Category: Social Media + Influencer Engagement

The Houzz Rules

Cherith AndesBlog, Furniture PR, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

The recent revitalization in the design industry has proven to be both a blessing and a curse to the average consumer. Gone are the days when kitchen cabinets came in just white, espresso or cherry. From remodeling kitchens to reupholstering pillows, home design projects now involve a maze of style and color that can confound even the most determined homeowner.

For the consumer, Houzz offers a lifeline—and a free one at that. The online platform provides a searchable database of interior design and home remodeling images, professional portfolios, reviews, surveys and expert advice. This Pinterest/Angie’s List/Facebook mashup is a lifesaver for anyone searching for design-spiration on a budget.

But what about the contractor, architect or designer on the other end? Targeted toward those looking to renovate, Houzz is brimming with 16 million eager consumers—90 percent of which are homeowners who are actively seeking design products and services. In fact, Houzz’s “Find a Pro” feature allows users to search for a local specialist, and businesses simply can’t afford to ignore this burgeoning customer base.

Implement these “house rules,” best practices and business tips to put Houzz to work for your company.

1. Learn the Lingo

Ideabooks: A scrapbook for design ideas. Users create folders on their own Houzz accounts to collect inspiring photos arranged by theme (“kitchen cabinets,” “backyard patios,” “yellow baby rooms,” “beach house,” etc.). Ideabooks are the online version of clipping pictures from a magazine. You can “pin” these images from other ideabooks, upload photos directly from your computer or “pin” images from another website—a la Pinterest.
Projects: Similar to an ideabook but a “folder” of pictures that allows you to showcase stages of a particular project. A home builder, for example, might highlight the construction phases of a Santa Cruz-style bungalow, or an interior designer might post before and after snapshots of a kitchen remodeling project.

2. Explore the Landscape
Familiarize yourself with standard features on Houzz.

Likes and Comments: Much like Facebook, Houzz users can “like” and comment on favorite photos, discussion feeds, ideabooks and projects.
Search Capabilities: The Houzz platform provides a sophisticated index that allows users to search for products, local vendors, curated ideabooks and even discussion threads by keyword.

3. Create Your Space

Just like any viable marketing medium, your Houzz presence should capture your brand’s voice, highlight your expertise and advance your business goals. Now is the time to define your creative strategy. Decide how you’ll curate and arrange your ideabooks (i.e. by product, space, location, style, etc.) to best spotlight your specialties or distinctive skills. Create “project” folders that showcase your portfolio and build credibility. Develop a list of search terms, topics and partner designers for collaboration, commentary and conversation, and cross-promote your Houzz on other social media platforms.

Note that official professional profiles require additional business verification, such as a license number. So be prepared when creating your account.

4. Establish Your Expertise

Strengthen your brand visibility by building a portfolio of client recommendations and business partner referrals (don’t be afraid to ask!). Establish your expertise by providing tips and advice on discussion threads related to your brand. Offer suggestions, solve problems, answer questions promptly. By doing so, you’ll rise to the forefront as a Houzz go-to expert for home design needs.

What other “Houzz Rules” or tips would you add to the list?

 

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Reply Already!

Cherith AndesBlog, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , ,

Kaitlyn Goforth, Clairemont’s wonderful intern, explores the importance of responding to your customers and maintaining a dialogue on social media.

As a PR agency, we manage social media strategies for a variety of clients.  Effective social media demands careful attention, especially for restaurants where repeat business relies on word-of-mouth reviews. When an organization posts something on social media, it bares itself to criticism, praise and everything in between. In many cases, customers can reply to posts unrestricted, making social media a proverbial minefield to navigate.

In general, restaurants can respond to a social media comment in five ways: by ignoring it, deleting it, defending themselves, issuing an apology or apologizing and offering a solution. Obviously, the last option is often the strongest strategy, but that doesn’t always happen in the restaurant business. Large chains receive thousands of tweets a day, and small companies often don’t have the manpower to consistently manage social media accounts. However, restaurants cannot afford to ignore social media’s burgeoning clout anymore, especially with trends such as the  “eat and tweet” movement.

