An article that appeared on page 21 in the July 16/23 issue of Floor Covering News titled, “Why Social Networking Is Important,” by John Van Cleve Weller Jr., vice president of marketing for FloorForce, contained numerous typographical errors. These mistakes were the result of human error by our production department within the automated spell check process.
The original, corrected version of the story is reprinted in its entirety below and can also be found in FCNews’ digital version, which can be viewed and/or downloaded by visiting http://www.digital.turn-page.com/i/75411. This corrected version will also be re-printed in our July 30/Aug. 6 issue.
These spelling errors are no reflection of the professionalism of the author or company he represents.
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Why Social Networking Is Important
by John Van Cleve Weller Jr.
Through hundreds of conversations I have had with floor covering retailers in the last few months, I have concluded the majority of them give social media little or no attention. Many find it intimidating or too time-consuming and don’t believe that it is really important to the success of their business.
I have heard many other reasons why flooring retailers don’t update their social media sites, including “Our industry is boring,” “Nobody will read our posts,” “I don’t have the resources” and “We go after a clientele that is not computer savvy.”
Other than your website, social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest all give you an amazing, cost effective way to engage your current and past clients and expand your reach in your market.
Businesses that have embraced this new age of marketing have leap-frogged ahead of those who have not. An example is Lumber Liquidators. It has mastered its method of using PPC (pay-per-click) advertising and as well as SEO (search engine optimization) to create traffic to the company’s website. This is a major factor in its growth and success during the last five years. According to our research, Lumber Liquidators has approximately 240,000 consumers visiting its website every month.
Today’s consumers are hyper-connected to the Internet and are now expecting more and more information from the companies with which they choose to do business.
Yes, using social media does take some time and understanding to achieve measurable results, but there is no doubt social media sites enable your company to communicate with consumers at a whole new level and like never before.
Social media marketing probably won’t save a failing business, but it can definitely help you build your brand; build confidence and trust in your company; create traffic to your website and, most importantly, give you a significant edge over your competitors who either do not use it or use it incorrectly.
Here is my recommendation: Engage the social network now—your customers already have. The best flooring retailers will, and playing catch up will be much more difficult.
John Van Cleve Weller Jr. is the vice president of marketing for FloorForce. For more information on how to start using the social network today, visit floorforce.com or email him at socialnetworking@floorforce.com.