Read more here. - Megan E. Buchheit

Cultivating Community on
Social Media at Buchheit
By Megan Buchheit
Communication, Technology, & Organizations
Spring 2016
I.
Background on Buchheit
In 1934, Rudy Buchheit founded a small general story in Biehle, Missouri. Now, 82
years later, the company Rudy founded—Buchheit Enterprises, Inc.— is still family-run,
but has grown to include over 600 additional employees. Buchheit Enterprises now
includes Buchheit Stores (a retail division), Buchheit Logistics (a trucking company),
Buchheit Agriculture (a feed and fertilizer manufacturer), Carriage House (cabinet
manufacturing), Horizon Acres (poultry feed), and Central States Small Engine Repair.
The retail division is made up of eight store locations in Missouri and Illinois that specialize
in home improvement, lawn and garden, and farm supplies. Their customers are primarily
individuals living in rural areas of Missouri and Illinois.
Buchheit defines their mission as follows:
“Buchheit is the premier store of choice in providing rural lifestyle products, delivering
a unique shopping experience with the best value and service. We anticipate our
customer needs and supply them with the specific products to build, live, and enjoy
their lifestyle.
Our Mission is comprised of three parts: The first is to deliver an unparalleled shopping
experience by providing convenience, offering a world class selection of quality
products, delivering exceptional customer service, and selling at everyday low prices.
The second is to know our customers. Customers are our number one priority as we
strive to be the retail destination they can trust. We understand the value of being a
proactive retailer using speed, agility, and flexibility to meet our customer’s
expectations. The third is to respect our team members by creating opportunities for
personal growth and career advancement, while promoting teamwork in an enjoyable
and rewarding work environment.”
Over the past few years, Buchheit has gone through a major rebranding to highlight
the lifestyle nature of their brand and emphasize their rural heritage, but they still have a
room to grow when it comes to external communications, especially their digital and social
media presence.
II.
Social Media Platforms Overview
Each of the divisions of Buchheit have a social media presence. Across the
company, the platforms of choice are Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Generally, social
media accounts are used for advertising products and sales, providing information about
events, and building the company’s public brand. The primary audience for these social
media channels are customers, but other audience members include stakeholders like as
Buchheit team members, community members, vendors, and more.
This project will focus on the social media accounts representing the retail stores,
as well as the design services directly associated with the stores. These platforms have
the largest following among the Buchheit brands. They are also the most outward-facing
and receive the most customer engagement. Since Buchheit also uses email marketing
to connect with customers and audience members, email was also included in this study.
Buchheit Stores has had Facebook and Twitter accounts since 2010, and they added a
Pinterest account in 2013. In 2015, separate accounts Facebook and Pinterest accounts
were created for Buchheit Design Services (the in store services designing cabinets for
kitchens, bathrooms, etc.).
