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How to Tap into Your Clients’ Emotions with Your Interior Design Website’s Copy

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“People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.”

  • Zig Ziglar

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that a few years ago, I made the decision to work exclusively with interior designers (although I also work with a good many designer-adjacent folks like fine artists and product designers). One of my biggest reasons for making that switch was that I knew how hard it is for interior designers like you to find writing help that actually fits your unique marketing challenges.

How is your marketing needs different?

Sure, you need copy for your site that sells your services just like any other business, but you’re also firmly in the lifestyle space. Copywriting for interior designers isn’t like writing copy for other industries; it’s way, way more challenging because you have to weave marketing messages into your copy subtly! People don’t want to read web copy from you that’s a straight-up sales page – you need to take a softer approach while still delivering powerful marketing messages.

Your business also differs from the others because yours is a luxury service. That’s not to say that what you offer isn’t important, but it would be inauthentic (if not completely tone-deaf!) to try to sell your interior design services as something customers NEED to save them/make them feel loved/give them happiness/health/economic stability, etc.

But it’s Marketing 101 to try to connect with buyers by using their emotions to inform your copy (this is a HUGE aspect of the Know, Like and Trust Factor that’s crucial in marketing any business online).

So do those differences in your business rule out you using web copy that taps into your buyer’s emotions? Not at all!

The problem is, if you were to follow most of the marketing advice you find online for how to leverage people’s emotions with your copy, you’re going to get it all wrong for the clients you’re trying to speak to.

Here are some examples of that typical advice, and how you should approach your copy to connect with your clients and their emotions around hiring an interior designer.

The Usual Marketing Advice: Speak to their deepest, darkest fears and tell them how you can help them avoid having those fears come true.

Interior Design Marketing Advice: Here’s the truth: Your clients know their lives aren’t going to completely fall apart if they don’t hurry up and hire you. That said, they DO have worries. They’re worried about making sure their families have a warm, comfortable, functional home and that guests feel welcomed and taken care of whenever they visit.

So, instead of thinking about your design marketing copy from a “fear” angle, base it on your clients’ real concerns and show them you’re the one to resolve those for them!

The Usual Marketing Advice: Speak to their envy and desire to be the “-est” (thinnest, richest, whatever-est).

Interior Design Marketing: Like all of my clients, you probably aren’t someone who cares to spread an icky “keep up with the Joneses” message. It’s not congruent with your personal or business values, nor with your clients’ values (or at least not the clients you want to work with!)

But there is a nugget of truth in the idea that your clients might be feeling a little insecure about their home’s design. I’m not talking about the insecurity that their home isn’t “good enough,” but a worry that they don’t have the ability to make their home look and feel beautiful, stylish, and comfortable. They’re concerned that they’ll make costly mistakes with their design project if they go at it alone.

Weave messaging into your copy that assures them they’re not alone in feeling this way and that you won’t judge them. Then outline exactly how you and your services provide the help they need!

The Usual Marketing Advice: Create a sense of urgency.

Interior Design Marketing Advice: It’s a little too “in-your-face” to deliver a “Hurry! Act now or you’ll miss out!” message to your prospects.

On the other hand, your clients may not realize they could, in fact, miss out on time- and money-saving help by starting their projects without you. And they’re painfully aware that the last thing they want is to spend more than they should or to slow their projects down!

You can capitalize on that pain and gently nudge them toward bringing you onto their projects sooner rather than later. Paint a picture with your copy of what you can do for them as an advisor and safety net for their projects – someone who will be there to save them money during the planning stages by preventing mistakes and ill-advised design choices.

How? Simply agitate their fear of wasting time and money by telling stories of problems other clients ran into because they didn’t bring you into the picture soon enough and tell them how you’ll be there to help them avoid those issues if they call you now!

The Usual Marketing Advice: Give them hope by showing them you have the solution.

Interior Design Marketing Advice: OK, so this one’s pretty much the same whether you’re selling a toothbrush or interior design services! You always want them to know that you have the solution to their problems. Start by building positive emotions by talking about 1) the aspects of the experience you know they’ll love and 2) in what ways they’ll enjoy the results.

From there, talk about how your services are the path to those positive emotions.

This should be infused into all of your marketing copy, no matter the topic or strategy you’re using to connect with them.

As you can see, a different approach is needed for writing marketing copy for interior designers than for other industries. That’s one of the reasons you may not have had luck with general copywriters in the past – and it’s why I work love working with you. I love this industry and the unique marketing challenges it poses. I want design professionals like you to make the best impression on clients you possibly can. If you want interior design marketing copy for your website that truly connects you with your audience, please contact me today!

Can You Fit All of Your Personality, Creativity, and Vision Into a Website? See how we did exactly that for Janelle Photopoulos of Blakely Interior Design!

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The short answer is yes…

But it’s not easy.

You already know your website should be a reflection of who you are and the values you and your company represent. The second someone clicks on the link to your site, they should be able to know the type of company you are without even reading a single word of copy. You want to hook them right off the top with your visuals – not just your project photography, but your logo, colors, fonts and brand patterns, plus how it’s all laid out on your site’s pages.

