Can Local Business Leverage Social Media?
I got a Facebook “Friend Request” from a restaurant about 30 miles away from where I live this evening. We didn’t go to Elementary, Middle of High School together, I was never employed with them before, and they’re not my Mother or some distant, estranged 2nd cousin/stalker (that might actually be my role). But there they are, wanting to be my friend, and about to be rejected. But why?
Respect the Social Medium!
I’m not an industry elitist, I promise. It’s just that smaller, local businesses that perhaps stand to gain most from a strong social media presence actually end up treating it with the least amount of respect. I don’t walk into your kitchen and start changing your recipes to one’s that taste like garbage. I trust that you’re going to cook me a delicious meal. That’s all we social media optimizers want to do, we want to cook you a delicious meal made up of a massive, attentive virtual audience that will only ask “how high!” when you say jump!
How Can I Build My Social Media Presence?
The great thing about Social Media is that local businesses are still trying to figure out how to tackle the whole scenario. Plumbing companies wonder if it’s right for them, dance clubs wonder how far is too far, restaurants struggle finding ways to keep things fresh (pun totally intended). It’s complicated for many people, but there are some things you can do as a small business owner to leverage social media for your website.
Make a Fan Page & Not a Friend Page
This is probably the most common issue for local businesses on Facebook. They don’t exactly spell out for you how to create a facebook fan page, and while there’s a lot of information available about how to go about it best, it’s not all that accessible to business owners who don’t know what they’re looking for in the first place.
Creating a Facebook fan page is actually pretty simple and makes a lot more sense to businesses that want to reach out to an audience rather than one or two people. It’s much easier for someone to become a fan of your page than it is to be your friend, and you have access to statistics of your audience so you can give them more of what they want.
Getting Your Business on Twitter
While many of us have a Twitter account and use it regularly, too many don’t truly appreciate the benefit the micro-blogging site can bring. There are a lot of restaurants, dance clubs and other businesses who have a presence on Twitter, but that presence is usually watered down and filled with low quality followers who you don’t want.
Leveraging Twitter is easy for a business that wants to reach out to potential customers with some quick customer service, tips, news or specials throughout the day. Dance clubs and restaurants tweet their specials to anyone who will listen while most just scroll past the tweet, or never see it at all. If you want to build a good presence on Twitter, you have to find out what your audience wants and give that to them in 140 characters or less. It matters what you say, how you say it, how it looks and if you’re active with quality information.
Start a Video Channel for Your Business
Even as some local businesses are beginning to build their presence on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, very very few of them are leveraging the immense power of video online. Creating a video channel on YouTube is a great way to get interactive with customers, to show them a little something behind the curtain that may help to create a bond in some way. Dance clubs can do videos preparing for a Saturday night, promoting special events, concerts and so much more. Restaurants and other businesses also have unique opportunities to take a look inside the restaurant from the point of view of an employee which can humanize and create a bond that can translate to money spent.
The above three ways are just a few of the different things local businesses can do to increase their web presence on the digital social landscape. The great thing about social media is that it’s relatively uncharted and new. If you have an idea, try it. If it doesn’t work, kill it and try something else.
Outsource Your Social Media Promotion!
One of the major reasons small businesses tend to get Social Media wrong is because owners are focused on other, more immediate things and don’t always have the time to create & execute a plan for promoting business through social media. It’s not your fault. There’s just not enough time in the day.
There are a lot (I mean a lot) of companies out there that offer social media optimization for companies of all sizes, websites of all persuasions. Some are much better than others, while others shouldn’t even be in the game. If you’re going to outsource your social media promotion, make sure the company knows what they’re talking about, and that they have a plan for the success of your business on the social media scene.