The accounts included in this study are as follows:
Platform
Brand
Followers/Likes
(as of 4/24/16)
Facebook
Buchheit Stores
16,000+
Twitter
Buchheit Stores
291
Pinterest
Buchheit Stores
14
Email
Buchheit Stores
n/a
Facebook
Buchheit Design Services
900+
Pinterest
Buchheit Design Services
47
III. Coding Strategy & Survey
For this project, all of the content posted on the six platforms listed above was
coded from March 2, 2016 to April 3, 2016. Coding was done twice a week, and the results
were recorded in Excel. For each piece of content, the following variables were recorded,
except for email coding where a few variables were excluded:
•
Basic variables: date of recording, date of posting, time of posting, type of medium
(visual, text, video), platform, likes, comments, shares, subject lines
•
Overlapping content: if the content was published on another platform (and if so,
which platform)
•
Content creator: who was responsible for creating the content
•
Content of messages: if the primary motivation was a negative customer
complaint, if the the primary application was related to a separate post by the
organization, primary application of the message, tone of the message
•
Presence of Links & Hashtags: if the content included a link (and if so, where the
link directs audience members), if the message included a hashtag (and if so,
where the hashtag originated and if others were using the hashtag)
•
Cultivating conversations: if the organization had acknowledged the message, if
the content initiated a conversation with the audience, if the organization
acknowledged audience contributions to the conversation (and if so, how and how
long did it take them to do so)
IV. Coding Results
The social media strategy for Buchheit seems to have become dominated by
Facebook. Both Pinterest accounts and the Buchheit Stores Twitter were not updated
during this time period or in the proceeding months. Buchheit Stores Facebook posts and
emails maintained a fairly consistent schedule throughout the coding period, but Design
Services Facebook posts were sporadic. While there were 5 posts during the time of
coding, they were clustered in the beginning and end of the period, with an 18-day gap
with no posts. The following table details the number of posts and the typical posting
schedule for each platform:
Platform
Brand
# of Posts
during coding
Posting
Schedule
Facebook
Buchheit Stores
28 (16 from org., 12
from outside)
Twitter
Buchheit Stores
0
3-6 posts/week
usually 1/day on
weekdays
n/a
Pinterest
Buchheit Stores
0
n/a
Email
Buchheit Stores
14
3 emails/week
MWF schedule
Facebook
Buchheit Design Services
5 (all org.)
sporadic posting
Pinterest
Buchheit Design Services
0
n/a
Most posts on both Facebook pages focused on sales and branding, with some
examples of event publicity and customer service messages. In particular, the Design
Services content was intended to simulate sales by showing examples of previously
designed kitchens and fireplaces. Overall, the tone of all social media and email content
was casual in nature, which is fitting for the company’s brand.
There was a heavy emphasis on sharing visual content on Facebook. All posts by
the organization included a photo or video, along with text. Email shared many of the
same attributes, with visual content regarding sales, events, and giveaways. 5 of the 13
coded emails included content that was also shared on Facebook.
This heavy use of Facebook is not surprising, as this is where Buchheit sees the
most success with audience engagement. However, the Buchheit Stores Facebook
enjoys a much larger audience and higher level of engagement than the Design Services
Facebook, as seen in the table below:
Platform
Facebook
Facebook
Brand
Average
Likes
Average
Comments
Average Shares
Buchheit Stores
Buchheit Design
72
10
8
.8
35
.2
Services
There was frequently content about specific sales and products on all active
communication channels, which was executed with varying levels of success. Each week
Buchheit Stores posted special sales on Facebook that usually garnered fair amounts of
attention. However, the engagement on these weekly sale posts paled in comparison to
the one posts targeting a single product, such as a post advertising a free lawn cart with
purchase of a lawn mower on March 14:
Weekly Sale Post and Targeted Ad for Single Product
Content about events held at the stores was frequently popular on the Buchheit
Stores Facebook. Some events highlighted on Facebook and email during the time of
coding included a photo opportunity with the Easter Bunny, a Build A Bird House
workshop, and National Pig Day. These were all free events with activities for children,
which clearly resonated well with Buchheit’s audience, as the average likes, comments,
and shares on each post were much higher than average—200+ likes and 100+ shares.
Some of the most powerful content that Buchheit posted
during this time was strictly related to branding, rather than
sales or events. The single most popular piece of content was
a Buchheit Stores Facebook post on Easter Sunday explaining
that the stores were closed for the day so that team members
could spend the day with their families. This post was a huge
hit and resulted in just over 500 likes and many shares and
comments. Buchheit did a similarly meaningful post on
Employee Appreciation Day that shared many photos of long
term team members.
V.
Challenges Facing Buchheit
Responding appropriately to customers in a timely fashion remains a consistent
challenge for Buchheit and for all businesses in the age of social media. There was only
one negative complaint posted on the Buchheit Stores Facebook during the time of
coding, and Buchheit responded to this comment within four hours and reached out to the
customer to try to resolve the situation. However, Buchheit was not as successful at
regularly engaging with customers who posted positive comments or questions. They
occasionally responded to customer questions, but many more went unanswered. Most
strikingly, positive comments and praise for Buchheit were generally met with silence.
