1.
Completed as part of
coursework requirements
This document will provide an analysis of Wayfair’s social media marketing efforts.
It will conclude with recommendations for improvement going forward.

2.
22201413
126
A persona of Wayfair’s primary target
audience. Demographic, geographic,
psychographic and behavioural
information.
From social listening, what people are
saying about Wayfair online. Topics
discussed for Wayfair and Article.
Summary of how Wayfair utilizes each
social network. Created vs. curated
content, communication
type/category, content formats,
customer service response rates, and
opportunities to optimize the social
networks discussed.
A compilation of previous research on
Wayfair, the competition, and general
social media marketing benchmarks,
best practices, and trends to identify
the strengths, weaknesses, threats,
and opportunities for Wayfair’s social
media marketing strategy.
Recommendations presented based
on the SWOT analysis.
Audience Overview
Current
Conversation
Social Network
Analysis
SWOT and
Recommendations
5
Table of Contents
2
A summary of Wayfair’s business
including the industry it operates in, its
place in the market, how it earns
revenue and seasonality.
An analysis of Wayfair’s content
strategy for social media. Main
themes/topics by their different social
networks and branded hashtags
discussed.
Business Overview
Social Media
Content
3
An analysis of Wayfair’s social media
presence. Brand presence chart for
Wayfair and their competitor: Article.
Brand voice and differences
evaluated.
An analysis of Wayfair’s community
building/management strategy on-
and off-platform.
Brand Presence
Community
Management

3.
Wayfair is a direct to consumer B2C business
that has operated almost exclusively in the online
market but there has been some talk of the first
brick and mortar location opening fall 2019.
Wayfair, like other home good retailers, operates
year round but Black Friday and the holiday
season are of increased importance.
In addition, for the last 2 years in April, Wayfair
hosts “Way Day”. On Way Day, Wayfair opens its
virtual doors to bargain shoppers as they offer
their best deals only ever offered on Black Friday.
100,000 items are up to 80% off for 36 hours and
customers can get an additional 40% off select
items if they share the deal on social media.
Business Overview
Market Information
ECOMMERCE
3
Brands
Wayfair
Joss & Main
All Modern
Birch Lane
Perigold
Home
Furnishings
& Décor
17.8M
Active
Customers
14M
Products
$8 Billion in
Revenue in the
last 12 months
B2C
What started as CNS Stores in 2002, Wayfair (rebranded in 2011) has since become the largest ecommerce
destination for home furnishings and décor. The founders, Steve Conine and Niraj Shah, are reinventing the
way people shop for their homes - from product discovery to final delivery. Through technology and innovation,
Wayfair makes it possible to easily find what customers want from a huge online selection of items across
home furnishings, décor, home improvement, and housewares.

4.
Main Categories and Products
4
FURNITURE BED AND BATH OUTDOOR KITCHEN
§ Bookcases
§ Cabinets
§ Chairs
§ Desks
§ Recliners
§ Room
Dividers
§ Sofas
§ Bathroom
Vanities
§ Bed Frames
§ Dressers
§ Lighting
§ Mattresses
§ Nightstands
§ Toilets
§ Firepits
§ Garden Tools
§ Greenhouses
§ Hammocks
§ Mailboxes
§ Outdoor
Seating
§ Patio Sets
§ Baker’s
§ Racks
§ Blenders
§ Dinnerware
§ Food Pantries
§ Table Accents
§ Wine
Refrigerators
Wayfair offers 14 million products from
11, 000 global suppliers that expands across
5 distinct brands – Wayfair.com, AllModern,
Birch Lane, Joss & Main, and Perigold.

