The analysis was originally published on July 2, 2020.
Below is an analysis of the social media presence of SiteOne Landscape Supply, a landscape company based out of Roswell, Georgia. SiteOne has several social media accounts, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. On each of these platforms they have several thousand followers (with the exception of YouTube), and they update regularly with a variety of posts. The Atlanta area company has an estimated worth of just under five billion dollars, with numerous subsidiaries, but their social media still has great room for improvement. SiteOne markets to an audience that’s slightly harder to reach than the average person, but still needs these smaller accounts to help boost their signal. This analysis will outline the ways in which SiteOne could improve their social media presence.
Facebook Presence
It has already been demonstrated that Facebook users like this healthy competition and the opportunity to show off their own work, both to the company and on their own page.
SiteOne’s strongest social media platform is Facebook. Over 26,000 people have liked the page, and another 30,000 follow it. The most post engagement happens on Facebook, although SiteOne has made the mistake of simply posting whatever they have on one platform on every platform. The posts seen on Facebook are the same as the posts on Instagram and Twitter, but different types of posts have different rates of success. The audience on Facebook likes to engage through commenting, whereas the Instagram and Twitter audiences do not. The Facebook posts that do best are the ones that prompt the audience to engage. One particularly successful post from June 3, 2020 read:
What’s the greenest turf pic you’ve ever captured (without using a filter)? Drop it below, then check out these great deals to maintain turf all summer long: http://ow.ly/gPte50zYav6
No post since this one has generated as many comments, at 110. People enthusiastically commented with photos of their own yards. SiteOne’s Facebook needs more of these types of posts that generate user engagement. The videos posted about Covid-19 policies are important and should also hold their place on Facebook, but their series of “Jobsite Jokes” which are landscape themed jokes, do poorly on this page. Hosting contests, and posting calls to action would be much more effective for the Facebook audience.
On May 10, 2020 SiteOne posted this message to their Facebook and Instagram:
Here’s to the moms working in the green industry. You work hard, which is why we work hard to support you. We’re dedicated to empowering your growth with training, networking and expertise through our Women in the Green Growing resource group. Thank you for strengthening our industry, and happy Mother’s Day.
The photo accompanying the caption is a rose with a “Happy Mother’s Day” graphic overlaid. The post received 39 likes on Facebook, and 84 likes on Instagram. This message is important, and sentimental, but has less value on Facebook. Another post could have been made on the same day, potentially with the story function encouraging followers to post pictures of the bouquets they gave their mothers. It has already been demonstrated that Facebook users like this healthy competition and the opportunity to show off their own work, both to the company and on their own page. The company should have also set up a giveaway ahead of time so that the winner could have flowers delivered to their mother on Mother’s Day. That way the audience is engaged with a specific event/holiday but in a way that’s relevant and beneficial to the company. Both of these options would have generated more comments, interaction, and shares than simply a photo and caption.
Instagram Presence
For Instagram, it’s easy to see a trend of what SiteOne’s followers like. Aesthetically pleasing photos of well-lit patios garner the most attention, with 110 to 150 likes each. The posts that are infographics receive about 70 to 80 likes. This mirrors a trend on Instagram as a whole. It’s a visually based social media, so your posts have to be visually pleasing. This is not to say infographics should not be included, but the SiteOne infographics need to be redesigned. The industrial font with green and gray backgrounds is typical of a landscaping supply company, but not visually pleasing. It’s clear they have the resources for better graphic design, and simply need a new, more streamlined appearance for their Instagram posts. The old style may fit in better with the older Facebook audience, but it sticks out like a sore thumb on Instagram where even small businesses have nice graphics. This industrial, neutral route has likely been taken to appeal to a male audience. There is an overwhelming majority of photos of men on the company Instagram, and in 2019 when SiteOne hosted the “Reel Pro” sweepstakes, seemingly only men participated. Men may be the primary audience for SiteOne, but this doesn’t mean the graphics and colors can’t be redone into something cleaner, and cooler. The male audience that’s present on Instagram would appreciate this, as is clear from previous engagement with posts of a higher caliber of graphics
It’s clear they have the resources for better graphic design, and simply need a new, more streamlined appearance for their Instagram posts.
SiteOne doesn’t hold many promos, sales, discounts, or contests. Aside from the “Reel Pro” sweepstakes from 2019, there are no other contests of this nature. Even the “Reel Pro” sweepstakes weren’t held through Instagram, and merely linked to a webpage. Contests and giveaways generate significantly more social media and website engagement than a simple picture and caption post, and they aren’t expensive. Even contests with relatively small prizes create a lot of traffic, since reposting the contest page is generally a requirement. Giveaways have wide success across all sizes of businesses on Instagram and Facebook. By requiring entries to tag friends, follow the account, and share the story, mass amounts of free promotion are spread.
Concluding Remarks
The SiteOne social media doesn’t feature completed projects by the company often, or show off accomplishments from individual stores or people. These more specific posts create the feeling of intimacy even with a large company. Engagement outside of social media is going to turn into engagement within social media, which will help boost SiteOne’s online presence. SiteOne’s tagline “Customer Obsessed” is all over their website and other social media, but there isn’t individual interaction happening frequently. Something as simple as liking the photo or commenting on the picture of turf someone posted goes a long way. People like to feel noticed and appreciated–it’s one of the main functions of social media itself. Twitter is also a great place for these interactions to occur. SiteOne occasionally retweets, but mostly they post the same content that is present on Facebook and Instagram. More frequent, less structured posts would make the company seem more human and engaged with their customers.
In conclusion, SiteOne already has a large following, but they aren’t effectively utilizing it. Given the amount of followers their social media pages have, they should have significantly more comments and likes per post, but their content doesn’t engage or appeal to their audience. Their social media audience is looking for more visually pleasing, less generic, and more interesting content. The company’s main focus should be Facebook and Instagram, with their Twitter serving the purpose of keeping updates about the company and answering questions. SiteOne’s YouTube has very low engagement, but I don’t see it as a viable market given their content and field and should not be the focus of their efforts. SiteOne has the potential to gain more followers and customers fairly quickly if they follow these guidelines to produce relevant, shareable content that serves a multitude of purposes.
Please note that the figures for SiteOne’s media pages have changed since the original publication of this analysis.
Anna Reuter 
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