Social media has been around for almost a decade now, and a huge number of organisations spanning a number of industries are harnessing this online communications medium – but are they making the most of it? Jacqueline Rose explains which social media marketing strategies should be used in the furniture industry …
In an attempt to build company-customer relationships, companies are trying to engage with their target audience and form sustained online dialogues. Above that, social communities are commonly treated as an online extension to customer service activities, and more sophisticated approaches are aiming for conversions by distributing incentivised content such as vouchers, special offers and competitions within these social communities.
However, few organisations are embracing the full potential of social media by integrating it into their additional marketing activities. For instance, because of revised search ranking algorithms, websites need to show a higher social integrity, and new niche networks represent growing marketing opportunities – especially for the furniture industry.
By the nature of the product, furniture is expensive. It’s not an impulse buy for the average consumer, and as such, customers tend to research products more thoroughly via reviews, articles and other content sources before making the purchase. This means that furniture has a much longer buying cycle and journey than, say, a book, piece of clothing, or other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), which can be more prone to impulse buying, where no further research takes place.
With this in mind, marketers in the furniture industry cannot expect to gain the same high conversion rates out of social media activities as FMCG marketers. Social media does not trigger direct purchases of risky products immediately – therefore it requires a greater investment in building the brand online and developing relationships with customers that hinge on the lifestyle element of the products. Social media for the furniture market is a long but worthwhile game.
“Statistics show that although the largest amount of traffic may arise through Facebook, referral traffic from Pinterest is 10% more likely to convert into a purchase”
Common social media practices have a customer retention focus or aim to motivate a prompt purchase. Anyone is invited to join the brand’s online community to keep up to date with the brand, take part in loyalty promotions and to become steadily exposed to special deals and discounts – a great tool for developing brand advocacy and driving traffic.
Marketers in the furniture industry should complement their customer retention activities within online communities by sharing quality content targeted and developed for the community and prospective customers. Here, a wide array of essential information including consumer reviews and visual information are needed to create a feeling of brand loyalty amongst prospects. Ideally, prospects should be pointed towards the homepage, which can be done by regularly sharing blog posts, URLs or testimonials.
Moreover, the utilisation of viral effects created through social sharing, commenting and linking makes it possible to raise awareness for the brand amongst prospects within the private network of the community members. This needs eye-catching and interesting content which provides a value to the demographic.
For example, highly visual content such as home ideas and design solutions may be appealing to this particular demographic and therefore could provoke an engaged response which may lead to a conversion.
There is also a lot to be said for developing a few key brand advocates – community members invested in your brand that might recommend you. Attracting a huge online community with low loyalty or passive behaviour offers far less value than a more modest engaged community of brand advocates.
Another important part of the customer acquisition strategy is having a good SEO strategy in place. The integration of a blog can promote a steady stream of social content, increasing sharing activity to stabilise the website’s organic search ranking measures.
Platforms which are especially suited to the furniture industry may be Pinterest, Flickr and Houzz, due to their visual nature. Statistics show that although the largest amount of traffic may arise through Facebook, referral traffic from Pinterest is 10% more likely to convert into a purchase.
Also, econsultancy.com believes that Pinterest has huge potential for the furniture industry, as the platform hosts many popular subjects around interior design. This may be caused by the huge female demographic of the platform, which is known to be the major decision-making unit in furniture purchase decisions.
Jacqueline Rose is the features writer for The Furniture Market, a furniture retail company located in Kelsall, just outside of Chester.
