In my Social Media Strategy course, I had the opportunity to compare the two largest home improvement retailers (The Home Depot and Lowe's). I analyzed each of their social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and mobile applications. I enjoyed creating this report and is one of my favorite reports I have completed in college.

1. Brand Comparison Report
Mackenzie Jones
Professor Osbon
Mark 4450-Spring 2017
THE HOME DEPOT
THE HOME DEPOT
versus
Lowe’s

2. Execu&ve Summary 1
Company Contacts 2
About The Home Depot 3
About Lowe’s 4
Market Share and Revenue 5
Goals and Strategies
Target Market 6
Store Presence: The Home Depot 7
Store Presence: Lowe’s 8
Sen&ment Analysis 9
Social PlaPorm
Website 11
Facebook 12
Instagram 13
YouTube 14
Pinterest 15
Blog 16
Email 17
Social PlaPorm winner 18
Customer Digital Experience 19-20
Recap 21
Who Nailed It? 22
Meet Mackenzie 23
Table of Contents
TOC

3. Home improvement has been and always will be a vital part of our
everyday lives. Whether it’s home renovations, updating landscapes, or
new construction, consumers and professionals look to these retail stores
for guidance and materials needed to complete a project. The Home
Depot and Lowe’s are the largest retail home improvement chains in
North America with over 4,000 stores collectively in the United States,
Mexico and Canada. Not only do they have brick-and-mortar stores,
both have a strong online presence. The Home Depot and Lowe’s
participate in e-commerce, maintain social media and blogs and have
mobile applications. Each company aims to differentiate, engage with
customers through content marketing, and work to grow their market
share. Throughout this report, I will be outlining each home improvement
brand’s social presence, store presence and their customer digital
experience to determine which brand is most effectively engaging with
customers while retaining the market’s attention.
THE HOME DEPOT
Executive Summary
1

4. THE HOME DEPOT
2455 Paces Ferry Road SE.
Atlanta, GA 30339
1-800-466-3337
www.thehomedepot.com
Lowe’s
1000 Lowe’s Boulevard
Mooresville, NC 28117
704-758-1000
www.lowes.com
Company Contacts
2

5. June 29, 1978- Founded by
Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank
2,274 Stores across
United States, Canada
and Mexico
2010-First brick-and-
mortar retailer with
application for three
smartphone platforms
2014: CEO- Craig Menear
Home Depot
Foundation: Founded
2002, committed to
improving the homes
and lives of U.S veterans
and their families
DMI Mobile Maturity
Model: 2016 U.S. Retail:
The Home Depot Ranked
#1 for desired customer
experience and mobile
functionality
1990- Became the
largest home
improvement retailer
June 22, 1979- First stores
opened in Atlanta, GA
THE HOME DEPOT: A BRIEF HISTORY
3

6. 1946- Founded by Carl H.
Buchan
1840 Stores across
United States, Canada
and Mexico
1982- Had first Billion Dollar
sales year
1994- Stores expanding to
85,000 square space of retail
space throughout country 2014- Mobile Application2005- CEO Robert Niblock
DMI Mobile Maturity
Model: 2016 U.S. Retail:
Lowe’s ranked #6 for
desired customer
experience and mobile
functionality
1990-Second largest home
improvement retailer in the U.S.
Lowe’s: A Brief History
4

7. $94.6 billion-
Sales for Fiscal
2016
$59.1 billion-
Sales for Fiscal
2015
Market Share and Revenue:
The home improvement industry in the United States is valued at about
$313.5b in sales with about 5.9% growth of the market overall. The top two
market share holders are The Home Depot and Lowe’s making up 27.2% and
18.4% respectively. The Home Depot has experienced higher growth over the
past 5 years compared to Lowe’s. Over the last five years, both The Home
Depot and Lowe’s have invested in e-commerce and both are experiencing
growth in this new digital home improvement area.
Stock Market:
NYSE: LOW- 76.90 USD
Stock Market:
NYSE: HD- 144.06 USD
5

