04 Jan Social Media Advertising for Local Businesses
Social Media Advertising for Local Businesses
Social media is fantastic for allowing local businesses to effectively upload content to existing & potential customers. You can update and notify people on relevant information related to your brand, seamlessly and efficiently, and for free! It is important for local businesses to make maximum use of this technology, especially in the age of the internet where almost everyone is using social media, either on their phone or computer. Below lists 3 key advantages of using social media for local businesses.
1.) Keeps customers updated with your Business
Social media platforms, especially Instagram and Facebook, are fantastic for allowing local businesses to showcase what their business is all about, the way the owner intends to. It gives the local business a creative outlet to differentiate from other competitors and show why they’re the better company over others. With various forms of displaying social media content (Videos, Images or perhaps just a detailed and descriptive block of writing), it’s perfect for explaining to customers with precise intent on why they should choose to purchase from them. An example would be a local takeaway. The local takeaway could upload photos on Instagram of new & exciting dishes they’re offering for a limited time only. This gives customers an incentive to purchase from the takeaway shop, instead of a supermarket or another local takeaway.
2.) Find new customers for your Business
Not only is social media great for updating existing customers, it also allows local businesses to find new customers, with built-in functionality such as hashtags on Instagram. You can include hashtags within the caption of your post so you can find people which are interested in the services your local business offers. People could also share the content that you upload to your social media which you then have a chance of finding new customers from the followers of the person who shared it.
You could also find new customers for your local business on social media by messaging specific people you think would be interested in your brand. You could search for a local group on Facebook related to the services your business offers. Look for an individual or a company with an interest in that topic, and then send a private message letting them know your business offers a product/service they could be interested in which is also nearby.
3.) Increases the likeliness of repeat purchases
A local business which consistently posts content to their social media are likely to see an increase in repeat purchases from customers. This is because followers are going to see your brand more frequently while scrolling through social media, which then subconsciously builds brand recognition within their mind. One way you could increase the likeliness of receiving repeat purchases for a local business is by offering promotional offers and discounts to the people which follow your social media.
One example for a barber shop would be that they could offer 10% discounts off all haircuts for this week only. Not only would the barber shop receive new customers by offering this discount, it would also likely attract previous customers which have bought from the shop before to visit for a haircut, instead of in a few weeks’ time as they would be receiving 10% off their purchase.