VI. Contacting Buchheit Stores
As part of this study, an individual reached out to
Buchheit Stores to see how they would respond. On the
evening of April 20, 2016, she posted on the Buchheit
Stores Facebook page to inquire about the winner of a
giveaway. Previously, Buchheit had not responded to
these
types
of
questions.
Buchheit
exceeded
expectations in this situation by responding, but they also
responded quickly and followed up to make sure the
question was answered. Buchheit Stores first replied on the morning of April 21, and on
April 25, they followed up to ensure that the question was answered. This was surprising
behavior (in the best way!), and it shows real improvement and progress in connecting
with customers.
VII. Theories & Concepts
There are several theories and concepts that are useful to consider as part of this
analysis; three in particular are the Garbage Can Model, Media Richness Theory, and
Structuration Theory.
Cohen, March, and Olsen’s “Garbage Can Model” proposes that organizational life
is messy and difficult to control. They believe that organizations are messy because
employees have differing ideas on organizational goals, they use imperfect technology,
and members of organizations frequently change jobs.
Media Richness Theory, as proposed by Daft and Lengel, suggests that the
medium impacts how a message is delivered. They see different mediums existing along
a spectrum from rich to lean, where richer mediums allow for greater context clues and
feedback. They recommend that richer mediums are prioritized for more complicated
forms of communication.
Finally, Structuration Theory by Giddens states that organizations seek structure,
and they create this structure by employing both rules and resources. These rules and
resources also govern how those inside the organization behave by creating systems.
The structure gained by the systems that develop out of rules and resources help
determine the organization’s future.
VIII.
Theories in Action
For Buchheit, while some of their social media presence currently shows signs of
a strategy, some of what they do still seems to be very haphazard, which invokes the
Garbage Can Model. It is possible that platforms like Twitter and Pinterest have fallen by
the wayside for Buchheit at this time because of causes like different goals and employee
turnover.
Media Richness comes into play when examining the various mediums that
Buchheit uses to show content. Even text-based platforms like Twitter and Facebook are
becoming increasingly visual. This can partially be explained by the popularity of
platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, but increased visual content also creates richer
communication for social media. Buchheit seems to be successfully employing visual
content to ensure that their posts are richer, as every Facebook post they created
included either a photo or a video. They also use this strategy in email.
For every organization, determining how much time to allocate to social media is
a balancing act, as they determine what resources they have available in their current
structure.
For
many
organizations—Buchheit
included—understanding
how
to
successfully incorporate social media into their business strategy means a rewriting of
many of the previous rules about marketing, advertising, communication, customer
service, and branding. From this analysis, it seems that Buchheit is still seeking to impose
new rules to find the appropriate structure.
IX. Key Concepts Learned
What I have learned from this project is fairly simple—but that does not mean that
executing it is easy. In short, I have seen that businesses should use social media to
connect with their audiences in meaningful ways that add value to the customer’s
experience. This analysis has affirmed to me the importance of communicating with
customers at all times—both when things are bad and when they good. It is not enough
to respond to customers when they are disgruntled and upset; businesses must learn to
communicate with customers before the relationship has deteriorated.
X.
Recommendations
What Buchheit is currently doing on social media is typical of how many small
businesses approach social media, but this is all the more reason to improve. A brief
survey was done of the social media accounts of some Buchheit competitors and
contemporaries, such as Tractor Supply Company, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, Rural
King, and Bass Pro Shop. Many of these companies lack an engaging social media
presence that consistently interacts with customers. Improving social media is a way for
Buchheit to differentiate themselves from the competition and to encourage community.
They should strive to make their digital presence a major selling point as compared to
their competition.
The following recommendations detail specific ways Buchheit can improve in the
future:
•
Consolidate social media accounts and renew posting to inactive accounts.
o Eliminate separate accounts for Buchheit Design Services and Buchheit
Stores; they share similar audiences, and separate accounts are confusing
and unnecessary.
