Over the past few years, businesses of all kinds have been migrating to the digital world and establishing their online presence. You may have also been trying to find your place in this new landscape but discovered that it isn’t as simple as it seems.

Building your online brand is more essential than ever, as your website and social media accounts will be the first things potential clients will encounter regarding your work. Research has found that 76% of consumers look at online presence before engaging with or visiting a business.

As such, how you present your brand online is paramount to your success as an interior designer. Here are a few tips to help you develop your digital branding:

Set your brand voice and tone

Before curating your online presence, establish who you are as a designer and how your brand’s voice and tone can reflect that. Forbes emphasizes the importance of brand voice and tone in creating a unique persona and building a relationship with an audience.

Your brand voice involves what you’re communicating to others, and your tone is how the message is conveyed. Develop a communication style that matches your design identity for consistency and reliability.

If your style is eclectic and free-spirited, a more casual or light-hearted voice and tone that matches that style would be most appropriate. If your work is a little more high-class and elegant, a sophisticated communication style works best. Clients who notice the cohesiveness of your brand and dialogue will better understand your unique qualities and design vision.

Avoid going dark

Going dark — or becoming inactive — on social media can be detrimental to your digital presence. LHH recommends building a professional online brand through consistency. If your social media account is not regularly updated or seems to have been hibernated, it will look like you’re trying to hide something.

It also sends the impression that you aren’t available to potential clients, which can lead to a loss of business. You don’t need to post something new every day, but be purposeful when selecting content to post on social media.

If you don’t have a lot of new things to post, try sharing or referring to older but still relevant posts, content, or work that you’d like to boost. You can also reply to people who interact with your posts, but keep your comments kind and in line with your brand voice.

Pay attention to web design

Social media is a precious tool for branding and marketing, but don’t underestimate the power of your website. Your website should be a comprehensive and easy-to-access place for people to get an idea of your creative vision. Like your brand voice and tone, your website’s visuals should complement your style or niche

If your style is more minimalist, a clean and simple design with neutral tones can reflect that. If you work with many colors or have a more eccentric vision, you can incorporate that into your web design by using bright hues or unique fonts.

As much as possible, design your website to let visitors know your style even before they see your work. Keep things simple and easy to navigate so customers will stay longer.

Your online brand as an interior designer is essential to promoting your work and building trust with existing and future clients. Always ensure you’re staying on top of your social media activity and website functionality to maximize your digital presence.

For more tips and advice, check out our posts:

How to run an interior design business online