But that’s just one layer of how you want them to experience your brand on your site. From there, you need copy that fills out the picture of what you’re all about – what services you offer, what you value when it comes to design and what it’s really like to work with you.

And most importantly (you may not know this already), they need to see themselves in your copy.

That’s right. I said “see themselves.”

Because while your project images represent something aspirational for them (how they want their homes to look and feel), your copy needs to tell them you see them, understand them and care about them just as they are. It needs to communicate in a voice that will appeal to them; to reassure them that they really are in the right place.

But that’s waaaayyy easier said than done.

Let’s be honest, there are a lot of mediocre interior design websites out there. Which doesn’t actually mean those designers haven’t put their time, effort and even their hard earned cash into trying to get a great site. How many times have you heard designers tell horror stories about how their website projects took 6 months or longer, drained their time and energy, frustrated them like crazy and yet they STILL ended up with “just OK” results?!

It doesn’t have to be that way. It SHOULDN’T be that way. You really can get an amazing website that represents you in all the right ways and appeals to your ideal clients.

I’ve recently finished working on a website for a client who knew she needed branding, a website and copy that would properly introduce her design firm to potential clients. Her name is Janelle Photopoulos, and working with her on her site was such a pleasure. I’m not even going to pretend to hide how excited I am about this project! My collaborative partner, brand designer Katie Saunders of Pop & Grey and I, worked hard on this project and we’re both thrilled that it turned out to be everything we hoped it would be and more. I believe it truly offers a fantastic experience of Janelle’s vibrant personality, passion for her clients and skill as an interior designer.

What I got from working with you went far beyond the physical logo or website. You created a feeling around our company’s brand. The tagline you came up with along with the entire new brand and website will have MASSIVE impact on the direction of my business. It was a great experience!

Janelle Photopoulos

The Key Question

From the start, the key question for Janelle’s project was, how could Katie and I take her vibrant personality, boundless creativity, and huge vision for her business and make it all tangible on a website? How can we make the 2D visuals and words on the screen make her site’s visitors feel as loved and inspired as they will when they eventually meet Janelle and her team in person?

The First Step

As is always the case for these projects, the first thing we wanted to do was get to know Janelle better. We had her fill out our project questionnaire, then we spent time with her on video conference. It’s important that we not only hear the tone of our clients’ voices, but also see their facial expressions and demeanor as we talk with them, and even add to the picture with how they dress and what their office environment is like. This adds so much to our understanding of who they really are and what their clients experience when working with them.

Here, Janelle absolutely excelled. This is a person who knows how to make a first impression! From the very first moment we met her, we could instantly feel her warmth and energy. It was clear she doesn’t just give lip service to her work. She and her entire team throw themselves into everything they do. They truly care about their clients and pour their hearts into making every project completely unique and an overwhelmingly positive experience for the client.

Rather than simply sit there and speak with us during our first meeting, Janelle completely delighted us by picking up her laptop and taking us on a visual tour of her incredible office in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. We were able to see not only the creative, collaborative space she built for her team, but also how she surrounds herself with bold colors and patterns on a daily basis (oh, that incredible hand-painted agate wall!). This sent us a big message about what inspires and energizes her. More importantly, it filled out the picture for us of the experience Janelle creates for her clients, making them feel inspired and energized, too!

The Design

Ultimately, that first meeting planted the seeds for the colorful brand and “Live Vibrantly” marketing message we created for Janelle.

Katie and I worked closely with her to nail down her brand’s visuals and language. The idea was (as it is with all our clients) to not only reflect Janelle’s preferences, but to run those preferences together with information about her ideal clients through the filter of our marketing expertise to generate a distilled representation of her company in website form.

Even though may seem counterintuitive to interior designers, it’s important not to get lost in “style over substance” when it comes to your website. So for Janelle, we wanted to make sure we crafted content that would be as meaningful as possible for her ideal clients. I crafted copy to match her fabulous images, pulling forward our message about what it’s like to work with Blakely using carefully curated language and a strategically defined tone of voice.

With Janelle’s creative output, it wasn’t difficult to put all the pieces of her site (her new branding, her copy and her images) together beautifully. You can tell from one quick look at the stunning photographs of her work what kind of results you’re in for when you come to Janelle for interior design help. There are tons of examples of the projects she’s worked on, including shots of her own design studio that I spoke about above (honestly, check them out, it is SUCH a cool space!).

Janelle’s entire process is highly collaborative, so we also wanted to shine a spotlight on Janelle’s entire team. On her Our Team page, you can see group shots of everyone together, as well as matching headshots for each team member. There is also lots of engaging copy written about each person to make sure that visitors can get to know more about who will be working on their projects, and to give anyone thinking of applying to work at Blakely an idea of what the team is all about.

In the end, we gave Janelle something that she loves and is proud to have represent her. It not only speaks volumes about Janelle herself, but also allows her clients to see themselves in her brand and copy, making them say, “I need Blakely!” And of course, our SEO help will give her a nice boost to help them find her in the first place.