8. The Home Depot categorizes their target market into three markets: Do-It-
Yourself, Do-It-For Me, and Professional Customers. (Average age 50, 38%
earned a college degree, and have a yearly income $60,800)
• Do-It-Yourself- Comes to the store with project in mind, utilizes the in-store
team members for guidance, direction to project materials and seek advice
to complete the project own their own.
• Do-It-For Me- Utilize the installation services The Home Depot offers. They
also utilize in-house consulting and third party installation services
• Professional Customers- Professional Contractors, renovators, interior
designers, builders, landscapers and others. They utilize the PRO offers,
delivery options, and is a loyal customer.
Target Market
Lowe’s categorizes its self into two markets- retail customers and professional
customers. Like The Home Depot, Lowe’s focus on those individuals looking to
improve their home and landscape, however Lowe’s as an edge with female
customers. (Average age 49, 35% earned a college degree and have a yearly
income $54,000)
• Retail Customers- Looking for products to assist them with home
improvement projects, home landscaping updates, Do-It-Yourself workshops,
and seek assistance/guidance from store professionals
• Professional Customers- Builders, interior designers, and other professionals
looking for products that can assist them to complete these jobs.
6

9. Store Presence:
The Home Depot catches
consumers eyes with their bold
orange and contrasting white.
When you walk into the store
you enter into a large open retail
space with hanging signage that
will easily direct you to which
department you are looking for.
There are helpful staff wearing
bright orange aprons, team
members express their
personality by painting their
name and personal
characteristics on aprons as well.
Customers also have The Home
Depot mobile app to help them
navigate isles, check inventory,
and read customer reviews on
products as they shop in the
store. If a customer cannot come
into a physical store, The Home
Depot website offers all products
online, “endless isles”, with the
options of shipping the products
to the store, their home or from
store to their home. There are
many displays for DIY projects
with ties back to their Pinterest,
website and blog platforms.
7

10. Store Presence:
Lowe’s welcomes customers
into their warehouse sized
home improvement store with
their signature blue, white and
red color scheme. Like The
Home Depot, when customers
enter the store they are easily
directed by over hanging
signage indicating where
certain products to complete
your home improvement
project are located. Each store
has a large selection of
products for every type of
customer from first time home
improvement buyers to
professional contractors.
Employees are readily
available to assist customers
and are recognizable by their
red vests. Their mobile
application also has the ability
to help customers quickly
locate products in store,
determine inventory of
products and order products
from their mobile device. In-
Store How-To classes are also
available for customers.
8

11. Sentiment Analysis
Strength
84%
Sentiment
4:1
Passion
44%
Reach
74%
Strength
41%
Sentiment
7:1
Passion
42%
Reach
33%
*Based on daily averages from SocialMen5on.com
By conducting a sentiment analysis, it was found that The Home Depot has more individuals talking
about the brand online. Lowe’s generally has a higher ratio of positive comments online to negative
comments about their brand. The Home Depot has about a 40% higher reach than Lowe’s, meaning
they have more unique users talking about their brand online and on social media platforms. Both
brands relatively have similar passion scores, but there is a 2% higher likelihood that customers who
are talking about The Home Depot online will do so again . The Home Depot’s strength of being
talked about online is also about 40% higher than that of Lowes. Overall, from conducting a sentiment
analysis on both brands, it appears that The Home Depot has a stronger social media presence than
its competitor, Lowe’s. I will now compare each brand on several social media and consumer digital
experience platforms to determine which brand “nails” each social platform.
Strength:
Likelihood the
brand is being
talked about
online
Sentiment:
Ratio of
generally
positive to
negative
comment on
social media
Passion:
Likelihood
people who are
talking about
the brand online
will do so againReach: Number
of unique
visitors talking
about a brand
divided by the
number of
mentions
9

12. Social Platforms
The Home Depot and Lowe’s will be compared on the following Social Media Platforms: Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Blogs and Email.
A Gold Hammer indicates the company that has “won” the Key Performance Indicator for that platform. The
more gold hammers a company accumulates, the better their social platform.
10

