How to Establish Local Credibility as an Interior Designer

While your clients may find you online and you can extend your reach by offering consults via Zoom, there’s no way around it: local credibility is extremely important as an interior designer.

Your clients might not all live near you, but regardless of whether you limit yourself geographically, it helps to have a positive reputation and relationship with the places (and people) near you (and, unless your goal is to only work with clients across the country, building your local credibility is a necessity).

Your Online Marketing Impacts Your Local Credibility 

I’m not suggesting you attend the weekly networking event at your local co-work space (although that wouldn’t hurt if potential clients spend time there too); I’m suggesting that you embrace locality in your online marketing. From your website to your social media accounts, it should never be a question of who and where you serve.

Your dream clients use the online space to find and connect with interior designers (like you) near them, even if you’re only one door down. They use it to learn more about you, your style, your work, and what people near them think of you and your work.

3 Ways to Establish Local Credibility as an Interior Designer

You’re likely already building your local credibility. For example, every happy client at the end of the project likely told their friends, co-workers, and even family members.

When you do an amazing job — and I know you do! — clients are more than happy to share the designer behind it. But word of mouth is limited to the people within your client’s circle;  There’s a whole town, city, and state waiting to hear more about you.

Ready to start building your local credibility as an interior designer? Here are three ways to get started:

#1. Referrals

These don’t only come from past clients! You can also create referral partnerships with other businesses local to you that serve a similar audience or related purpose. Think of businesses that pair well with yours — is there a local furniture store? A realtor in your network you’ve collaborated with in the past? Architects or builders? 

#2. Case Studies

Every case study you publish on your blog is another way for someone local to the project to find you. When you create case studies, you’re providing social proof — and when it’s local to someone, they’re more likely to relate to the client in the study (and are more likely to book you, too).

Location-specific case studies can also help you improve your local SEO by telling Google where your clients and projects are located, which brings us to:

#3. Local SEO

If you go to Google and search “interior designer near me,” who shows up? Is it you? Is it your competitor? Local SEO is the process of optimizing your website to show up in those “near me” search results based on the area you serve.

You’re Always Building Your Local Reputation…

I wish marketing your business was a “check it off your to-do list and forget about it” type of task, but, realistically, you’ll be building your local (and online) reputation the entire time you own your business.

It’s a non-stop process that thrives with consistency.

While it is somewhat never-ending, as your business grows you can outsource tasks and marketing to service providers and experts (like me) and focus on what you love doing.

Can’t quite picture how to start connecting more with your local clients? Book a “Pick-My-Brain” session and let’s figure out exactly where it fits in your marketing strategy.