Social Media

Local Social Media

The web is now social.

Do you wonder how Facebook and Twitter could possibly help your local business? * Do you “get it”, but don’t know exactly what to do or have the time to set it all up and “manage” it on a consisent basis?

Look at the Facts:

ñ Facebook has over 500 million (that’s 1/2 a billion registered users), which means if they were a country they’d be the 3rd largest in the world. They are currently adding close to 1 million users per month! If that isn’t impressive enough, half of those users interact with Facebook every day or nearly every day for significant periods of time.

So what do they talk about? Mostly they talk about what they’re doing, but that includes what films they’re watching, what music they’re listening to, where they’re going to eat, what books they’ve read andexperiences with businesses.

They also ask questions, sometimes just random philosophophical questions, but more often they ask for answers to questions like “I’m thinking of buying a new camera, any one got any advice?”, or they may ask for recommendations for which reataurant to book for a ‘special’ meal. They may ask about holiday destinations, hotels, airlines, car rental companies, beaches or what diet to follow to lose weight before they take their trip.

So they ask about and recommend on a daily basis and all of their friends (and their friends, their friends “friends” and so on) see the questions and answers and add their own comments, generating an evergrowing “WEB” of “personal recommendations.

How does this affect you and your local business? Imagine that someone comes into your place of business and is unhappy with the service they get from your staff or the product and services they receive – they talk about it to their Facebook friends, most of whom live locally. What are the chances of you getting more business from those friends? Correct! Not much at all!

Now imagine that they’re very happy with the service and products they receive – they talk about it on Facebook in the same fashion (only positive). Isn’t it much more likely that you will receive new business by the droves?
You are 78% more likely to get a new client from a ‘socially influenced’ search than from just a ranking highly in a search engine.

So is Facebook the only social media site you need to use? It’s undoubtedly one of the most important (if not the most important) and if you’re only going to use one, then Facebook is it! However it’s not the only one and the list of social media options grows and changes almost daily.

Reviews are Critical to your Local Business Success!

The way we shop has changed forever. More and more people are starting their search for local products and services online. Local businesses MUST ask for “and” receive reviews from their clients and customers.

Google loves reviews and uses reviews when deciding which results to show when a local search is done. The more reviews (posted in a regular and consistent manner), the better Google likes it.

**People look for reviews and if they have a choice between a product or service with no reviews and a rival’s products or services with reviews, even if your price is lower, they will choose the product or service with reviews 9 TIMES OUT OF 10!