So what does creative conversation with a restaurant look like? To answer that question objectively, we took a look at three brands that are not Clairemont clients.

1. Chipotle – This popular “fast-casual” chain has a three-person social media team that responds to almost all social media comments individually. Joe, Rusty and Myra sign their names after they have responded to “humanize” and personalize conversation. In addition, Chipotle uses social media as a way to communicate internally and regularly congratulates employees on promotions and jobs well done. It’s not just a burrito store; it’s a supportive family.

Chipotle Tweet

2. Morton’s Steakhouse – Before researching for this blog post, I had never heard of Morton’s Steakhouse, despite the fact that there are locations all over the world. After reading about this great use of social media, Morton’s is definitely on my radar to try. This upscale, trendy steakhouse listens to customers and fans on Twitter – and responds. Businessman Peter Shankman was boarding a plane home to New York City when he tweeted:

Peter Shankman Tweet 1

To Shankman’s surprise, a Morton’s employee was waiting for him at Newark Airport with a to-go bag full of steak, shrimp and all the fixings. Shankman immediately tweeted a photo to announce the yummy surprise.

Shankman 2 Shankman 3

With more than 150K followers on Twitter, this was great publicity for the Morton’s since the story went viral! But more importantly, this “act of kindness” exhibited how listening and responding to customers can go a long way in the restaurant industry. Read Shankman’s entire story, which he titled “The Greatest Customer Service Story Ever Told, Staring Morton’s Steakhouse.”

3. Starbucks – Brad Nelson, a former Starbucks barista, runs the company’s twitter account, and he’s knocking it out of the park. He personally responds to the majority of DMs and mentions that Starbucks receives. In October, Starbucks announced the launch of “Tweet a Coffee,” a way for followers to send a five-dollar digital eGift to another Twitter user. This not only boosted social media engagement with the company, the program also encouraged customers to spread the Starbucks love while increasing sales. The coffee chain also uses humor to give their followers a giggle for the day (nothing bonds us together like a good laugh!), as seen in this recent haiku:

Starbucks

Chipotle, Morton’s and Starbucks are all setting a great example about how restaurants and other similar companies can turn tepid tweeters into life-long fans.

How does your favorite restaurant use social media to engage with customers?

 

 

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Self-iquette: Selfie Etiquette

Cherith AndesBlog, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , ,

Kaitlyn Goforth, Clairemont’s wonderful intern, takes an honest look at the do’s and don’ts of the selfie world.

#ToSelfie or #NotToSelfie?

Last fall, Paul McCartney claimed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that he took the first selfie. Former secretary of state Colin Powell made similar claims in March, posting a mirror picture he took in the 50s to Facebook. It’s caption, “Eat your heart out Ellen!,” referenced Ellen DeGeneres’s recent trend-setting “Oscar selfie” with three million retweets. Regardless of who was the first to snap a photo of this sort, we can all agree on one thing: selfies have officially taken over social media.

We see them everywhere. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat–the list continues. Recently, there has been talk about selfie etiquette, particularly after President Obama was seen snapping one at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus stay in the news constantly with their skin-bearing photos, and David Ortiz faced controversy with his Samsung-sponsored selfie. As communication experts, public relations practitioners and simply social media users, this leads us to the main question. When is it appropriate to take a selfie, and ultimately, what’s the point?

#ITweetThereforeIAm

People take selfies on vacation, in restaurants and even while sitting in their cubicle to update friends or followers about the hum-drum goings-ons in their lives. Suddenly, there is a social media frenzy of sharing every moment online, leading people to ask: “If you don’t post it, did you really do it?” Most smart phones are even equipped with front-facing cameras, enabling users to get the perfect angle on their self-portraits. This has lead to selfies following plane crashes, selfies while rushing the field and selfies while driving (#dangerous). The reason people are on social media is to keep up with others, but we’ve got to ask if the selfie game has simply gone too far.

#SelfieEtiquette

Next time you have the yearning to snap a selfie, remember these do’s and don’ts. It may save you from social media scrutiny.