I really want to stress that Janelle’s positive experience working with us is what we strive for with every single one of our clients. We’ve built our streamlined, efficient processes around making that happen every time. When you need a new site build from the ground up, we’re here to help you best represent your brand online with exceptional copy and beautiful branding. Contact us today and we can get started building an interior design website that says, “You!” but also makes your ideal clients say, “You get me. I’m in!”

Design or Copy: Which Comes First When Getting a New Website???

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Interior Design Copywriter Deb Mitchell Writing

It’s a more important question to ask than you might think.

Maybe you, like a lot of business owners, think it’s only natural to hire a designer first. That way, you’ll have your website all mapped out so you’ll know what copy you need when you go to a copywriter – right?

Not so much.

As a copywriter for interior designers, all-too-often I find myself having to give my website copy clients the bad news:

The site they had a web designer meticulously create for them needs changes. Lots of changes.

While it’s not the end of the world (at worst the web designer might charge you some steep change fees) it usually means a cranky web designer who would love to bop me over the head for creating all of their rework and a cranky you for not being as close to the finish line as you’d thought..

All of that unpleasantness is easily avoided, though, IF you follow my advice:

Have a copywriter write all your website copy before you even discuss your site with a website designer. 

In fact, designers almost always prefer to build a site around actual copy. Not having it all done and at the ready can stall your project. Your designer may even need to move you to the back of her project queue so as not to delay her other clients, as well.

Actually, the truly perfect scenario is hiring both your designer and your writer at once and having them work together on crafting your site. I’ve forged great relationships with a handful of amazing web designers and developers for exactly that purpose and the results are always outstanding.

It’s like when you have an interior design client who brings you in to weigh in on their house plans only after the architect has drawn them up.

Painful, right?! If they’d only hired you first, you wouldn’t be stuck having to choose between trying to shoehorn your ideas into the existing plan or recommending costly changes.

Just like you, I’m looking to help my clients achieve the best possible end results. That means I need to be able to weigh in on choices like page layouts and where copy is and isn’t needed.

Maybe we need to visually map out your process so your prospects get the picture. Maybe we need to clean up your portfolio or add a press page. Whatever it is, there’s almost always something that – because I know the interior design industry so well –  I’ll think of that your web designer won’t.

The bottom line is, you and everyone else involved will be so much happier (and your website will be done quicker and better) if you work with a copywriter first.

Gearing up to get a new website? Let’s chat!

All the best,

5 Second Website Review: The crazy-easy way to stop your interior design website from leaking money

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Interior Design Copywriter Deb Mitchell Writing

 

This is kind of a fun little technique to try, but it can give you truly valuable insight into what might be happening in your business.

The idea is to look at your website with fresh eyes to help you find some relatively easy-to-fix problems that could be costing you clients.

Why 5 seconds? Because stats say a business has anywhere from two-tenths of a second to 15 seconds to make an impression on their website visitors that will lead them down a path to buying.

That means that even on the generous end, there’s no time to diddle around, slowly dripping out the information your prospects need to decide if you might be a good fit for them. Five seconds is just a happy medium to test your site.

If you don’t think you can be objective, ask your spouse / partner or a friend to help. Better yet, pair up with a designer friend you trust and review each others’ sites!

Here’s how to do it:

1.      Start with your Home page.

2.     Set a timer for 5 seconds – don’t try to count because you need to concentrate on your site.

3.     Open your website on your computer (the actual site your prospects see – not your admin page where you make edits).

4.     Scan the page during those 5 seconds, scrolling down if you have time.

5.     At the 5 second mark, close your browser.

6.     Now answer the following questions based solely on your 5 second look at the page…

·      Is it obvious what you do?

·      Is it obvious what geographic area you serve?

·      Is the kind of design work you really want to do visually represented?

·      Is it obvious how to get in touch with you?

·      Is there anything on this page that is not consistent with your aesthetic, your brand values, and / or your brand voice?

Bonus Question:

·      Is it obvious how you serve your clients uniquely?

7.     Repeat for every page of your site.

If you answered any of these questions in the negative, you’ve got a money leak!

Simply put, every page of your site needs to offer every bit of that info as obviously as possible.

There’s no guarantee a visitor with enter your site through your Home page. With back links coming from blog posts, Pinterest pins, and so on, plus SEO and metadata on your site page titles (just trust me on that one, OK?) you really never know onto which of your site pages a visitor may stumble first. And you certainly can’t count on them looking at every page on your site – especially if you don’t give them relevant info that makes them want to stay!

Look, I know a lot of designers feel that if someone is serious about hiring them, they’ll take a good long look at the website. And that’s true – but only after they’ve already done a quick (maybe just 5 seconds) scan of your site on their way to narrowing down which designers they want to look at more closely. It’s just how people buy., so why not play the game to win (win your ideal clients’ business, that is!)?

Let me know in the comments below how your site fared with this little test.

And of course, feel free to reach out to me at deb@debmitchellwriting.com if you want help fixing your website’s money leaks!