Store of Colors Social Media Plan

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Team 2:
Kelsey Chabot Jacob Glasford Rachel Skaggs Trey Williams Cooper Krauss

~History~ Client
Store of Colors mission is to sell home improvement supplies and paint and provide advice for peoples decorating needs. Its slogan is to, go the extra decorating mile. Store of Colors pride itself on being personal with its clients and devoting the time to really help them get what theyre looking for and even show them some things they may not have thought of before coming in. Store of Colors audience is middle to upper middle-aged people in the middle to upper middle-class. The store doesnt look to bring people into the do-it-yourself mentality. Store of Colors has tried to attract college students as a new audience, but it is difficult since many of them dont own their own homes.

Competitors
Store of Colors recognizes Carpet Plus Bargain Barn, Hineline Home Furnishings, and Watkins as competitors in Maryville. It also competes with Walmart, Aura Designs, and Sutherlands. Outside of Maryville their competitors are Sherwin-Williams and Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Market
The market for home improvement in Maryville is rather competitive for such a small town. Competitors are discussed later.

Current Best Practices

The store doesnt do a lot in terms of promoting itself. Store of Colors occasionally puts ads out on the radio and occasionally in the Maryville Daily Forum. Really it seems that the clientele they have are those who return and they rely on that relationship for business more so than anything. Store of Colors has a Facebook that is rarely updated. The store is not active on social media really at all.

~Footprint~ Where Are They in the Social Media World?

Store of Colors is not very active in social media. The only medium it is active in so far is Facebook. The store mostly uses the page to post pictures, but in 2012 there was a post for a website where people could find a coupon. Store of Colors could be much more known if it had more of a presence in social media. All of the stores competitors are much more active in social media.

Key Influencers
The main influencer for Store of Colors is the store itself, although there is also influence from residents of Maryville who have recommended Store of Colors by posting on its Facebook page. Influencers can really boost the image of the business on social media by encouraging discussion and response either about the business, or from the business itself. Store of Colors needs more influencers, which are likely to come with an increase in their social media usage. The only person who has posted on the page, besides the store itself, is Elizabeth Kamstra who posted in December 2012 that the store would be closed through January 2nd, so it is likely that she is an owner of the store.

Client and Competitors Store of Colors Footprint

Store of Colors Facebook page has only four likes with one person talking about it. A few photos have been posted, but those are really the only posts. The store is not active on Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

Competitors Footprint
Aura Designs Aura Designs on Facebook o 233 likes o Five people talking about the store o Engage consumers through questions about design needs or suggestions o Ask people to spread the word about their products o Hosted two events at their showroom in the past, the most recent being in December 2010 o One of their events had 391 guests registered to attend through Facebook

Walmart
Walmart is a threat to Store of Colors when it comes to social media. There is multiple Walmart pages on social media sites, most of which have thousands of likes. Walmarts main Facebook page o Over 26 million likes o 732,002 people talking about the store o Over 2 million people have checked in through Facebook o Engage people through Facebook by asking questions that encourage comments and responses o Most other Walmart Facebook pages correspond to individual stores or departments Walmart on Twitter

Multiple pages with thousands of followers Some popular pages include Walmart, Walmart Newsroom, Walmart Community, Walmart Giving, Walmart Healthy o Main page has 311,000 followers o Sent almost 95,000 tweets o Communicate with consumers and engage with them by sending responses to peoples tweets about them to thank them for shopping there and ask if there is anything they can do to help them or improve their experience Walmart on Pinterest o 17,447 followers o 74 boards o Over 1,500 pins o o

Watkins True Value Not very active in social media Only Facebook page available for Watkins was for one in Red Oak, Iowa Maryville Watkins True Value on Twitter o Do not have a twitter account o Mentioned a couple times o Red Oak location did have a page

Sutherlands Sutherlands on Facebook o No likes o No activity on the page except for seven people who said they had been there Sutherlands on Twitter o Only Sutherlands account on Twitter was for Sutherlands KC Sutherlands on YouTube o Sutherlands Lumber channel o Post do it yourself projects

Carpet Plus Bargain Barn Store of Colors is slightly more active than Carpet Plus Bargain Barn on Facebook. The store posts more pictures in Facebook albums. In a visual business like this, its essential to have lots of pictures of products and ideas, so this gives Store of Colors an advantage over this competitor. Carpet Plus Bargain Barn on Facebook o 39 likes o Four people said they were at the store o Only one post so far this year (recommendation from someone) o Only a couple posts a year, all from other people, not the company o Photo album includes a photo listing sale prices from 44th anniversary

~Goal, Strategy, and Engagement Plan~

Based on our analysis of the information in earlier sections of this plan, we have created these goals and strategies which we feel will are essential for Store of Colors to enhance its social media usage in a variety of different social media outlets.

Goal
Increase awareness of social media presence among current customer in hopes of attracting new customers.

Strategies
1. Keep current customers updated with new products o Engagement Strategy: Create Pinterest boards featuring new products and ideas for projects

Engagement Strategy: Facebook albums featuring new products

Engagement Strategy: Regular Facebook posts aimed at engaging consumers and informing them of ideas or new products and addressing customer concerns and questions.

2. Get customers involved in do-it-yourself projects with materials from Store of Colors o Engagement Strategy: do-it-yourself YouTube videos using products in the store

3. Reward current customers for being aware of social media o Engagement Strategy: discount or reward for liking or recommending the Store of Colors Facebook page

i. Include flyers in store that customers will see when checking out ii. If you like our Facebook page, get 10% off your next purchase. iii. If a customer recommends the Store of Colors Facebook page to a friend, and they post, __(customers name here)___ sent me to the Store of Colors page! both customer and friend will receive a 10% discount on their next purchase. Engagement Strategy: links to Store of Colors other social media pages through the Facebook page

Measurement
Measurement strategy 1 keep current customers updated with new products Number of comments, likes, shares on posts about new products Number of people talking about your product

Measurement strategy 2 get customers involved in do-it-yourself projects with materials from Store of Colors Followers on channel Views Comments Thumbs up/down Measure number of coupons from social media that people are bringing in to the store

Measurement strategy 3 reward current customers for being aware of social media

If Store of Colors implements these strategies, this table illustrates the possible success in social media that the plan could provide. Now Facebook likes Pinterest followers YouTube subscribers YouTube views 4 0 0 0 Goal in 6 months 44 30 10 100