5.
Audience Overview
5

6.
Data collected from Wayfair’s social media accounts from October 13th, 2019 to November 13th, 2019
Brand Presence
Facebook
@WayfairCA
Twitter
@Wayfair
Instagram
@Wayfair
Instagram
@WayfairCanada
Pinterest
Wayfair.com
YouTube
Wayfair.com
# of Followers 7.4M 73.7K 1.3M 123K 10M 32.2K
Types of Posts
Images with links to
items on website
Videos (< 15 sec)
Images with links to
items on website
Static Image
Video how-to
Stories (image &
video) w/ swipe ups
Static Image
Stories (limited)
Static Image Video
Frequency ~ 2/week
No tweets since
25/09/19
Previously <10/month
1-2/day 2-3/week N/A
No posts since
23/09/19
Previously
~ 6/month
Main Objective
Drive traffic to website
Promotions
Drive traffic to website
Brand announcements
Promotions
Contests
Drive traffic to website
Inspiration
Inspiration
Promotion
How To
Response
Time
< 48 hours < 24 hours < 24 hours < 24 hours N/A
No response to
comments
Sentiment Positive N/A Positive Positive N/A N/A
Engagement
~ 55 likes/post
~ 6 comments/post
N/A
~ 3387 likes/post
~ 276 comments/post
~ 610 likes/post
~ 6 comments/post
N/A N/A
6
All socials are either driving
traffic towards the website or
promoting products
No longer posting to Twitter or
YouTube since the end of
September 2019
Quick response time across all
social networks

7.
Wayfair’s brand voice is positive,
friendly, simple, and engaging across
all social networks.
They don't reply to most comments but
the ones they do are usually customer
complaints about a specific item or
poor customer service. They always
apologize to the customer and ask
them to personally message them to
resolve the issue. Other responses are
usually only made to questions
regarding how to find a specific
product.
Brand Voice/Sentiment
BRAND VOICE
#Wayfair
#WayfairAtHome
#WayfairCAHome
BRAND SENTIMENT
7
Overall, Wayfair has a positive
brand sentiment ratio of 6.7:1. A
major change from last month
which was 2.6:1.
Despite the backlash Wayfair
received after selling 200,000 beds
to the US government for migrant
detention centers, overall brand
sentiment has dramatically
improved in the last month,
especially on Twitter.
While you still see on their
Facebook posts negative
comments about this issue, it
seems to be only from 1 or 2 users
posting the same negative
comment on every post. This
might explain why Wayfair has
chosen to go silent on some of
their accounts (Twitter and
YouTube) since the end of
September 2019.

8.
Facebook
Article
Twitter
@ArtticleModern
Instagram
@Article
Pinterest
@Article
YouTube
Article
# of Followers 319K 2.5K 451K 43K 219
Types of Posts
Product images with
descriptions and features,
Sales and promotions,
Videos (< 1 minute)
Images linked to website,
Sales and promotions
Curated content from home
décor blogs and sites
Product images,
Regrams from the
#ourArticle hashtag,
Single image posts,
Posts put together into
boards
Short videos showcasing
products and promoting
the Article brand
Frequency One a day at 10:00am ~ 3 posts/day 1 – 2 posts/day N/A
Big push of ~10 – 20
videos followed by
months of inactivity
Main Objective
Product awareness,
Promotion awareness,
Drive traffic to site
Product awareness,
Promotion awareness,
Creating community,
Product promotion,
Direct traffic to website
Inspiration,
Community,
Drive traffic to website
Product Awareness
Response Time < 24 hours ~ 4 hours < 24 hours N/A N/A
Sentiment Welcoming Informative Informative Motivational Informative
Engagement
~ 196 likes/post
~ 2 comments/post
0 - 3 likes/tweet
~ 0 replies/tweet
~ 0 retweets/tweet
~ 1172 likes/post
~10 comments/post
N/A
~ 171 views/post
~ 0 – 2 likes/post
0 -1 comment/post
Data collected from Article’s social media accounts from October 13th
, 2019 to November 13th
, 2019
Brand Presence
8
Consistency through posts and
theme
Good response time, under 24
hours
Efficient use of social media
shopping features on each
platform

9.
Article's brand voice is positive,
warm, and fosters a sense of
community as the brand shares
comments and feedback from the
#ourArtcile hashtag across all social
networks.
Article responds to comments within
the first few hours after posting
content. They will respond to the first
2 or 3, no matter the tone of the
comment. Their comments are very
encouraging and try to start a
conversation while also leading
customers to their website for further
information.
Through an extensive Brandwatch
search, we were unable to refine
our query enough to achieve
results pertaining to the Article
brand.
The company’s name, Article, is a
very generic brand name which
can harm their share of voice
online. Searches are flooded with
results pertaining to article writing
or other article publications.
When searching for
(article AND furniture) in our
query, results for written articles on
“Top Furniture Items for…” or “Best
Tips for Furniture Shopping”
appear instead of Article branded
results.
Brand Voice/Sentiment
BRAND VOICE
#Article
#ourArticle
BRAND SENTIMENT
9
Sentiment
not found

