3 Reasons Luxury Interior Designers Don't Get Clients from Instagram
The Kate Show | Episode 164
Are you stressed out because you aren't getting new clients from social media? Today's episode of The Kate Show might be one of the most enlightening episodes I've ever selected for the show. Listen to it, and you'll walk away with an entirely different perspective on what social media is actually supposed to be doing for your business.
While I primarily discuss interior designers in this episode, what I'm talking about can also apply to custom workrooms, luxury real estate staging, Airbnb Luxe property stylists, and luxury professional organizers. The difference between a luxury service and a more modest service is simple: Your branding, your client experience, and your service offerings. The more custom and full-service you are as a business, and the more specific your niche is, the more luxurious your ideal client will be - mainly because they are the ones who will have an interest in hiring you.
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Public Service Announcement:
On a completely unrelated note, The Business of Home recently shared some game-changing updates regarding Pinterest:
"Pinterest has announced a new function designed to give creators more control over image distribution. Dubbed the Content Claiming Portal, the tool will allow verified content creators to control if and how their pins may be shared. In a blog post published this week, the company said the new initiative aims to drive traffic back to creators."
"To take advantage of Pinterest’s new tool, creators must first fill out an application with information about their company and get approved, similar to getting a verified account on Instagram or Twitter. Once a creator is approved, they’ll have three options when they upload new content: Make a pin “mine only,” meaning the site will automatically remove existing and future versions of the images from Pinterest, except those initially pinned by the creator; “website only,” which will remove future versions that don’t link back to the original creator’s website; or “block all,” which will prevent anyone from resharing the image."
Read the full BOH article here. It's worth your time, as they do a great job of assessing the pros and cons of this new Pinterest feature.
Listen to the Episode
Why Luxury Interior Designers Don't Get Clients from Instagram
When my agency is contacted by an interior designer who is, in their own words, struggling with social media, there is generally one of two things happening:
First, either the designer is hiding behind her work, posting inconsistently, and refusing to share photos of herself, or, second, the designer is "too luxury." While fans will like and comment on their content, they won't hire the designer. Both situations are equally frustrating, and both are fixable. The former is a strategy issue. The latter is an expectations issue, which leads to a strategy issue.
Before I jump into the quagmire of this social media mindset, which influences a bigger picture business mindset, I want to share what prompted this episode. I have noticed for years that social media is becoming less and less important to luxury service providers in the home industry. Retail products of all price points generally do well on social, but services are different. I couldn't find much evidence to substantiate my hunch aside from my own experience working with designers.
Then, I heard the most incredible interview with a luxury interior designer on the Living Fully Podcast and all the pieces started coming together. I did more digging into Instagram's updated demographics, and I finally had my proof. Ladies and gents, I present to you why luxury design firms don't get clients from Instagram, and why that is completely okay.
Let's start with real-life evidence, luxury clientele profiles, and later, we'll go over the actual stats on Instagram users. So much information and data are headed your way. You might want to take a few notes. ;)
Getting back to that podcast I mentioned a minute ago, here is what luxury interior designer April Tomlin had to say:
"I don't really need Instagram for my clients. They've already hired me. They have the money to spend, and I have a waiting list. What I have started to gear towards [on Instagram] is to help people who can't afford a designer."
-April Tomlin, owner and interior designer at April Tomlin Interiors
With over 100K followers, you'd think April would be raking in the leads from Instagram, but she isn't. "I don't really need Instagram for my clients," she said in an interview with Mallory Ervin. Prior to decorating Instagram influencer Mallory Ervin's Nashville home, April admits that she didn't have much of an Instagram presence.
Once Mallory started featuring her, April's following grew exponentially, but she didn't build a business that was dependent on social media. As an interior designer in Nashville, she had already established a name for herself through ingenuity and hard work. She started designing homes for country music celebrities, and they became both her niche and her referral network. (That is one heck of a network!)
April notes something that I find so insightful. She says, "What I have started to gear towards [on Instagram] is to help people who can't afford a designer."
She clearly realizes that Instagram users can't necessarily afford to work with a high-end designer, and she is creating a product line to serve them versus wondering why they won't hire her team for full-service design. This is smart. She has the correct expectations for social media. Expectations are often the difference between frustration and confidence, and truly, the difference between failure and success.
Are your expectations for social media marketing realistic?
Over the past 7 years of running this marketing agency, I have seen interior designers fall into the trap of marketing their luxury services to non-luxury demographics, such as the 20 and (low) 30-somethings on social media. Here's what you need to understand as a luxury service provider: Clients who intend to hire you and make a significant investment into their homes are not generally heavy social media users unless they are actual influencers.
Before I get too far into this, I want to make a few disclaimers:
I'm not saying that luxury interior designers will never get clients from social media, only that it is rare and shouldn't be expected. Save yourself the time, energy, and investment!
I'm not saying that you should start offering luxury interior design if that isn't what you want to do. Not everyone wants projects that contain that much detail or last that long. And, let's be honest, not everyone wants to hold their clients' hands at all hours of the day.
I'm not suggesting that luxury services are better than more moderate services or that moderate services are less valuable than luxury services. We all have our own unique callings. Follow yours.
