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I am so excited to talk to you one-on-one, as Clara, Portaire’s Community Lead. I handle all things communications and visuals for Portaire’s external presence, including Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Email. I spend hours at a time deep diving into interior design trends, accounts and news, which has led to a hefty mental repertoire of social media ideas and inspiration. To make use of that, I am sharing with you some social media tips, tricks and elements to add to your to-do list. Sorry about that last point, but you’re welcome for the rest!
First things off, let’s address the elephant in the room. “I am an interior designer, not an influencer, what is this about?”... I get it. You got into interior design because you want to bring a vision to life, to make someone’s day better, to design something so powerful memories will be forged in every corner. But in this landscape where socials have become one more essential pillar in your marketing strategy, we can’t ignore their power in creating leads and increasing brand awareness.
Learning how to be a social media presence is now part of the interior design role, so in the rest of this article, we’ll be discussing what you can get up to on Instagram, why it works, and some examples to illustrate the point.
If you have any questions or would like to collaborate with us on socials, send me an email and let’s have a chat!
01. Before-and-after reel
A classic in weight loss, beauty, skincare and renovation social media, before and afters have always captivated viewers. They’re satisfying, fun, and they offer a real view into what work went in to create a beautiful space. We love them!
02. Lifestyle inspiration (your’s and other’s)
You won’t have a perfectly captured video or photograph every other week, so feel free to use others’ content (with full credit, of course) to showcase your style and inspiration sources. This will allow you to post content without slaving away creating it. Plus, it might help you strike up working relationships with other designers.
03. Design tour on reel
Your branded font, a good walk-through and some background music: little more is needed for a great tour of your design. Take different videos and add them to your reel, remove camera audio and add music. I recommend looking in the “original audio” tag, as this is where most of the copyright free, trending music is housed on Instagram.
04. How to’s and Behind the scenes content in reels
Potential clients or not, giving away some of your secrets is an amazing way to establish trust with your audience. You can show the sourcing process and going around your favourite showrooms, or perhaps how you built a bespoke shelf. Opportunities are endless!
05. Imaginary inspiration challenges
TikTok is a great place for inspiration, and there we can see a trend of mixing pop culture, comedy and interior design. Here are some ideas you can use:
- Creating a moodboard for every character in x show
- Assigning a design style for every character in x show
- Ranking design styles in your preference order
- Improving the set for x show
- Updating in modern ways x character’s room
Remember to use trending sounds and trends to carry out these ideas, as they will boost you in the algorithm.
06. Collaborations with brands and suppliers
Having brand partnerships cannot only be good from a brand awareness point of view, but it can also be an extra stream of revenue. If you’re using a brand or suppliers’ products often, tag them in your posts, and once you feel confident in your follower count and reach, send them a message to see if there are any opportunities for partnerships. I know this can seem incredibly daunting, but you miss all the opportunities you don’t take.
07. Digital consultations
Again in the theme of giving away some of your secrets, showcasing your talent is necessary on social media. Respond with sound advice on video to any questions you get online, so that people can see what sort of work you can do for them. Keep the advice and renderings high level, and always offer a follow-on that is paid for if a client relationship starts forming. These sort of videos help potential clients understand your process and what you can offer.
08. Multi-part renovations on reels and images
Part of social media is knowing how to milk a project for all it’s worth. One way of extending the longevity of a project is creating a multi-part series where you showcase one design in various sections. You can do this by room, or via different details in the house. Your choice! In the linked account, we can see the whole process of one renovation project, accounted for in dozens of posts – both in video and image format. Genius!
09. Q&As or educational content on stories, lives and reels
Sometimes you have to speak to the camera and show yourself off. This will help people trust you, and it will also help you humanise the brand further. If you’re unsure what you want to say, ask your followers to submit questions about your practice and design style. The more you speak on camera, the easier it will be, trust me!
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