10.
Wayfair v. Article
10
BRANDING
Wayfair has done an extensive amount
of branding for their company on social
media. Across 5 social platforms, they
manage 18 different verified accounts
with a combination of 7 unique
hashtags for the brand. The social
media accounts stretch over different
countries like @WayfairCanada and
@WayfairUK on Instagram while also
catering to different audiences like
@WayfairWeddingRegistry and
@WayfairDeals.
Wayfair’s branding is more extensive
than Article’s which only has two distinct
social media handles, @Article and
@ArticleModern while promoting two
hashtags, #Article and @ourArticle.
SHOPPING TOOLS
It is unclear whether this is a conscious
decision made by Wayfair Canada, but the
company chooses not to optimize the shopping
features hosted on the Facebook and
Instagram platforms. Business pages have the
option to include a “Click to View Products” tab
on their product photos that then expands the
image and includes product details and links to
purchase. While Article takes full advantage of
these features, it does create a very invasive
social media experience where every product
post has a tone of pushing you to buy.
Not using these shopping features does work in
Wayfair’s favour as it avoids a repetitive “click
for information” and “buy now” atmosphere. In
doing so, their social media pages carry more of
a relaxed and inviting tone rather than a
drive-the-sale feeling.
18
VERIFIED
ACCOUNTS
7
UNIQUE
HASHTAGS
5
SOCIAL
PLATFORMS

11.
Wayfair v. Article [con’t]
11
STORYTELLING
Wayfair incorporates a lot more storytelling
in their content which is highly visible on
their Instagram account, @Wayfair. The
brand showcases people and their stories
that revolve around home, community, and
furniture. They give life to their products by
showing how people, who reflect their
demographic, create a personal space and
interact within that space.
Article has yet to take storytelling to this
level. The brand chooses, instead, to keep
the content focused on furniture alone.
Looking at their Instagram page, there is
virtually 0 posts including any element of
humanity. Two very different approaches
when it comes to storytelling and social
media.
PEOPLE
HOME
FURNITURE

12.
Current Conversation
12
From the streams set up within our
Hootsuite Dashboard, we found that,
outside of home décor, Article participated
in the 2019 Direct Brand Summit hosted by
the Interactive Advertising Bureau in New
York. They received a handful of positive
tweets commending them on their
innovation and discussion about product
development and marketing. Based on this
feedback on Twitter, it would be beneficial
for Article to continue engaging an offline
community like this conference. It adds to
their brand awareness and positions them
in an innovative and industry-leading
perspective.
Other than the Direct Brand Summit,
Article’s mentions on Twitter range from
neutral to positive. Discussions center on
newly purchased Article furniture or
wishlists for Article products.
#IABDBS
An unexpected insight from social listening
was the trending topics of “Boycott”,
“concentration camps”, and “employee
walkout”. Without Brandwatch serving up these
topics, we might not have heard about this
event. This also helps to inform Wayfair of how
their audience reacts to their actions of social
responsibility. Or rather in this case, lack there
of. So far, Wayfair has not posted anything on
their social media accounts addressing this
topic.
Customer Service
Zooming in on the phrase “customer
service” in the word cloud, you find a variety
of results. Phrases include “good customer
service”, excellent customer service”, “poor
customer service”, and “shocking customer
service”. Seeing that customer service for
Wayfair is all over the board, it would be
beneficial to listen to what people are
saying and to make changes as necessary.
#BoycottWayfair
For Wayfair, the following current conversation topics are based off the Brandwatch Social Listening exercise conducted in October 2019.
Additional notes have been added based on up-to-date data. For Article, the information that has been gathered has come from an
analysis using Hootsuite by setting up streams that mention @ArticleModern or use their branded hashtag #OurArticle. This Hootsuite
analysis was conducted for November 2019.

