{"id":2246,"date":"2014-10-21T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2019-11-13T15:41:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T21:41:43","slug":"lowes-relationship-marketing-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/lowes-relationship-marketing-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Learn from Lowe\u2019s Relationship Marketing Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today, Lowe\u2019s drew the short straw for my latest relationship marketing case study. I chose Lowe\u2019s because it is a retailer that I spend a lot of time in \u2014 second only to the grocery store and Target. Plus, I noticed some areas of opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if your business isn\u2019t in the home improvement industry, I\u2019ve included relationship marketing lessons here that can apply to most any business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Despite My Loyalty, Lowe\u2019s Doesn\u2019t Know I Exist<\/h2>\n

My husband and I bought a \u201chouse of horrors\u201d in 2007 seconds before the real estate bubble burst. The former owners were \u201cno-clue-what-we’re-doing DIYers,\u201d so the number of problems<\/strong> with our home has been limitless<\/strong> and appalling<\/strong>. For example, they cut through every living room floor joist to the point the upstairs was sagging. (What a fun<\/em> surprise!)<\/p>\n

As a longtime customer of Lowe\u2019s, it occurred to me that I had NEVER received an email from them. I even checked my email history to be sure. That\u2019s weird, right? So I headed over to Lowe\u2019s website to sign-up for their e-newsletter and instead discovered something called \u201cMyLowe\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

I vaguely remember hearing about this program the last time I purchased paint. Intrigued, I immediately signed up.<\/p>\n

\"MyLowes<\/p>\n

Now, the emails began to roll in.<\/p>\n

I signed up for MyLowe\u2019s on Sept. 3 and immediately received a \u201cwelcome\u201d email. On the following day, I received 2 emails: a promotional offer and a MyLowe\u2019s onboarding message.<\/p>\n

Here’s the “welcome to MyLowe’s” email:<\/p>\n

\"MyLowe's<\/p>\n

Next, I received 4 MyLowe\u2019s onboarding emails \u2014\u00a0one per week.<\/p>\n

\"MyLowe's<\/p>\n

\"MyLowe's<\/p>\n

Here are all the emails<\/strong> I received the first 5 weeks after signing up. After the 4th MyLowe’s onboarding email, the Thursday emails have switched over to regular “selling” emails.<\/p>\n

\"Lowe's<\/p>\n

Here are the subject lines for each email<\/strong>. Green arrows denote MyLowe\u2019s emails, brown arrow denotes triggered email. (More about this later.)<\/p>\n

\"Lowe's<\/p>\n

What Lowe\u2019s Gets Right: Educating & Entertaining Their Customers<\/h2>\n

If I had only read Lowe\u2019s emails and website, boy, would’ve I missed out.<\/p>\n

Lowe\u2019s Twitter feed<\/strong> is all about helping customers \u2014\u00a0with quick tips<\/strong>,\u00a0fun<\/strong> project ideas, clever<\/strong> animated gif tutorials<\/a>, and speedy, personalized<\/strong> customer service responses.<\/p>\n

\"Lowe's<\/p>\n

\"Lowe's<\/p>\n

After comparing my email inbox to their eye candy-filled Pinterest<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a> accounts, it\u2019s clear that Lowe\u2019s strategy<\/strong> is to use email to sell<\/strong>, and social media to educate<\/strong> and entertain.<\/p>\n

Relationship marketing learning opportunity #1: <\/b>Lighten up, stop selling all the time, and be where your customers are. Use social media to experiment with visual content. Take note of the different images Lowe\u2019s shares on Instagram vs. Twitter \u2014 the tone is quite\u00a0dissimilar. Know the audiences of each before you jump in.<\/p>\n

What Lowe\u2019s Gets Right: Using Video Tutorials Prominently on Its Mobile App<\/h2>\n

\"Lowe'sMobile and video go together like chocolate and peanut butter, and so I was so happy to see Lowe\u2019s had figured this out, too. Their mobile app videos are short tutorials<\/strong>, hosted by someone (presumably an actor) wearing a red Lowe\u2019s vest. In each video, the host clearly lays out which tools are needed<\/strong> to complete the project. (Helping AND selling = brilliant.)<\/p>\n

The app is so well-designed that I wish Lowe\u2019s would do more to promote it<\/strong>. Right now, there is just a small CTA at the bottom of every email.<\/p>\n

Relationship marketing learning opportunity #2:<\/b> When your in-store sales team isn\u2019t available or call center is closed, short video tutorials are a great substitute to answering customer questions, giving customers confidence, and even upselling your products or services.<\/p>\n

Relationship marketing learning opportunity #3:<\/b> Cross-pollinate your marketing efforts. Help your customers develop a deeper affinity for your brand by promoting your best tools and information.<\/p>\n

What Lowe\u2019s Kind of<\/em> Gets Right: Creating a Personalized Online Shopping Experience<\/h2>\n

Upon signing up for MyLowe\u2019s, I had the option to create a shopping list<\/strong> by room, add dimensions<\/strong> of each room in my house,<\/span> and set up purchase reminders<\/strong>. What an awesome way to help me organize my purchases and home improvement projects. Except it\u2019s not<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"MyLowe's\"<\/p>\n

You know the saying, \u201cgood idea, bad execution<\/strong>?\u201d (Upon Googling, it turns out that I did not<\/i> coin this phrase. Oh well.)<\/p>\n

MyLowe\u2019s is a great idea in theory, but the user experience is a nightmare<\/strong>. After saving a product, I then have to go into MyLowe\u2019s to move it to the proper list. Why not have users choose the correct list as they\u2019re saving the item? Why the extra step?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holy moly, this online tool has features galore<\/strong>:<\/p>\n