RealWebMarketing.net: Reaching Out to Local People with Social Media
Business → Marketing & Advertising
- Author John Eberhard
- Published November 9, 2010
- Word count 567
One of the liabilities of many website marketing activities is that they are national or international in scope. This is great if you are selling, or can sell, your products or services internationally. But not so great if you are a local business servicing only a certain metro area or a smaller section of a metro area.
Pay per click advertising is great for hitting a specific local area. But SEO actions, link building, press releases, and blogging will all tend to draw people from all over.
Social media can be used effectively to target a specific geographical area. The biggest social media sites right now are Facebook and Twitter.
With Twitter, you can follow a strategy to build up a bunch of followers in one geographical area. I use a program called Tweet Adder to add followers. It gives you the option to follow people in a certain city or within a certain number of miles from a certain city. You can keep doing that, and a certain percentage of them will follow you back. By doing this you can build up a large number of followers, all in your local area.
With Facebook it is a little more tricky. I have long followed a strategy of proposing to be Facebook friends with people who have 20 or more friends in common. Recently I switched this to 25 or more friends in common.
So if you are a local business, start out by befriending actual friends of yours in your local city. Then you will need to look at their friend lists and go to the person’s profile and see if they live in your city. If so, and if they have a certain number of friends in common, propose being a Facebook friend. It’s an added step (seeing if they live in your city), but by doing this and being fairly aggressive with it, you can build up a large local Facebook friends list.
What to Post
So after you have a large local friends/followers list on Facebook and Twitter, then what? What do you communicate to those people?
Well Twitter allows you up to 140 characters in your "status updates." Facebook allows 420 characters. So you have to write something short and to the point. Facebook also allows you to post photos and videos.
A strategy that I have found very workable is to start posting one or more posts per day, saying what I am doing with my website marketing business. Like "I am designing a new web site for veterinarian," or "I just closed a new account for search engine optimization," or "I am doing weekly pay per click advertising reports for clients."
This may sound trite or dumb or boring. And maybe it is. But it is amazing that this does create an awareness out there of who I am and what I do. I have seen friends at social functions who have commented that I must be doing really well with my business because they see all this stuff I am posting on Facebook. That is exactly the impression I am working to create – and it’s true to boot. And I get regular reaches and closed business from social media.
This strategy will work equally well for a local dance studio, a photographer, a wedding band, or a home improvement company. Social media can help you reach your local market.
John Eberhard is President of RealWebMarketing.net, (http://www.realwebmarketing.net) an online marketing and web and blog design business specializing in working with small to medium-sized businesses, organizations and government agencies, located in Los Angeles. He is author of an ebook entitled "The Internet Marketing Super Book" available at http://www.realwebmarketing.net/superebook/
Article source: https://articlebiz.comRate article
Article comments
There are no posted comments.
Related articles
- Why Local Businesses Are Choosing to go Local for Web Design
- What is AI Marketing? A Game-Changer for Modern Marketing Strategies
- Essential Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses in 2024
- market design
- 10 Techniques for Achieving a Lean and Efficient Supply Chain
- Understanding Web Hosting: A Complete Guide for Online Marketers
- Digital Marketing
- What Is Customer Relationship Marketing And Why Does It Matter?
- Transform Your Business Potential in Germany with Ready Mailing Team’s Germany Business Mailing List
- Stylish Dresses for Girls: Perfect for Special Occasions
- Airbnb Guest Favorite Badge: A Must-Know for Hosts
- Market Research vs. Consumer Insight: Understanding the Difference and Their Impact on Business Success
- Unveiling the Dynamics of SEO Services: A Comprehensive Guide
- DIGITAL MARKETING: Benefits, Strategies and Future Possibilities
- Local SEO: How It Can Impact Your Local Business
- How to Choose the Best Digital Marketing Agency for Your Business
- Why Gold Remains a Safe Investment in Kuwait’s Changing Economy
- Atish Kumar Singh: A Rising Star in Fiji's Marketing and Business Management Scene
- Business Growth with Ready Mailing Team's Comprehensive Regional Vice President Email List
- Key factors why eBay sales could drop
- The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Digital Marketing
- Achieve Digital Success with BeKonstructive Marketing's SEO Consulting in Brisbane
- Introducing the HIIO Nax with 12000 Puffs: Spark the Extreme Flavor
- What Role Does Data Accuracy Play in Reaching Physicians Amid Shifting Market Trends?
- Pocket Option: Binary Candlestick Patterns
- Building a Strong Brand Fortress with SEO
- How Small Businesses Can Compete with Big Brands: A Guide to Thriving in the Digital Age
- The Impact of 3D Animation in Business: Enhancing Visual Communication and Marketing Strategies
- Steady Slope Marketing: Boost Your Business with Targeted Facebook Ads
- Steady Slope Marketing: Building Strong Brands for Lasting Success