Where To Spend Your Marketing Dollars

I am just starting out with my staging business – working with a limited marketing budget where should I spend my marketing dollars?

Starting a new business, particularly a home staging business, can leave you with a less than ideal budget when it comes to marketing. Between proper home staging training, acquiring inventory, storage, and labor costs, plus, building a website all with limited financial resources it may leave a new home stager asking, “when working with a limited budget, where should I spend my marketing dollars?”

Luckily, in today’s marketing climate it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money to get the word out about your business. Rather than money, you’ll need to spend some extra time, be open to learning, and willing to stay consistent when creating and implementing a marketing plan. Here are five bootstrap marketing tactics that you can integrate into your business today (please note, I do highly recommend you have a website in place first):

Build a Customer Avatar

Start by researching who your ideal client will be. Are you targeting real estate agents? Builders? Investors? Sellers? Design clients? Then dive deeper into the specifics of who your ideal client represents:

What are their demographics and psychographics?

What are their goals and values?

Where do they source information?

What challenges or pain points do they have?

What objections may they have towards your services?
Do they make the sole buying decision?

It’s important to understand who your ideal client is, what they want, where they spend their time, and how you can solve their problem before creating a piece of content, sharing a post, or spending a dime of your marketing dollars.

Target Your Ideal Clients

Once laser-focused on your customer avatar, the next step is to build a list of potential clients in your service area, that represent your avatar’s profile, to reach out to. You’ll want to create a follow-up strategy to connect with potential leads and build a relationship with them. Depending on your personality and comfort level as a new home stager you can target clients on social media, text message, email, audio/video direct message, or call them directly. Try using a combination of these methods to connect with them between 4-7 times over a 30-day period to give the potential lead time to get to know who you are, like what you stand for, and ultimately trust you with their listing or property.

PRO TIP: Utilize a contact relationship management (CRM) system to stay organized with who you contact and when.

Build Up an Email List

It’s important with bootstrap marketing that you stay top of mind. Having an email list is a cost-effective and simple way to provide potential leads and customers with company news, value-driven content, industry statistics, and much more. Being able to slide into their inbox allows you to control the conversation and relationship. By taking advantage of email software like Mailchimp, you can send mass emails within minutes, and even create an email automation series to keep the conversation going, while you’re off staging. Here are some best practices to consider when planning an email marketing strategy:

Keep in mind your customer avatar when crafting emails

Decide on sign up sources to join your email list (website, social media, landing page with a free opt-in)

Write with purpose and deliver on what you promised

Establish how frequently you’ll send information

Have a schedule and stay consistent

Online Marketing Collateral

Connecting with an ideal client or booking a call is only half the battle when it comes to marketing because you’ll have to back up your words with proof. Having online marketing collateral readily available at your fingertips will allow you to instantaneously move the conversation forward and show potential clients you’re an established business. Plan on creating downloadable flyers, a presentation, and/or guides about home staging benefits, your services, and the process of working together. You can easily create marketing collateral on Canva and be your own graphic designer to save marketing dollars. It’s also important to share links from your website to your growing portfolio, case studies, and any testimonials you may have.

Be All-In on One Social Media Platform

Social media platforms can be a fantastic way to build relationships and show off your expertise without spending a fortune. If you’re new to social media, it’s important to claim your company name on all social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube. However, please focus on just one platform to start engaging and promoting your company. The platform you choose should be based on your marketing goals, where your ideal audience hangs out and of course, be a platform you enjoy communicating on.

Once you’ve chosen a social media platform create a plan to post consistent, interactive content. Think about how you can create content that involves value-driven and entertaining information your ideal client will want to engage with. Experiment with these types of interactive posts:

Polls, Quizzes + Questions

Multiple Choice Posts

Behind-the-Scenes Images

Video Transformations

Livestreams, Stories + Reels

Relatable, Funny GIFs

Marketing a home staging business is an evolving process that requires consistency, as you test and tweak, what marketing strategies will resonate with your ideal clients. Make it a priority to block out marketing time on your schedule weekly and remember behind every successful marketing plan requires good business relationship building practices.

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Tori Toth

Tori Toth is a renowned home stager and lifestyle authority, visibility consultant, trainer, YouTuber, blogger, and international speaker whose clientele spans the globe. Her peers recently nominated her to be on the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) Board of Directors, as well as, recognized her for the third year in a row as one of RESA’s Most Influential People in Real Estate Staging. She works with homeowners, real estate agents, and brands helping to “create an image that sells.”

Tori utilized her unique skills as a TV Reporter to market her company, as well as the home staging industry, and is the Host of Home Staging TV, a YouTube channel exclusively dedicated to the home staging industry with over 2 million views.

She’s increased visibility as the best-selling author of Feel at Home: Home Staging Secrets for a Quick and Easy Sell inspired her to create The Stage 2 Sell Strategy™, the world’s first home staging course developed exclusively for home sellers, available online utilizing on-demand video. She’s been featured in top media outlets including U.S. News & World Report, Realtor.com, CNN Money, Martha Stewart Living, The Today Show, Good Day New York, Oprah.com and MyDomaine.com.

By seeing firsthand what video has done for her, Tori has been invited to speak to thousands of professionals at home staging and real estate events, including The Real Estate Staging Association, about the importance of maximizing their visibility through property presentation and video.

Co-author of the book Marketing for the Staging + Design Industry Tori shares her visibility expertise and is the creator of the new membership site Visible You Incubator™ and an online course called Video Visibility™ sharing her video marketing secrets and allowing small business owners, like home stagers, to develop a comprehensive strategy to step outside their comfort zone build a marketing strategy and press “record.”

Tori proves that by broadcasting your message and leveraging your position on the market you can inspire others to take action. Now, it's your time to share your story, influence your audience's perspective, cue the life that you desire.