Danielle Darden

4 Aventine
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

Date: March 5, 2017

To: Dan Smercina
Vice President of Marketing
The Hillman Group
From: Danielle Darden
Subject: Recommendation Memo

The purpose of this memo is to present my data that was collected by interviews, Simmons One View,
and the Mintel data report. The goal was to collect data about The Hillman Group’s target audience and
their experience through advertisements on social media featuring home improvement brands. The
purpose of this report is to determine recommendations for a new marketing strategy for The Hillman
Group to engage with their consumers and devise criteria for assessing effective media posts

Summary
The findings of this report is to help determine how companies are utilizing social media platforms
determine the Hillman Group’s target audience, assess the top three social media platforms used by the
target audience and establish the appropriate content to create a call-to-action message. The secondary
research was collected by accessing Simmons National Consumer Data Disk to help determine who the
target audience is for the research, and as the consumers for the Hillman Group. This research is needed
to make sure we create efficient advertisements for the target audience.

This data determined the target audience are male and females ages 25-45 years old who typically live in
the suburbs. The Mintel research provided data about the target audience including their socioeconomic
behaviors and social media usage. After determining the target audience, I conducted an in-depth to
receive more information on consumers and their social media interaction with brands. The 30 question
interview consisted of a variety of yes or no with multiple open ended questions to help get a better
understanding about the target audience and their social media habits. This was the most critical data
collected because the consumer is able to justify their reasons and actions for us to know how to advertise
to them on social media.

Through the primary and secondary research data concluded the recommend target audience of males and
females 25-45 years old utilize Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram as the top three social media platforms
they get their home improvement and DIY ideas from. They look for strong visuals to help ignite new and
liberating ideas to improve their home.

Introduction

Presently, The Hillman Group does not have social media platforms to engage with their consumers. The
company spends much of their time advertising and communicating to bigger businesses such as Lowes,
Ace Hard Ware, and Home Depot meanwhile, they have lost their consumer engagement and brand
awareness. Nowadays, consumers spend a lot of their time on social media platforms to plan home decor
projects and brand engagement needs to be efficient to maintain the business to consumer (B2C)
relationship. Social media is a strong platform for many companies to advertise on to build brand loyalty,
create native advertisements, and engage with consumers. When companies communicate effectively to
their consumers through social media, studies have shown the brand loyalty and awareness increases. The
Hillman group has not utilized social media platforms to interact with their consumers, leaving them
clueless about the Hillman brand. Although, the employees at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and other
home improvement stores prefer the Hillman brand, and are brand loyal to the company the consumers
don’t have any interaction with the Hillman Group outside of the home improvement stores.
Task 1: Social Media Review

To obtain a better understanding on how companies are utilizing social media platforms. I reviewed
multiple home improvement companies to see how they are utilizing social media platforms to connect
with their audience. I reviewed Lowe’s Home Depot, and Ace Gardwar’s social media platforms
because they are the top three companies that see The Hillman Group’s products. Studying their
methods were helpful for ideas on how The Hillman Group should advertise their products so the
social media platform can be fluent in their posts and advertisements. Although the three
companies use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Pinterest was their top platform. The
companies displayed pictures that showed their products in use as the final product. For example,
Home Depot advertised their new screws, screws can be seen as a simple object by itself but they
showed the finishing product on how the screws were able to support the new 3 tier chandelier in
the dining room. A lot of the platforms themes were to show how simple items create rewarding
results. Another theme that stood out was the consumer engagement, Lowe’s Instagram had many
home improvement results completed by their consumers. Instead of posting a bunch of “staged”
or set up pictures, Lowe’s displayed their consumers final products which allowed the consumers
to be engaged and inspired by one another. It also allowed them to communicate to the Lowe’s
Instagram account and make comments and suggestions, this type of interacting continue the brand
loyalty Lowe’s needs in order to satisfy consumers. This information displayed strong insights on
how companies are utilizing the platforms to connect with their consumers.

Task 2: Determine the target audience and socioeconomic behaviors.

