Marketing services for the design and build trade
Found. Trusted. Booked. In your voice.
Illume is the growth partner for the residential design and build trade. Designers, showrooms, remodelers, builders, and the brands they carry. Seven service lines run as one system: content and social in your voice, Google and AI search, your website, your newsletter and database, the AI concierge and CRM, paid campaigns where they fit, and one report that shows what it all turned into. Which lines you start with depends on your path, and every one of them is done as you, never for you.
Who is posting for you, and does it sound like you?
In this trade, clients choose the person behind the work, so a caption that sounds like an agency breaks the connection before it starts. We learn how you talk, which words you use and which you would never say, and we match your visual style. Then one finished project becomes a Reel on the design decisions, a before-and-after carousel, Stories, a Pinterest pin, and the material for every other channel below. For manufacturers, the same voice runs the brand’s accounts and fills the monthly Dealer Content Kit your dealers run as their own.
- Every post sounds like it came from you, because for your audience it did
- A finished project becomes weeks of content instead of one reveal post
- Comments and inbound messages watched, so a question never sits unanswered
- Reviews, awards, and press put to work on social the week they land
Nothing posts without your approval, and under a brand agreement we never post on dealers’ own accounts. Follower counts are not the goal; the right people seeing the right work is.
Drag to compare a post written for you against one written as you.
“Another stunning kitchen transformation! Contact us today to start your dream project. #interiordesign #kitchenremodel” The homeowner reading it has seen this exact caption from four other firms this week. Nothing in it says who you are, and nothing in it gives them a reason to choose you.
The caption names the corner pantry problem and how you solved it without losing the open sightline the owners wanted. The review reply thanks Sarah for trusting the walnut. The newsletter opens the way you open a consultation. For your audience, all of it came from you, and that is why it works.
When a homeowner asks Google or ChatGPT who to hire, are you on the list?
More homeowners now ask an AI assistant before they pick up the phone, and the engines name the firms whose details match everywhere online. We build that record: a complete Google Business Profile with regular posts and photos, specific reviews with real replies, consistent listings across the directories and trade platforms that matter in your niche, and content written so Google’s AI results and the answer engines can cite you by name. Firms with a thin or stale record are not ranked lower. They are left out.
- A Google Business Profile that works as the record AI engines verify before naming you
- Reviews generated from finished projects and answered in your voice, every time
- Listings that agree with each other across Houzz, Apple Maps, Yelp, and the trade directories
- A monthly read on where you appear across Google and the AI engines, and where you do not
We recommend association and directory memberships and prepare the listings; we do not pay membership fees or enroll you unless that is scoped. Rankings and AI mentions are never guaranteed.
Does your website sell the work the way the work sells itself?
A homeowner who tapped a post about a kitchen lands on a site and decides in seconds whether you are the one. We build editorial websites in your voice, served as real HTML so they load fast on a phone and read clearly to the search and AI crawlers that never run a script. Every finished project becomes a page built to rank for the city and the room, and every campaign we run gets its own landing page built for the promise the ad made. For manufacturers, dealer locator pages are made crawlable so a brand-plus-city search can return the dealer.
- An editorial site that reads as an extension of you, not an agency template
- Project pages that keep bringing inquiries months after the reveal
- A landing page for every campaign, built for one project type and one next step
- Technical fixes, service pages, and internal linking planned from what the site actually needs
Major rebuilds, project photography, and video crews are scoped separately. We never ship a page a crawler cannot read without JavaScript.
What is sitting in your contact list that you already paid to acquire?
Years of inquiries, quoted projects, and past clients who liked working with you, most of it never contacted twice. A brand-voiced newsletter keeps you in front of that list with the projects, the awards, and the client spotlights that make a referral easy. For remodelers and builders on the Project Concierge System, the same list gets a monthly touch that alternates a reactivation offer with a project showcase, plus a quarterly past-client referral touch, because the person who already trusts you is the shortest path to the next project.
- A newsletter that sounds like you and features your work, not generic filler
- Past clients reminded why they would refer you, on a rhythm
- Dormant inquiries and old estimates woken up instead of forgotten
- Every revived project tracked the same way new demand is
This runs on the contacts you already own. Buying or renting lists is not part of the work, and nothing sends without your approval.
Who answers when a homeowner inquires at 9pm and your office is closed?
We do, as you. Every inquiry gets a text back in seconds, from every channel we connect, while the homeowner is still on your website. For remodelers and builders, the AI answers the phone 24/7 too, so a ring at 7am on a Saturday is a conversation instead of a voicemail, and budget, scope, and timeline get sorted in that same conversation so homeowners are qualified before they reach your calendar. Everything lands in one CRM with the source, the conversation, and the outcome, and your closer walks in already briefed.
