Greetings Floor Dealers!

Always remember that your biggest source of revenue, hands-down, is going to be repeat and referral customers. So assuming you’ve got your repeat and referral marketing strategies in place to capitalize on these sources, it can make sense to devote time, energy and money to boosting response from digital marketing.

Facebook Strategies

There are a number of viable social media networks for flooring retailers, but FB remains the 800-lb. gorilla and I recommend starting there with your social media marketing efforts. Let’s look at some best practices and some simple strategies you can implement with minimal time investment.

This gets beaten to death, but it also gets ignored, so I must reiterate it here: people are on social media to socialize, not to read advertisements. Your best bet is to use Facebook in a very social way. An effective way to do this is to post photos of happy customers standing on their new floors. Begin the post by saying, “Help us congratulate Peter and Petunia Pendergastman on their new wood floors!” followed by a testimonial from the Pendergastmans and a brief description of the floor and why they selected it. (Don’t say “Click Like” to congratulate Peter and Petunia. This can lower the number of people who see your post.) Tag your customer in the photo and it will appear in their timeline, thus giving all their friends a chance to see it and like your page. This is the definition of social! People loved to be recognized and congratulated. At the same time it’s a huge endorsement for your business that hundreds or thousands of people will see. What others say about you is 100-times more effective than what you say about yourself, even if you’re 100-times more eloquent.

Consistency is important, so do these testimonial posts a minimum of weekly and up to once per day. If you post weekly, do it the same day and time so people know to look for it. Facebook business pages enable you to schedule as many posts as you like ahead of time so they appear automatically, including during evenings and weekends.

Will you make some direct sales this way? Some, but that’s not its main purpose. Its real purpose is to supplement and enhance your other “herd building” strategies, like a monthly customer newsletter, a referral program, and affiliate relationships with other businesses who send you referrals, like realtors, designers, and contractors. The key word here is “supplement.” That’s why I said earlier that you need to have your repeat/referral marketing strategies in place first.

After several months of consistently recognizing your customers in your FB posts, you might consider doing a contest. If you’ve got an item you’re overstocked on, or a remnant, or something else you can part with, then give it away free as part of a contest. Post a message saying, “Click Like to be entered to win this beautiful area rug! Share this post to be entered twice!” (It’s okay to use “Click Like” in a contest.) Include a photo of you holding the rug you’re giving away. Include a deadline one week away. After you select the winner, get a photo of you standing with them in your showroom with the prize. Post the photo with a message saying, “Help us congratulate Wilmalina Worcestershire on being our big winner!” Tag Wilmalina in the photo so it appears on her timeline.

If you have any Facebook or website strategies you’ve found effective, I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email telling me about it and maybe I’ll feature it in an upcoming column.

 

To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”

Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
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