What is Houzz? Why should I care about it?
Houzz is a social network specific to the Interior Design and Home Improvement market. If you are familiar with Pinterest, its like Pinterest for the HGTV crowd. Design and home improvement enthusiasts can create inspiration boards for the rooms they want to decorate or the projects they are thinking of taking on. Home Improvement and Interior Design professionals maintain profiles, showcase projects, sell products, and of course upload the images that provide inspiration for the enthusiasts and hopefully wind up on their art boards!
How Should I Go About Marketing on Houzz?
of course we have a simple 5 step plan to get you up and running doing your marketing on Houzz —
- Create a Profile. The first thing you should do on any social network is create a profile for yourself and your business. It is important to flesh out your profile, use good, quality images that represent your style and your brand, and to give potential clients a great impression of your business. Be sure to use your SEO keywords in your profile.
- Lots of High-Quality Photos: as with Pinterest, Houzz is a very visual medium for marketing and your brand should be communicated flawlessly by your photography.
- Participate Actively: Seek out and participate in active discussions. This will increase your exposure directly, increase your authority, and, like other social networks, Houzz algorithms give preference to active participants. This is one of the keys to standing out from the passive crowd that treats marketing on Houzz like it’s a listing in the yellow pages.
- Customer Reviews: Social proof is important for marketing on any social network. Your potential customers will be looking for your reviews before they reach out to you.
- Network with Other Professionals: This will help you establish your expertise. It will also strengthen your referrals. You should even network with your competitors. It won’t hurt your business, and you never know where your next referral will come from.
- (Extra Credit) Sell your products directly on Houzz: You read that correctly. Houzz is also a marketplace where you can sell and market your products as well as your services.
Marketing on Houzz will also allow you to reach mobile users
Bonus Material: As a solid intro to marketing your business with their site, Houzz has an excellent webinar on their site.
How do you think Houzz fits in to your marketing plan? Do you have any additional tips or ideas for marketing on Houzz? We’d live to hear about them! Reach out to us on Twitter and tell us what you think!