How Interior Designers Can Repurpose Their Photos for Marketing All Year Long
One shoot paired with a little creativity leads to endless marketing potential
You just wrapped your interior design photography shoot and you need some electrolytes and some pain reliever like no other. Your body hurts from moving furniture around and wiping down stainless steel appliances all day. The final images have landed in your inbox and they bring your renderings and mood boards to life. They are beautiful and you cannot wait to show them off, so you create one Instagram post and now they're collecting digital dust on your hard drive.
If this is you, let me be the first to tell you you're not alone.
Most clients get the images, share them once or twice, then move on to designing the next project or planning the next shoot. This approach wastes money and misses huge opportunities that come from consistent content marketing.
Professional photography isn't a one-and-done investment. It's your marketing juice for months down the line. A single shoot day typically gives you anywhere from 8 -35+ final images. That's enough content to keep your marketing running for an entire quarter, maybe two. The key is getting creative with how you present that content to your audience, so it always feels fresh.
The designers who stay visible all year long aren't shooting constantly. They're vigilant about using what they already have, and repurposing their content in a multitude of ways.
They take those beautiful room shots and turn them into Instagram posts, carousels, video reels, blog articles, room roundups, email newsletter content, and portfolio updates.
Your photos can (and should) work harder for you.
Why Repurposing Photography Matters
Professional photography costs anywhere from $1,500 to $8,000 per shoot. Getting your money's worth means using those images to the maximum amount your licensing agreement will allow, and that goes far beyond the first Instagram post. When you repurpose your photos and create several different types of content across various formats, you showcase your expertise to potential clients and keep the lead machine generating.
First, you see a much better return on your investment. Each image gets used multiple times across different platforms. This means your cost per use drops way down.
Second, you avoid content creation burnout. Instead of scrambling for new photos every week, you have a library ready to go. You can focus on strategy instead of constantly creating.
Third, your brand stays consistent. Using the same high-quality images across your website, social media, and marketing materials creates a cohesive look. People start recognizing your work style.
Finally, you build long-term brand recognition. When someone sees your beautifully staged living room multiple times in different contexts, they remember you. They start thinking of you when they need an interior designer.
Tip from Stacy: The best-performing designers I work with stretch a single shoot into months of marketing, without repeating themselves.
This blog post about Six Unexpected Interior Design Color Combos that Pop was repurposed into instagram carousel and a reel, pinterest pins, and instagram story blog post highlight with links to my website.
The Pinterest Idea Pin Carousel Cover
Instagram reel and story slides created in Canva
Instagram Carousel Post
10 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Interior Photography
1. Website Blog Posts
Turn each project into a blog post (or get super fancy and call them a case study). Share the design challenges you solved, the before photos from your consultation, your material choices, design presentation flat-lays and material selections, and the client's story. This content helps with SEO and gives visitors more reasons to stay on your site.
2. Instagram Carousel and Grid Posts
Instagram carousel posts get more engagement than static images. Create dramatic before-and-after reveals, multi-slide project unveilings, curated design roundups, or educational content that teaches followers about design principles. Each carousel should tell a cohesive story across 2-20 slides.
3. Instagram Stories & Highlights
Stories let you share your personality and hot takes. Add commentary over your photos, create before-and-after reveals, or ask followers to vote on their favorite room. Save your best stories as highlights organized by project.
Pro tip: Create highlight covers that match your brand colors and fonts. This makes your profile look polished and professional.
4. Pinterest Pins
Pinterest loves vertical images. Crop your horizontal room shots into tall pins that work well on the platform. Create mood boards, "Get the Look" pins, and seasonal content that drives traffic year-round. Add click-worthy titles to your images to drive traffic back to your blog post or case study.
5. Project Pages and Portfolio Updates
Fresh photos can breathe new life into older portfolio sections. Swap out dated work with recent projects. Add project narratives that explain your design process and choices.
6. Email Newsletters
Your subscribers want to see your latest work. Create seasonal project roundups, share design tips using your photos as examples, or start a "From the Archives" series featuring past projects.
Pro tip: Create a section of your newsletter showcasing products you love with affiliate links to add another revenue stream.
7. Press Kits and PR Pitches
High-quality images are perfect for design award submissions and magazine pitches. Make sure you understand any licensing requirements for publication use and double check that it's included in your usage license.
8. Client Case Studies and Testimonials
Pair your best room shots with quotes from happy clients. These work great on your "Work With Me" page or as social proof highlights. Real client feedback builds trust with potential clients.
Pro tip: Ask for testimonials while the project is fresh in everyone's mind. Waiting six months makes it harder to get detailed feedback.
9. Reels and Video Slideshows
You don't need video footage to make engaging reels. Use your still photos with music and text overlays. Show room transformations, highlight before-and-after shots, or create room-by-room tours.
