Sheer and blackout curtains are home decor staples, but how do you actually get the right customer to buy them at the right time?
Whether a customer’s need is dictated by time of year, privacy or a big life change, there’s a large market for people looking for sheer and blackout curtains. When marketing your window curtains you want your customers thinking about when and why they need them. This marketing guide will teach you why people buy window curtains, who is buying them, when they’re buying them and how to talk to your customers about them.
Why are people buying sheer or blackout curtains?
Everyone buys window curtains, but that’s not helpful on it’s own, so let’s dig into some problems they solve. The three big reasons people buy them are: one, to control light; two, control temperature in living spaces; and three, keep prying eyes out (i.e. privacy).
Common motives to purchase:
- New apartment/home
- Transform the look of a living space with minimal effort
- Shared living spaces that need to be affordably divided (hi, NYC dwellers)
- Lower energy bills in hot regions/seasons *keeping the sun from warming your space
- Lower energy bills in colder regions/seasons *supports trapping warmth
- Blackout curtains for nurseries & bedrooms
Who is buying sheer or blackout curtains?
Looking at the above list of times someone would buy window curtains, here’s a quick breakout of who you should consider messaging to.
Types of window curtain buyers:
- New renters and home owners
- Urban dwellers looking for privacy
- Anyone sharing a small living space
- Anyone living in hot regions
- Energy conscious consumers
- New parents
- Light sleepers
FUN FACT: Customers living in the southern and southwestern United States search for “sheer curtains” and “blackout curtains” more than most customers. This is likely due to climate. The hotter the location, the more affordable large homes are. The larger the home, the larger the living space that needs to be temperature controlled. A quick, and affordable way for anyone to keep their energy bills down is to throw up some window curtains to keep the baking sun out of the house.
When do people need window curtains?
For blackout curtains, think summer solstice (aka midsummer), which happens in June. This is the longest daylight day of the year. It’s not coincidental that search volume spikes in June–right down the week of the summer solstice. Customers are trying to control temperatures on those long, hot days.
Sheer curtains see pretty consistent year-long performance with a spike in the summer as well–early July specifically. This is likely due to sheer curtains being more decorative than practical in their use cases, but still effective in their intended use.
Aside from those seasonal nuances, we see similar trends across both window curtain types. Since both are technically different products, we’ll break out search volume for “sheer curtains” and “blackout curtains” independently.
Search volume for “blackout curtains”
Search volume for “sheer curtains”
The best time to promote sheer or blackout curtains is summer. June specifically for blackout curtains. Again, sheers tend to do pretty well all summer. Generally speaking, summer is not summer without some hot, hot heat. People are looking to control the temperature in their homes and the heart of summer is when people are searching for both types of window curtains the most.
The second best time to promote window curtains is the spring. There’s a refreshing of spaces and prep for summer happening. You can see from both of the above charts that there’s a gradual build into the summer before people need relief from the summer sun.
Winter is low-ish season. Outside of a short spike in popularity for holiday season, we recommend focusing your customer’s attention on decor items like throw pillows, bedding and throw blankets (for example). If you’re going to put the effort in home decor during the cooler months, we recommend promoting items that people associate with warmth and anything with a cozy factor.
How do I promote window curtains on social media?
The home decor space is brimming with educators and DIYers. With so many practical use cases for window curtains, you have quite bit of leeway in how you promote window curtains across your social channels. If you can get your hands on a pair of your own sheer or blackout curtains, get clever by pairing practical tips with some aspirational imagery. Here’s some examples of social content we see performing well across window curtains.
Offer practical tips while showcasing fun uses of sheer or blackout curtains. Education within home decor is massive and there’s some great use cases. It’s something that consistently earns engagement and accolades. If you pick up a pair of curtains yourself, consider putting together a quick education piece for your grid (post feed) or stories!
Use as a room divider
Add knot and filter light for plants
View this post on Instagram
Keep baby asleep as. long. as. possible.
View this post on Instagram
Photograph a room with bright, natural light. Some of the most beautiful spaces require nothing but the same sun that’s been burning for over 4 billion years. Remember that brighter is better as you want your designs to really shine. If your’e looking for some home decor image inspiration, we recommend checking out Domino Magazine’s IG feed.
Show off the product. Sometimes you just want to see the length of the curtain in context to the space they hang in.
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PRO TIP: Always re-share content you’re tagged in! If it doesn’t fit your feed, publish to stories. UGC, or user generated content, is gold for marketing. Nothing validates your product more than someone else vouching it for you. Don’t miss this opportunity to turn a fan into a repeat customer.
Use our pre-written captions for social media
Struggling for words? You can never go wrong with providing your customers with practical education. Here’s some captions that you can use to promote sheer and blackout curtains. Feel free to change these up or use as-is. They are meant to take the edge off the copy process. And of course, use emojis liberally.
New product announcement:
I just added sheer and blackout curtains to my @society6 shop. Mmmmm, they’ve still got that new curtain smell. If you were looking for an excuse to toss those old dirty blinds… then you’re welcome! #linkinbio
Sheer curtain hack:
House plant hack! Put up some sheer window curtains and let in juuuuust the right amount of light to keep your fiddle leaf fig fit as a… fiddle. See link in bio to shop sheer curtains.
Running a promotion:
Lots of choices–err, lots of great choices–on sheer/blackout curtains in my @society6 shop today–##% off! You can use them to get that glamour shot glow, or get the blackout curtains and shut out the world completely. Your call. Follow the link in bio.
How to beat the heat of summer:
Three reasons why blackout window curtains win my heart. 1 – they keep living spaces w/ direct sunlight cool. 2 – that means my electric bill is actually tolerable in the heat of summer. 3 – no, I’m not hiking on a Saturday. yes, I’m watching [movie title] instead…maybe more than once. #noshame Check out my summer-ready blackout curtains in my @society6 shop…link in bio.
Funny weekend hangover:
It’s the weekend. We sleep in on weekends. We order burritos to our bed and accept that outrageous delivery charge. We binge on that show everyone’s been telling us to watch. We don’t let sunlight in because owww, why is it so bright??? Blackout curtains will do the trick, and I’m selling them on @Society6. Link in bio.
New home/apartment:
Picture this: You’ve just moved into your new home and you’re getting the sense that your neighbors want to be (gasp!) friends. I’ve got you covered either way. My sheer curtains will welcome them with open arms—Sure! Come borrow some sugar! Stay for awhile!—but my blackout curtains will effectively introduce you as, well, a suspicious anti-social independent. The choice is yours, tbh. Link in bio.
Parents needing something for nursery:
Please let baby sleep. Please let baby sleep. Please let baby sleep. (fingers crossed emoji) Helping make successful naps your reality since 2019. Shop blackout curtains because peace and quiet! Via link in bio!
Wrapping up
Sheer and blackout curtains are a staple in home decor. It’s the first thing you need and an easy solution to several challenges of being a home/apartment owner or renter. Feel free to reference any of your sheer product pages for an official description.
If you have any additional tips or tricks that have helped you sell sheer or blackout curtains, please leave them in the comments below!
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