The small-town social media approach

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Moniek James

[SandRat]

Part of the allure of a small town is that everybody knows everybody.

For a business owner in a small town, though, this doesn’t mean we should take for granted that everybody in the community knows us. We still need to advertise and get the word out about our products and services, and social media is my preferred tool to do this.

Many small-town business owners shy away from social media because it seems too big, and it seems like there are way too many users and too much going on. Facebook has more than 2 billion monthly active users, and if your town has a population of 75,000, what’s the point of using it?

Social media can be a powerful play for businesses in small towns because the tendency for consumers today is to research online before they make a call or step foot into a business.

Particularly in a small town, word of mouth is the lifeblood of a business. With social media, a satisfied customer is able to share their positive experience with their friends and followers with one post. This is word of mouth on steroids.

Small-town businesses should leverage social media by first establishing a presence on the platforms where their potential customers are, and create and publish content that will attract visitors, subscribers and followers. Instead of showing up online with only a sales pitch, business owners can create conversations that position their brand as a resource.

There will always be projects, testimonials, pictures and quotes worth sharing for which fans and followers will be grateful.

Connecting with the local influencers and innovators will also help accelerate the growth of a small-town business online. If you don’t consider yourself to be “good at social media,” find somebody who is and hire them! The idea of collaboration might be counterintuitive to most small businesses, but when small-town businesses work together, the community is strengthened.

In many communities, events are great opportunities for strangers to become acquaintances, and acquaintances can become friends.

A small-town business that hosts its own events can be a beacon for engaging and creating unique experiences that aren’t happening every day, and social media is a tool to expand the impact of an event.

[chrisser]

I've noticed a trend in that many businesses advertise through social media only - they don't have a web site.

I'm not on Facebook. When I go to their Facebook page, I basically can't see anything, and what I can see is blocked by FB's popups. I don't know that many people realize that this form of advertising is not public and is limited to FB members. A website can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection.