Is Houzz Part Of Your Social Media Marketing Plan?

With social media marketing constantly evolving, it’s no surprise to find networks popping up that focus on specific industries. Among home improvement companies for example, Houzz and Porch are two social media networks that focus specifically on home improvement and home renovation.

After looking at the audience statistics, Houzz seems to be the most popular (at this time) with over 15 million people searching for home improvement needs a month!

Analysis Of Homeowner Decision Making Before Remodeling By Houzz

According to the Houzz & Home survey conducted in 2013, in the next two years, 84% of homeowners plan to decorate or redecorate their home and 48% plan to remodel, build an addition or build a custom home.

Homeowners spend a lot of time researching home improvement companies before hiring a company, especially online. Social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are still very important for your business’s online presence, but with 90% of Houzz’s audience as homeowners, this network is a great place for the home improvement industry.

Below are the criteria homeowners rated as “very important” when hiring professionals for renovations:

(Note: Only 8% found it “very important” to find a company that offered the lowest cost.)

Unlike local business listing sites such as Yelp where the goal is to list important contact information to make it easy for homeowners to find your services, Houzz’s platform takes a different approach and focuses on the communication between you and the customer.

Get Your Business Started On Houzz

Houzz can help establish your business as “ideal” to a homeowner just like Facebook and Twitter can. The key is to know how to use all it has to offer. Here are some tips:

1. Create An Official Profile. Add your contact information as well as a list all of the services your company provides.
2. Upload High Resolution Photos. Upload photos that show more than what your business can do. But don’t stop there — include keywords with your images to give homeowners helpful suggestions related to your photo.
3. Ideabooks & Personal Connection. Houzz is a sales-driven platform. However, Houzz also encourages user engagement on a number of different levels. You can gain more exposure when users add your photos to their “Ideabooks,” which are essentially a collection of images homeowners can display that represents their dream homes.
4. Answer Questions Promptly. Connect with the 67 percent of homeowners who say it’s “very important” to hire someone that has a personality that is easy to work with. If someone poses a question that you can answer, respond promptly. This shows interested homeowners that you are available to help them achieve home improvement goals from the first attempt at contact.
5. Take Advantage Of The Reviews Feature. Social proof is one of the most powerful factors in the decision making process for prospective customers. Encourage happy customers to post a review. Remember, 81 percent of homeowners find good reviews and recommendations very important.
6. Increase Visibility On Houzz. Post links to photos on your Facebook page, your Google+ page, and your Twitter feed to drive more people to your business. Have a link to your Houzz account on your website.

Using Houzz To Increase Your Business’s Online Presence

Today, social media is a must when it comes to your business’s overall marketing plan because that is where your customers are spending their time. Houzz is yet another platform for you to position your business front-and-center of those looking for your services. There will be more niche platforms popping up in the future that will serve as great opportunities for your business.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Chris Marentis

Chris Marentis is the Founder and CEO of Surefire Social, a provider of local digital marketing services and technology. With a coaching-centric approach, Surefire Social raises businesses' local search presence through hyper-local search, display, social and mobile strategies.