5 TOP SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS: #1 Use local social media
Following on from our last post on our presentation Why social media is relevant to you given at the 2012 Speciality and Fine Food Fair, let us look at our 5 Top Social Media Tips beginning with the first, which is to use local social media.
As we defined the term social media in Why social media is relevant to you, we are speaking here about a series of online tools used to interact and share opinions and passions. The key word is “interact”, as communication goes both ways. Examples of social media include blogs, wikis, shared bookmarks, group rating systems. Local social media, then, are such rating and location-based systems that will allow users in a specific geographic area to target business listings.
Using sites like Google+ Local and Yelp is the key here. There are others, too, such as TripAdvisor, all of which have pretty much the same characteristics. These sites:
- Allow businesses to create listings
- Include all necessary information for a consumer to find you
- Provide a forum for customers to review and comment on your business
- Create a searchable database for consumers to research reviews, ratings and comments
- Allow business owners to “claim” individual listings
- Let business owners add information, such as phone numbers, store hours, menus, etc.
Any business on Google+ Local will likely see a SEO (search engine optimisation) boost from maintaining an active Google+ Local page as the search algorithm ranks sites with Google+ Local listings higher.
Remember that these sites are more than just a directory listing; they are social, which means the consumer will rate and review your business. It almost goes without saying that this can be a double-edged weapon, since consumers can leave negative as well as positive feedback. However, it is what you do with that feedback that determines your success in using these local social media sites. You need to establish a clear policy for dealing with complaints via all channels before engaging with social media and social networks. Ignore the comments at your peril!
Originally published at PENNInk Productions.
