Social media has become a powerful marketing tool for any business, including those working in the home improvement industry. With billions of users across various platforms, social media offers businesses the opportunity to reach a wide audience while using fewer resources.
In this article, we will explore the benefits of social media and provide best practices for selling finishing materials on popular platforms.
Benefits of social media
Firstly, let's answer the question of why it's important to use social media to promote your company, brand, and products. Social networks are not only a place where people watch memes and chat with friends but also a platform where people look for ideas, inspiration, and high-quality products.
The large audience of diverse people that use social media makes these platforms ideal for promoting any product, including home improvement products and finishing materials. Here are the primary benefits you can expect.
Wide reach and audience targeting
Social media platforms offer home improvement businesses access to a vast audience of potential customers. With billions of users across various platforms, businesses can use social media to target specific demographics, interests, and locations, ensuring their message reaches the right people. For example, Facebook alone had over 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwide as of January 2021, making it the largest social network in terms of its user base, according to Statista.
Cost-effective marketing
Social media marketing, like other forms of digital marketing, is generally less expensive than traditional marketing methods such as print, radio, or television. Moreover, according to a study by GlobalWebIndex, 54% of social media users use these platfroms to research products. This makes it an attractive option for small and medium-sized businesses with limited budgets.
Building brand identity and reputation
Social media is an excellent tool for building brand identity and reputation. You can create a strong brand presence that resonates with customers by consistently posting engaging and informative content, responding to customer inquiries, and showcasing products and services.
Generating leads and driving sales
By promoting products and services, providing special offers and discounts, and encouraging customer feedback and reviews, you can increase your sales and customer base.
What social media platform to choose?
Let's say you are ready to include social media into your home improvement marketing strategy. There are thousands of social media platforms available on the internet, ranging from well-known giants like Facebook and Instagram to niche platforms focused on specific interests or communities. It can be challenging to choose which platforms to focus your efforts on to achieve the most. Here's an overview of the four most popular social media platforms and ideas of how they can be used to market and sell home improvement products and finishing materials.
Pinterest is a popular visual discovery platform where users can find and save ideas for projects and purchases, making it an ideal choice for promoting home decor and finishing materials. By sharing inspiration for home design projects that incorporate your products and linking to your website, you can drive traffic and increase sales. Pinterest also offers advertising options, such as promoted pins, which can further enhance your reach and visibility.
Behr Paint's "Color in Motion" campaign is a great example of how to use Pinterest effectively. The campaign featured a series of promoted pins showcasing its color palette and inspiring home design projects. Behr Paint also partnered with several popular home design influencers to promote the campaign and increase brand awareness.
LinkedIn is a common choice for companies that operate in the B2B sector, as it is a professional networking platform. You can use it to reach architects, interior designers, and other professionals in the construction and design industries or promote your products among retailers and distributors. LinkedIn offers advertising options, including sponsored content and sponsored InMail, which can be used to target specific job titles and industries.
Instagram is a highly visual platform, making it ideal for showcasing finishing materials through photos and videos. With Instagram's shopping features, including shoppable posts and product tags, businesses can make their products directly shoppable from their Instagram profiles. Instagram influencers can also be leveraged to promote products and increase brand visibility.
A successful example of promoting finishing materials on Instagram is Sherwin-Williams with its "Colormix Forecast 2021" campaign. It featured a series of posts and stories showcasing its predicted color trends for the year. Sherwin-Williams collaborated with several interior designers and influencers to promote the campaign and increase brand visibility.
Last but not least is Facebook. To this day, it is one of the biggest and most popular social media platforms on the internet. A survey by Shopify found that 85% of all orders from social media came from Facebook. Facebook offers a range of advertising options, including targeted ads and sponsored posts, making it an effective platform for reaching a large audience. Additionally, Facebook Groups and Pages can be used to build a community around a brand and engage with customers.
4 best practices for selling finishing materials on social media
When it comes to promoting finishing materials on social media, there are a few best practices to keep in mind. They can help you create engaging content, build brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales.
#1. Creating engaging content
Firstly, creating engaging content is essential to capturing the attention of social media users. Today's content is mainly based on high-quality images and videos that can showcase the features and benefits of finishing materials and help customers envision how the product can be used in their homes. However, creating such content on the required level may be time-consuming and costly. Luckily, with the help of services like MaterialCloud, you can speed up the content creation process and get high-quality digital assets that you can use as a base for your social media campaigns.
#2. Consistent branding and messaging
Consistency in branding and messaging across all social media platforms is also crucial to building brand recognition and customer loyalty. Using the same logo, color scheme, and tone of voice across all social media platforms can help customers recognize your brand and feel familiar with your products. This can lead to increased trust and loyalty towards your brand. Additionally, using consistent messaging in your social media content can help you convey your brand values and unique selling points more effectively and differentiate yourself from competitors.
#3. Leveraging user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) is any content created by customers and shared on social media platforms, such as reviews, photos, or videos. Leveraging such content can also be an effective strategy for promoting finishing materials. By reposting UGC, you can show off your product in a real-life setting and increase brand credibility. You can also use UGC as a source of inspiration for future content and promotions. For instance, if a customer shares an innovative way they used your product, you can feature it in a post or even create a social media contest around it. UGC also helps build a sense of community around your brand, encouraging customers to engage with your content and share their experiences with others.
#4. Monitoring and responding to feedback
Lastly, monitoring what people are talking about your company on social networks is critical to maintaining a positive brand reputation and improving customer satisfaction. You should actively engage with customers by answering questions, addressing concerns, and thanking them for their support.
As you can see, social media provides a cost-effective and efficient way for businesses in the home improvement industry to reach a large audience. By utilizing the best practices we mentioned above, you can enhance the online presence of your business, increase engagement with customers, and ultimately drive sales.