8 Steps To Help You Become An Interior Design Influencer
If you have a love for interior design, one career path would be to become an interior design influencer. Our world is saturated with social media, so why not try and make a living out of it?
If you have a love for interior design, one career path would be to become an interior design influencer. Our world is saturated with social media, so why not try and make a living out of it? It can be hard to know where to start but be prepared to put yourself out there and follow these eight steps and you’ll be well on your way to reaching your goal!
Invest In A Good Camera
Before you start, it is important that you have a decent camera. In order to compete in the competitive influencer world, your photos have to be professional. The quality of phone cameras can now be fantastic, or perhaps you want to spend a bit more on a pricier DSLR camera and lenses (affiliate link). Either way, you need to make sure that your content is clear, professional and engaging for the audience. The better your photos are, the more people will want to look at them!
Set Up Your Social Media
Once you’ve taken some glorious photos of your home, it’s time to set up your social media. Whilst Pinterest is commonly used by people to find inspiration, Instagram is the best place for most influencers as it’s where people go to find a sense of community and build up rapport with accounts. So, if you’re looking for consistent engagement from a reliable audience, Instagram is the place to go.
Come up with a catchy and interesting username that is also personal. If you use something generic like ‘homedesign45’, people won’t get a sense of the person behind the account. Instead, aim to choose something memorable that is also linked to interior design, making it clear what your account is about whilst also proving that you’re an individual.
For your profile picture, choosing a selfie is another way to remind users that there is a face behind the account, giving people more of an incentive to engage.
Be Genuine
The first thing you need to know when it comes to being an influencer is that you must be genuine. Your followers will be able to see through any blatant advertising messages that don’t align with your brand or don’t seem natural. Make sure that you are given the space to offer genuine opinions on products and that you offer a sense of reality as well as beautiful home inspiration.
If you want to take a photo of your kitchen, but it’s super messy after a busy week, take it anyway and share it with your followers! You will build a much more trusting and authentic audience if you are completely transparent when it comes to advertisements, as well as life in general.
Offer Something Different
It could be easy for your profile to get lost amongst the thousands of other interior design accounts on Instagram. So, you need to find something unique about your style and incorporate that throughout your account. Perhaps you’re a fan of Scandinavian interior design, you’re passionate about designer furniture or you’re an expert in dressing your house with stunning houseplants.
Once you’ve identified your niche, use it to make yourself known. Start with an introductory post introducing yourself and your specific interest. Use your bio to make your unique passion obvious. There are so many generic accounts already that brands want to work with, so you have a much greater chance of success if you channel your personal style into your account and make it specific to a particular audience.
Keep Up With Trends
If your main source of content is your own home, it’s important to keep up with trends and make changes to your home. This might not be anything major, but keeping things fresh and interesting is the key when it comes to being an influencer. You wouldn’t find it very interesting if a fashion influencer you followed posted the same outfit every other week, so taking photos of the same corner of your house won’t cut it. Be innovative, rearrange and change furnishings depending on current trends in order to stay relevant. You could also share photos of your favourite shops containing some ultimate inspiration.
Reach Out To Your Favourite Companies
One of the best ways to get your content sponsored is to reach out to your favorite companies. If you genuinely love a company and want to endorse their products, it is likely that your voice will align with the message of the brand, making it feel authentic for your followers. Modern consumers don’t mind seeing sponsored content as they know that is a part of the fabric of our society, however what they don’t want to see is clearly scripted content.
Talk about gifted homeware products as if you were having a chat with a friend, and most importantly, be honest about them. Your followers will respect you much more if you give honest reviews about products. So, target companies you are genuinely passionate about and offer realistic reviews for the best results!
Post Regularly
As an influencer, you want to post enough content to keep your followers entertained, but you also don’t want to become a nuisance that takes up their feed. So, when it comes to grid posts, don’t post more than once a day in order to give your followers something to look forward to. Stories are a great way to engage more often and provide more natural, almost behind the scenes content for followers.
Perhaps you show them how you clean your mirrored furniture or what you look for when you’re out shopping. Instagram TV offers a space for you to post longer videos, such as a haul of your latest purchases or a chat about the best ways to style your sofa. Also, see what other accounts are doing with their Instagram reels and make sure you don’t miss out on the newest trends.
Collaborate With Other Influencers
A great way to expand your audience is to collaborate with other influencers. Why not create an Instagram reel together showing differences between your contemporary home and their country style home. You could go out shopping together, share the experience on your stories and then film a long video for IGTV once you’ve finished. This will be mutually beneficial as it will help you both to get your name out there and build your followers naturally.
Summary
So, there you have it, 8 simple steps to take to help you become an interior design influencer. Not everyone will make it as it’s such a competitive niche on Instagram, however if you follow these steps you will have a good chance of success.
The main thing to remember is to be genuine, as if you love creating and sharing the content, it is likely that your followers will love it too!
Do you have any tips? Let us know in the comments below!