To conduct this research, Simmons National Consumer Data Disk was used to help determine who the
target audience is for the research, and as the consumers for the Hillman Group. This research is needed
to make sure we create efficient advertisements for the target audience. The findings from Simmons
National Consumer Data Disk reported the target audience of The Hillman Brand are male and females
ages 25-45 years old who tend to live in the suburban area, the median household income is around
$65,000 a year. The Mintel research provided data about the target audience including their
socioeconomic behaviors and social media usage. According to the Mintel report, male and females ages
24-45 years old tend to shop at Home Depot (56%), Lowe’s(49%), and Ace Hardware (28%) as the top
home improvement stores. (Mintel. Home Improvement Consumer, US, 2013).
Source:Mintel

Base:2,000 internet users

Top gender and ages who shop at Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace Hardware

Source: Mintel

According to Mintel’s Consumer report, male and female the ages of 25-24 who work full time in the
South region are the main target audience. This data does not mean to not include the other regions or
employment status, but we should conduct the advertisement mainly catering to the target audience’s
needs.

Task 3: Determine the top three social media platforms used by the target audience.
I conducted an in-depth to receive more information on consumers and their social media interaction with
brands. The 30 question interview consisted of a variety of yes or no with multiple open ended questions
to help get a better understanding about the target audience and their social media habits.
Task Results

1. What is your name? Necie Mobley

2. What is your age? 43
3. Where do you live? Waco Texas
4. How many people are in your household? 5 people
5. What is your marital status? Married
6. What is your occupation? Hair Restoration Specialist
7. How many days do you work? 6 days a week
8. How many hours do you work? 40+
9. What type of phone do you have? Samsung Galaxy 6
10. What kind of social media apps do you have on your phone? Pinterest, Facebook
11. What are your top three social media apps that you visit daily? Pinterest, Facebook
12. Why do you visit these social media apps? “I use Facebook mainly to interact with family and
long time friends….I use Pinterest to get ideas on food, fashion, gifts, and interior design
and DIY inspo.”
13. Do you notice advertisements on the apps? Yes
14. Do you notice if the advertisements are target towards you due to your likes, interest, or recent
search history? Yes
15. Do you click on the advertisements on the apps? Sometimes
16. Why do you/ don’t you click on the advertisements? I click on the adds when they are
promoting deals and offers, or info on new products. I don’t click on the add when it’s just
a picture of something or an advertisement that features a product that I don’t use.”
17. What types of advertisement interest you? Advertisements that offer discounts, contest
advertisements. You know, the ads that let you create something and you compete with
other people to get chosen to win a prize or something like that.”
18. What types of advertisements don’t interest you? “Advertisements that are just telling me
about products but not actually showing me the use of the product are ineffective. I want to
see why I need the product.”
19. How likely are you to click on an advertisement that gives you an incentive? (like an electronic
coupon or a contest) Very Likely
20. Do you follow any businesses or corporations on social media? If yes, why? “I follow companies
to get their discount offers and notifications when they restock on products. I also follow
them to get new ideas on gifts and redecorating.”
21. Do you follow any home improvement accounts on social media? Home Depot and Lowe’s
22. Are you interested in following any home improvement accounts on social media? Yes
23. What are your top 5 home improvement companies? Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart
24. How often are you on social media? Every morning and night/Every other morning and night
25. How many hours do you spend on your phone? “Two to 3 hours on social media, I tend to
spend more time on my Ipad, maybe 3-5 hours…my kids are grown up so I have a lot of
time on my hands after work.”
26. What do you like to do during your free time? Cooking, Crafting, Looking at home design
inspiration.
27. Do you notice any home improvement stores advertising through social media? Yes
28. If a familiar home improvement brand had a social media account, what would they need to
have/post on their account for you to follow them? “Discounts, coupons, contests, Instructions
on how to make things, and I want to see customers try to make the object or something to
 see if the goal is actually achievable. I hate when companies try to make things seem easy
and it never turns out the way the product is.”
29. How important is visual media to you while using your social media apps? “Visual media is
highly important to me because I like to see the actual products. I want to be able to see
pictures that Inspire me or make me more interested. Visuals are everything to me, it’s the
reason I’m on Pinterest, to speak my interest in something new.”
30. If businesses could do one improvement to provide a better social media experience what would
you suggest? “Probably use more product placement, Let me know what actual products are
used in the ad or the post. I’ve experienced multiple problems due to not using the right
name brand and my finishing product does not turn out the same.”

Task 4. Establish the appropriate content to create a call-to-action message.

I have collected some web literature on advertisements, and how to create interactive content on social
media. The in-depth interviews and Mintel research also overlaps in this task. Nowadays, companies need
more than just a picture to be considered creative content, the creative content cannot be static, the
audience needs to be engaged. Interactive video marketing differs from the normal static video
advertisements (Cohen, 2014). Providing the target audience with the choice of interacting with the
video instead of simply just watching it, allows viewers the opportunity to interact through physical
actions such as touching or clicking. Inviting the viewer to act, you can effectively boost engagement of
your videos. Interactive videos can easily convert leads through well-timed call to actions (Flamm,
2016). In addition to interactive videos, The Hillman Group can create a Pinterest account.

