Wirral Mums Guide to Building Local Business with Social Media
INTRODUCTION One of the biggest expenses that any local business has is advertising. If you ask successful business owners what they'd do differently at start up now that they have the benefit of hindsight they'd answer "... allocate more money for advertising and marketing". Thankfully, today we have so many more avenues available for advertising and marketing than ever before. Best of all, we have social media. Local businesses can and should take advantage of online marketing via social media. It's simple to get started and any type of business can benefit from it. What's more, online marketing costs less and is more effective than traditional print media marketing. The best way to break into online marketing for your local business is to start with social media. Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ are all social media platforms that you've likely heard of and even use now for personal matters. You can use them all free except for the time you invest to market and build your business fast.
How Social Media Helps Local Businesses Social media can help build a local business in a number of ways. Plus, as a local business you really cannot afford to miss out on using social media to its full potential as a marketing channel. Due to the low cost of entry, and the proliferation of customer use of mobile devices to access information, if you're not using social media to promote your business you're missing out on a large piece of the business pie. You can use social media to: # Monitor social buzz Whether you realize it or not, people are talking about your business. They're discussing it in person and on their social media accounts. Whether they're simply "checking in," or photographing an entree, or making a simple comment about the service at your place of business, there is always going to be talk. Social media is the new "water cooler" today. You want to be aware of what people are talking about. You can use special applications to monitor what people are already saying about your business. Then you can even turn the conversations to your benefit
and have some control over what people are saying by your own actions on social media. # Humanize your brand So often business gets separated from the people that make up the business. Your business is more than the products and services you offer; it is also the people who run it and provide service to each customer, and it is the customers. By participating in social media, and by asking your staff to participate on your business's behalf, you will humanize your business, creating a situation where customers become more loyal the more connected they feel to your business. The public will realize that there are real people there, and you will realize that your customers are real people too. # Establish expertise Social media is also a great way to show how much of an expert you are about your niche. You can write articles and blog posts about topics of interest to your target audience and about your products and services, and share them across all your social media channels. Before you know it, you'll be the go-to person for your niche. Becoming an expert about your niche requires a little time and effort, but it can be done easily by simply blogging, or video blogging (or both) about your niche, then promoting it through all your social media accounts. Do this regularly and before you know it, you're an established expert. # Build loyalty When people get to know you via social media and see all that you're doing for your niche, they become loyal followers of yours. They will be raving fans who will shout from the rooftops about how great you and your products and services are to anyone who will listen. You'll start slowly building relationships via social media, where you share what they have to say and they reciprocate. But, don't deviate from what your brand stands for. Keep your social media activities, branding, message and mission statement the same through all channels and you'll develop a loyal following.
# Improve SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a buzz word that you may have heard of. Essentially, SEO is a way to help people find your material via search engine traffic. When someone types in a search term or phrase into the box on Google Search and hits enter, they are returned a number of results. You want to be at the top of these results without paying for advertising. One way to accomplish that is to keep a steady stream of content on your websites, blogs, and social media accounts. These will show that you're a real, active person, with a real business that other people value. The search engines are getting better and better at identifying both international and local businesses to the right people at the right time. By participating in social media marketing with your business, you will improve your SEO exponentially.
Dangers Inherent in Social Media for Business Before we continue, let's talk about some of the dangers of using social media for business. There are always pitfalls in every program and strategy that you choose to use to promote your business. Let's get them out of the way now, so that you can start off in the most successful way possible. * Not seeing social media as just another tool People get so tied up in wanting social media to be the end all and end all of their entire marketing program. But, realize this: Social media marketing is just marketing, using the tool of social media to accomplish it. Social media has many different marketing channels available such as Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn. But they are all simply tools to use to promote your business socially. * Starting on social media without the right infrastructure Social media is an addition to your marketing mix, not the entire thing. Before you can be successful with social media marketing for your business, you need to have the right infrastructure set up. You need a good email marketing program like AWeber, you need a good website with a blog that is easy to update, and you need a good overall message that is tailored toward your target audience. Only then can you develop a social media strategy that will work. * Focusing on selling over relationship building
Many people get on social media and start right off by promoting selling. However, social media is "social" first, and you should be, too. Selling is almost beside the point of social media. Instead, use social media to establish yourself as a helpful expert in your niche. Use social media to respond to customers rather than mindlessly promoting the next thing. Show yourself as a real person who cares about customers. * Making social media a one-person job If you have staff in your business, everyone can be involved in social media. You might have one person in charge of most of the activity, but there needs to be freedom among all staff to join in on the conversation of social media. Getting more people in your company involved in social media will help organize the tasks involved in social media such as listening and responding. Having more than one person will ensure that you never miss an opportunity. * Not studying social media metrics First of all, in order to study any metrics you need to have a baseline or goal decided upon in which to determine success or failure. One thing that is so awesome about social media is that it is so measurable. You really can see the results of your labours. Remember to not only study how many followers or "likes" you get on various social media accounts, but also to study the interactions and how people answer your calls to action. Once you realize the amazing addition that social media will be to your business, you'll realize also that everyone can take part. You wouldn't want just one person greeting customers who walk into your store, would you? You'd want every person who works for you to acknowledge the customer as they see them. It should be no different for social media. Social media is, after all, just another tool (like a phone) in which to engage with customers and potential customers.
