Whittemore On Social Media & Flooring

Interview: social media and the flooring industry

In mid December 2009, Emma Jamieson, editor for Networks Ltd, of a series of flooring trade publications in the UK, contacted me for an interview for the launch of a quarterly online magazine titled E-Floors. It's the only quarterly magazine for the digital flooring industry.

The interview has just published in the inaugural February 2010 issue of E-Floors [see pages 14 and 15].

Emma's focus was on flooring retailers and how they might make better use of digital technologies to strengthen relations with customers. I was intrigued as I hadn't had many opportunities to compare flooring retail experience notes beyond the US, let alone hear about the use of social media.

These are some of the areas we explored during our conversation:

Why haven't more flooring companies gotten involved in the Internet's vast array of opportunities, including social media marketing?

How am I monitoring performance (e.g the Social Flooring Index, etc.) and improvements?

How effective is social media to "befriend" the consumer, gain their trust, act as a trusted adviser, thus driving consumers to the store and retaining their loyalty?

What flooring examples have I come across in the US that are making efficient, remarkable use of online opportunities?

Who is the flooring consumer of tomorrow? What will their shopping habits be, what will they expect as far as customer service, online retail experience, etc? How do we approach them?

I thoroughly enjoyed exchanging perspectives with Emma.

The interview is also available on Interior Floors.

Many thanks, Emma Jamieson and E-Floors magazine!