One thing I love about social media is the ability to bring communities together and provide real, tangible value to businesses. Gone are the days when you have to guess whether or not you’re reaching the right people with your messages or if your time is being spent wisely.
Digital marketing has allowed anyone with access to the Internet to see real-time results behind their hard work. Even better, the rise of social platforms, like Untappd and NextDoor, that target specific groups, communities, and interests is now easier than ever. Using niche social media platforms helps you focus on driving leads back to your business. Houzz equips its users with a great toolbox full of resources that help make it even more user-friendly.
So, What is Houzz?
Houzz is a visual community of homeowners and home professionals sharing ideas, advice, and assistance for projects. Created in 2010, Houzz has become a social media power player that allows homeowners to find answers to their questions and access thousands of home project examples.
It’s a unique platform that brings two communities together - homeowners and home professionals - for the sole purpose of simplifying the design and remodel. One could argue that the platform is reminiscent of others (Pinterest, anyone?). Albeit, the two are eerily similar in their visual nature, Houzz is laser-focused in the remodeling and design community.
Who Should Use Houzz, Anyway?
If you’re an active contractor, custom homebuilder, interior designer, or architect then you need to be on Houzz. Not only will you see ideas from your industry peers (and be tempted to scroll for hours), you will also be able to connect with millions of users.
According to BlueCorona.com, 90% of the users on Houzz are active homeowners. There are also more than 1.5 million active home remodeling professionals on the platform, which means it’s a gold mine for leads if you’re in any of these industries. On the other hand, plenty of home professionals are worried they will get buried beneath their competition--which is a legitimate concern with over 2.7 million professional Houzz accounts vying for potential clients.
However, the key to major Houzz success lies in consistent interaction, client involvement, and visual content. We’ve found three straightforward strategies you should commit to once you’ve set up your Houzz account.
Our 3 Houzz Marketing Tips:
#1 Interact on a Regular Basis
Houzz loves helpful professionals - and so do homeowners! Users are able to ask questions about everything from their remodel to DIY tips. Any professional is given an opportunity to answer these questions no matter where they are located. You might wonder how that could benefit you at all.
Well, the great part about being active on Houzz is that your answers appear on your profile as soon as you respond. Homeowners who are looking to you to handle their project can see now see how knowledgeable and helpful you’ve been in your industry. The more activity your profile receives, the more access to Houzz extras. Add custom badges to your blog, website, and email marketing so others will be able to see your high level of engagement and proficiency in your field.
Pro Tip: Aim to answer three questions each month. This is what Houzz views as adequate activity and if your answers are helpful you could be featured on the home page!
#2 Get Visual and Stay Visual
Houzz is a popular platform for a reason. Its two founders saw a huge gap in the amount of information available for homeowners who want to remodel and created their own solution. Hats off to them for creating such a visual platform for a visual industry.
Ideabooks are a collection of photos grouped together either by style, client, or project type. Professionals can break their photos up into any categorical structure they want - what is important are the keywords. Houzz has its own search feature where users can pull up a laundry list of projects and ideas relevant to them.
While it's great that users don’t have to dig through more than six million high-definition photos, your own photos could be lost in the mix. Be sure to include your location and a rich description of the photo as your upload them to your profile. Not only are you able to create Ideabooks filled with your own work portfolio, but you can also create dream Ideabooks for your clients. These dream Ideabooks are great to show off your potential and emphasize how creative your team can get.
Pro Tip: When uploading photos do not click “private comment” under your description. You’ll be able to be found using those keywords if your photos remain public.
#3 Involve Every Client
Not only is Houzz a hotbed for new leads and showing off your wealth of knowledge, but it is also a great sales tool. Users are able to search through your photos and save their favorites in their own Ideabooks. From there, you can choose photos for their project and share them along the way. With a great visual representation of their ideas, there won’t be any guessing on Houzz projects.
Once the project is complete ask the client for a Houzz review. As long as they have an account, which you should suggest before their project begins, they will be able to leave feedback directly on your profile. This is a tremendous bonus to have right next to photos of your great work.
Many homeowners will only work with professionals who have favorable reviews and are known to be suspicious when there are no reviews. Once you receive three reviews, you’ll be able to embed your review “feed” to your website. Having reviews on other platforms such as Google and Facebook are great, but this tool allows you to flaunt them while driving traffic back to your Houzz portfolio.
Pro Tip: Add clients as collaborators to your Ideabooks so they can share ideas back and forth. Browse their Ideabooks before the initial meeting to get a better sense of their personal style.
Are you utilizing Houzz? How do you use it for your marketing? Let us know!
Want to hear tips for marketing success? LAIRE has you covered! Check out our blog for more industry tips and free resources. While you’re there, don’t forget to grab a copy of our Free Social Media Prospecting Workbook to help you best utilize your social media to generate leads!
