1. The document proposes several blog ideas for Lowe's to engage with customers interested in woodworking and crafts on Tumblr. A "The Wood Shop" blog would provide tutorials, showcase crafts from other sites, and host contests with prizes. 2. A "Big Ideas. Tiny Homes" blog on Tumblr would feature tutorials and stories about tiny homes, as well as informative articles and fun seasonal posts to engage readers interested in tiny living. 3. An "Around the Neighborhood" blog would raise awareness of Lowe's philanthropic work and share stories of community aid projects to appeal to readers interested in social causes.

1. Chad Douglas
ADV6325
Summer 2016
Project 3: Tumblr and Pinterest
7.08.16

2. 1. “The Wood Shop”
Socialmediahasplayedabigpartinthere-popularizing
of woodcraft and the popularizing of woodcraft among
younger people. Sites like Etsy, Pinterest, and Tumblr have
all played a role in the formation of the online woodcraft
community, and a Tumblr page dedicated to the art would be
a perfect fit for Lowe’s. The page would offer everything from
basic to advanced tutorials, including videos from Youtube,
quick and interesting mentions of beautiful crafts from
around the web, such as a chainsaw carving from Vine or a
handmade bowl by an Instagram user. Additionally, Lowe’s
would use this blog to host and promote crafting contests
and offer relevant prizes to the skilled and lucky winners,
such as a Delta brand wood lathe and much more.

3. 2. “Big Ideas. Tiny Homes.”
Tumblr is a gathering place for people in love with
all things tiny housing. Tiny homes have been a trendy
alternative way of living for several years now, and niche DIY
cultures have sprung up all around the topic. This is another
great fit for Lowe’s, and the brand could easily run a blog on
Tumblr dedicated to tiny house tutorials, such as an idea for
space-saving shelving from Instagram, or real-life stories
of tiny home builders and occupants (like the one pictured,
from Youtube). The brand could post its own informative
or opinion pieces on the topic, such as “10 Reasons You
Should Use Solar Power In Your Tiny Home.” Additionally,
the blog could benefit from some simple and fun content,
such as the type of quick and funny one-off posts Tumblr is
fond of. In the example image, the blog includes a seasonal
(in this case, Halloween) post asking followers, “Did you
know that when tiny houses become haunted, the ghosts
shrink to scale?”

4. 3. “Around the Neighborhood”
Among the many types of users that Tumblr attracts
are a significant number who care greatly about philanthropy,
social progress, and charitable and humanitarian causes.
Lowe’s is consistently engaged in many projects and with
many partners in a number of annual programs dedicated
to, among others, building homes for needy families or
impoverished communities. Tumblr would be a great place
to raise awareness and share stories about good work that
Lowe’s, its partners (such as Habitat for Humanity), and
everyday people are doing to aid such efforts nationally
and internationally. Additionally, this would be a great blog
to host similar content directed at other interests, such as
animal welfare. In the example, the blog has shared a “how-
to” tutorial (bottom) from NeighborhoodCats.org, explaining
how to build inexpensive shelters for stray or feral cats. The
example image is constructed in such a way as to show
that this blog would use Tumblr’s “infinite scrolling” feature,
which keeps the background image in place rather than
leading the viewer to the bottom of a page every so many
posts.

5. 4. “On the Farm”
Pinterest is a natural habitat for a brand like Lowe’s,
and for good reason. It’s DIY heaven. Lowe’s is already on
Pinterest and boasts a hefty number of “how-to” boards for
almost every aspect of home improvement. The problem?
Lowe’s pinboards are numerous but lack a niche touch,
which is where boards like “On the Farm” come in to play.
“On the Farm” is a themed pinboard aimed specifically
to cater to the needs of DIYers who live and work on all
manner of ranches or farms. These types of abodes come
with many essential implements that lie outside of normal
homeimprovementcatalogs.Asintheexample,thispinboard
would collect pins about everything from building organized
feed stations to compost bins, rabbit hutches to saddle
racks, and kickboards (and other stable/barn features) to
hay troughs. But there’s more to the lifestyle than caring for
animals or crops. Land management is a big concern for
farmers and ranchers as well, which is why this pinboard
would also feature DIY projects aimed at preventing soil
erosion, pasture/field desertification, pollution, biodiversity
shrinkage, and more.

6. 5. “Green and Off the Grid”
This is another lifestyle themed pinboard aimed
specifically to cater to the needs of DIYers who manage
a sustainable home or choose to live off of subsistence
gardening. “Green” and “off-the-grid” living have recently
grown in popularity among people looking to live simpler,
lessexpensive,orjustmoreindependentlives.Thispinboard
would provide “how-to” pins about everything from building a
proper and efficient greenhouse to bee hives to photovoltaic
cell panels for a solar powered home. It would also catalog
tips and tricks for subsistence gardening, including topics
such as aquaponics, in-ground cellar construction and
storage, and more. This would be a great board to feature
special Lowe’s coupons for Pinterest users. Many people
who choose the “green” life are living on a budget or trying to
build and maintain their homes and manage their lifestyles
as inexpensively as possible. Lowe’s could offer coupons
on select project materials listed in many of the tutorials
pinned to this board. Interested followers could then save
the pin, come in to Lowe’s or shop online, use or present the
Pinterest coupon, and save money on a project they found
via Lowe’s on Pinterest.

7. 6. “Design After Dark”
Most if not all home improvement and beautification
projects have the daylight hours in mind--how people use,
enjoy, and present their homes when the sun is shining.
But, as this pinboard argues, people don’t stop enjoying
their homes after dark, and nighttime becomes a new world
of potential for the DIYer who stays up late.
This pinboard boasts variety galore, providing tutorials
on how to build an attractive and inexpensive fire pit and
bench seating, how to light a sidewalk or garden path with
solar rope lights, how to design an outdoor bar, how to
create a backyard volleyball court that can be used at night,
or even how to theme and design a child’s room to take on
a different, cozier appearance around bedtime. That said,
this pinboard is not just another “DIY lighting” board, but
rather a board that encourages homeowners to think about
how they can improve their homes in ways that add to the
functionality, versatility, and atmosphere of their home that
otherwise becomes more limited after dark. This is a board
for those who are active at night, host evening or nighttime
gatherings, enjoy being outside after sundown, and much
more.