Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Quickly moving from nice-to-have to must-have, social media provides an avenue to not only promote your business but also engage with customers in meaningful ways. The stats speak loudly to the importance of social media for reaching customers, especially in the home improvement channel. According to the Home Improvement Research Institute’s Homeowner Social Media Influence on Home Improvement Shopping report, 58% of Gen Z and Millennials have started a home improvement project specifically because of social media content and 69% rated home improvement retailers as trustworthy sources on social media.
As you develop your own social media strategies, utilize the social media toolkit below with resources compiled by the North American Hardware and Paint Association.
Content Calendars
When it comes to social media strategy, one size doesn’t fit all. No matter how often you post or how many channels you belong to, a social media calendar is an easy way to plan your strategy and keep your content organized.
At its essence, a social media calendar is a way to track what platforms you’re going to post on, when you’re going to post and what you’re going to post. A calendar can be done on pen and paper or digitally in Google Docs or Google Sheets. Numerous online templates are also available, including templates from:
Regardless of the template you use, the calendar should outline the copy and information needed for each post, including publishing date and time; social media platform you’re posting to; post format (Reels, Story, YouTube short, etc.); post copy; a visual (image, gif, video, etc.); hashtags and location if applicable.
How Often to Post
- Instagram – 5-7 reels a week, 3-5 posts a week and 7-15 stories a week
- Facebook Posts – 3-5 posts a week
- X (Twitter) Posts – 10-20 posts a week
- LinkedIn Posts – 3-5 posts a week
How to Post
- Utilize artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT or Bard, as an aid for crafting content
- Take advantage of posting and planning tools like
- Loomly – paid
- Planable – paid
- Hubspot – paid
- Hootsuite – paid
- Buffer – paid
- Sprout Social – paid
- Meta Business Suite – Facebook, Instagram and Threads – free
- Canva – free
- Adobe Express – free
Learn more about social media content calendars
Social Media Policy
If your business doesn’t have a social media policy, you could be in line for embarrassment and potential liability. Learn the benefits of crafting a policy for your social platforms. Discover what Stacey Furtado, global social media manager of hiring website Monster, says you should consider when creating your own internal policy.
5 Steps to Better Social Outreach
Clearly establish guidelines: A social media policy should fit your business’s needs and goals. If you permit employees to post through your business’s social media accounts, it’s important to establish basic posting rules.
A few clear examples for responsible posts are to never trash-talk competitors, never use hateful language and for employees to clearly indicate thoughts and comments they post as their own.
Enable employees, don’t handcuff them: Furtado says that while it’s important to safeguard proprietary information about your business, you should encourage employees to share good news about the company.
The Pew Research Center says 72 percent of U.S. adults use at least one social media platform, meaning many of your employees likely have a social account and want to share the hard work they’ve invested. Don’t discourage positive, promotional posts from employees.
Determine who can speak to customers: Considering how your business will react to posts made by customers and community members is a critical part of establishing your social media policy, especially for small businesses.
She recommends assigning a few people on your team the power to post through your business account. Remind other employees not to post as the company in response to customer comments.
Plan for a crisis of any size: As social media’s influence on retail grows, it’s important to strategize and create a plan of action for unexpected events, Furtado says.
What’s the protocol if your business closes temporarily due to inclement weather? How do you communicate information about product recalls? How will you respond to bad press about your operation? Furtado says these are all times when a preconsidered social media response is key.
Take it to the next level: Employee advocacy programs can encourage positive, on-brand social media messages about your company. These programs distribute preapproved images and text to employees across an organization to make it easier for them to share company news with their friends and family.
Monster’s internal data shows promotional content is shared 24 times more frequently when posted by employees, not the business itself. Furtado says it’s important to not mandate employees share information, but encouraging them to do so and providing them with the necessary materials can be a positive step in social media outreach.
Learn more about social media policies