Determine Which Social Media You Should Use As you get started, it's important to be strategic about which social media you plan to use. It's tempting to get started with "all" of them, but it's really better to begin with just one or two at a time and build up each addition before moving on to the next. The major social media or most popular accounts for local business are: # Yelp
This is a popular review website that users go to in order to find out information about a local business before buying or visiting. By claiming your business and filling out all the information, you'll automatically be more easily found. You can upload photographs and make your profile really strong and compelling, encouraging readers to visit your store. What's more, you can check out your competitors as well. This is always a great thing to do so that you can do what you do better. Being aware of competition is always a good thing. But, more importantly, you can actually respond to your customer reviews, including the negative ones in a constructive way that might change someone who was not happy into someone who is happy. Yelp is completely mobile accessible to all your customers and potential customers. Plus, you can use Yelp metrics to improve your online presence dramatically. You can even advertise on the site if you choose. # Twitter Ranking about 8 or 9 on any given day as the most popular website on the net, Twitter is a must for most local businesses. It's a great way to quickly share information with your followers, build relationships, and monitor the buzz about your business. You can use Twitter to build brand awareness, provide customer service, promote products and events, and encourage lead generation via sharable promotions. You can also use Twitter to perform market research by doing searches for various keywords. Some people even use it to find new employees. Having an active Twitter account will also improve your search engine rankings. Being involved with Twitter doesn't take that much time; you can literally do it in 10 minutes a day if you use all the tools available to you and have a plan of action to reach the goals you set for yourself. # Facebook You probably already have a personal Facebook page, so you know how easy it is to use. This explains why more small businesses use Facebook as their main social media tool for business promotion than all the others combined. And, rather recently Facebook has launched an all-out effort to garner more information about local businesses with their Open Graph technology.
Facebook is asking for much more information now than in the past, in hopes of becoming a local search destination for consumers looking for products and services to buy locally. They are also including business pages in search results when people are using their mobile devices. This is great news for your local business. Your customers will not only see who among their friends have checked in at your place of business, but will also see your business as a nearby business even if no friends have checked in. This will give consumers another option and give you as a business a huge advantage. # Pinterest Pinterest lets you create pin boards, or visual representations to people, places and things that are important to you. If you have a highly visual business, then Pinterest is a great place for you to spend your time promoting your business. It might be a little harder to see using it for non-visual work, but with a little imagination anything is possible. Pinterest also allows for local businesses to stand out through their business accounts. Fill out the profile completely using keywords that someone might use to search for you, such as your location and niche. Then put a "pin it" button on your blogs and websites so that your content can be shared by others who use Pinterest. The key with Pinterest is to write excellent descriptions and to pin regularly, creating themed boards that are focused on attracting the people you want to visit your business. Don't forget that you can use video on Pinterest as well as images. This may give you brand-new ideas on how to use this visual social media. # Google+ Local Like Yelp, Google+ Local allows people to write reviews about your business. It is important that you fill out your Google+ Local business profile completely. Remember that most online searches result in offline purchases, and if you're not visible in the search you will miss out. Google always delivers local search first in their regular search. By optimizing your Google+ Business page you will end up in those results. Ask people to complete reviews on your Google+ Local page, as positive reviews are very effective in moving you up the search engine ladder.
If you have not yet claimed your Google+ Local Page and your Google+ Business Page, do it now. By ensuring that both are filled out completely using all the keywords, links and images that you can muster, you'll create a very powerful way for your customers to find you. Google requires a verification process that takes 7 to 10 days to complete which will enable you to merge your Google+ account with your Google+ Local page. # LinkedIn This is the most buttoned-up version of social media that exists today. On LinkedIn you are all business, all the time. You can only connect to people you know, or be introduced to people you know via your connections. This makes it a little more challenging, but not impossible, to garner a large network of connections. You can create a personal account and a business page on LinkedIn. It is advisable to do both. Complete the profile for both without leaving any information out. The more information you have on LinkedIn, the better. Also, keep the profiles up-to-date by checking them regularly. Next, participate on LinkedIn by connecting to everyone you know and starting to interact with people. Share updates to your websites, blogs, and business announcements. You can use LinkedIn to hire people locally to fill openings in your business. You can even create a private group for employees, or customers. Each social media site has its advantages and uses. Yelp is very popular for food-based businesses, while LinkedIn is used often by sales professionals. All of the sites above can be used by most local businesses to improve search results and get local foot traffic right to your door. What's most important is that you study each type of social media, determine whether or not your target audience participates there, and if they do, chose that one and get started.
