Press Release: Surfaces 2011 Education Sessions Focus On Connecting With Customers

For Immediate Release: January 13, 2011

Whittemore SURFACES 2011 Education Sessions Focus on Connecting With Customers In-Store and Online

 Three sessions - Social Media Marketing, Retail Experience & Marketing to Women - help flooring retailers build trust and visibility

Kinnelon, NJ – Christine B. Whittemore, chief simplifier of Simple Marketing Now LLC, will focus on connecting with customers in-store and online in three education sessions she will lead during Surfaces 2011, the annual exposition for floor covering professionals. The three sessions which address social media marketing, the retail experience and marketing to women offer flooring retailers strategies and tactics for building trust and digital visibility with coveted women consumers. They consist of a three hour workshop and two one-hour seminars and take place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The Basics of Competitive Marketing, on 1/24/11, is a three-hour workshop from 1pm to 4pm with fellow presenters Paul Friederichsen from Brand Biz, Inc. and Scott Perron of Big Bob’s of America. The three presenters bring different perspectives to the session: branding, web/social media marketing and retail operations strategy, with a common focus: to help retailers be more competitive in the flooring marketplace.

Those attending the workshop or interested in the education topic are invited to take a 10 question survey created for the session to evaluate competitive business pressures. Results will be shared during the workshop. To access the survey click on the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WYG5VQT

Social Media 101 takes place on 1/25/11 from noon to 1pm and explores using social media marketing in your flooring business. Per the course description: "Consumers start the majority of their purchases at an Internet search window and obtain feedback on whether to purchase a product or visit a retailer based on word of mouth perspectives from their social networks. What is a retailer to do? Rather than ignore the online social networking trends taking place, retailers need to understand the range of digital tools available and decide how best to integrate them into their ongoing business activities to drive business results."

Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer: WOMEN, is scheduled for 1/26/11 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Women make or influence over 80% of purchase decisions - especially in flooring! This presentation addresses marketing to women starting from a big picture perspective that puts into context how important women consumers are to the flooring business. From there, it explores the purchase process, the retail experience – both online and in-store – and communication differences between men and women to be aware of while selling.

“Many Surfaces attendees realize that the marketplace in the digital age has changed. As expert as they may be in establishing a profitable business relationship that begins with customers in their stores, they find it more difficult to draw customers in from outside. However, the more aware they are of how women consumers begin the purchase process online and what they look for online and in-store, the better retailers are able to build credibility with customers ahead of time,” says Whittemore. “These three sessions will help retailers build trust and visibility with customers starting with Google and going beyond the cash register.”

To register for these sessions, log on to the Surfaces website http://www.surfaces.com/attendee/show-information.aspx.

For information about Simple Marketing Now, visit http://SimpleMarketingNow.com. Or, simply contact Whittemore at cbwhittemore@SimpleMarketingNow.com.

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About Simple Marketing Now LLC
Simple Marketing Now, a marketing communications consultancy, helps organizations integrate social media and content marketing with traditional marketing to better connect with customers and improve business profitability.

Simple Marketing Now issues the Social Flooring Index - http://www.SocialFlooringIndex.com - which monitors the social state of the Flooring Industry.

For more information, visit http://SimpleMarketingNow.com.