10. Print Collateral
Don't forget offline marketing. Your photos work great in portfolio booklets, pitch decks, and presentation boards. Having beautiful printed materials sets you apart in client meetings and vendor presentations. When I attend trade shows, I print a 4x6 card showcasing my best work and a QR code to visit my website.
Plan Once, Market All Year
I batch create my social media content in Canva, and automate posting through a scheduling app called Buffer. This helps me to stay consistent in my marketing efforts and keeps leads generating consistently.
Efficient business owners batch their content creation. Once a month, I spend a day planning my quarterly content schedule and how I'll use the images over the next three months.
I keep all my photography projects in chronological order, and I have one web-sized gallery that includes every image in a single folder on my desktop.
I'm a big believer in creating all of my social media content from one long-form piece of content on my website, which for me is blog posts and case studies.
From there, I brainstorm content ideas across my content pillars. Social media marketing guru Julia Broome recommends having 4 content pillars, and these are mine:
1. Signature Work Showcases
Purpose: Spotlight recent project work to attract potential clients.
Project reveals of interiors, architecture, and brand shoots
Hero images, wide angles, and detailed vignettes
Before/after transformations series
2. Design & Detail Features
Purpose: I’m a design lover who happens to be an interior design and brand photographer, and this pillar is meant to educate and inspire through the design lens.
Color theory breakdowns, material pairings, and texture highlights
Styling tips (shelf styling, vignette building, floral placement)
“Why this works” explanations with visual strategy insights
Nods to trends, craftsmanship, and small design moments
3. Photographer’s POV
Purpose: Allows me to share my expertise, showcases my collaborative process, and establishes my perspective of being your creative partner.
Behind-the-scenes (BTS) content from shoots
Tools, gear, and prep tips (like gaffer tape, styling kits, or prop closet)
Spiky POV posts that challenge industry misconceptions
Educational posts for designers on working with photographers (shot lists, licensing, copyright, prepping for a session, etc.)
4. Local Creative Scene
Purpose: Goal is to connect with my local design community and celebrate collaboration.
Features of designers, architects, and small businesses I work with on projects
Spotlights on stylists, vendors, small design businesses, and favorite venues
Creative collaborations (brand features, vendor galleries, PR kits)
A sneak peek into my personal life (what wine I’m drinking while editing, travel, workouts, meals I prepare, selfies with my dog Peanut and other lifestyle snippets around my own home)
Brainstorm Your Own Repurposing Ideas
Ready to get creative? Brainstorming content ideas is something AI is really great at, so if you're feeling lost or uninspired, definitely run a couple of searches to get some fresh ideas. If you ask for 10 ideas, about six of them will be worth pursuing, and the odds get better all the time.
I'm a big fan of scheduling content, and I use Buffer for Instagram and Tailwind for Pinterest.
This single task alone allows me to maintain consistency in my marketing efforts even when I’m busy with photoshoots and editing, which takes up most of my time and I can’t show up on the platforms as often.
Create themed content series that use multiple images from the same shoot. "Room Reveal Week" can stretch five photos across five posts. "Before and After Thursday" gives you weekly content for months.
Use these prompts to generate even more ways to use your photography:
Content Format Ideas:
What story does each room tell?
Which design elements could you highlight individually?
How could you create educational content around your design choices?
What seasonal angles could you take with the same images?
Which details deserve their own spotlight?
Platform-Specific Brainstorming:
TikTok: Quick design tips, trending audio with room reveals
LinkedIn: Professional case studies, industry insights, client success stories
YouTube Shorts: Time-lapse style transformations, design process explanations
Facebook: Community engagement posts, local design inspiration
Seasonal and Trending Opportunities:
Holiday decorating inspiration using your neutral base designs
Summer vs. winter styling of the same spaces
Trending color palettes showcased in your completed projects
"Timeless design" content that never goes out of style
The key is to look at each image and ask: "What else can this show my audience?" Every photo has multiple stories waiting to be told.
Ready to Maximize Your Photo Investment?
Your photo archive is sitting there, ready to fuel months of marketing. Instead of thinking you need new content every week, take a look at what you already have and brainstorm new ways to showcase it to your audience.
Start with one project from your recent shoots. Pick your five to eight favorite images and plan how you'll use them across different platforms over the next month. This small step will show you how much mileage you can get from a single session.
The designers who book consistently aren't shooting more often. They're just creative about using what they already have. Your next client is waiting to see your work. Show them what you can do with the beautiful images you already have.
Look through your photo folders this week. You'll be surprised how much great content you've been sitting on. Those images are ready to work for your business right now.
Ready to shoot once and market all year? Let's talk about planning your next photography session with repurposing in mind.
Hi! I’m Stacy, a Dallas Fort Worth based Commercial Photographer specializing in interior design, architecture, product, and food photography.
When I’m not creating imagery for clients, you can find me planning my next vacation, spending time outside pruning my backyard prairie garden, or spending time with my family.
Are you a business looking for bright and colorful imagery for your marketing needs? Let’s chat.
