“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!
