Building a “Tornado® Community” Focus on New Facebook Site

Nov. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- West Chicago, IL – Tornado® Industries, a division of Tacony Corporation and a leading manufacturer of professional cleaning equipment, announces it has launched a new Facebook site designed specifically for cleaning professionals.

The site is an extension of the company’s TornadoWatch newsletter, which now has more than 7,000 subscribers.

The new Facebook site is intended to help industry professionals meet cleaning challenges in an efficient, effective, and environmentally responsible manner while adding the benefit of sharing two-way communication, Jolynn Kennedy, Marketing Manager for Tornado.

“We took a little time with this [because] we wanted to see what other [jansan] manufacturers have Facebook sites and how they are using them,” says Kennedy. “I think that helped us avoid a lot of trial-and-error and make the site effective and useful right from the start.”

Kennedy says it cannot be understated that more and more people, including those in the professional cleaning industry, are accessing social media sites to gather information, conduct research before making purchases, ask peers for product recommendations, and seek expert advice.  

“With this in mind, our goal is to turn our Facebook site into a ‘Tornado Community’ where everyone has a voice, can join discussions, and can be a part of the conversation,” she says.

Although the number of people in the professional cleaning industry using social media sites is unknown, what is known is that more than 80 percent of Americans visit a social media site at least once per month, many once per week, and that a growing number of these people are using the sites for business purposes.* (See sidebar)

“We also plan to use our Facebook site to address the needs of end customers as well as our distributors,” adds Kennedy. “They are all part of the community we are creating and we want them all involved.”

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* Forrester Research

Sidebar: Who’s using social media?
Forrester Research recently released some stats about U.S. adults who use social media. Some of their findings include:
•   A third of adults post at least once a week to social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter
•   Nearly 60 percent maintain a profile on a social networking site
•   Seventy percent read blogs and tweets and watch UGC (user-generated content) video
•   There appears to be a “graying” of social media with some of the largest growth in social media sites occurring in those 55 years of age and older

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About Tornado, a Tacony Company
Tornado Industries has been engineering quality cleaning equipment for more than 80 years. The company has a long history of developing innovative products and applying the latest technology to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve safety. Tornado prides itself on always being on the cutting edge of cleaning solutions.

Contact Information:
Jolynn Kennedy, Marketing Manager
Tornado® Industries, Inc.
333 Charles Court #109
West Chicago, IL 60185
Phone: 800-Vacuums (800-822-8867); Fax: 630.818.1301
Chicago Phone: (630) 818-1300
e-mail: info@tornadovac.com