How to Get Started Using Social Media to Build Your Business It's not hard to get started with using social media to build your local business. All you need is a computer with an internet connection. But, if you really want to do it right it is highly suggested that you first create a website with a blog component that you can be proud to promote. You also need a newsletter or email list sign-up which you can get through a company like AWeber or MailChimp.com.
* Build a website with a blog Self-hosted WordPress websites are simple to build and easy to keep up to date. They are different from the Wordpress.com blog you may be familiar with, so don't get confused by the word "WordPress". Instead go to and familiarize yourself with WordPress so that you can either build the site yourself or know how to hire someone. If you can use online banking, it's entirely possible you can learn how to use WordPress to build a good business website with a blog. * Populate your website with content Once you have a website with a blog, start populating the blog with content on a regular basis - three to five times a week at least; daily if possible. Filling your blog with content is not really as difficult as it might seem at first. If you think in terms of short blog posts of 300 to 500 words each that are micro focused on one tiny topic or subject at a time, you can come up with never-ending amounts of content for your business website and blog. * Create an email list or newsletter Using a system like AWeber or MailChimp, you can grab code to put into your website that allows people to sign up for your updates by providing their email address. This is your best way to really relate to your audience for the long term. You will use all social media to send people to your site, and ultimately to your email list and your business. * Choose which social media sites you will use Study some of the social media mentioned in this report and choose one or two on which to focus. Only move on to more after you've mastered the first couple of social media sites. Having many social media sites with no action will not help you promote and build your local business as much as having fewer social media sites and participating will. Remember, one of the most important elements of social media is the word "social". You'll need to be social to make it work.
* Create compelling social media profiles Regardless of which social media you choose to use to promote your business, you will need to fill out profiles for them. The elements of a compelling profile are really the
same for each type of social media. The only difference comes into play when the profile is about your business or about you. Be sure to keep these straight. => Be real - You wouldn't choose a fake name for your business, so if you create personal profiles as well as business profiles, be yourself. Use your real name, and your real title. Don't be shy. But, remember that everything you put there your customers can see - so while you need to be real, remember to also keep some things private. => Choose awesome images - Your avatar or profile image should match the destination. On LinkedIn it needs to be super professional, while on Facebook and Twitter it can be a little more relaxed and friendly. When choosing images to promote your business, make sure that they are true representations of what someone can expect when they show up at your door. => Use keywords - All profiles are excellent spots to include keywords in a natural way. You don't want to just list a bunch of keywords out of context, but as you write the information about yourself and/or your business, think about what keywords and phrases someone might use to find you. You want to attract your target audience to your profile. => Remember whitespace - If possible, depending on which type of social media you're using, remember to take advantage of whitespace by using bullet points. Most people scan when reading on the net, so make it easy by creating headlines and bullet points that people can see at a glance.
Use Social Media to Build Relationships Once you have your profiles set up and you are ready to promote your business, remember that first you need to build relationships. You will need to friend, follow, or like people that are important to your business. You can also invite others to friend, follow or like you. Ensure that the people that you do invite or choose to connect with are purposeful.
If you own a bakery, it doesn't make much sense to follow/friend/like other bakeries in the area, for example. Instead, you might want to run an advertisement on Facebook targeted to the people who have liked the bakery that is your competition. You can like suppliers, sales people, and people who might want to be customers of your business.
Once you have a number of people that you are connected with, it's important to start to build the relationships by sharing important information about your niche. Perhaps you, as a baker, have just invented a delicious gluten free muffin. Share that information with your followers. Provide information about why gluten free is good for the health in addition to the information about your new muffin. Ask your followers to share this information with their friends. Return the favour. If your followers share valuable information that your target audience would enjoy, feel free to share it too. People will reciprocate. If most of the information you share is useful, valuable, and engaging, people will grow to trust you.
