"We have seen tremendous social growth since we have been in lockdown. With photoshoots canceled we've been relying very heavily on UGC and Emplifi – it has become the main thing we post on all our channels. To see growth, engagement, and reach just going through the roof on all of our channels has been great." – Stephanie Schiraldi, Kirkland's Social and Local Store Marketing Specialist
As people shift most of their time to being at home, furniture brands like Kirkland's are becoming increasingly important to their customers. But with retail locations closed and in-person shopping opportunities paused, getting a realistic understanding for each piece a brand is selling is more important than ever. To keep customers engaged and marketing channels filled with relevant and authentic content, Kirkland's turned to Emplifi.
Moving UGC platforms for better coverage
Before using Emplifi, the Kirkland's team used Curalate to collect UGC – but it left much to be desired across the team.
"We saw other brands in our space were using their influencer images and UGC in their emails all the time. We loved the look of those emails and were really interested in doing that with our emails. Curalate was so clunky on the back end, it was really hard for us to manage. So it was hard to expand our use outside of just Instagram."
Moving from one UGC platform to another can seem like a daunting task, but the Kirkland's team found the process to be easier than expected.
"Even though we had so much content to move, the transition process was really smooth. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be – mainly because everyone here felt that Emplifi was super easy to use. Our agency that we work with was really excited about our move to Emplifi. Not to mention, all the onboarding and continued support are really great."
Now, with Emplifi, Kirkland's can seed UGC and influencer content across all marketing channels seamlessly and dynamically. This includes emails, PDPs, and blogs – which has been performing well for Kirkland's. With Emplifi, the team has seen a 14% increase in average order value.
Engagement beyond sales through content
Keeping brand communities and customers engaged during social distancing presents some unique challenges, but for Kirkland's, keeping their audience engaged with Emplifi has been easier than expected. Based on extensive audience research, Kirkland's found that their followers (mostly stay-at-home mothers) resonated with recipe blogs and home inspiration content. To get creative right now, the brand used Emplifi to create the Kirkland's Kitchen gallery for their fans to share different recipes and tips for cooking during shelter-in-place orders.
"We thought it was a fun way that we could get our followers engaged with us. And when we first set it out, we actually sent it around the Kirkland's office and our agency’s office to kind of get a couple of ideas in there first before we fully launched it on our social channels."
This not only worked to get the social community talking but helped humanize those working at the brand while keeping the different Kirkland's employees connected through relevant content. This engagement has helped impact Kirkland's sales as well. Customers who interacted with Emplifi content were 1.6 times more likely to convert than those who didn't.
Easy to deploy and use across teams
Emplifi has been impactful for the content and social functions at Kirkland's, but it has also been key to the eCommerce team as well.
"The eCommerce team has definitely been way more interested in getting involved, which is a huge deal for us. With the last platform, the eCommerce team wasn’t deriving much value – with Emplifi, they have their own logins and one person on their team that’s now the dedicated person for their team! They're using Emplifi extensively and without needing any assistance from myself – that says a lot about Emplifi’s usability for our whole team."
From content all the way through to eCommerce, Kirkland's can use Emplifi seamlessly, without disrupting other workflows. Ultimately, with Emplifi, the Kirkland's team is able to get the most value out of each piece of UGC shared by their audience.
