This is the story of two equally successful design studios.
For the sake of a tidy narrative, let’s imagine they launched on the same day. And beyond the basics, they actually have a lot in common:
Both have owners with exceptional taste and a gift for creating systems. Both are based in excellent markets for these kinds of services. They’re both courageous and decisive.
But a decade later, they’ve built two very different businesses and everyone is thriving. The big variable? One went local and one went national.
Design Firm One set out to become the name in their market. Over the years, they’ve assembled a layered team that handles design, procurement, and finances with systemized efficiency. They’ve negotiated stocking-dealer pricing with dozens of vendors and developed a reputation for delivering an elevated, interesting version of their clients’ style. Local contractors and artisans want to work with them. They’re the go-to for the best local architects. Their pipeline is full and their clients are vocal fans. The firm is locally iconic.
Design Firm Two started by working via referral, as is so often the case, and noticed that new clients were drawn to some specific elements of their aesthetic. So they leaned into that—hard. They built their online presence around clear design opinions and gave the brand a unique, editorial feel. They grew a significant social media following around their strong point of view. The inquiries that followed were from pretty much everywhere, so they built excellent processes for working nationally. A major retailer came calling with a licensing opportunity. A streaming network recently reached out. Their firm is nationally known.
What do they have in common? Influence. Local influence and national influence.
The Hallmarks of Going Local
The formula is {service + location}.
In every aspect of branding, marketing, and business development, a local firm is looking to associate their service (interior design, architecture, kitchen design, etc.) with particular towns, cities, neighborhoods, or counties. Everyone—on and off the internet—needs to know {what a local firm does + where they do it}.
Brand messaging often includes a service component.
While national firms can cater to a specific aesthetic or niche, local firms will often focus on some version of the client’s own style.
It might be the cleanest version, the most family-friendly, the most layered version, or something else—but it needs to be broad enough to speak to a variety of clients in that region. Working within a limited geographic area requires some aesthetic flexibility.
So, if that’s the case, what are some other differentiators for a local firm? Very often, they’re related to service. A well-honed process is a great reason to call a particular designer or architect when their competitors have a reputation for it’s-pretty-but-it-was-so-stressful chaos.
Community standing matters more than larger platforms.
Local awards, local business associations, being “the” designer in a neighborhood or town. Reputation gets earned face-to-face, at local showhouses and home tours, and through press coverage in regional publications.
Trade relationships stay hyper-local.
Consistent use of local contractors and artisans, project after project, leads to deep relationships and is a baked-in reason to hire the firm. A great local firm knows everyone.
Social media serves as a lookbook and a place to nurture relationships.
A platform like Instagram is inherently national. Yes, you can target whoever you like with paid ads, use local tags and captions, etc. But, at the end of the day, anyone on the internet can follow your brand or be served your content organically.
For a local designer or architect, a platform like Instagram is a perfect lookbook, a place to show off recent work and good taste. It’s not about big numbers. Instead, social media content can serve to nurture potential clients (for weeks, months, or even years) and act as a second portfolio and a place to tell stories that ‘prove’ your messaging.
Portfolio depth is about location, not necessarily style.
Twelve houses on three streets build more local trust than a scattered footprint ever could. The scope and aesthetic can vary. This story is about relationships, service, and reputation.
Search and AI visibility is all about the location formula.
The goal is owning terms like “interior designer [city]” and “best architect [area].” Local SEO is the foundation, and showing up in Google’s map pack with excellent reviews pushes referrals to inquire or straight up brings in leads. AI recommendations are essential, but they’re specific to the location of the person asking.
The Hallmarks of Going National
Client geography decouples from studio location.
If local marketing is the consistent pairing of {service + location} in the minds of a target market, then national marketing is the act of separating them. It simply doesn’t matter where your studio is if you’re serving a national market. The focus is elsewhere.
Press goes national.
Instead of regional press features that focus on location, a nationally known design firm is, yes, aiming for national coverage. But the real key here is the audience you want to reach—the difference between coverage in Traditional Home, Veranda, or Atomic Ranch. Aesthetic and audience set the goals for coverage instead of geography.
A recognizable point of view is what travels.
National designers tend to stand for something specific: a look, a design opinion, a material language, or a niche so definable—playroom designers, maximalist coastal, developments in mountain resort areas—that they can own that category in the national conversation. Because a national designer can go wide by pulling clients from the whole country or beyond, they can (and should) go narrow in other ways.
Influence extends into licensing, product lines, or books.
Partnering with a furniture or fabric brand, launching a collection, publishing a book—these can extend a name into homes the design or architecture firm has never touched directly. It’s a different kind of reach than project work and makes sense when the audience is potentially everywhere but not everyone.
Media appearances move beyond print.
Podcast guest spots, network or streaming features, being quoted as an expert source in national news outlets. Big visibility happens when a name starts showing up outside the design trade entirely.
Social following becomes a different kind of business asset.
At the local level, we’ve talked about how Instagram can serve as a lookbook for referrals and potential clients. Nationally, it drives broader brand awareness and can bring in viable leads from all over. Follower count and engagement also turn into leverage for other areas of influence—from book deals to licensing.
AI and search visibility broadens.
This is arguably the newest hallmark and one that is worth noting. A locally-known designer might dominate “interior designer [city]” searches but be invisible when someone asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI overview for a recommendation by style or specialty. Going national increasingly means being cited in those broader, non-geographic queries.
But...
Is there overlap? Shouldn’t we cover all bases?
For example, wouldn’t a 6-page home feature in a national publication like Elle Decor or AD really sell a potential local client on your services? It sure would. But this is where the hallmarks of each approach stack up.
First, these kinds of publications have said—we’ve heard it straight from them on panels at HPMKT—that they’re looking for a distinct, identifiable aesthetic. That strong design opinion is often, though not always, found at firms that work nationally.
Second, some not-so-tiny resources go into landing a national feature. The photography, styling, time spent pitching, or payments to a PR firm—it’s all very worth it if a national feature aligns with the goals of the firm. But if you’re serving a specific local area? A respected regional magazine might be a better brand awareness tool. And getting quoted in an article on architecturaldigest.com might be a more efficient way to pull in some social proof and get that logo on your website.
If local clients are the target, all branding, marketing, and business development should align with that. And the reverse is just as true for working nationally.
What if the firm has locations in multiple cities?
In cases like these, there is still a decision to be made.
Yes, you can go national.
Or you can lean into going local in multiple locations: pitching regional magazines in each city, nurturing relationships with clusters of local builders, creating a Google Business Profile for each location, etc.
This decision is all about the long-term goals of the firm.
In the end, every design or architecture firm gets to choose.
And the most decisive, clear approach will always be more efficient. If the goal is to go national, a local approach to marketing or branding will waste valuable resources. If the goal is to dominate the local market, the same rule applies when trying to use a national strategy.
The first step? Decide where you want your firm to go.
A perfect second step? Register for the 2027 Design Influencers Conference, where local and national influence are created and nurtured. March 1-3 in Atlanta.
This topic was originally discussed in a talk by Nicole Heymer and Sandra Funk at the Design Influencers Conference in Napa, CA in 2025.
