Branding for Interior Designers (Quick + Easy Ways to Develop Your Brand)

Branding for interior designers is as important to the entrepreneur as it is for the local furniture stores down the street. They are probably best known for its’ swanky room collections. Or the high-end design firm across town that is known for their chic, albeit sometimes wild tastes. With these quick & easy ways to develop your brand as an interior designer, you will be able to set yourself apart from the competition. This will help grow your business by leaps and bounds.

Quick & Easy Ways to Develop Your Brand as an Interior Designer

Branding for interior designers does not have to be difficult. In fact, there are several quick and easy ways to develop your brand as an interior designer. First, you have to answer a few simple questions about your brand. This includes, “What is your brand and why is it important?”, “Who are you as a designer?” and, “What type of audience are you trying to attract?”

Why Is Branding For Interior Designers Important?

What is your brand and why is it important? The fact most of the general population doesn’t pay any attention to advertising anymore. Buying ad space on a website is not guaranteed to get you as many customers as it would have 10 years ago. The majority of companies find success by word of mouth these days as well as with reviews on websites such as Google, Yelp, and Facebook. A quick glance at how many stars you have reveals to a person that you are popular and loved. A customer is more likely to choose you to help design their home if you have a lot of stars.

You need your brand to be unique and special. When people talk about you as a designer they know you are the expert in something. That could be designing loft living spaces, staging, or California coastal cool. Now you know why branding for interior designers is so important. This article is going to help you determine what the steps are you need to take to decide what your brand is going to be.

Who Are You As A Designer?

One of the most important things to do before deciding how to brand yourself is to decide who you are. What are your passions? What are you good at? Are you great at finding unique pieces of furniture that most people would never choose and staging a room so it all looks well put together? Are you an expert at choosing colors that compliment each other? Perhaps you are a pro at designing an entire house project so that each room ties into the next. To figure out your brand, you have to hone in on who you are and what you do best. Your brand ultimately is going to be the best representation of who you are as a designer.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

After you figure out who you are as a designer, the next step is to decide who your target audience is. Who are you wanting to design for? Do you have a passion for children’s rooms? If so your target audience would be kids and you might want to be known as the interior designer that creates exciting retreats for kids so that they never want to leave their bedrooms (a bonus in not pestering their parents as much!).

Perhaps your goal is to help transform a traditional home, into a multi-million dollar home vibe. You might be known as, “The interior designer that makes low-budget homes look like a million bucks.” Once you decide who your target audience is and put that together with who you are, creating your brand is going to be extremely simple. Then, your chances of being successful will be much higher.

Competition is Steep

Branding for interior designers is super important because the competition is so steep. You have to stand out and you have to be different and unique, in order to convince others to hire you. If you don’t stand out among the other designers in your city, chances are no one will see you standing there.  You will miss important opportunities to build your brand and your business. Remember, one happy customer can lead to thousands of referrals. One happy customer will tell five of their friends, who will tell ten of their friends, and it goes on and on.

You have to remember that your brand should fit your personality both as a designer and simply as who you are. Do you consider yourself laid back and fun? If so, your brand might be more colorful, bordering on a little crazy with wild furniture and designs. Perhaps you consider yourself more serious or formal. If so, your brand would probably be more structured and chic with neutral colors, and more defined spaces.

Building A Portfolio That Shows Off Your Brand

Once you get clear on your brand your next step is to pick up design projects where you can practice implementing your brand. Consider taking on a few projects for free so that you can get both practice and build a portfolio. Having a portfolio made up of several projects that you have worked on is a fantastic way to show off your work.

Some customers will faithfully trust their sister or friend who swears by your interior design talents. However, visually seeing your work will often sway other customers to take the jump when it comes getting a quote for their own home. Work on building a portfolio that both shows off your best work, and highlights your branding.  You will then be able to grow a clientele built around that branding.

Putting Your Brand on Display

Once you are clear on your brand identity and voice, your brand should be a recognizable theme and on display at all times. Your business logo should represent your brand and be on every page of your website. Social media pages such as Facebook and Twitter should also create brand recognition with use of colors, images, fonts or voice.

You will often see photos on websites that have a logo stamped on them as a watermark. This is a great way to both promote your brand and also keep your photos from being used without permission by another designer. Don’t forget to brand your email signature and business cards. You want your brand recognized everywhere you can put it because you want people who see it to instantly know it is you. Simply put, your brand is you, it is how customers will know you, and it is how you will be remembered and recognized over the competition.

Next  Steps…

Your brand exists, whether you admit it or not.

At this point, it is all up to you! Are you going to own your brand, whip it into shape, and use it to your advantage to help your company grow? Or are you going to listen to everyone around you tell you who you should be and what your company should be known for? This is exciting stuff. Don’t be afraid or intimidated! You don’t need to be Nike or Coca-Cola. However, it might be cool to be the Nike or Coca-Cola of interior design. If that is your dream there is nothing standing in your way.

So how about you? Where are you in this process? What tips are you going to take about branding for interior designers to help your business grow? Leave a reply below and let’s discuss or Click Here to download resources to help you get started. Don’t worry, we will be by your side every step of the way.

Keeping the above points in mind, we’re sure you have realized how good branding can help your business soar to greater heights. It’s time to get creative and plan your venture’s branding. Even better, hire the professionals who are expert in this field (like us!) and be amazed!