How to Brand Your Interior Design Business
Having a thriving design business with a waitlist of ideal clients, projects you love, and the financial revenue you desire, is the goal for many. Whilst your marketing accounts for a big chunk of your success, something many designers spend less time considering is Branding. Your branding is what can make, or break, your business.
Ask a thousand different people about what branding is, and you’ll probably get a thousand different answers, but one thing everyone will agree on is this - you need it! Branding used to consist of your name, taglines, colors, and all the visual elements of your business, today it’s much more complex (and creative).
Your brand is the perception your ideal client has of you. It is what they think about your business.
So, what does this mean exactly?
When someone clicks on your website, social media profiles, or newsletter their initial feeling and response is generated by your branding. Much like when you meet someone for the first time, your first impression matters. The visual elements, design, tone of voice - all of these elements go together to generate intrigue. Great branding equals more attention, bad branding will mean people click off your website before even looking at your portfolio.
Your branding needs to be created with your ideal client in mind.
Knowing your ideal client and niche audience is critical when considering branding. How do you want them to feel, and what thoughts do you want them to think when they see your website? These are questions to ponder when designing your brand. It’s not just visuals either - it’s your tone of voice and how you connect with your audience. If you are a service-based business, and especially if you work alone - you are your brand. Your look, feel, personality, and energy all come into play.
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to showcase everything about yourself online, but to be able to create a successful branding strategy you need to identify your area of genius, and your key strengths, and then highlight this clearly to the world.
Ask yourself what is the first impression you want to generate and then build from there!
Your ideal clients are actively looking for you, and your branding will help them to recognize you from the crowd. There is a lot of noise in the interior design space these days, and you need to put some extra effort to stand out.
How to define your brand
You need to define your brand before someone else does, meaning the sooner you create bespoke branding that shows off your style and aesthetic, the less likely people are to create an idea of you that doesn’t line up with who you are.
You technically already have a brand - you - therefore your job now is to define it.
Here are some questions to consider:
What is your preferred design style?
How do you prefer to do business?
What design projects light you up?
What makes you different from your direct competitors?
What makes you unique?
What level of service will people get working with you?
How do you want clients to feel when working with you?
What are your passions in life?
Where do you want your business to be in 5 years' time?
Your answers to the above will outline your brand, this will give you the foundation from which to build.
Don’t be afraid to niche down and specialize
Every designer has a favorite style, is it mid-century modern, boho, or even the up-and-coming Japandi style, share this with your audience! Failure to do this and to try to serve everyone will mean you end up with no clients. People need clarity to buy.
Don’t buy into the belief that specializing means you miss out on clients. Having a specialty, or what we call your ‘area of genius’ means you build trust with the people that matter to your business.
Sell to all - sell to none.
How does this relate to branding? Well, your branding needs to showcase what you do and attract the clients who need you. If your ideal clients are families or small-town suburban professionals, you don’t want a brand that screams stylish, high-end New York penthouse. Your branding is what attracts the people you want to work with. It’s absolutely worth your time and investment in the long run.
Your vibe attracts your tribe - how to brand your business
There are three key elements to branding your business.
Visuals
Feelings/Emotions
Experiences
Let’s expand on each one!
Visual Branding includes the overall design aesthetics of your business. Its primary goal is to give potential clients a sneak pick of what they can expect to find in your portfolio. It’s what entices them to want to find out more. If they love your visual branding, they are more likely to love, and trust, your design services. Visual branding composes of your brand colors (no more than 4), logo, imagery, typography, website design, invoices, newsletter design, and your mood boards and portfolio. Build all of these with your ideal client in mind.
From here you want to think about your Emotional Branding, meaning the emotions and feelings you want people to have when they look at your Visual Branding, certain colors evoke certain emotions - so combining these two together will set you up for success!
A big mistake that we commonly see is people choose a brand look that they like and prefer, which sometimes doesn’t translate into a brand their ideal client would choose. Whilst you want to love your branding, ensure that’s not the driving factor. The look and feel of your branding need to translate to the styles of design you offer.
If you are hoping to attract high-end clients, make sure your visual branding doesn’t come off as cheap. And vise versa, don’t advertise unrealistic expectations to mid-range prospects.
Lastly, you want to spend time focusing on your client's experience and journey, and how they get from point A (looking at your website for example) to point B (signing a contract). The entire client experience is also a part of your brand. It ties everything together.
A great brand is consistent, clear, and easy to explore. It leaves minimal room for doubt.
Ready to uplevel your branding? If you have any business and/or branding questions, come chat with us! We’re here to help. Click here to schedule a Complimentary Brand Consultation.
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