Hi,

I have a friend who runs a flooring company (carpets, laminate, etc). For a bit of background, his company has no store or shop front as he works by bringing samples to peoples homes so that they can match flooring styles to their furnitiure/decor (I'm told this approach is becoming more commonplace).

Now, with so much focus on Social Media I'm wondering what would be the best approach/channel for a company that sells products that are generally a "1-time only" purchase?

To me it doesn't seem suited to the likes of Facebook as you're not going to be that interest in the latest 'flooring news' after your new carpet has been laid.

Would I be wrong in thinking this? Are there other networks/areas that would suit better?

Thanks in advance,
Jonny (Social Media Dunce)

Thanks Denis, I think that's a great idea.

I'm wondering though, with there being so much chat at the moment around search engines taking more and more notice of how websites are connected to social networks, where does this leave this type of business?

Will it matter to Google if a site has zero presence?

Wise words Denis - thanks again for the advice!

Jonny

Jonny

I don't think any one particular channel is the question, so much as what your friend wants to get out of this. I presume leads and referrals?

With that type of a business, what customers will be looking for is a local (usually) supplier, who is available and has the right products / acceptable price, and good feedback from prior clients. He could do all this without the internet - I know a bunch of accountants who don't bother with online marketing as they can get all the business they need through word of mouth - but if you wants to use the internet to spread the word, then he could look to a collection of places where people use the net, whether that is searching, surfing content or socialising.

It will depend too on where potential customers are. Who is his typical customer? Professional or Domestic? They might be located through Facebook and if so a FB page could be useful, but he will also need an online directory listing (Google Places), some advertising (maybe Goole Adwords or Facebook), somewhere to demonstrate his results(Youtube), somewhere to collect reviews and recommendations (Yelp or Qype) and have a simple / basic company page / Landing Page of his own - to capture enquiries. A Facebook or LinkedIn page could exist purely as a channel to direct leads through to the Landing Page.

One trend you will see on search engines and their organic listings is how companies can dominate page 1 with a variety of media, especially video. Doing so requires a strategy covering a little bit of everything to embrace searching, surfing and socialising channels. In this way, Google can pick up from a small site presence, boosting it with feeds from these other channels.

Hope this helps

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice. Can't really argue with anything written above.

I've pushed him on to focusing on local searches on Google and he's starting to hit the top ten for Edinburgh on a couple of keyword phrases already, which is getting some hits through. Think he needs to optimise a bit more on site though and set up conversion tracking on his "thank you for contacting us page" to track leads.

Then he can perhaps start testing some local ads on search also...

I like the idea of simply pushing a deal through Facebook instead of the 'traditional'route of trying to get followers and pushing deals at them.

Thanks again,
Jonny