Style Spotters for Spring 2011 Market taking place April 21-26 include: Crystal Gentilello, Rue Magazine, @CrystalG; Shay Geyer, Designer Detective, @designershay; Jamie Meares, I Suwannee, @jamiemeares; Jennifer Mehditash, Dec-A-Porter, @decaporter; Mat Sanders, Domino’s Quick Fixes, @thematfinish; Patricia Shackelford, Mrs Blandings, @mrsbdreamhouse; and Traci Zeller, Traci Zeller blog, @tracizeller.
High Point Market launched the Style Spotters program during the October 2011 Market, recruiting home fashion trendsetters to 'pin' their favorite products and top trends from Market exhibitors. Since then, it has been named one of the top brands using the social media site Pinterest by Hubspot, Social Media Today, Likable Media, eModeration, and FrontLine.
“At the High Point Market we have a clear strategy for social media,” says Cheminne Taylor-Smith, vice president of marketing for the High Point Market Authority. “We use it to increase brand awareness, to build a community within the home furnishings world, to provide customer service and respond to feedback, and to quickly circulate information about the Market.
“There is also a less tangible, but no less important, reason that we use social media tools, and that’s to create excitement about the Market,” she adds. “We’ve done that at every recent event, from a flash mob in the fall of 2010, to viral behind-the-scenes videos in April 2011, to our Style Spotters event last October.”
The Style Spotters program will continue this April, with a new roster of trendsetters on the lookout for top products and trends. The Spotters will present exhibitors with signs that highlight the Style Spotter’s name with a QR code and URL for the Market Pinterest board. Market attendees can also participate by voting on the pinboards and products, generating “likes” or re-pinning.
Style Spotters are also promoted on the Market’s Facebook page and on Twitter, using the Market hashtag #hpmkt.
Pinterest is of the fastest-growing social networks on the Internet driving more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube, Reddit, and LinkedIn combined.
