Do you work in the building/construction trades and keep hearing about Houzz? Perhaps your clients have been talking it up or colleagues keep telling you Houzz is where it's at.
But what, exactly, does that mean for you and your company? Is Houzz for consumers, professionals, or both? And if it is a place for pros, do you really need to add it to your marketing mix?
Grab a cup of coffee and cozy up, kids. Your PMG team is here to give you the 411 on Houzz for business.
Houzz, in essence, is a virtual dream world for consumers. People go to the site to browse gorgeous photos, save pictures they love, read articles on various home improvement topics, discover neat ideas, learn about interesting products, and find the professional(s) of their dreams.
Houzz is also an online space for builders, architects, interior decorators, and anyone else involved in home design/home improvement. Professionals can create their own free profile page and highlight their work and customer reviews.
Best of all, consumers and pros can interact directly on Houzz:
Houzz is also a whole lot of fun. Seriously, go to the site and start poking around. You'll find yourself getting lost in all the beautiful photos (yes, even if you're a veteran in the building/construction world).
Sure. According to Houzz Facts 2015, Houzz has…
Not only that, but "Ninety percent of Houzz users are homeowners and they use Houzz to renovate and decorate their homes from start to finish."
You know the joke about the bank robber explaining why he robbed the bank and he says, "Well, that's where the money is"? Same concept.
In other words, your prospective customers are most likely already on Houzz. And guess what? These folks are serious. According to the fourth annual Houzz and Home survey, "More than half of homeowners on Houzz renovated their homes in 2014."
That said, we understand that you might feel late to the Houzz party, so why should you bother?
But before you dismiss Houzz completely, here are some compelling reasons to sign up:
Here's some good news. Once you get your profile set up (which involves writing copy for the About section, creating project portfolios, and soliciting some customer reviews), you don't need to spend hours and hours every week (although we'll warn you that you might want to—Houzz is FUN).
Keep in mind that Houzz is all about eye candy, meaning gorgeous photos. So the goal should be to regularly add high quality photos of your work. Yes, good photography is an investment, but you've probably been investing in photography anyway for your website. Now these photos will be working double duty—on your business site and Houzz.
The Houzz platform itself is incredibly intuitive: loading pictures is easy, and Houzz walks you through the details to add (such as project cost, room type, style, materials used, and so forth).
So figure a handful of hours (depending on how many projects you have) to set up the profile and then a couple of hours a month to continue priming the pump by adding new projects.
Our Houzz contacts tell us that the pros who get the most out of Houzz are ones who do devote some time to the platform—and who do it with a smile. This involves more than simply posting project pics; it involves engaging with the larger Houzz community (e.g. answering questions, commenting on articles, commenting on other pics). So put forth that friendly, knowledgeable persona of yours and give people a preview of what working with you might be like.
Oh, trust us: we get it. If you're busy running your business (and who isn't, right?), you might need some help with the set-up, maintenance, and ongoing promotion of your Houzz profile. That's something our PMG staff loves doing.
Need help with Houzz for business? Let's talk!