Many larger brands really get it when it comes to utilizing social media in their marketing, if they have a local branch they have Google Places set up through a Google Plus account, they will sometimes have a locally geocentric Facebook page and then of course Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram. I have also had the benefit of watching how forward thinking merchants interact with my wife and daughter via these social media channels and their smartphones. In this article I want to go into more detail about how to structure a social media network to reach out to your local market, how to optimize for local SEO and claim your Google Places page if you haven’t done so, then tying it into mobile through mobile apps and SMS marketing.
On the larger brand side, AmEx has implemented a program called Small Business Saturday that is a win-win for all involved, the consumer, the merchants, and AmEx. In order to encourage support for local small businesses AmEx rewards you for your patronage which is tracked by linking to a Foursquare account; every time you check in to a participating small business you get cash back from AmEx! The funding for the cash rewards is entirely handled by AmEx, small businesses see and increase in traffic and free publicity, the consumer gets rewarded and even Foursquare benefits as more connections are made via their platform. See the study here at “AmEx rewards users through Foursquare check ins”
In case you aren’t familiar with it, Foursquare is a social media app for smartphones that is perfect for the integration of social, local and mobile. Utilizing the GPS features on smartphones, the app connects friends who are nearby, recommends businesses, restaurants, etc and encourages users to share reviews through “check ins”.
AmEx Small Business Saturday
Facebook allows you to demographically target fans through posts on your page… WOW
This is where the power lies in utilizing social media networks as a part of your overall business plan, you must take advantage of localization. If you are a national or international brand it does you no good to market a product sold in Texas to someone who lives in New York, implementing a localized social media approach allows businesses to target offers to their local market.
As a prime example of targeting, Facebook just introduced the ability to target your page posts on your business page demographically, this is a HUGE step forward for savvy businesses that see the value in being where their customers “hang out”.
From TechCrunch
“Page Post Targeting Enhanced will let Pages publish different content to different fans, or word their marketing messages differently to maximize relevance. For example, Ford could target posts about economical hybrids to 20-year olds while pushing discounts on SUVs to 40-year olds.
That could translate into more traffic and awareness driven, and lead marketers to become even more dependent on Facebook. And marketers, get your thinking caps on. These new options mean if you’ve got a smart strategy, you could publish a non-stop stream of posts all tailored to different audiences. You’re no longer have to wait until your last post falls off the news feed, you’re only limited by your imagination.”
For exact instructions on how to target your page posts go to Facebook “Page Posts Targeting”
Whether you have a website or not you can still get yourself to the top of the local search results through Social Media and optimizing Google Places, although as inexpensive as it is now to set up a WordPress Content Management System that is optimized for mobile there is really no excuse for any small business not to have one. With your own website you can drive traffic from the content you post and share through various social media networks to your own pages and you can have it set up to automatically send your posts to places like Facebook and Twitter. (Contact author for more details)
The proper set up and optimization of social media networks is crucial and you should seek to brand yourself across all of them uniformly which will also help in your domination of search results for the name you choose. I have some clients who have taken my advice to brand their social media as a main keyword instead of a business name on some pages and this has been working well for them, just a way to further utilize social media networks. For more on this service contact author
Google Places and Citations
Moving on to Local Optimization we will want to get into keyword research first because even when claiming our page on Google Places we want to be sure we are also targeting for optimum keywords for our chosen market. For example, it pays to know whether you will get more traffic listed as a “tow truck driver”, “tow truck company”, or “towing and recovery”.
There are numerous free tools out there to do this including Google’s Adwords tool, I have a couple I like that specialize in local keyword targeting as well. This is an area that many small business owners need assistance with, even experienced SEO experts often do not perform proper keyword discovery.
Setting up your basic information in Google Places is pretty much self explanatory, you will input your business name, address, phone and other pertinent info such as hours and choose up to five categories that are relevant to your business. You have the ability to upload up to 10 images which should all have “alt image tags” or keywords assigned to them.
The Social – Local – Mobile marketing approach will work regardless of whether you have your own website or not but you will have a lot more flexibility and control if you make the investment in your own site. The mobile marketing methods we will discuss next can be done with or without a website as well. Just an FYI, the majority of users are now using search via mobile device and these searches are GPS driven so your optimization for local will determine your placement; it doesn’t hurt to have a mobile optimized website.
There are numerous options available in the mobile marketing arena including SMS texting, Coupons, Contests, and White Label Apps. A mobile marketing plan can be tailored around your needs and budget that can be scaled up in the future. Your clients use social apps like Facebook and Foursquare on their mobile device to share what they are doing with friends, why not interact with them? Stats show that most people want to communicate with the places they do business with and the way to reach them is on their smartphone.
Direct mail is expensive and gets dismal open rates, email marketing has become negligible, but when you have a client who specifically sends a text message asking YOU to send them messages NOW you have a responsive prospect. Utilizing social media apps and SMS texting is an easy way to increase interest and interactivity on your pages and help expand your business through the social networks of your clients.
Mobile Marketing is now allowing the small business owner the opportunity to bring back local business that the internet initially took away. Smart business owners can take advantage of the power of Google Plus Local, Social Media and Mobile to create relationships and loyalty with their local customer base and offer network specific rewards.
Remember, dominating your local area is as simple as SoLoMo, Social + Local + Mobile = PROFIT
SEO | Social Media | Local Marketing | Mobile | Gregg Hall 