  • DON’T take a selfie at a funeral. President Obama didn’t set a great example, but in general, a funeral should be a selfie-free zone. People are there to grieve the loss of their loved one, not to watch you try to gain Instagram followers.
  • DON’T take a selfie in a public restroom. Not only is this not the greatest setting for a photo, but there is also the issue of privacy.
  • DON’T take a selfie in the car. Not only is it obvious (we all see your seat belt), but you also should probably be more focused on, well, driving! Wait until you’re safely out of the car to pose for a photo.
  • DO check what’s behind you. You don’t want your dirty clothes or your Justin Beiber poster in the background for everyone to see.
  • DO choose quality photos. No one wants to see a grainy or dark picture on his or her newsfeed. If you’re going to post a selfie, make it a good one.
  • DO take selfies with friends! These photos are fun and maybe even Instagramable. There’s no better way to capture memories than through awesome pictures.

#HereToStay

The “selfie” urge is understandable: you’re having a great hair day, you’re traveling the world or you’re sitting on the beach and you want the world to know about it. Gone are the days of experiencing something remarkable and leaving with only a memory. Regardless, “selfie” was officially added to the Oxford dictionary in 2013.  It is here to stay, so we all better get used to it.

 

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A Fashionable Future for Technology

Cherith AndesBlog, Fashion, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , ,

Guest post by our fabulous intern, Stephanie Zirker!

The millennials, often dubbed the “connected generation,” may be advanced, but they aren’t the end of the line. What will society coin our next generation, the ambassadors of new products being introduced daily? Being a millennial myself, I can say that we largely owe our “connectivity” to the companies that continue to design “the next new thing,” and without these newest gadgets, we would feel as if we were missing out on cutting edge trends in communication.

Consider Apple and its exclusive iPhone-to-iPhone capabilities that encourage buyers to turn to Apple technology in order to be part of the hippest tech culture. It’s hard to imagine that technology could somehow claim a bigger role in our daily lives. But a peek into the future reveals yet a closer level of integration between humans and devices – technologies with a fashionable flare.

What to Expect

Machinery can’t get much closer to our physical person than with the growing industry of “wearable technologies.” Before long, you won’t even have to move a muscle to see your updated Facebook feed or read urgent emails. For example, Google Glass combines vision technology with the Smartphone features many consumers expect, such as the ability to surf the internet or snap a photo.

But don’t stop with function. In our connected age, the term “wearable” signifies the undeniable relation between utility and appearance, media and communications that are inescapably part of our being. Temporary tattoos that can monitor pregnancy, a cocktail ring that tells you when the phone buried in your purse is ringing, even a hoodie sweater that can send text messages—these are the products that will become innate parts of the ever-evolving definition of “being connected.” Even Clairemont has gotten in on the action — or at least close to it — by working last year with 10 for Humanity to introduce the Tiger Eye Security Sensor, jewelry that is designed to help prevent violent crimes. Thus, wearable technology will continue to blur the line between technology as a tool and tech as a fashion.

The Ripple Effect for Business

The prosperity of the market for wearable technology will, however, depend on companies’ ability to appeal to customers’ fashion interests. On the flip side, style trends will become more digital, more industrial. As developers work to find a happy union between style and practicality, the question then becomes which features take precedence during design: look or utility.

For businesses, the wearable technology trend introduces the possibility to create a visual company profile through customizable products. Imagine a Smart hoodie designed for a specific organization and supplied to customers or employees. The new employee uniform could concurrently serve as the staff member’s means of communication.

The 21st Century Legwarmer

This wave of wearable technology opens the gates for tech products to shape users’ individual images. With many producers jumping on the growing trend of fitness bands, the slickest and most chic models are among the most popular. The new market for smart jewelry that provides call alerts allows women stay connected (and cutely accessorized) throughout the day without a second thought.

Take a quick memory trip back to the ’80s, the decade with legwarmer fashion and a boombox music culture. While music boxes and the loud, brightly colored style trend are often lumped together because of a similar time frame, the two are not interrelated. That won’t be the case in 80 years. A look back from year 2101 at the fashions of the mid-21st century will no doubt feature products that marry fashion with function: technology as the 21st century legwarmer.

 

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