Getting Socially Connected Online

Every quarter, Neff of Chicago hosts a networking breakfast for its Avant Garde Club, a small group of luxury home industry professionals. These informal gatherings give us a chance to catch up with colleagues, compare notes and share ideas on growing our businesses.

Last Wednesday the topic was Social Media. I invited Morris Sneor of Paradigm Productions to give the group an overview of the new “word of mouse” marketing. (He’s the one who helped Neff of Chicago embrace our Internet strategy.)

Honestly, if you told me a year ago that social media like Twitter and Facebook could be an important avenue for new Neff business, I simply wouldn’t have believed you.

Who uses Facebook or Twitter or Flickr? In my view, these new media were for publicity-conscious celebrities and young people who have time for “friending” and sharing their “status” on a daily basis.  I didn’t get the connection to my world of high-end, high-quality cabinetry.

Now that social media is a key component of our marketing mix, I discovered that Neff’s target audience – affluent consumers well over the age of 30 – are using social media tools – but not in the same way the kids are.  As Morris pointed out, social media has evolved in a short time from groundswell to trend to mainstream. Three out of four Americans now use social technology.  In fact, the biggest growth has been in the 50+ age group. In our case, many people became acquainted with Neff of Chicago from our online presence before walking into the showroom.

Want to know more? Feel free to give me a call, send an email, tweet me, poke me or just stop in to the Neff of Chicago showroom.

Pat Borg