The content that has been posted on the Design
Services Facebook can instead be posted on Buchheit Stores; this will
increase the audience since Buchheit Stores has a much larger following.
o Consolidating these accounts will also help with Pinterest, as the current
Design Services Pinterest has valuable content. The Buchheit Stores
Pinterest account can be deleted and the Design Services account can take
over as the main Buchheit Stores Pinterest. Even a few posts on Pinterest
every couple of weeks with the content uploaded to Design Services
Facebook would be a great step (Buchheit should also create a place to
house this content on their website to ensure that Pinterest links go back to
Buchheits.com).
o As for Twitter, since Buchheit’s customer base are not heavy Twitter users,
do not invest too much time into this platform, but small updates should be
posted at least twice a week.
o Don’t add any further social media platforms at the moment (e.g. Instagram,
Snapchat, etc.). It is better to have a few well-done social media accounts
than many where the content and schedules are inconsistent.
•
Increase response time for complaint posts.
o Buchheit currently does a good job of answering customer complaints, but
they should strive for continuous improvement to ensure that each
customer’s needs are met as quickly as possible. Customer service no
longer just exists in the physical space, and complaints from disgruntled
customers can spread quicker than ever before on a public digital platform.
•
Interact with positive comments and questions.
o While Buchheit has already recently shown some improvements in this area
(see VI. Contacting Buchheit Stores), they have been very inconsistent.
Answering questions is incredibly important, and they should at least
acknowledge positive feedback. A simple “like” or “Thank you! We
appreciate your business” can go a long way. A team member in a retail
location would never let a positive comment go unacknowledged, so why
should they go unnoticed on social media?
•
Create Facebook events so customers can RSVP.
o Buchheit is already regularly promoting events on Facebook and receiving
positive reactions from customers. By creating Facebook events, Buchheit
could further encourage customers to actually attend these events, as
Facebook will notify customers that these events are approaching. Creating
events will also allow Buchheit to further track data on their customer base.
•
Incorporate more organic advertisements.
o While the current strategy of advertising exclusive sales on Facebook has
shown some success, there are still many untapped opportunities for
Buchheit in this area. They could feature content highlighting new products
and calls for customers to share their favorite Buchheit items. By doing
things like explaining how to use a product, Buchheit will be offering
additional value to their customers.
•
Improve email.
o Many of the emails are overcrowded with too many bright images.
Simplifying the content would create more impact, and creating more
engaging subject lines would increase customer engagement.
•
Highlight more user-generated content.
o Buchheit Stores is fortunate enough to already have an engaged customer
base on Facebook. They should increase this by posting more user
generated content, such as photos of customers, including customers
shopping at the store (with pets, enjoying free popcorn, children pushing
small carts, etc.) using Buchheit products, raising animals purchased at
Buchheit, showing off gardens planted with Buchheit flowers, etc.
Customers are already occasionally sharing this sort of content on the page,
so Buchheit should use it to their advantage. They can also pull photos like
these from the Buchheit Photobarn (the photo database on Buchheits.com
where customers can submit photos).
•
Have some fun!
o Buchheit is a fun store, but the social media accounts do not always reflect
what a great place it is. People love hearing about the pig, other animals,
and the other interesting things in the store, so Buchheit should not hesitate
to embrace their fun side. Buchheit should also continue keeping their tone
light and casual to best reflect their brand.
•
Focus on communication, not advertising and marketing .
o Build community—don’t just push out sales information! Any company can
post sale ads, but Buchheit should focus on their values of knowing their
customers and being a source they can trust. Use social media to connect
and satisfy these consumer needs.
In summary, as Buchheit moves forward, they should should strive to 1) be
strategic with their resources, 2) keep a fun tone, 3) consistently create useful content,
and 4) learn to use social media to build community. While many things have changed
since the company was founded by Rudy Buchheit many years ago, Buchheit should
continually strive to connect with their customers and build community wherever they are,
whether that is in person at a store or virtually on Facebook.