Online portfolio

It’s no secret that our industry is a highly visual one. Photos are infinitely important to demonstrate what can be done to improve the look of a home. So it’s no surprise that online photo sites like Pinterest and Houzz have rapidly gained importance for remodelers’ social marketing campaigns.

Houzz is essentially an online portfolio. Remodelers can upload and tag photos with keywords, making them easy for homeowners to find when they are looking for design ideas. Pinterest, on the other hand, allows people to “pin” their pictures, ideas, articles, etc., to themed “boards.” It has quickly become a great source for design ideas.

“We use [clients’] Pinterest boards that they share with us as a conversation starter,” says Ben Thompson, president of Thompson Remodeling. “We walk through why they like this or that and it’s a phenomenal way to help them figure out what they want.”

Houzz is more about highlighting your own work, says Joaquin Erazo, chief marketing officer at Case Design/Remodeling. The Bethesda, Md.-based design/build firm has uploaded nearly 800 project photos to the site. But on Pinterest, Case has 26 boards, with only a handful of them being exclusively Case projects. The rest are  collections of great ideas the Case team has seen from other companies.

The sites are also a great way to see what is popular by tracking what people re-pin, says Chris Stebnitz of Stebnitz Builders, Delavan, Wis. PR