March 28/April 4, 2016; Volume 30, Number 20
By Jenna Lippin
In recent years flooring giants have been helping their aligned dealers gain traction online via Promoboxx, a unique digital marketing platform that connects national brands and local retailers to drive sales. In the flooring realm, Promoboxx connects manufacturers with their retailer members at the local level. Mohawk and Shaw have used the service to create digital marketing campaigns that highlight both brands and dealers in their targeted regions to help draw in consumers.
“Previously, national brands have struggled with how to reach customers across the independent retail network,” said Kelly Kressner, Promoboxx director of marketing. “It’s also very hard for dealers to access content and efficiently spend ad dollars. We’re extending brand content and [these companies] are targeting their media mix to local retailers.”
Taylor Carr, senior brand account manager, Promoboxx, added, “It’s very difficult for a brand to run a campaign for all independent retailer channels. Likewise, it is difficult for a retailer on his own [to organize or manage] these campaigns. That’s where we come in to make that connection easier for both the brand and the dealer.”
One of the latest tools Promoboxx is utilizing is Local Ads, which is essentially targeted local advertising campaigns that are available across popular online channels like Facebook and Google. They are also optimized as mobile display ads as today’s consumer does the majority of her browsing on her phone or tablet.
Shaw has had great success in providing Promoboxx programming to its Shaw Flooring Network (SFN) retailers. In an effort to test the effectiveness of Local Ads for dealers, the manufacturer is backing Local Ads on behalf of members participating in its pilot program to gauge effective exposure.
“The partnership that we have with our SFN gives us that foundational partnership with Promoboxx,” explained Todd Calloway, direct of content marketing for Shaw Floors. “It is also an option outside of SFN; any dealer who would like to participate in Promoboxx may do so. The Local Ads component is a new feature we are still testing behind the scenes. But Local Ads is now a forever part of Promoboxx, so it’s available to any dealer using the program.” It is up to the SFN dealer to decide if he wants to add Local Ads to his campaign.
Local Ads include a targeted campaign created specifically for a retailer’s landing page. Using the ad as the starting point, the specific landing page is a place for consumers to get information about the particular campaign advertised—the initial ad clicked on may be about a spring sale, for example—including links to the dealer’s website, directions to the store and contact information to get more details. Ads are geotargeted to ensure consumers seeing them are nearby by taking a virtual “pin” and dropping it over areas with prospective business. The pin dropped over that area will target mobile ads to potential new customers in that area. They are visible on Facebook, Google and/or mobile displays (in apps).
Promoboxx is one of Mohawk’s most widely used retail tools. “I attribute that in part to technology and the nature of the platform, and to the content itself and the focus we’ve put into the system over the last two years,” said Mollie Surratt, senior director of public relations, content and social media, Mohawk Flooring. “We use it nearly every day, putting new content that is written for our aligned retailers.”
Mohawk has worked to take its Promoboxx content to the next level by offering fully integrated campaigns that support its national objective and provide more digital marketing opportunities for dealers.
“We create mobile ads for [our aligned dealers], usually serving up a few different choices so they may select which ones they want to use,” Surratt explained. With promotions like the SmartStrand Forever Clean All Pet ad, for example, consumers can click through for a coupon. “With that we are getting consumers in stores.”
When it comes to how much they want to spend or what areas they want to target, retailers can easily control those features in just a few clicks. Help is available via Mohawk’s Promoboxx support line.
Mohawk has been running Promoboxx Local Ads for one year. Surratt said they have seen “great retailer adoption” of the program, earning “millions of consumer impressions for our retailers through the success of the mobile ad platform.” The company funds half of the Local Ads program, giving each aligned dealer the option to add to his advertising budget. Each retailer member has allotted funds for digital marketing tools that cost money: boosted posts on Facebook, pinned tweets on Twitter and placement of Google Ad Words.
Adam Pace of Metro Floors, based in Lancaster, Calif., knows the importance of fully utilizing the Promoboxx tools Mohawk provides. He has been using Promoboxx for about two years. “Mohawk is the only brand that is helping us with things like content for social media or talking to us about digital marketing,” he said. “Some [manufacturers] offer content…but I have to dig through it, and they don’t offer ad funds for key campaigns.” Pace urges retailers who are unfamiliar with Promoboxx to “just get in there and start using it. If you can send an email, you can use Promoboxx.”
Kelley DeCesaro, digital brand strategist, Star Flooring, with several Kansas locations, has used Promoboxx since 2014 as a participating dealer through Shaw and Karastan. Star has its own unique digital marketing plan but it supplements its posts with Promoboxx content.
“We find Promoboxx posts that promote sales events and special financing to be most beneficial,” she said. “We get a high number of impressions and a fair amount of interaction. These posts help us stretch our social media budget and reach more of our target audience. I have also found [Promoboxx’s] customer service team to be very responsive when I’ve had questions regarding our campaigns.”