Social Media For Small Business

Here at UnderstandingMarketing.com we are always approached by restaurant owners (as well as many other small businesses) who constantly ask us how social media could possibly help them. They’re running ads in their local newspaper and television cable stations. They’re doing lots of direct mail to local zip codes. They’re even getting more involved with email campaigns now that many are collecting email addresses from customers. MailChimp is a great service to use for your email campaigns.

But how can social media be an effective tool for them, they ask?

Pretend you’re a restaurant owner or manager working a really big dinner – or any dinner. Do you make it a habit of going around to each table saying hello, asking about the experience and getting to know each guest a little? Of course, their answer is always yes. Social media is very similar only in a virtual setting.

As a business owner, social media allows you to get close to your customers. Engage with them. Share important information with them. And, even more important, it gives your customers a chance to share information back with you and with other customers. Here’s a great resource that offers fantastic tips on how to use social media to your advantage: Social Media Marketing

Effective social media all starts with having a clean Web site with fresh content. Bluehost is a great provider to use with all your Web efforts and you’ll be able to drive all of your social media marketing with a reliable site.

Stephanie Busack, social media manager of Bob Evans Restaurants, was recently interviewed by Chain Leader magazine where she outlined some great ways the restaurant is utilizing social media.

The restaurant is using blogs, Facebook and Twitter for social media. The chain is also tying much of their social media work in with newsletters, microsites and landing pages to promote special events, deals, and other various promotions for a nice, integrated approach. Encourage people to sign up as “Facebook fans” on your page so that you can then send them information and special promotions you know they’ll be interested in. She says that social media gives the chain an opportunity to “engage” with customers closely in a way they may not have been able to with traditional media. She goes on to say the microsites are a great way to drive repeat customers by placing contests and games there to entice people to come back multiple times to win prizes and share with friends.

Go beyond simply offering a great experience for your customers. Get them involved. Take pictures with your customers and post them on sites like Flickr, and then upload to your Facebook and Web site. You can even talk up conversation on Twitter and post links to the photos or other important, fun events on your Web site and Facebook page.

As for measuring the success of your social media efforts, a good way would be to place a special code in your Facebook or Twitter promotions so that when customers use them you can track where the specials came from. The best part, of course, is that social media marketing can be significantly more cost-effective compared to traditional marketing and advertising – incredibly important during today’s economy.

Please leave a comment and share your social media recipe for success.

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