​What it takes to be an award winning designer?  Be it Design Excellence Award ceremonies or Residential Excellence Design Award. Every Award can be an opportunity for your interior design business if used correctly. Kitchen & Bath Marketing Solutions aims to guide you through and provide some tips to utilize your award winning opportunity to build your brand. 

1. Know thy audience!
Look for business groups in your area. What awards are available in your area? Google it with your states and then with your city. Where do you want your people to be polling from? Let your audience know you’ve the same award they are familiar with.

2. Media coverage you need for your awards
Some awards are sponsored by media. Others may face difficulty to find right media channels for promotion. Magazines may not be featuring your project in professional publications. In such a case you need to put some effort yourself. Earned feature placement for your projects can be sometimes better than getting into paid award competitions.

3. Build your brand with your awards
Winning an award can help you build your brand. Market your projects in different avenues like website, blog or video. Look for the outlets where organizations giving you awards are promoting their competitions.

4. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your award promotion
You can rewrite about your awards earned in the past and link to those archives on the web. Always have your own links and blogs on your awards as the publications by other organizations may no longer be functional. Remember! Dead links on your website will hurt you.

5. Tips for design competitions
Read all the requirements for winning a particular award including membership details. Know the judges and their background who are in the design competition. Some famous design competitions and local awards in  kitchen & bath remodeling niche are NKBA design competition for Dallas and NARI. 
Search for categories that may have less number of applicants. You can also promote judges’ remarks to showcase your credibility.

6. Target big organizations with your awards
Scope your story in a way that depicts your leadership skills. Some renowned trade organizations, local business journal rank listings or media agencies can offer free of charge, non-commercial promotion of your awards. You need a second hand acknowledgements to know you’re doing well. Know different cultural opinions on aesthetics and designs. Be more strategic.


For more information on interior design business and digital marketing for designers, remodelers and architects visit us at Kabms.com. 

Public Relations is all about raising awareness and creating engagement with the target audience of your business. There are several PR tools but Press Release is the most important one to get noticed by the luxury brand's audience. 

Why getting press is essential when targeting luxury clients?​

1. Third-Party Credibility: 
Interior designers intuitively understand the power of getting press. There are so many options for marketing and promotions but PR is the ONLY ONE that gives you third-party credibility. 

2. Validation by Big 5 Social Platforms:
 PR not only impactful to attract clients but also is essential to get validated by the Big Five: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. 

3. Earned Media: 
Press is one of the differentiating factors when evaluating designers. It is better than word of mouth because the testimonial comes from a credible source. It is called earned media for a good reason. Not everyone gets it, and that makes you stand out. 

What media designers, architects or remodelers can target?

1. Regional Magazines:
Target the media your ideal client READS. Focus on regional magazines if you want to attract local clients. Regional magazine coverage tends to be most beneficial to attract business. 

2. Media Outlets that Your Client Knows: 
Target the media your ideal client KNOWS - think home design titles like Better Homes & Gardens, House Beautiful etc. 

3. Media Outlets that Your Client Does Not Know: 
Target media your ideal client DOESN’T KNOW. Garner coverage in other outlets, big and small, it all helps establish you as an expert SUCCESSFUL designer.

What to Pitch? 
Think about what would impress your ideal client? Media 'mentions' always work!

1. Projects:
These are the most challenging pitches because it takes a very long time to see results but it is absolutely necessary. 

2. Your Story: 
Showcase your business story that your clients can relate to. Media sponsored awards are a great way to get published. 

3. Trends:
Be the trend setter and at the same time stay up-to-date about the latest trends most liked by the luxury clients. 


Tips for an Effective PR Strategy: 

1. Be Proactive: 
You need to be PROACTIVE to get published. Complete your research and reach out to the press channels your clients are reading. 

2. Create a Plan:
List down your PR plan and break it down into achievable goals. 

3. Build PR Budget/Time into Your Marketing:
Track your PR activities on time and money scale. For luxury marketing it is essential to dedicate a portion of your business budget for media and press release. 


For more value based information visit our website www.kitchenandbathmarketingsolutions.com