10 steps to staying relevant to your customers during lockdown – Dunelm-style

If you’re struggling to stay relevant to your customers during lockdown, then social listening will help you over that hurdle. When you combine insight with the voices of your customers it can inspire a truly empathy-led approach to your content marketing. Just ask the UK's leading home furnishing retailer, Dunelm.

Throughout lockdown 1.0 Dunelm listened to customers in order to create a marketing campaign they could relate to. As home improvement and home makeovers are one of the country's favourite lockdown past times, Dunelm stands to benefit well from this approach now, two more lockdowns later.

Using our 10 Steps to Social Media Success framework, we show you how Dunelm is staying relevant to customers during lockdown both in 2020 and in 2021.

Step 1: What was the business goal?

Dunelm sells home decor and home interiors products. During lockdown, with more customers staying at home, making over the home has helped customers stay entertained and occupied. Dunelm wants to be at the forefront of serving that need.

Track your own business goals in Maybe* using the Your Report feature.

Step 2: Telling the Dunelm story

The home and interiors brand used social insight and customer feedback about life at home during lockdown and beyond to identify the little gripes of their customers. From kids destroying a clean and tidy home, to perfecting your scatter cushion arrangements and wrestling with folding fitted sheets - the universal realities and home truths exposed  resulted in the Dunelm #homewegetit campaign.

You can do this yourself by using Maybe* Insights to understand customer sentiment and what your customers are saying.

 

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A post shared by Dunelm (@dunelmuk)

Step 3: What does Dunelm want its audience to do?

Dunelm wants its customers to be inspired to change up their living space and shop for soft furnishings, new furniture, and finishing touches. But as with its 2020 #homewegetit campaign, Dunelm also wants customers to engage and let the brand know how they’re feeling and what they’re doing, This engagement then feeds Dunelm’s content vision further enabling it to create content which customers can instantly relate to.

Find out what engages your customers the most in Maybe*

 

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A post shared by Dunelm (@dunelmuk)

Step 4: How does Dunelm engage with customers?

Dunelm gives credit where credit is due and nearly always tags influencers and its customers into its product content. By using user generated content Dunelm is able to benefit from the endorsement and followers of interior influencers and ensures it’s never in short supply of content that is as creative and styled as a covetable sitting room makeover.

Find out who your influencers are using Maybe*

 

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A post shared by Dunelm (@dunelmuk)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Dunelm (@dunelmuk)

Step 5: Who does Dunelm want to engage?

Dunelm wants to engage customers interested in home decor. So by listening and engaging in the conversation about home interiors ideas, or the conversations created by influencers in that space, they can re-share interiors inspo and engage with tastemakers or partner with them on campaigns.

Use Maybe* Engage to listen and engage with important hashtags and conversation topics relevant to your business.

Key takeaway

By engaging with customers and listening to their conversations online, Dunelm ploughed that insight into creating a wonderful content marketing campaign in 2020 and has continued that approach in 2021. By creating relevance to your customers and using their current state of mind and priorities in your own content, you build empathy and resonance. This will ensure Dunelm is front of mind when their customers decide to pick up the paintbrush or overhaul their living space.

Learn more

Would you like to learn more? Then sign up to Maybe* to see tips 6 - 10 and get access to the 10 steps framework for your own business.

With the Maybe* platform, you don’t have to be a social media pro to increase traffic and sales.

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