Home Hardware Stores Limited is Canada’s largest independent home improvement retailer. Founded in 1964 and owned by close to 1,100 independent small business owners, the company is found in communities all over the country, and remains 100% Canadian. Home Hardware is working hard to respond to a changing market and demographics. Having ranked first in Canadian Customer Experience, they are committed to helping Canadians with all of their project needs.

With brands increasingly disappearing from news feeds, ephemeral content such as Instagram Stories are key to staying visible and top-of-mind in 2018. By leveraging these features on an ongoing basis, users will continue to see your brand and can then search back to your profile to view more, like, comment, and tag, which will further boost your impressions by putting you back in their newsfeed and in front of the eyes of their following. In 2017, we saw Snapchat and Instagram stories begin getting access to linking. This has already caused a big splash in influencers driving sales through these mediums. “I expect marketers and influencers to find new and creative ways to leverage the creative, ephemeral, and highly engaging medium of stories to drive massive sales and traffic.” Says Sydney Liu cofounder of Commaful. Have you ever read a post by your favourite blogger, seen a product recommendation from them, and snapped it up right away? This is influencer marketing in action.By utilizing the voice of well-connected people in your niche, you can reach an audience that’s relevant and already engaged to make more sales. And, when 75% of consumers are more likely to buy something based on a reference on social media, it’s easy to see why influencer marketing is heating up.

9 years ago, when I first joined in L’Oréal Group as a PR professional, what I saw my Marketing colleagues doing was paying media, buying advertisement and telling consumers who we are. Today, as consumers turn to social media to seek out beauty secrets, the industry is signing faces for their followings, not just their fame. (Why big beauty brands are courting social media stars) There won’t be any doubt to a marketer that run your social media campaign like your traditional media campaign and you’re likely to see more damage to your brand reputation than benefit and you’ll waste a lot of money doing it. (16 Differences Between Traditional Media and Social Networking)