We tend to keep tabs on the huge companies out there who are really
killing it on social media. Campaigns like those put forth by the likes
of Oreo or Ford stay on our radar because they set the trends. What you
may not know is that social media marketing can extend into the local
market as well. In fact, a report put together by BIA/Kelsey for
Surefire Social showed that 60% of franchise businesses use their
Facebook pages for local promotions. This well surpasses the percentage
of national brands that use other promotional efforts to target the
local space, with 43.2% saying they use newspapers and just 36.8%
indicating they use email marketing.
So how can you get in on this rising trend? We’ve put together some
helpful tips for targeting the local market with your social media
efforts. The good news here is you’ll find it doesn’t differ that
dramatically from nationwide campaigns. You just–as you’d might
expect–have to be more focused.
Step 1: Claim Your Local Profiles
There are many social sites dedicated to providing information about
local businesses. It’s important you have control over your profiles on
these sites to ensure the information there is correct and up-to-date.
It also has a tremendous impact on your SEO, since these sites tend to
rank high and having a profile on them increases the likelihood people
will be able to find you using “city name + industry” search queries.
A few sites you need to sign up for and/or claim your profiles on include:
You’ll also want to make sure you have profiles on all of the major
social media sites that apply to your industry. Regardless, Facebook and
Twitter are a must.Step 2: Take Full Advantage of Google
We already mentioned that you need to claim your Google Places
listing but there’s a bit more to it than that. You see, having a
Google+ page for your business and utilizing Google Maps can increase
search traffic to your site. The more complete your profile is, the more
likely it is it will appear at the top of personalized search results
for your local demographic. In case you need more convincing, nearly 40%
of national brands utilize Google site services to increase brand
recognition in search, especially in local search. So, you would be
remiss if you didn’t follow suit.
Step 3: Optimize Your Facebook Page
If you don’t have one already, now is the time to create a Facebook Page for
your business. Just select “Local Business or Place” and you’ll be off
to the races. Fill out all of your details. While you can update your
Page at any time, it’s a good idea to fill out every section of the Page
when first setting it up. Why put it off? And the more complete your
information is, the more it will appeal to your target audience. It also
increases the likelihood your Page will appear within the site’s
internal search results.
Step 4: Don’t Forget About LinkedIn
You have a LinkedIn profile already, right? What about a LinkedIn
Company page? While they’re not exactly known for being hubs of
activity, it’s still important to have a page for your business on the
site. It’s yet another place online where people can find out about your
company and another place where you can include the location
information for your business. Making the effort here makes your
business more findable. And that’s essential in the competitive local
business landscape.
Step 5: Promote Wisely
Once all of your profiles are set up, you can start actually, you
know, using them. This means posting about promotions you’re running at
your store or local events you’ll be attending. It means posting the
occasional coupon or discount and interacting with your fans and
followers. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Be
mindful of how often you post. And don’t make it all about yourself all
the time. Showing an authentic side is always appealing, regardless of
industry.
Step 6: Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Social media marketing isn’t something you can schedule and walk away
from. Well, it technically is in that you can schedule your posts and
promotions well in advance. But you need to stick around to interact
with people as they comment, share, like, mention, and so forth. You
need to show your human side to make the most out of your efforts. If
all you do is schedule posts and don’t engage with your followers, your
local campaign will be doomed from the start.
Local marketing more so than any other approach is personal. People
patronize local businesses because they genuinely like them. If you seem
robotic, how can you ever expect people to like you? Keep that in mind
as you develop your own local campaign.
Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
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