I recently wrote an article for the Mudbug Media blog titled “Build a Following with an Integrated Social Media Strategy.” In the article I used Lowe’s Home Improvement store as an example of a company who got it right.
The following are snippets from the article about each component of Lowe’s strategy:
Lowe’s Facebook Strategy
The core of Lowe’s social media strategy is their Facebook page. With over 1.1 million likes (almost twice as many as the main competitor, Home Depot), Lowe’s has created a successful strategy to communicate with their customers using this social media platform.
Lowe’s leverages the best features of the Facebook timeline format, the cover photo and the history timeline.
For their cover photo, Lowe’s uses an attention grabbing photo composed of the top pins that followers have re-pinned on Pinterest. They also tie their profile picture directly into the timeline cover photo and use it to drive traffic to their Pinterest account.
The success of Lowe’s Facebook strategy is due greatly to their positive and real-time interaction with fans. Lowe’s responds to the majority of questions and comments within minutes. When a fan has a question about a product, Lowe’s not only answer the specific question, but frequently directs them back to Lowes.com and includes tips on how to use the product.
Check out the full article to find out how Lowe’s mastered the art of responding to negative comments and leveraged the other features of the new timeline format.
Lowe’s Twitter Strategy
With over 47,000 followers, Lowe’s uses Twitter to answer customer questions and concerns, as well as spread community awareness. As with their Facebook page, Lowe’s does a great job of taking the conversation offline for any negative mentions by asking followers to email them at a Twitter-specific Lowe’s email address. They also respond to all questions, comments, and mentions, often within minutes of the original Tweet.
Check out the full article to find out how Lowe’s uses hashtags to give back to their followers.
Lowe’s Pinterest Strategy
The rapid growth of Pinterest has many companies overwhelmed, but Lowe’s has leveraged the user base and 
growing popularity create to a strong presence on the new social media platform. With almost 7,000 followers (and growing), Lowe’s is building a strong community around their brand on Pinterest. The boards on their Pinterest profile include topics that interest all their different types of customers.
Lowe’s uses Pinterest as a resource tool for customers to find fun and new projects. For example, they have a board for grilling recipes, which includes links to both the full recipe and grills available at lowes.com. Other popular boards on their Pinterest profile are craft, landscaping, and interior design projects using Lowe’s products.
Check out the full article to find out why Pinterest was the perfect addition to Lowe’s social media strategy.
Lowe’s social media strategy has been a success because they appear to understand that social media is a powerful tool for creating and maintaining relationships with customers. Visit the Mudbug Media blog to find out the five key factors that make Lowe’s strategy a success and to read the full article:
In response to the page format change, Mashable completed an eyetrack study to determine how consumer experience has changed. Consumers used to be focus the majority of their attention on the page’s news feed, both text and image posts. When viewing pages in timeline format, consumer attention is focused almost entirely on the visual elements, such as the cover photo, profile image, app thumbnails, and images. Content posts are usually the last items that consumers view. Continue reading 
Are you a social media and sports addict? Or just interested in the ways different industries use social media? Well, check out this great article on the role of social media in the sports industry. Using real-life examples, the article breaks down how social media techniques have been used to build player notoriety, create a culture around sporting events, increase ticket sales, and managing crisis situations.
as medias (i.e. social media) and customer expectations continue to change, this challenge becomes more difficult.
