The digital space is bustling with potential clients searching for flooring solutions. But how do retailers and installers stand out? The answer lies in crafting a coherent content marketing strategy, a proven tool to increase brand visibility and attract qualified leads. So how do you go about building a solid content marketing strategy? Lucky for you, I will break down the steps that we take for our clients so you can have a clear content strategy in place.

1. Building A Robust SEO Site Architecture

While flooring showrooms still have their charm, your website is now the most significant showroom you have. Like arranging your physical space to lead a customer through it, your site architecture should be designed for clarity and search engine optimization.

• Landing Pages for Every Service/Product: Just as you wouldn't mix hardwood samples with tiles, separate landing pages for each service or product type can aid in better search rankings and clearer customer journeys.
• Supporting Page Content: For optimal SEO results, break your site into topic clusters and think about all of the various supporting content you can write in addition to the main product or service landing pages mentioned above. For example, hardwood flooring should have a page for each type of wood flooring you provide, as well as educational posts about how to best maintain their charm and luster. These pages and posts should internally link to each other and to the main topic page.
• Intuitive Navigation: Ensure customers can find exactly what they're looking for in a few clicks. Streamlined navigation reduces bounce rates and increases conversion potential. Just like you want to make your menu easy to navigate, you should also have your most important pages accessible from the homepage and be no more than 2 clicks away from it. 

2. Crafting Informative Blog Posts

Consistent, engaging blog posts not only position you as an industry leader but also increase your site’s chances of ranking higher on search engines.

• Industry Trends: Dive into the latest in vinyl, tile, hardwood, and other flooring materials. Being a source of fresh information attracts repeat visits.
• Installation Tips: Share expertise on floor installation, giving potential clients a taste of your team's knowledge and skills.
• Knowledge Base: There are tons of tools out there that will help you find what types of questions people are asking Google in regards to any topic. My favorite one to use is answerthepublic.com. Once you find out what people are looking for, you should definitely consider providing them with the content that they are looking for. 

3. Harnessing Social Media Marketing

Social media isn’t just for lifestyle brands. Flooring businesses can visualize their work and engage potential clients through vibrant platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The best way to get this right is to plan out all of your posts in advance and use a tool to schedule them out for you.

• Before-and-After Shots: Nothing speaks louder than results. Showcase transformations to illustrate the quality of work.
• Video Tutorials: Offer short clips on flooring maintenance or the installation process. This not only educates but also positions your brand as a trusted industry voice.
• Educational Posts: Share that same educational blog post content on your social media to help secure your business’ chance of becoming an authority in your market.
• Humanize Your Brand: People want to work with other people that they know, like and trust, so make sure that you also share some posts about you and the other real people who work for you.

4. Newsletters & Email Marketing: A Direct Line

In the cluttered digital space, a direct line to your audience is invaluable. Personalized emails and newsletters fit this bill perfectly.

• Monthly Highlights: Share new product arrivals, completed projects, or upcoming sales to keep your audience engaged.
• Feedback Solicitation: Emails allow for a two-way conversation. Encourage recipients to share their feedback, refining your offerings based on their preferences. Don’t forget to ask for reviews when the feedback is positive!
• Offers, Promos and Database Reactivation: A lot of flooring businesses forget just how valuable their existing customer list can be. That is because if someone has purchased flooring from you before, chances are they will be okay to do that again down the road. So, leverage your list and send out special offers and promotions to them when you feel the time is right for them to require further flooring services.

Conclusion:

Today's flooring retailers and installers have an arsenal of digital tools at their disposal. By integrating an effective content marketing strategy, businesses can position themselves as more than just service providers - but as industry leaders and trusted voices in the flooring space. It’s an investment worth making, and the returns, in terms of brand visibility and customer engagement, can be significant. This may all seem like a lot, but if you spend the time to plan out things in advance and leverage tools like ChatGPT or other AI writers, you would be surprised at just how productive you can be!