Why Being Local is Your Biggest Asset!
When a local business tells us that they “don’t know what to post”, or “we don’t know how to grow our following on social media” the first thing we tell them is - “YOUR BIGGEST ASSET IS THAT YOU ARE A LOCAL BUSINESS!”
Here’s what we mean:
When you are local, you have the great advantage of knowing exactly where your customers are located and what they are doing and seeing - because you live in the same city!
So the strategy is simple - SATURATE your local area. Make sure everyone who lives in your area knows who you are. The way to do this is engage with other local businesses around you. If you go out to lunch, take a picture and tag the restaurant on Instagram. If you have an employee that goes to the local CrossFit, highlight the employee, and tag the CrossFit in your post. Follow local businesses on your social media pages. Comment on and Like their posts. This not only gets the attention of the business, but also the fans (who will be local people, and your potential customers) of that business. If you continue to do this and participate in local events, etc. people in your community will know who you are and it will create word of mouth for your business.
If you want to take this a step further, you can collaborate with other local businesses in your area. For example each business could give their customers an exclusive coupon for the other business. This will cross-promote your businesses and will be a win-win.
If you want people to #ShopLocal then you are going to have to band together with your neighboring businesses and help promote each other. Everyone will benefit and you’ll have fun doing it too.
In Summary:
- Follow local businesses on your Business social media accounts
- Like and comment on their posts often.
- Take pictures and tag businesses when you or your employees are out and about in your neighborhood.
- Take part in local events such as fundraisers, fairs, etc. Don’t forget to take pictures!
- Collaborate with other local businesses to cross-promote each other’s businesses. This could be a joint event, an exclusive coupon, etc.
As for what to post to promote what YOU do, do this branding exercise HERE.