13.
Social Media Content
13
§ Inspiring “showroom”
styled spaces
§ Clean, light, modern
posts that link to Wayfair’s
website
§ A focus on the customer
and the spaces they have
created using Wayfair’s
furniture and décor
THEMES/TOPICS
#Wayfair
#WayfairCAHome
#WayfairAtHome
#WayfairPetSquad
HASHTAGS
§ The Canadian Instagram
account features almost
exclusively curated content
with static images. This is
unlike the other accounts
that feature a more even mix
of curated vs. created
content as well as
promotional, how-to, and
entertaining content.
§ YouTube and Twitter
accounts have had no new
posts since the end of
September 2019
§ Only the Pinterest account
mentions the Wayfair App
DIFFERENCES

14.
Inspiration Promotion How To
Facebook @WayfairCA
Social Network Analysis
All static features are clean and crisp
photos of homes. Mainly curated from
their customers. All posts also feature
a link to their website where followers
can “shop similar styles”
Static image 100%
INSPIRATION 64%
Inspiring room ideas,
promotions/sales announcements,
curated content from audience with
links to www.wayfair.com to “shop
similar styles”.
The Facebook page was created to
provide a place for fans to get
inspiration, exclusive information on
contests and promotions, and
share opinions about their
shopping experience and products.
KEY THEMES
14
#Wayfair
#WayfairCAHome
HASHTAGS
Created – 36%
Curated – 64%
CONTENT MIX
Response time is within 48 hours.
RESPONSE RATE
Usually full text posts announcing the
details of a contest/sale. Others
feature promotional content in the
captions rather than on the image
itself.
Static image 100%
PROMOTION 18%
Videos consist of sharing how to set
up a room like the one featured,
offering advise for customers to
achieve the same look. Static images
have text overlays to describe how to
do something.
Static image 50%
Video 50%
HOW TO 18%

15.
Product Information Promotion
Twitter @Wayfair
Social Network Analysis
High quality photos of new
products with features and
benefits detailed in the text of
the Tweets. All created by
Wayfair, none curated.
Static image 100%
PRODUCT
INFORMATION 60%
New product information and sales
promotions are two consistent
categories on Wayfair’s Twitter feed.
As well, customer service is a theme
within their responses on Twitter. The
Wayfair account is very active in
responding to complaints from users
that tweet directly to the account. This
has been the sole use of their Twitter
account since September 2019.
KEY THEMES
15
#Wayfair
HASHTAGS
Created – %100
Curated – %0
CONTENT MIX
Though @Wayfair hasn’t posted on
Twitter since September 2019, they
have kept in communication with their
audience, responding within 24 hours
to only complaints on the platform.
RESPONSE RATE
Very intense promotion of sales
and deals on Wayfair products.
When sales are happening,
promotional tweets flood their
timeline until the sale is over.
Static image 100%
PROMOTION 40%

16.
Inspiration Promotion How To Entertainment
Instagram @Wayfair
Social Network Analysis
All inspirational content is in
static image format. They have
simple ”showroom” style photos
of products and direct the
audience to follow the link in
their bio to “shop similar styles”
Static image 100%
INSPIRATION 55%
KEY THEMES
16
#Wayfair
#WayfairAtHome
#WayfairPetSquad
HASHTAGS
Created – 66%
Curated – 34%
CONTENT MIX
Quick response time, within 24 hours.
Response is similar to Facebook in
that they response to complaints and
questions only and request the
commenter to direct message them to
continue the conversation.
RESPONSE RATE
Videos for promotions highlight
the features of the product and
images look similar to the
inspiration posts but offer
discounts, sales, and other
promotions in the captions.
Static image 75%
Video 25%
PROMOTION 21%
How-to videos are the same
ones posted on other social
networks. Captions and video
clips show the audience how to
set up a space using Wayfair’s
products.
Video 100%
HOW TO 13%
The static images typically
feature animals hanging out in
a Wayfair-styled space and
have the #WayfairPetSquad in
the caption. Videos feature
partnerships.
Static image 25%
Video 75%
ENTERTAINMENT 11%
A mix of created and curated content
with a focus on inspiring the audience
to style their rooms with Wayfair’s
furniture and décor. They also feature
celebrity collaborations and platform
specific contests.

