If you run a business and haven't
yet integrated into the internet world, you're probably one of the few in your
discipline. Having a good web developer on your team can make a world of
difference – after all, phone books are becoming obsolete and prospective
customers are finding businesses through the web more and more frequently these
days. But having social media is one way to take things a step further.
Everyone from lawyers like
Marshall
Davis Brown in TX to large corporations like Target use Facebook, Twitter,
FourSquare, and more to connect with their customers. Here's why:
Make it Easier to Find You
Social media is localized when it
comes to searching, so if someone is looking for a business nearby, whether
it's a lawyer or a pizza shop, they'll be able to find what's local on social
media. If a person's friend uses these local businesses and decides to 'tag'
them, talk about them, or simply 'follow' them on social media, that person
will be exposed to the name through their connection. It's a great way to take
advantage of modern-day word-of-mouth.
Interact with Clients
Your Facebook wall, Twitter
account, Yelp! page and more make it easy for customers to review their
experience with a product or service, whether it's good or bad. This gives you
the opportunity to respond to them publicly so that others can see that the
business cares about what its customers think. It also works well as a
suggestion box, and you can even ask your customers what they'd like to see
from you!
Advertise
Some social media sites let you
promote yourself to targeted customers, whether you're targeting locally or
targeting users who are likely to search for relevant key terms. This counteracts
the dated "megaphone" approach – you're actually reaching an audience
who is likely to be interested, rather than just shouting into a crowd of
people who may or may not care.
Assess Competition
If you've got a social media
account, you can easily find the accounts of other businesses in your field.
This way, you can keep tabs on what they're doing as well – what the customers
are liking/disliking from them, what specials they're running, how they're
choosing to advertise, which search terms they are optimizing their company
for, and more.