Use Social Media to Drive Traffic The biggest value in social media is the ability to drive traffic to your website, and ultimately to your business. Having a local focus on all of your blog posts and information that you share will encourage people to click through and look at your website, and then from your website perhaps they'll join your newsletter, and from your newsletter they might end up with a coupon that they can use next time they travel to your local business. It can work in the reverse too. If someone finds your website first, they can click through and join your social media sites to get updates. It's a wonderful circle of activity that will help you build your business and grow your profits. After all, more awareness of your products and services will mean more business. You just have to do the work involved setting up the system so that you know what your goals are for every activity that you do.
Tools to Help You Grow Faster While social media is a tool in and of itself, there are additional tools available to help make using social media to build your business easier, thus helping you grow your business faster. Investing in these tools can take your social media marketing to a higher level, increasing your profit and essentially pay for themselves. * Social Passport - You can use this system to create a loyalty card program that uses their mobile phone to track purchases, and coupon system that gets results. You'll drive traffic to your store, and be able to reward your customers for their purchases easily.
* HootSuite - Use this software to manage and measure your social media sites. You can manage multiple networks, schedule messages, track mentions, and more using HootSuite. They have many different plans and pricing that can fit any business, including a small local business. * YouTube - This is a social media network on its own, but it's also a great place to store all your videos that you may want to share via your other social networks and on your blog. Customers love video "how tos" and most people use YouTube, so if you want to include video blogging consider using this popular tool. * WildFire - This allows you to create beautiful promotions via giveaways, coupons, sales, and more via contests. This app will increase engagement amount your social media followers, thus increasing the likelihood of them visiting your business and making a purchase. * Contractors - While not really a "tool," it's certainly something very useful to any business owner who wants to make the most out of using social media to build their local business. Hiring contractors who are experts in social media marketing can help take your social media to the next level, and take some of it off your plate. You can hire people who know it all and plan it all and do it all, or you can just hire someone to do the tasks you assign them. It's up to you. Before implementing any social media management tools, know what you're trying to accomplish. Avoid too much automation because you want to be able to interact on a real level with your audience. Consider automatic scheduling sharing of blog posts, but answer questions in person. You need a mix of automation and personalization to make it work on social media.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Having started to use social media, make the most of it by avoiding some of these common mistakes: * Not getting involved in the social aspects of social media - Using social media to build your business is like using small parties to promote your business. You would not go to a chamber event and stand in the corner. No, you would go up and introduce yourself to the movers and shakers at that event. You need to do the same on social media. * Using inconsistent branding across social media channels - Just because you join social media, it is not time to reinvent your brand image. Your brand needs to remain
the same whether it's on print stationary or online. Your message should resonate with your target audience outside of the media that you use to communicate it. * Always promoting features over benefits - Your friends, followers, likes, customers, potential customers don't care about the features of your product or really that much about you. We are sorry to say that, but it's true. They want to know how your product or service benefits them, and what's in it for them. Be sure to let them know. * Not evaluating a particular social network before jumping - Your target audience is not using all social media sites. Study a social media network before joining to ensure that your target audience is there before jumping in full force. No point in wasting time if your target audience is not there. * Being everywhere inconsistently - You don't have to be everywhere to make social media work for building your business. Better to choose one or two social media sites to focus on completely than to choose them all and be inconsistent and unavailable. Simply opening a social media account doesn't mean you're using social media. * Being stuck on the word "free" - While social media is technically free, you do have to spend time on it, and you may need to pay others to help you. Some of the tools you need to use to keep going are also not free. It's okay to spend money within your marketing budget on social media to make it work. * Being too transparent - As a small business owner it's okay to share personal stories and personal information to a point, but when you cross the line and start complaining about customers, or attack a complaining customer publically, that is going too far. Always take a step back before responding or posting. If someone complains, deal with it in a positive manner by taking responsibility. Don't attack. Be personable but be professional. * Not focusing on quality - This works with quality of posts, quality of shares, quality of connections and quality of the relationships. Quality is always more important than quantity, regardless of what side you're coming from. When you focus on building relationships with the right people, in the right way, you'll see success.
To Wrap Up Over 70 percent of adults use social media today. That number is growing by leaps and bounds. Did you know that mobile devices are outselling personal computers now? This
means that you can have access to all your customers, right at their fingertips. Never before in history have you had such access to your customers. Customers use social media for a variety of reasons but one is to seek opinions from others before they make a purchase. People did this prior to social media, but it was done over the phone out of earshot of business. Today it's done over the net, where business owners can pay attention and watch and even control the buzz. It's word-ofmouth marketing on steroids. Nothing could be better for your small business than being involved in social media to build your local business. By joining a couple social media sites, participating fully, and sharing valuable engaging information with your fans, you'll soon find that you have built a bigger business with a higher profit than you ever thought possible.