my people here" when you're choosing your hashtags. Also if you find a smaller # that is really good for you and he's really targeted then use that # it is better to have a smaller targeted # that has your people in it and a big one that doesn't
INTERIOR DESIGNHER: How do I connect with potential clients and brand ambassadors on Instagram? What is the best way to use DMs?
KAT COROY: For me direct messages are a way to connect further with people… I am not a fan of bots and using direct messages as a slimy sales tool… So I would never direct message somebody with something about what I am selling and less they expressly asked me about this first… But for me direct messages are about connection and creating deeper relationships. Just always think how would you like to be treated yourself and treat your clients customers and followers the same.
About Kat Coroy
Kat Coroy has taught thousands of entrepreneurs how to instantly attract the right followers to their accounts, deeply connect with their audience every time they post on Instagram, and to use the Instagram Conversion Ladder to convert followers into buyers.
Learn with Kat : Instagram Makeover with Kat Coroy
Website : www.katcoroy.com
Instagram : @katcoroy
Facebook : @InstagramMakeoverwithKat
Pinterest : @katcoroy