17.
Inspiration Promotion Entertainment
Instagram @WayfairCanada
Social Network Analysis
Looking beyond the last month,
other formats are used for
inspirational posts. Multi-image
posts and videos are used to
inspire the audience.
Static image 100%
INSPIRATION 82%
The Canadian Instagram account is
almost exclusively curated content
featuring customer’s inspiring
“showroom” spaces styled with
Wayfair’s products. Unlike the other
accounts, this account has a more
limited mix of content.
KEY THEMES
17
#Wayfair
#WayfairCAHome
HASHTAGS
Created – 9%
Curated – 91%
CONTENT MIX
Responses to comments are made
within 24 hours. Similar to the other
accounts, only complaints and
questions are responded to.
RESPONSE RATE
Unlike the US Instagram
account, the Canadian
Instagram account has no text
overlay promotional posts. All
promotions are mentioned in
the captions.
Static image 100%
PROMOTION 9%
Posts that are entertaining
feature questions directly to the
audience through the captions.
This posts do not mention “shop
similar styles” commonly
featured in Wayfair’s captions.
Static Image 100%
ENTERTAINMENT 9%

18.
Inspiration Product Information Mobile App
Pinterest – Wayfair.com
Social Network Analysis
Inspiration is drawn from their
showrooms and images used
across all platforms. The
Pinterest account features a
community tab, providing links
to the other distinct brands.
Static image 100%
INSPIRATION 45%
Inspiring room ideas,
Product Information,
Drive traffic to Wayfair.com
Wayfair mobile app promotion
After reviewing the social media
platforms for Wayfair, Pinterest is
the only site where Wayfair is visibly
seen promoting their mobile app.
This is crucial as it show that
Pinterest posts aren’t buried away
as easily as other social media
platforms.
KEY THEMES
18
#Wayfair
#WayfairAtHome
#WayfairPetSquad
HASHTAGS
Created – 100%
Curated – 0%
CONTENT MIX
Response times are not available
for Pinterest.
RESPONSE RATE
Product information is concise
and detailed, highlighting
features and benefits for the
reader. Also provides links to
website for more information.
Static image 100%
PRODUCT
INFORMATION 40%
The only video content shared
on the Pinterest account are
promotions for the mobile app.
The videos are quick and
engaging, all under 20 seconds.
Static Image 60%
Video 40%
MOBILE APP 15%

19.
INSPIRATION PRODUCT INFORMATION HOW TO
YouTube – Wayfair.com
Social Network Analysis
Videos include themes of
building a home for your family,
a home for your dreams, and a
home on your terms. Very
empowering for their audience.
Video 100%
INSPIRATION 40%
KEY THEMES
19
Hashtags not used
HASHTAGS
Created – 100%
Curated – 0%
CONTENT MIX
Wayfair does not respond to
comments on YouTube. They have
been inactive since Sept. 2019.
RESPONSE RATE
Videos feature new products
and provide details on the
features and benefits of each
product.
Video 100%
PRODUCT
INFORMATION 40%
How To videos demonstrate
easy ways to assemble Wayfair
furniture and provide tips and
tricks for designing and
decorating a home.
Video 100%
HOW TO 20%
Inspiring room ideas,
Product Information,
How To videos
Wayfair empowers their YouTube
videos with storytelling, personifying
their brand and products with life.
Videos include families, newlyweds,
and new homeowners which really
markets to their demographic.

20.
On-Platform
Mission: A space for group members to share (via
their own posts) how they have used Wayfair products
to decorate for the season.
§ Wayfair created the group about a month ago
§ 427 active members
§ Wayfair’s posts do not have hashtags or links to
products, they are simply posing questions to
boost engagement
§ Members are responding positively to this new
group and interacting with other members
Community Management
20
Mission: A community of passionate, home-loving
bloggers who inspire, share, and connect with each
other.
§ Wayfair links members’ profiles and blogs on
Wayfair.com
§ Wayfair is also offering these members social
media exposure, the opportunity to partake in
new campaigns, DIY challenges, live events and
decorating projects, inclusion in weekly blog
roundups, paid promotional placements, free
products, monthly newsletters, and the inside
scoop on all events
§ A community management program to attract
new brand advocates and influencers
SEASONAL SPIRIT FACEBOOK GROUP HOMEMAKER’S COMMUNITY

