In today’s world, social networking is not something that can be ignored. Millions flock to social networking sites like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to find out what their friends are doing, buying, eating and who is servicing their needs. In addition, social networking can help spread the word about great experiences as well as negative experiences.
“Social networking has become a vital part of everyday life,” said Mollie Surratt, senior director of public relations and marketing content. “Companies like Mohawk must not only be in the conversation, but we need to lead the industry in maximizing social media and assisting our retailers in success as well. By doing so, we increase awareness and engagement around the Mohawk brand and influence purchase.”
According to Huffington Post, women are “dominating the digital battle of the sexes.” In addition, about 80% of social media users prefer to connect through brands on Facebook. On Twitter, 34% of marketers have generated leads from their tweets. Instagram is constantly growing, with consumers spending more time there than on Twitter. Companies are adopting Instagram into their programs, with more than 40% trying to connect to their audiences on the social media site. The most popular age range on Pinterest is 25 to 34, and 97% of total users are women. In summary, social media is key to capturing upcoming and current consumers in the research and ideation phases of flooring consideration.
Mohawk is taking social networking to the next level with all-new initiatives around its License to Spill tour. With more than 8,000 social media mentions about the tour this spring, the company was able to garner both domestic and global recognition for its social media efforts.
Here are some License to Spill social media highlights:
• Mohawk is the first manufacturer in the industry to trend globally on Twitter using its #LicensetoSpill hashtag.
• The company hosted a successful Twitter party in May, recording more than 2,698 Tweets within two hours.
• Mohawk’s share of voice tripled that of its competition during every License to Spill event. (Note: Share of voice is the proportion of the total audience commanded by a brand within a particular market.)
• During the spring, there were more than 33 million impressions around the License to Spill tour across social media.
By tapping into social networking directly from manufacturer to consumer, there is a clear winner: the retailer.
While the social media around the License to Spill tour was created for maximum consumer exposure, the campaign’s main purpose is to drive awareness of SmartStrand’s performance and promote Mohawk ColorCenter and FloorScapes stores in the areas surrounding the stops in an attempt to drive more customers into the stores.
“By continuing to grow Mohawk’s presence in social networking amongst consumers, retailers will be the ones to make gains. Consumers will continue to get acquainted with the Mohawk brand through social media initiatives, and retailers can join in the conversation by sharing, tagging and responding to this content,” Surratt said.
Some of the benefits for retailers include:
• On Pinterest, Mohawk is able to track consumer demand as well as push them directly to a retail locator.
• Cross promotion between Pinterest and other social media outlets make for maximum exposure.
• MohawkToday.com provides suggested License to Spill social media content and images. Retailers are also encouraged to share and re-post License to Spill coverage, such as Mohawk’s License to Spill Photo of the Day.
The social media training and engagement does not stop there. For continued results, Mohawk is keeping retailers up-to-date on the latest initiatives on social media sites by supplying them with the ability to create Facebook advertisements, providing new articles on utilizing social media and supplying social media content ideas and images for retailers’ Facebook pages.