A Profile of the Standard Luxury Interior Design Client
We work with enough luxury design firms to know that, by and large, the luxury client isn't very active on social media, and if they do use social, they rarely like or comment (we like to call them silent stalkers). They also don't tend to use social media as a determining factor in who to hire. They will hire you based on a referral from someone they trust or from your SEO. After receiving that referral, they'll head to your website (or Google will send them directly to your site). After working with you, they might follow you on social media to stay in touch and interact with the photos you might post from their project.
This lack of social media interaction can frustrate the luxury designer, especially when their colleagues tell them about all the clients they are getting from social media. If this frustration describes you and if your colleagues are getting all sorts of great clients from social media, here are a few reasons why that might be happening for them and why it likely won't happen for you.
3 Reasons You Aren't Getting Interior Design Clients from Social Media (but your colleagues are)
Your colleagues are selling retail products; you don't sell any products, and if you do, they are higher-end or designer-only brands.
Your colleagues are targeting younger demographics who, by the nature of their age, usually can't afford to pay for luxury services or aren't ready to establish their forever home (or second or third residence) quite yet.
Your colleagues work with intro-level luxury clients of all ages, not middle class, but also not luxe, with projects under $1M.
Social Media Age & Income Demographics
The two major age groups of users on Instagram are 18-24 year olds (Gen Z) and 25-34 year olds (Millennials).
The income demographics are...
<$30,000: 35%
$30,000-$74,999: 39%
$75,000+: 42%
[source]
Instagram users have specific interests and reasons for using the platform. Users have named their primary interests as travel (45%), music (44%), and food and drink (43%).
[source]
The Definition of Luxury Interior Design
Are you a luxury designer? You can brand yourself as whatever you'd like. Just make sure your services and quality match what you are marketing. Luxury interior design is a step beyond sourcing trade products for your client projects. It is a long journey down the path of custom design: Custom furniture, window treatments, bedding, handcrafted light fixtures, built-ins, and really anything else that you can't simply discover at High Point.
I'm not saying High Point doesn't contain luxury-level products, but I am saying that you won't be able to find the custom, reupholstered armchair for your client's formal living space there... or anywhere. That piece is unique to the client and wouldn't exist without that client. That is custom. That is luxury.
The definition of luxury interior design also includes design-build firms that emphasize custom home building rather than spec or model home construction. The home is tailored to the family's needs from day one. Luxury interior design, unsurprisingly, carries with it an elevated price point. Luxury design often occurs in homes of at least $1M in value, but usually closer to $3M and above. The project budget for luxury design often starts at no less than $500K.
Luxury interior design budgets, sans interior design fees:
$150.00 per square foot for new furniture (much more if antiques are involved)
$125.00 per square foot for flooring and lighting
$75.00 per square foot for decorative paint finishes
$150.00 per square foot for custom cabinetry and built-ins
$75.00 per square foot for decorative accessories and art (much more if fine art is being purchased)
New kitchens: $100,000 - $250,000, complete with appliances
Luxury master baths: $90,000 - $250,000, complete with fixtures
Thank you to the team at Hadley Court for this comprehensive list!
As you can see, projects at this scale are very different from but no better than, providing wonderful design services to the midwestern mom who needs a kitchen refresh for $30K. Running a luxury design firm or working with very wealthy clients doesn't make you a better designer, just as working with clients who have smaller budgets doesn't make you a bad designer.
What will make you a poor business owner, however, is misaligning your marketing with your actual service offerings and ideal clients. If you are a luxury designer who needs only a few projects per year, don't wonder why social media isn't bringing you any leads. Social isn't a lead generation tool for projects at that level. Conversely, if you work with mid-range clients, don't expect them to have budgets over $750K. That simply wouldn't be a realistic expectation, and it would cause you a lot of needless frustration.
How Luxury Interior Designers Should Use Social Media
If you still think your interior design firm needs to invest time and money into social media, you can do that. There is no rule around this; there are only misplaced expectations. You won't hurt your business by staying active on social, but you need to adjust your mindset.
Because you likely won't get clients from social media, let's adjust your goals. Your goals for social media should be: 1) to indicate that you are open for business, 2) to share photos of your work, and most importantly, 3) to share the story of your brand. This can be done by sharing photos of yourself, your family, your team, and behind-the-scenes shots or videos. You don't need to post more than once per week, and you don't need to worry about reels, stories, or live videos unless you enjoy doing those things.
Rather than throwing money at boosted posts and social ads, invest in a long-term relationship with a PR firm, while also pursuing referral partnerships with other professionals who serve your ideal client as well. Not sure how to do that? Go listen to episodes 153 and 161 of this podcast.
Your marketing should go far beyond social media - which is true whether or not you offer a luxury service. You should place a higher priority on growing your mailing list, increasing your SEO, and staying top-of-mind with past leads and clients - all so that you can maintain and increase your circle of referrals.
Social media is just a tool. It is not the golden ticket to your success as a home industry business, especially if you use it in the wrong way or place the wrong expectations on it. I hope the information I've shared today has given you a clearer vision of where to spend your marketing dollars. Most of all, I hope this has given you some new level of peace.
You might not have a ton of followers on social media...
Cool, because they don't matter anyway. ;)