13. Website
Both brands have similar
ecommerce websites that allow
consumers to shop for products
online, company information,
DIY projects and current
promotions. The Home Depot
has higher traffic ranking
globally (450) and in the United
States (86) compared to Lowe’s
(Globally 990, United States
178). The Home Depot has a
robust e-commerce strategy that
has resulted in high growth in
the online market, with about
5.6% of sales in Q3 of 2016,
huge growth from 1% in 2011.
The Home Depot recognized that
investing in ecommerce was
essential but allowing the
customer to pick their product up
in store and have the ability to
ask product related questions to
professionals was even more
important. Competitors, such as
Lowe’s, are modeling this online
and delivery service to help
grow their online traffic and e-
commerce growth. The Home
Depot “nails” website!
11

14. Facebook THE HOME DEPOT Lowe’s
Likes 2,830,768 3,934,463
Check-ins 3,290,330 2,252,266
People talking
about brand
41,562 87,771
Both Lowe’s and The Home
Depot have a very active and
atheistically pleasing Facebook
pages. Each fill their posts with
in-store promotions, online
deals, do-it-yourself ideas and
tips on completing home
improvement projects. Lowe’s
has over 1 million more likes
and over 40,000 users talking
about their brand. Though
Lowe’s is dominating in “likes”
and strength on Facebook, The
Home Depot has about a million
more individuals “checking-in”
to their store locations. Lowe’s
has a higher response rate to
individuals comments on their
posts, complaints and general
questions than The Home Depot.
Overall, not only does Lowes
have higher likes and more
people talking about the brand,
but they engage with users
more and respond to complaints
faster than The Home Depot.
Lowe’s “nails” Facebook!
Facebook
12
KeyPerformanceIndicators

15. Instagram THE HOME DEPOT Lowes
Followers 320,000 371,000
Posts 1,212 1,271
Average Likes* 3,205.2 1884
Average
Consumer
Comment *
40.8 27.2
*Based on 5 Posts before 2/21/17
Lowe’s and The Home Depot
have similar Instagram
content and highlight different
home renovations followers
can complete. Lowe’s has
51,000 more followers than
The Home Depot, yet The
Home Depot seems to have
more likes and followers
commenting on their posts.
The Home Depot’s Instagram
content appears to be more
popular with their followers,
thus receiving more likes per
post compared to Lowe’s.
Several of The Home Depots
posts include user generated
content highlighting customers
home renovation projects,
cute puppies in their orange
shopping carts and the Do-It-
Yourself personality. Lowe’s,
though they have more
followers, seems to be missing
the engagement with user
factor on this social platform.
The Home Depot “nails”
Instagram!
Instagram
13
KeyPerformanceIndicators

16. YouTube
YouTube THE HOME DEPOT Lowes
Subscribers 134,915 271,269
Average Views 2079.8 3641.2
*Based on last 5 videos before 2/21/17
When it comes to YouTube,
Lowe’s has a strong channel
and appeals to more
individuals. Lowe’s has over
130,000 more subscribers to
their channel and about 1,500
more average views per
video. Their “The Weekender”
series is an absolute hit with
their audience . This campaign
highlights a women
completing home improvement
projects on her weekend off.
They go step by step and
show that even the busiest
woman can complete her
Pinterest projects. In
comparison, The Home
Depot’s YouTube focuses more
on traditionally “manly”
content such as “grills”(shown
to right) and is lack-luster in
their video descriptions
compared to Lowe’s. Lowe’s
has double the amount of
views, subscribers and has
more exciting video content.
Lowe’s “nails” Youtube!
Do-It Yourself Campaign
description: ”Home-grown
fruits and veggies always
taste better”
The Weekender Campaign: description: “DIY
daredevil Monica Mangin Tackles Tess and Barry’s
neglected outdoor patio nook in the heart of NYC.
Can She pull off a total transformation in just 2
days?”
14
KeyPerformanceIndicators

