The Interior Designer's Guide to Tracking Your Marketing Funnel (That Actually Gets Results)

Have you ever looked around at other interior designers and wondered how they seem to have a steady flow of dream clients, while you're left scratching your head, wondering when the next enquiry might land in your inbox?

Here’s the truth… it’s not always down to talent.

Plenty of incredibly gifted designers are struggling to get clients through the door, while others with a more modest skillset are booked out for months. 

The difference often comes down to one thing: how well they understand, and track their marketing funnel.

If you’ve been marketing consistently but feel like you’re shouting into the void… this might just be the missing piece you’ve been looking for.

So let’s talk about it properly. Not just what a funnel is (because I know you’ve heard all that before), but how to track your funnel in a way that gives you crystal-clear insights into what’s working, what’s not, and, most importantly, how to fix it.

Because when it comes to growing a successful interior design business, you can’t afford to pour time and money into marketing efforts that aren’t converting.

What Is a Marketing Funnel?

I know “funnel” is a bit of a buzzword, and it can feel slightly corporate (not exactly what you imagined when you pictured running a creative design business, right?).

But here’s the thing: your marketing funnel is simply the journey your potential clients go on: from first discovering you to becoming paying, delighted clients who refer you to everyone they know.

The problem is, most designers don’t track this journey. Or if they do, they’re focusing on the wrong things.

The Three Common Funnel Mistakes Designers Make

Let me start by sharing the three most common mistakes I see time and time again when it comes to tracking marketing:

1. Focusing on Vanity Metrics

You’ve gained 500 new Instagram followers this month… brilliant! But how many of them visited your website? How many joined your mailing list or booked a discovery call?

It’s easy to get caught up in likes, follows, and views. But unless those numbers are turning into genuine leads or clients, they’re not really helping your business grow.

2. Not Defining the Stages of the Customer Journey

Every interior design business has a unique flow of touchpoints where people come into contact with your brand, but if you don’t take the time to identify these stages for your business, you can’t track them effectively.

3. Not Connecting Marketing to Revenue

This one’s huge. Many designers can tell you they’ve been to a networking event or posted three reels this week, but they have no idea which activities are actually resulting in clients, and which are just keeping them busy.

Why You Need to Track Your Funnel Properly

If your marketing isn’t working and you’re not tracking your funnel, you’re essentially flying blind.

It means you’re likely to either: keep repeating the same ineffective strategies, hoping something changes… Or throw everything out and start from scratch, wasting time and energy on brand-new tactics that might not work either.

So instead, let’s look at how to track your funnel in a way that gives you actual insight, so you can start making informed, confident decisions in your business.

Step One: Map Out Your Customer Journey

Every design business is different, but here’s a simple framework that most will recognise:

1. Awareness – They discover you (via Instagram, Google, word-of-mouth, etc.)

2. Interest – They visit your website, follow you, or engage with your content

3. Consideration – They download your lead magnet, join your email list, browse your portfolio

4. Intent – They enquire or book a discovery call

5. Evaluation – They review your proposal

6. Purchase – They become a paying client

7. Loyalty – They refer you or return for future projects

Take a few minutes to jot down what this looks like specifically for your business. Ask yourself:

• Where do most of my clients first find me?

• What happens before they reach out?

• What’s the usual flow from enquiry to project sign-off?

Having this clear journey mapped out is the foundation of your tracking system.

Step Two: Define the Metrics That Matter

Once your customer journey is clear, the next step is identifying what to track at each stage.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Awareness

• Website traffic
• Social media reach
• Search impressions

Interest

• Time on site
• Social media profile views
• Portfolio page views

Consideration

• Email sign-ups
• Lead magnet downloads
• Contact page views

Intent

• Discovery call bookings
• Enquiries via email or DMs

Evaluation

• Proposal acceptance rate
• Time taken to respond
• Objections or questions raised

Purchase

• Conversion rate
• Average project value
• Time from enquiry to onboarding

Loyalty

• Repeat projects
• Referrals
• Client reviews

But the real gold lies in the conversion rates between stages:
- How many website visitors actually join your email list?
- How many email subscribers book a consultation?
- How many consultations lead to paying clients?

This is how you spot the leaks.

Step Three: Set Up a Simple Tracking System

Here’s where many designers panic… they imagine complex dashboards and scary software.

You don’t need anything fancy.

Here’s what I recommend:

• Use Google Analytics for website data
• Use your email marketing platform (e.g., MailerLite, ConvertKit, etc.) for email stats
• Use social platform analytics for reach and engagement
• Use a simple spreadsheet to bring it all together

Create a spreadsheet with your funnel stages as columns, and log your metrics weekly or monthly.

Here’s an example:

Then calculate your conversion rates:

• Email sign-up rate = 6% (15/250) in Week 1, 7.3% in Week 2
• Consultations from emails = 33% in Week 1, 31.8% in Week 2
• Proposal-to-client rate = 33% in Week 1, 50% in Week 2

This gives you a very clear picture of what’s improving and what needs adjusting.

Step Four: Link Activities to Results

The final step is to start connecting your actual marketing efforts to your results.

Add a notes section to your spreadsheet:

• Did you post a before-and-after reveal on Instagram?
• Did you send out a newsletter?
• Did you run a limited-time offer?
• Did you attend a local networking event?

Over time, patterns emerge.

You might find your web traffic always spikes after newsletters. Or that client enquiries increase when you post testimonials.

These insights let you double down on what’s working… and ditch what’s not.

A Real Example: Sarah’s Story

Let me give you a practical example.

Sarah is a kitchen renovation specialist. Her tracking tells her she’s getting:

- 500 website visitors/month

- 50 new email subscribers

- But only 3 consultation bookings

That tells us the leak is between the “consideration” and “intent” stages.

So instead of redoing her branding or investing in Facebook ads, Sarah makes three small changes:

1. She adds strong calls-to-action in her emails

2. She creates a nurturing email sequence encouraging consultations

3. She introduces a low-commitment free “15-minute kitchen call”

One month later, her consultation bookings jump from 3 to 12… without any extra traffic.

That’s the power of fixing the right part of your funnel.

Your Next Steps

Here’s how to get started today:

1. Map your customer journey: write it out clearly.

2. Set up your tracking spreadsheet: start simple.

3. Identify your biggest leak: where’s the biggest drop-off?

4. Choose 3 small tweaks to improve that stage.

5. Track weekly: 30 minutes every Monday is all it takes.

You Don’t Have to Guess

Marketing doesn’t need to feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall.

When you track the right things, you’ll know what’s working. And when something isn’t working, you’ll know exactly what to change.

To help you get started, I’ve created a free funnel checklist that walks you through identifying where your funnel might be leaking. 

Until next time… happy tracking, and here’s to turning those clicks into clients!

Kate x