BIID: GET TWEETING
GETTWEETING DebraMcQuin discusses howsocial media has taken the businessworld by storm
Far frombeing confined to our personal lives, socialmedia tools are nowbecome increasingly popular in the professionalworld. So, how can they help interior designers? In short, social media can be used to maximise a designer’s presence and exposure, in an extremely cost effectiveway.
a designer. Using socialmedia to help boost your online presence can ensure you stand out and promote your status and credentials. It is also away to make newcontacts, increase virtual identity, open up international opportunities and market your brand,making you more visible. The business-focused social
T
DebraMcQuin,McQuin Partnership, is theMarketing Director at the British Institute of InteriorDesign.
LinkedIn: BIID group Twitter: @BIIDtalk
www.biid.org.uk
media tool, Linkedin, is especially useful. It allows you to connect with suppliers, contractors, designers, customers, colleagues and friends in a professional online setting. Highlight your skills and areas of expertise, request recommendations and display yourwork and projects through applications such as Behance. Linkedin groups provide a great place to exchange ideas and information.
he Internet has provided clientswith awide variety of choicewhen looking for
Twitter is also becoming a
great tool for business, and allows you to update quickly on the go. Try to get involved in discussions with relevant users to gain followers and position yourself as an expert in your field. Keep tweets interesting and exciting with personal accounts of the industry. Tweet images and small bursts of informationwith links to your Facebook page,website or blog. Try to also think aboutwhen you tweet;morning rush hour, lunchtime and evening rush hour are good times, as people are often on theirway to or from work, or taking a break. Facebook ismore visual than
Twitter or Linkedin. The timeline layout allows you to post images, and videoswith your status updates. This is a good place to upload images of projects or coverage of yourwork. Both Twitter and Facebookwill
allowyou to provide a ‘human’ aspect to your business. Using these tools can allowprospective clients to find outmore about you,making youmore approachable in the initial stages. Try to balance out promotional work tweetswith personal anecdotes and create interesting content including; tips, advice, opinions, trends, industry topics and events. Designers that share andwelcome feedback and
commentswill gain followers quickly. If someone comments on one of your posts, or asks questions, it is important to engagewith them. Blogging is a goodway to link
all your socialmedia accounts together. Try to update your blog at least once aweek, to keep the content fresh. Itwill provide a base for information that you can then tweet or post on facebook with a link. Relatively new on the scene
and incredibly popular with interior designers already is Pinterest. It provides a virtual board that you can ‘pin’ images to and share. Pinterest allows you to set up several boards, which you could split into projects, styles, commercial or residential work, or by skill areas. Another newcomer, Houzz is similar to Pinterest in terms of the posts mainly being images, except it is focused on interiors. Houzz also has a professionals section from interior designers to landscape designers. It is a good place for prospective clients to see your work and communicate with you about their projects. The BIIDwill be running another
CPDworkshop on the topic of socialmediawithmedia expert Karen Lerner, due to popularity of the firstworkshop. Look out for the session being run in the autumn.
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