2019 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

Online > Social Media Presence > Upper Midwest

Awarded to

Kim Wahlgren, Editor; Ryan Kushner, Assistant Editor

Entry details

Wood Floor Business Social Media

Issue date (if applicable): 
Publication name: Wood Floor Business
Publishing company: AB Media Inc.
Website home page: www.woodfloorbusiness.com

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

Wood Floor Business empowers wood flooring professionals by providing the technical information, business management advice and product information they need to succeed. The brand emphasizes its connection with its readers and the industry by maintaining a vigorous social media presence and generating a large portion of its content directly from its readers. The WFB audience includes a print circulation of 23,500 industry pros spanning all levels of the industry. Wood flooring contractors, retailers and inspectors form the majority of the print readership, which also includes distributors, importers and manufacturers in the United States and Canada. While the print magazine remains the flagship product, the brand is also heavily invested in its digital presence. That includes a website—averaging more than 55,000 visits per month—that is the most important reference tool in the industry, with thousands of articles specific to wood flooring, as well as the latest industry news and blogs. The WFB E-News, sent twice a week, has open rates over 30 percent and is the source wood flooring pros rely on for current events in the industry. Additionally, an essential component of the Wood Floor Business brand is its social media presence, which includes Facebook (both a page and a group), Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

Wood Floor Business has always been an early adopter of social media, and today the brand uses it to build a sense of community, generate valuable content from readers and also generate revenue. The WFB staff focus a majority of their social media efforts on the two platforms that have proven to resonate most with wood flooring pros: Facebook and Instagram. WFB has posted daily on Facebook since 2010; the WFB Facebook page has more than 6,600 followers, and posts regularly have a reach of more than 5,000 (many far surpass that number). In addition to posting magazine content, WFB editors create original memes that generate substantial engagement and interaction with readers, demonstrating the relatability of the brand. The magazine has two popular print columns, Talk Back and Talking Shop, that are created solely from reader comments on Facebook and Instagram. WFB also maintains a Facebook group, Wood Floor Business Community + USED Buy/Sell/Trade, that was originally created to fill a need in the industry for selling used tools and equipment. Because pros began having helpful conversations in the group, not just buying and selling, the “community” part of the group was added. WFB was an industry leader on Instagram as that platform took off, and the brand now has more than 4,200 followers. Additionally, WFB is active on Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Sponsored social media posts across all platforms are now an important and successful component of integrated marketing packages for WFB advertisers.

Links to entry URLs

Please note: These URLs are only required for entries in the Online division categories, entries in the Design division categories that are specific to websites, entries in the Website of the Year category, and entries in the Cross-Platform Package of the Year category.

Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://www.facebook.com/WoodFloorBusiness/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1795184080809067/
https://www.instagram.com/woodfloorbusiness/
https://www.pinterest.com/wfbiz/
https://twitter.com/WFBusinessMag
https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodFloorBusiness
https://www.linkedin.com/company/wood-floor-business/

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