21.
Off-Platform
Community Management
21
Wayfair established their first
charitable giving program in
2004.
They partner with organizations
that work within communities to
create safe and comfortable
living spaces as they believe a
secure home is the foundation
for well-being.
Every year, Wayfair donates up
to $75,000 to qualified charity
organizations in which Wayfair
employees donate their time,
talent and money.
MISSION: Make home a reality for those in need of
safe shelter and basic household items
Charitable Partnerships Include:
§ American Red Cross Disaster
Relief
§ Bridge Over Troubled Waters
§ Cradles to Crayons
§ Family Aid Boston
§ Habitat for Humanity
§ Home for Little Wanderers
§ More than Words
§ Run to Home Base
§ Travis Mills Foundations

22.
SWOT Analysis
22
STRENGTHES
§ Great storytelling across social media platforms –
Wayfair posts bring to life their products in
everyday homes
§ Quick response time across all social networks
§ Good use of earned media – sharing their
customers using their products and using
Seasonal Spirit Facebook group and
Homemaker’s Community to encourage more
WEAKNESSES
§ Their posts don’t foster engagement or
community building
§ Wayfair isn't utilizing the shopping features for
business pages on social media
§ Very cluttered website - content is very organized
and simple on their social media but the landing
page is quite different
OPPORTUNITIES
§ Further develop a Facebook group for Wayfair
customers and followers to share DIY tips and
product recommendations (beyond Seasonal
Spirit)
§ Refining their website to match the simplicity of
their social media – a landing page is an
extension of your brand
§ Update links on all websites and create posts that
link users to different social media platforms
THREATS
§ Competitors optimizing shopping features offered
by each network (i.e., Facebook Shop, Instagram
product tags)
§ The detention camp scandal as Wayfair has yet to
properly take responsibilities for their actions
§ Competitors (such as Article.) offering superior
customer service practices may influence who
customers choose to purchase from, should more
Wayfair customers experience poor customer
service

23.
Forward-Looking
Recommendations
23
CONTINUE CHANGE
Continue sharing stories within the Wayfair
social media content. Competitors are focusing
on solely showcasing their products but Wayfair
is adding a level of humanity to their brand. An
easy way to continue this is by using a strong
amount of curated content. Repost from the
diverse community Wayfair has established.
We strongly recommend Wayfair to stop ignoring
the detention camp backlash that occurred.
Wayfair remained silent on social media and
never took a stand or responsibility for their
actions. This is a terrible stance for a brand that
promotes charitable programs. Wayfair must
review how the situation was handled and
address their audience that left the brand.
STOP START
Start Wayfair’s own year-round Facebook
community group - a group where people can
connect, share DYI ideas, troubleshoot, give tips
and tricks, and spread inspiration. This would be
a great tool to build a large following while
optimizing engagement. Wayfair can host video
chats, polls, educate, and much more in a
central group on Facebook. They should start
building this community group now!
Social media platforms aren’t being fully
optimized. First, there is a lot of inactivity across
accounts. Wayfair must start using Twitter and
YouTube again, while also making better use of
the Facebook and Instagram shopping features
to promote their products. Competitors like
Article are pushing sells through these shopping
features every single time they post.

24.
Process for
Calculating Metrics
Appendix
Step 1 – Count how many posts were made within a 30 day period. The total was 38.
Step 2 – Created a spreadsheet that had a column for curated vs. created content.
Curated content was determined by the caption. All of Wayfair’s curated posts featured
the @ mention of the person who had originally shared the photo.
Created: 25 / 38 x 100 = 66%
Curated: 13 / 38 x 100 = 34%
Step 3 – The next section of the spreadsheet divided the post into content types:
Inspiring Ideas, How-To, Promotional, Entertaining, and brand news.
Inspiration: 21 / 38 x 100 = 55%
How-To: 5 / 38 x 100 = 13%
Entertainment: 4 / 38 x 100 = 11%
Promotional: 8 / 38 x 100 = 21%
Brand News: 0 / 38 x 100 = 0%
Step 4 – The final section of the spreadsheet further classified the posts by content
format. Word/Static Image, Visual/Multi-Image, Video, Multimedia/Live Video.
Word/Static Image: 28 / 38 x 100 = 74%
Visual/Multi-Image: 0 / 38 x 100 = 0%
Video: 10 / 38 x 100 = 26%
Multi-Media/Live Video: 0 / 38 x 100 = 0%
The same process was used across all social networks.
Instagram (@Wayfair) will be used as the example.
24