17. Pinterest
Pinterest THE HOME DEPOT Lowes
Followers 554,148 3,428,630
Pins 4,896,974 1,008,463
Pinterest is a superb
platform for each brand to
showcase DIY projects,
product offerings and to tie
together other social
platforms together. Both
Lowe’s and The Home
Depot utilize user generated
content, atheistically
pleasing photos and
categorizes their Pinterest
boards into different home
improvement projects.
Lowe’s is a clear winner in
captivating the Pinterest
community and does an
excellent job tying together
other social platforms, such
as The Weekend series on
YouTube. The Home Depot
has more pins but not
necessarily more pinners
following what that are
pinning. Lowe’s “nails”
Pinterest!
15
KeyPerformanceIndicators

18. A blog is the perfect way to
display do-it-your self projects
and share ideas. The Home
Depot’s blog is captivating and
very informational. The blog
highlights different home
improvement ideas, DIY
projects, recipes, and the best
part is integrating their blog
with their Pinterest account. By
allowing blog readers to Pin
their posts, they are effectively
exposing readers to another
social platform where they can
learn more about their product
offering. Lowe’s blog is not as
exciting in comparison to their
other social platforms. Visitors
have to scroll down the landing
page to find different content
instead of having a dashboard
menu to find things faster.
Lowe’s does do a good job of
incorporating their YouTube
channel at the bottom of the
landing page. The Home
Depot “nails” blogs!
Blog
16

19. Both brands offer an email
subscription than sends
subscribers special offers, home
improvement ideas, links to
website/mobile application and
current product offerings.
When signing up for the Lowe’s
email, I received a pop up
thanking me for signing up and
it took several hours to receive
my first email. As soon as I
signed up for The Home Depot
email subscription, immediately
the landing page had a large
thank you and notifying me
that a $5 coupon was waiting
for me. Also, the email included
information about their mobile
application, stores near me and
links to their website. Once the
initial email was received, both
brands had similar email
newsletters. The Home Depot
makes a stronger first
impression with email
subscribers by acknowledging
them as “great customers” and
reward them for a newsletter
sign up conversion. The Home
Depot “nails” emails!
Email
17

20. Social Platform Winner
THE HOME DEPOT Lowe’s
Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Pinterest
Blog
Email
Overall, The Home Depot effectively engages in social platforms and connects with consumers,
while driving growth with home improvement e-commerce. Their website, Instagram, blog and
email are superb to Lowe’s, and have the opportunity to grow in the Facebook, YouTube and
Pinterest platforms. The Home Depot has the reach, passion and strength to continue excelling at
exceeding consumer expectations through a digital and social platforms. The Home Depot
recognizes the potential that creating an integrated digital and physical retail store experience
has, they are exceeding expectations and setting retail standards, not just in the home
improvement industry.
18

21. Customer Digital Experience
19

22. The Home Depot
DMI conducted a study to determine what customers want from their mobile to enhance their in
store experience. Their Mobile Maturity Model: 2016 U.S. Retail, ranked The Home Depot #1 by
meeting consumers top 6 desired experiences: inventory, store guidance, product review, pricing,
personalization and checkout/loyalty. The Home Depots mobile app provides users the best
experience possible, as seen throughout the comparison, providing reviews, guidance, product
reviews, paint color matching, inventory checks and much more. Lowes’s mobile application
ranked #7 by DMI and fall short on some characteristics that The Home Depot is dominating.
Overall, The Home Depot “nails” consumer digital experience.
Lowes
20

23. THE HOME DEPOT Lowe’s
Store Presence
Website
Sentiment Analysis
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Pinterest
Blog
Email
Digital Experience
Recap
21

24. THE HOME DEPOT NAILED IT!
22

25. Meet Mackenzie
Mackenzie Jones
Terry College Of Business:
Marketing-Sales Emphasis
Graduation: May 2017
(678)-596-8737
Email:mnj22481@uga.edu
mackenzienjones.com
My father and I at The Home Depot
on Black Friday
My dog Phi helping me with a DIY
project!