Tapping into the Home & Housewares market

Americans spend nearly 5% of their income on furniture and household items each year[1]. With the median household income in the United States at $50,502[2] it would not be uncommon for a home to spend over $2,500 per year on household goods.

Competing for the household dollar is challenging and competition between manufacturers is fierce. Staying ahead of your competition with original and fresh products while ensuring those products receive prominence can be achieved with an effective PR and social media strategy.

It’s essential that your agency is using the correct tactics for the job and identifies the right contacts and media outlets. The popularity of social media platforms varies between demographics, so selecting the right platforms, specific to your targeted audience is essential.

For example, over two thirds of Pinterest users are female and aged 25-34. Over a quarter of Pinterest users have an annual household income of over $100,000. Needless to say, this is a prime social media channel to reach affluent buyers of home & housewares and should play an integral role in your strategy.

Using social media also allows customers to search for reviews in real time and most importantly, post their own. Potential customers are using social media to investigate a product before purchasing; they want to know the experiences of their peers with a similar lifestyle who use the product. They’re not only interested in their peers’ assessment of the product but are also looking for the unique way their peers interact with and utilize the product.  Consequently, monitoring your reviews is an essential practice and any negative reviews must be immediately addressed with a replacement or something else of value to the client.

Online communities encourage people to share their story and inspires collaboration. Customers offer peer-to-peer recommendations by illustrating how products improve their lives and encouraging others to make the same purchases. Customers with negative experiences use online communities to warn their peers about unreliable products and often express dissatisfaction and contempt and warn their peers to stay away from a particular product. Strategic and constant monitoring places you in a proactive position allowing you to address negative feedback directly and instantly.

Though there is no substitute for a world-class design team, social media should also be used to tap into the existing customer base and ask their input on how to enhance current products and which type of products should be produced during the next design cycle.

Gaining market share in the home & housewares space requires influencing key stakeholders: the media & the consumers. With an integrated PR & social media strategy, a capable agency will set a brand apart from the competition and capture more of the consumer’s household spend.