Sponsored Content: Home Improvement Chains Should Aim for More, Better Customer Engagement

Last week, the attachable kitchen sink sprayer stopped working. The week before that, a foot-long piece of PVC pipe was a necessary part for an electric bicycle. And before that, someone who didn’t know how to use an 11.1 volt battery accidentally set the living room just a little bit on fire.

Each time, the solution was a visit to a home improvement store. But which one?

Two home improvement chain stores, Lowe’s and Home Depot, are often located within a few miles of one another, providing competitive options for consumers. The difference may come down to building the mousetrap. When it comes to digital presence, who’s got the better tool? Digital marketing company Where2GetIt recently crunched numbers to compare how the two are branding locally and how that is affecting local consumers. These two companies are the focus of this month’s Brand Battle, sponsored by Where2GetIt.

Home Depot trounced Lowe’s, with better social, data quality, reviews and SEO. Lowe’s put up a fight in local advertising. Where2GetIt found that Lowe’s invests about $200,000 more per year than Home Depot on local advertising, suggesting that great spend equals better results. Lowe’s also targets more than 100,000 more keywords than Home Depot, increasing the potential for consumers to find their stores.

The brand scores are based on data analysis that evaluates six branding “pillars” that have potential to drive consumer action: data quality, local SEO, reviews, local advertising, engagement and competition. The pillars all contribute to an overall “brand score” that can gauge how different company locations are performing in local arenas. Company brand scores can be updated every week as marketing strategies are changed.

View all the findings on the Brand Battle page.