5 furniture advertisement ideas not to leave on the table

Key takeaways

• Make it simple for your website visitors to submit their contact information before boosting traffic with online ads
• Reach shoppers who are ready to make a purchase by running online ads and completing your Yelp Business Page
• Show off specific products through short, engaging video ads on social media to drive sales of featured furniture pieces

If you have a passion for furniture—whether you love making it or curating pieces for a store—there’s a huge opportunity to do what you love. The furniture and home furnishings industry is valued at $113 billion. But with over 27,000 furniture stores in the United States, the competition can be tough to beat. 

When you want to build your customer base fast, paid furniture advertising can help your small business stand out from the rest—including big-name furniture retailers. Here are five tactics you can add to your furniture advertisement strategy.

1. Optimize your website before running online ads

Running online ads is an effective way to drive traffic to your website. Investing in these ads allows your site to show up above search results for relevant keywords, which means you’ll be among the first websites potential customers see. But while clicks are great, it’s important that your website is in tip-top shape for those online visitors.

This includes having a place to collect the contact information of the people who visit your site—helping you turn interest into sales. Generate leads by including contact forms throughout your site and include calls to action (CTAs) to encourage potential customers to take a particular action. For instance, on a product page, you can encourage visitors to leave their email addresses by including a submission form and “Get more information” CTA below your product description.

Another way to acquire leads is by setting up pop-up forms using an email marketing tool like Mailchimp or ConvertKit. Pop-up kits can help you build your email list, which you can use to continuously follow up with subscribers and nudge them toward a purchase. Consider advertising a sign-up perk (for instance, a 20% discount on office furniture) to boost the number of leads you gain.

Once your website is set up for lead acquisition, you can drive even more traffic by pairing your online ads with search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. Further optimize your website by naturally fitting in keywords related to your store, such as “modern furniture” or “home decor.” This will signal to search engine algorithms what searches your furniture site is relevant to, helping you rank higher for the right terms—including ones you’re not directly targeting through your ad campaigns.

2. Send direct mail to local residents

Snail mail might not be the most innovative furniture advertisement idea, but it can be highly effective. Sending direct mail to locals can result in up to a 90% open rate and 5-9 times more responses than you would receive through any other advertising strategy.

To design direct mail that appeals to your target audience, consider these tips:

• Include an enticing offer (like a BOGO 50% off coupon) or advertise an upcoming furniture sale to drive more locals to your store
• Customize a direct mail template with a graphic design tool like Canva to quickly build a professional, eye-catching postcard without design experience
• Use your brand elements—including your colors, fonts, and brand personality—to ensure your buying experience is cohesive for customers whether they’re reading your mail or visiting your store
• Write copy specific to the audience you’re mailing—for example, if you’re targeting a new residents mailing list, you could write, “Start building the home of your dreams with 15% off”

Unlike costly newspaper ads and flyers on windshields, direct mail is a form of print advertising that (when done right) is far from obsolete.

3. Run Yelp Ads to drive traffic to your store

After visiting Yelp, 97% of users make a purchase. When Yelp users search for furniture shops like yours, they’re ready to visit and spend at the store that stands out the most.

Standing out begins with building your Yelp presence. Once you claim your Yelp Business Page, update your business information—including your business hours, address, and phone number—and upload high-quality pictures of your showroom, best-sellers, and other eye-catching products or parts of your store.

If your customers have left any reviews, make sure to respond to them professionally—and commit to doing so in a timely manner going forward. This shows your Yelp Page visitors that you’re dedicated to your customers and you’re a reliable furniture company even if things go wrong.

Once you’ve built out your Yelp Business Page, stand out to your potential customers by running Yelp Ads. This furniture advertisement idea allows you to show up above relevant search results and on competitors’ pages for your target market—and you’ll only pay when a visitor clicks.

4. Create eye-catching video ads for social media

If you want to run furniture ads that show off specific pieces from your catalog, creating video advertisements for social media is the perfect way to do so. After watching a video about a product, 44% of people are more likely to purchase it. Plus, video is often the best way to catch customers’ eyes on highly visual digital marketing platforms.

You don’t need to be a professional videographer to shoot a video ad. All you need is good lighting, a smartphone, and a video concept to start filming your furniture advertisements on your own. 

Brainstorm ways you can show off a product’s function and comfort as well as how it can fit into a customer’s ideal interior design. For instance, you can film someone pressing their hand into a memory foam mattress to show off its slow-sinking support. If your product has attractive pricing, don’t be afraid to include it.

In total, your furniture marketing video only has to be around 6-30 seconds long, depending on the platform you post it to. Make sure to keep the most captivating information and visuals in the first few seconds as viewer attention spans can be very short.

Also be sure to edit your video for the platform you want to run your ad campaign on. For instance, the ideal Facebook ad ratio is 4:5 for mobile, while the best TikTok ad ratio is 9:16.

5. Build brand recognition through influencer marketing

The influencers you work with can say a lot about your brand. When you partner with influential people who share your target market and align with your brand values, you can quickly build trust and recognition among the people you want to reach.

When searching for influencers to work with, first consider who’s in your price range. For small businesses, influencers who have up to 10,000 followers are usually the ideal mix of affordable and effective. These micro-influencers typically charge $100-$500 per post and often sustain higher engagement rates than social media users with millions of followers.

Then, create a list of influencers who best align with your brand. For example, if you want to promote a mid-century modern couch, you can consider working with an interior design influencer who primarily works with that same style.

Once you know who you’re interested in working with, reach out to them to get their rates, engagement metrics, and other information that will help you determine the best fit.

Give your marketing a boost through furniture advertisement

When standard marketing campaigns aren’t offering the results you want, furniture advertisements can help you boost your engagement and sales. First, be sure your website is complete, informative, and ready for visitors. To reach people currently in need of furniture, consider running Yelp Ads after optimizing your Yelp Business Page. Direct mail can further increase your store traffic, while social media video ads and influencer marketing are perfect opportunities to sell specific products. Unsure where to advertise? Learn more about the best places to advertise your business.