PlazaRugs.com is listed on the latest update to the Social Flooring Twitter Index. They actively use Twitter.Nicole Trafton, who manages PlazaRugs.com's Twitter presence, recently contacted me. She had noticed my many questions in the post and offered to respond.
I'm very pleased to share with you perspective from Plaza Rugs about their use of Twitter.
C.B.: Nicole, tell me about Plaza Rugs.
NT: Plaza Rugs is a family business that started in 2002. It began as solely an online store that featured both designer and discount rugs from a variety of brands. They eventually grew in their online presence, which lead to a new physical store opening in St. Louis, MO in 2009. They currently feature over 8,000 rugs on PlazaRugs.com, and the family still runs the business.
C.B.: Who manages social media for Plaza Rugs?
NT: Plaza Rugs' social media is managed by a small interactive marketing business, Digital Media Midwest [note: website in transition]. We work very closely with Plaza Rugs to pinpoint their message and the type of audience they'd like to reach out to.
I work for Digital Media Midwest as a "Digital Media Account Manager", which pretty much includes website copy writing, SEO, social media, and interactive marketing. I've been with them for about a year and a half- they're based in St. Louis, and I work out of Chicago because I'm in graduate school here as well.
CB: PlazaRugs.com is active on Twitter. I'd love to hear your take on the value that Twitter brings you.
NT: We at Plaza Rugs try to actively engage in conversation, as this provides a lot of value. Viewing Twitter as just a means to spit out information about your company means you're not taking full advantage of the medium- there's a lot of dialogue happening out there, and we want to be a part of it. You can learn from your followers (and potential customers) just as much as they can learn from you.
C.B.: What about growing your Twitter followers, are you actively pursuing followers or are you more conservative? What is your strategy and why?
NT: We probably fall somewhere in between these two. We focus on gaining more Twitter followers, but we don't just follow anyone. Our strategy is to reach out to those who share our common interests, and that's not necessarily just rugs. We look for interior designers, home decorators, DIYers, and anyone with whom we can engage in dialogue. They may not be in the market for a rug, but we can swap ideas and learn a lot from our Twitter followers. Plus, their retweets and comments always help us gain a better and wider audience and help us learn new things.
C.B.: Do you have Twitter success stories to share?
NT: We were able to connect with a blogger on Twitter who wrote about her life as a mom, her four children, and products they enjoyed. We let her pick out a children's rug and sent it to her for free. She then blogged about it, which was not only good publicity for us, but it allowed us to have some direct feedback on one of our products. The post is here: Their Feet Were Cold and Now They Aren't Thanks to Plaza Rugs.
C.B.: How important is geography in building your Twitter network?
NT: We do not focus on geography because PlazaRugs.com is mainly an online store. Although we do have a physical shop in St. Louis, MO, so we've connected with many people in the St. Louis area.
C.B.: What about Facebook?
NT: Right now we're focusing most of our attention on Twitter, simply because we seem to engage in more dialogue and connect with more people. Plus, we are able to seek out people, respond to their comments, and follow them. We have a Facebook page, and we intend to adopt more of a local strategy for that in the future (i.e., offers, discounts and competitions for the local store in St. Louis). We also hope to use Facebook as a way to showcase our rugs, as we can display images and connect users to the Plaza Rugs site.
Thanks, Nicole!
What questions do you have for Nicole and Plaza Rugs?
To follow Plaza Rugs on Twitter, click on @PlazaRugs.
Best,
C.B. Whittemore
