How to Create A High Converting Email Newsletter Strategy to Grow Your Interior Design Business

Email marketing, including newsletters, continues to be the most lucrative channel of marketing available for Interior Designers. It’s a way to connect with your market in a personalized way, and it’s also incredibly budget-friendly. Emails are a very targeted way of marketing, with their broad reach of audience and longevity. Having a newsletter is a brilliant way to share your message, market your brand, connect with your clients both old and potential, and deliver high ROI to your business. It’s the perfect marketing tool to grow your business.

The great thing about email marketing is those on your email list are already curious about your work. You get to deliver content to people who are potential clients. It’s a captive audience. Direct emails ought to be a business staple because you give people the chance to connect with you directly any time they desire. It differs from direct messaging on social media platforms, these often get lost in the crowd and are limited to what they can contain - emails contain a wealth of value when written effectively. 

For interior designers, a flow of creative and engaging content that clearly shows off your project progress, expertise, client testimonials, and some valuable free advice, is important. An email has the power to turn a possible lead into a valuable and trusted client. Regular emails are a great way to create a community feel within your network of contacts and to remind people of your services and how to work with you. 

Having a solid database of contacts is also very valuable because that list of contacts belongs to you (of course with the proper data privacy policy in place!). What we mean by that is that unlike your followers on social media that you get to tap into but you don’t get to access outside of that particular social media platform, your email list on the other hand can be saved on your end.

With this in mind, let's take a look at what makes an effective email marketing strategy. 

Know your audience, who are you targeting?

Knowing who you are talking to is important. If your niche is commercial office design and you’re talking about bedroom furnishings you are going to attract the wrong people, or risk confusing your audience. 

Having a clear idea of who you want to connect with will help you write the copy for your newsletters. No matter what your focus should be on being authentic and providing lots of value. You want your emails to have a purpose. Maybe it’s to educate potential customers, maybe it’s to launch something, or even to begin the onboarding process for clients. You want people to understand the value you bring as a designer. Maybe your target audience is corporate professionals, mothers, or even families that have just moved to your town. Your emails should speak directly to the group of people you want to target. 

Once your audience is defined, be consistent. Don’t change your target audience randomly each month, the only way to build your email list is to be consistent and clear.

Pro Tip: Create a lead magnet (what you trade for people's email addresses) that is specific to your desired audience, for example, “3 steps to create more space in your home without spending a penny”. This freebie should bring lots of value and only then include your contact information and services. Always keep in mind to offer value first before trying to sell them anything!

If you don’t know exactly who your target audience is, then check this article here to help you define it. 

Use eye-catching email templates

Peoples attention spans are small, you want your email to catch their attention within the first few seconds of opening it. You want your email newsletter to be both functional and appealing in design. Your emails are how you display to your clients your sense of style and design. A messy, unorganized, and/or rushed email will not work. 

You’re a designer, ensure your emails show off your skills and represent your work and brand well.

You need to create a sense of motivation and excitement for people. You want them to want to open your emails, not just click off them or send them to their junk inbox. You want your readers to recognize your style, your emails are how you build trust and intrigue. Think of them as part of your sales process.

Your template will consist of anything visual that people see and the copy you write. Ensure it feels true to your brand, if you’re struggling, delegate and seek help to improve your branding.

Write headlines that people want to click on

The headline is the first thing people see, if it’s not engaging, then all of your hard work in creating a stunning and beautiful email thread is a waste of time. The subject line of the email is what will make the difference between a click and a delete.

What does your ideal client need help with? What do they want to see? Knowing your target audience is crucial when it comes to successful email marketing. 

Use trigger words such as free, easy, how-to, or instant. Speak your ideal clients' language in your subject line.

Have a goal and purpose for your newsletters, always add a call to action.

Don’t just share for the sake of sharing, know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Every email that enters the inbox of your subscribers must have a single, defined purpose. For example, if your goal is to get people to book a call or meeting with you, this needs to be clear. The action steps that people take need to be clearly signposted, such as completing a survey or signing up for a complimentary consultation. Give them the link to the survey, tell them what they will get, and/or link your calendar multiple times. The easier the steps are, the most likely people are to engage. Keep it simple. 

With only a few seconds to spare when people open emails, your email marketing campaign must be articulate, packed with value, concise, and engaging. You want to push them to interact further with you.

Create content that builds connection and feels personal

People like to feel as though they are being spoken to directly. Your emails want to feel personal, warm, and engaging. As though you’re sitting with your potential client in real life. 

You need to put your best foot forward to keep people interested in you. 

Having a good content marketing strategy is crucial. Some ideas could include, sharing behind-the-scenes insights into your projects, sharing completed projects, or before and afters, sharing your blogs or guides to provide additional tips on a particular topic. Invite people to click on the links to go back to your website or calendar so that people can connect with you further.

Use multiple content types too! Written copy, professional photography, videos, your own images of projects, images of you at work… the possibilities are endless. Don’t be afraid to have your face on your emails, people want to know who you are. People love to connect to personal stories, anecdotes, and relatable content.

Consider sequences and workflows

Consider the timing and frequency of your emails, when you send them and how often? Especially those you send after consultations. Potential clients need time to think, ponder, think about budgets, and research before they commit to working with you. Once you have perfected your email campaign, you can use your emails to ensure you stay in people's awareness. 

Marketing automation makes everything aforementioned easier through sequences and workflows. A drip campaign (a communication strategy that sends, or "drips," a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time) is a great way to keep people engaged and wanting more. It keeps the reader engaged with specific emails that are triggered according to their past interaction. 

Email marketing for your interior design business is a great asset to help grow your business and engage with your audience. Once you know who you are targeting, the creation comes much easier. The more you engage with email marketing, the more you can start to see what works, and what doesn’t. If you need help creating emails that work, get in touch with us! We’ll help you make email marketing an important part of your entire strategy! 

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