Mintel, social media report suggested Pinterest Facebook and Instagram are the top social media app for
home improvement and do-it-yourself (D.I.Y.) projects (Mintel, Consumer Social Media Report, 2016). I
gathered some web literature on Pinterest Marketing. Pinterest is the top social media platform where
customers have control to let others know they want this product (Cohen, 2014). One of The Hillman
Groups biggest distributor is Lowe’s, per research Lowe’s created a Pinterest board that contained
numerous illustrations of home improvement projects that featured the local brands in the store. Lowe’s
marketing strategy reflects the same message throughout their Pinterest account, helping people feel like
they can take on home improvement projects on their own (Walters, 2017).

Task 5. Analyze collected data.

Organized the data from the interview and the collected data from Mintel and Simmons National
Consumer Disk, along with the web literature.

Conclusions

The collected data confirmed a lot of the predictions and justified some of the reasoning. Men and women
ages 25-45 use Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram for interior design, and home improvement inspiration.
They tend to access the platforms in the morning and in the evening after work or right before bed. The
target audience follows home improvement companies on social media to be inspired, they want to know
what products they need to use and why, in order to achieve their goals. They also want to know what’s
new, what’s trending, and what has restocked.

Consumers follow the social media platforms to be instantly updated on product information. They also
want to receive discounts, coupons, and exclusive sales. Consumers want to be rewarded for following the
social media accounts, they also want to feel as if they are apart of the company by posting the
consumers’ projects on the page as well. Consumers wants confirmation that the projects turn out the way
it’s supposed to. They don’t want any gimmicks, or hidden secrets the want real authentic photos of other
works to help confirm, encourage and inspire them.

In order to catch a consumers’ eye the company must promote interactive advertisements. The
advertisement needs a “call-to-action” message in order for the consumer to be interested. When creating
an ad ask yourself…do it make the consumer want to click? Doe it make them want to shop? What would
they get out of this ad if they click on it? If you can’t answer the question, the ad doe not have a call-to-
action message. Consumers need an ad that motivates them to do something, click shop save.

Recommendation

From the findings I recommend creating an account on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Posting
simple pictures will not be enough. The account manager will need to create posts that encourage
consumers to click on the add to get a coupon, inspire and show them how to create projects, or let them
know if you’ve restocked on their favorite products. You will be reaching a variety of people on social
media, It wont just be the target audience, this give you the opportunity to gain new consumers and create
strong brand loyalty. Incentives are a must within the posts.

Stay relevant with your posts and know the trends in the season. If spring is right around the corner
suggest some products for the new spring garden, consumers like when companies are thinking ahead. It
stays with them and the company appears to be reliable. Promoting products during specific seasons will
be helpful in generating sales.

Interact with the consumers, feature their creations, Create hashtags for them to engage with the brand
(#HowDoYouHillman # FreshPickWednesday) comment on their creations , the more interaction the
stronger loyalty the company will have. Featuring consumers projects and tagging the products that were
used will be inspire and be helpful to consumers. The more engagement on social media the better,
consumers want to feel they are interacting with a brand they can trust.

Example

Hashtag- #HowDoYouHillman

Post- Created these beautiful barnyard doors using @TheHillmanGroup sliding door rods and knickle
back screws.

#HowDoYouHillman- Created these beautiful barnyard doors using @TheHillmanGroup sliding door
rods and knickle back screws.
References

Cohen, H. (2014, November 03). Pinterest: How You Can Rock This Social Media Platform. Retrieved
February 17, 2017, from http://heidicohen.com/pinterest-marketing-trends/

Flamm, J. (2016, November 20). 3 Ways to Create Amazing Interactive Content. Retrieved February 18,
2017, from http://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/3-ways-to-create-amazing-interactive-
content/

"Mintel Reports: Consumer market analysis | Mintel.com." Mintel Reports: Consumer market analysis |
Mintel.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Survey, Simmons National Consumer. "Simmons National Consumer Survey." SIMMONS NATIONAL
CONSUMER SURVEY. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Walters, B. (2017). Case study: | Pinterest for Business. Retrieved February 18, 2017, from
https://business.pinterest.com/en/success-stories/lowe%E2%80%99s