- The first text goes back in seconds, from every channel we connect, at any hour
- Qualification before booking, so only real projects reach your calendar
- Reminders, a pre-consult packet, and a brief for your closer protect the appointment
- One CRM holding every lead, every conversation, and what it became
We prepare the consultation and the person who takes it. Your closer still runs the room, and we never act as your sales team, your receptionist, or your pipeline administrator.
The first reply usually wins the project.
A homeowner who fills out your form at 9pm is filling out three more before bed. Whoever answers first owns the conversation, and everyone else gets a polite no a week later. Where the AI concierge is installed, the first text goes out in seconds, holds a real conversation, and qualifies budget, scope, and timeline while the homeowner is still thinking about their kitchen.
The form comes in at 9:14pm. The first text goes out in seconds. Budget, scope, and timeline are on the table within minutes, the consultation is on your calendar before you have read the notification, and your closer gets the whole conversation as context in the morning.
What if the demand is not reaching you yet?
Then, where the numbers make sense, we make it. Homeowners planning a kitchen, a bath, or a whole-home project are on Facebook and Instagram every night, and ChatGPT now carries ads too. For remodelers and builders with a closer and the capacity to absorb the work, we build and run the campaigns that put your work in front of those homeowners in your metro, each with its own landing page and call tracking so every conversation traces back to its source. Campaigns are not a fit for every studio or every builder, and we say so.
- Campaign strategy and creative direction aimed at the project types you want more of
- A dedicated landing page for every campaign, built for the promise the ad made
- Weekly optimization against booked consultations, not clicks
- Call tracking and attribution so every conversation traces back to its source
Ad spend is always separate and paid by you on accounts you own. Campaigns get a 90-day optimization window, and we only launch a campaign when there is enough budget for it to work. Manufacturer programs do not include paid advertising management.
How will you know whether any of this is working?
One monthly read that tells you what moved and what to do next, not a wall of charts. For studios and showrooms, that is where you appear across Instagram, Google, the trade platforms, and the AI engines, what the reviews and the newsletter did, and what came in. For remodelers and builders on the Project Concierge System, the number is qualified consultations that actually happened, tracked from the first touch through to the revenue it became. For brands, it is the dealer scorecard: who is posting, who is found, and who needs a nudge.
- One monthly report in plain English, with the next month’s recommendations
- Every channel measured against the outcome it exists to produce
- For the campaign system, one number: qualified consultations that actually happened
- For brands, a dealer scorecard that shows the program working dealer by dealer
We report on what happened, including what did not work. Attendance, not bookings. Visibility you can verify, not impressions you cannot.
Do we have to buy all seven?
No. Your path decides the mix. Studios and showrooms usually start with content and social, Google and AI search, the website, and the newsletter. Remodelers and builders start with the AI concierge and CRM, add campaigns where they fit, and layer the website and press work. Brands start with their own social and the Dealer Content Kit. The seven lines are the whole toolbox, and we tell you on the call which ones your business needs first.
Which one do we start with?
Wherever the leak is. If homeowners cannot find you, we start with Google, AI search, and the website. If they find you and do not trust you yet, we start with content, reviews, and the voice. If they inquire and nobody answers fast, we start with the concierge. We look at your record together on the call and say which it is.
Do you post as us?
Yes. We learn your voice, study how you talk to clients and describe the work, and match your visual style, so every post, reply, caption, and email sounds like it came from you. We protect that connection because in this trade your audience is choosing the person behind the work.
Do you work with designers and showrooms, or only builders?
All three audiences: interior designers, kitchen and bath studios, cabinet dealers and showrooms; remodelers, design and build firms, and custom home builders; and the dealer-sold cabinet, countertop and outdoor-kitchen brands they carry. One trade, three paths, one voice.
Who pays for ad spend?
You do, always, and it goes directly to the platforms on ad accounts you own. Our fee covers building and running the campaigns, never the media budget. Keeping spend separate means every dollar reaches homeowners, you see what was spent, and the accounts and the data stay yours if we ever part ways.
How do you measure whether it worked?
Against the outcome each line exists to produce, in one monthly report. Visibility you can verify across Google and the AI engines, reviews and content that sound like you, and inquiries that became consultations. For the Project Concierge System the number is qualified consultations that actually happened, tracked through to revenue. We never count a no-show in your favor.
What do you not do?
Generic contractor marketing, bots or follower-count tactics, estimate writing, sales pipeline administration, receptionist work, and metro exclusivity. We never guarantee rankings, AI mentions, lead volume, booked jobs, or placement in a national design publication, and under a brand agreement we never post on dealers’ own accounts.