Influencer marketing continues to gain steam, and Engineered Floors has partnered with IZEA Worldwide, operator of IZEAx, an online marketplace connecting brands and publishers with influential content creators, to launch its own program to drive awareness of its Revotec and Triumph brands and Dream Weaver’s PureColor.
“We’re B2B,” said Emily Scott, marketing communication manager, Engineered Floors. “We take care of our dealers, and 2019 will be the first year that digital ad spend surpasses traditional ad spend. Influencer marketing will be a $10 billion industry by 2020. Our goal is to push brand awareness and push those customers downstream to our dealer’s showrooms.”
To do so, Engineered Floors will funnel leads garnered from influencers to the company’s dealer locator on its website and also its EF-EYE Visualizer, which launched last year.
IZEA will be executing the program this spring as home improvement season begins. The campaign will focus on home and interior design influencers in the U.S. that can speak to the importance of quality flooring with experience and authority.
“We know our influencers will be equally excited by their wide selection of products that offer superior durability and ease of maintenance, including hard surface products that mimic the look of real wood and stone and carpets that are produced using manufacturing innovation and technology that lessens environmental impact,” said Ted Murphy, founder and CEO of IZEA Worldwide.
Participants in the campaign will be using the EF-EYE Visualizer tool to show what a remodel of their floors could look like using augmented reality technology. Influencers will be producing a variety of cross-platform content including multiple blog posts, in-feed Instagram photos and Instagram stories, as well as posts to sharing platforms such as Pinterest.
“Photos and videos posted by social media influencers have an outsized impact on design inspiration and purchase consideration for consumers. People are turning to social media for design ideas more than ever before,” Scott said. “We are eager to tap into influencer marketing to build a broader awareness and brand recognition for our product line directly with consumers. By driving more people to tools that allow them to make virtual flooring design decisions we believe we can generate more demand for our dealers.”
Three Little Dogs Interiors, a flooring and interiors store in Cumming, Ga., is using the EF-EYE Visualizer to help customers visualize flooring, speed up the decision making process and help close sales.
“We have an iPad in our showroom that we use to look up pricing, product info, and pictures when our customers are in looking at our products,” said owner Leslie Eversole. “Everyone always wants to see more, we spend at least ten minutes trying to find our own installation pictures or searching for pictures online. But now with EF-EYE we don’t waste all that time, we go right to the flooring they like and can see a full view of the product in whichever kind of room they are wanting.”
She said one customer liked the sample the store had, but when she saw it on the visualizer realized there was too much color variation, so the retail sales associates went through a few more samples to help her find a floor she loved.
“We were thrilled to make her happy at the point of sale rather than when we installed a floor she didn’t like,” Eversole added.
Retailers can participate by following Engineered Floors on social media and utilizing the visualization tool with their customers. Influencers who are interested in working with Engineered Floors are encouraged to sign up at IZEA.com and add the tag “EngineeredFloors” to their profile.
