IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR EVERY BUSINESS?

I hope you enjoyed the video “Social Media Revolution” that I posted in last week’s article. If that video didn’t get you excited about the opportunities for every business or organization to use social media to grow their customer base then you didn’t have the volume up loud enough. Go back to the archives crank the volume up and listen to it again.
Social media certainly is not a fad. With 74 out of every 100 Americans using the internet the opportunities for any type of business to take advantage of what it offers should be apparent. The main question is, with all the different social media outlets which one is right for? Obviously the options available to a resort or real estate agency to find and communicate with potential customers aren’t the same as for an auto repair shop or for a convenience store. But even an auto repair shop can take advantage of the power of social media marketing.
We recently helped an auto repair shop significantly increase traffic and sales simply by giving them an internet presence even without a website by making sure they were appearing in on-line local business listings. With so many customers “googling” for location information and using GPS in their cars or cell phones to locate a business, “owning” your businesses on Google, Yahoo, and the other search engines makes a dramatic presence and is easy to do.
If you do not “own” your site for local listings use these three local search engine sites to claim your business:
www.getlisted.org will allow you to own your site on Google, Yahoo, Bing and Best of the Web. By entering your business name and zip code it will let you know if you “own” your site or not and walk you through simple steps to claim it. Some of these will let you post photos of your business or logo, include on-line coupons and more. After you “claim” all four on get listed use these other two to finish the task.
http://listings.yellowpages.com and http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php will ensure your business is not only listed but owns the site and they are all free.
For any business not yet involved in social media this is a great first start. It is easy, free, and will help you stand out against your competition. If you have questions or problems listing your site, let us know the ASBTDC staff is available to help walk you through the process if needed. Try these out and let me know if it was helpful or not. Comment on this article here at the Bull Shoals Beacon, shoot me an e-mail hlawrenc@astate.edu or join our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/asu.sbtdc and leave me a comment on my wall! I look forward to hearing from you. Next week we will talk about other easy social media options that small businesses can use to dramatically increase their on-line presence and grow their businesses. Until then…happy social media marketing!