local Archives -

Twitter Spotlight on locals: How to Connect Ten Ways

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, such as a shop or a restaurant, what’s the best way to get people to your place? Although I’ve written a previous post, Social Media: 7 Ways Your Business Can Connect with Locals, there are other ways to get people in the door.

Follow Locals through Search

Now following locals might seem obvious–locals will be your best source of traffic–but how, you might ask? Search on a city, neighborhood, or county (or a hashtag). Find something you have in common with people, whether that’s tweeting about the weather, puppies, or beach photography. Follow locals, retweet their content, and talk to them.

Be Curious

I’ve said it a million times–talk to people. No matter which platform you’re on, that is the key. Ask questions, give compliments, and be generous. Say hello, say thank you, and be curious. Curiosity is your best friend on Twitter.

Tweet Specials

Give people a reason to come into your shop. Tell them what your specials are. What gives your place the edge? Tweet about that. Why did you start your business? Tweet about that. You can also “pin” a tweet to the top of your feed so it’s the first thing visitors see when visiting your Twitter stream. You can even “pin” that tweet on mobile.

Add High Quality Content

Look at the analytics on your Twitter. Who’s following you, and what do they like? If you want more of the same kind of followers, give your audience what they want. Do they like technical content? Art? Give them that.

Use Beautiful Images

There are so many images to choose from. If you’re a restaurant, tweet images of your food. If you’re a shop, tweet what you have for sale. And make the images beautiful! I see so many accounts with ugly images. Don’t be that business!

Use Maps

Tell people how to get to your shop! Go to Google Maps, and map a nearby location. Now take a screenshot of the route, add a caption, and pin it to the top of your feed.

Use the Heck out of Lists

Make lists, use them daily, and share them with others. They’re free and make you look pro. Also, if you don’t use lists, you will surely go insane. You Too Can Be A Guru’s Bridget Willard has some terrific examples of good lists here: Organize Your Twitter Stream–Use Lists. You can create lists by city, neighborhood, or county.

Join Chats Your Audience Would Like

Check your analytics and join chats that will draw in people who are your best audience. Are the people techies? Join a techie chat! Are they boomers? Join a Boomer Chat! A couple of my favorites are: #BufferChat (Wednesday mornings at 9 am Pacific) and #DigiBlogChat (my chat about all things digital/blogging Tuesdays at 1 pm Pacific). Twubs has a list of chats that may interest you.

Make Followers Feel Like Friends

Share what excites you. Share non-business content, too. Tips on things you have learned. Maybe a secret place nearby, a good venue in the area, or an app you really like. Put up posts from museums, or a little trick you learned.

Meet in Person

Of course, this is ultimately what you want. Make sure their visit is positive by giving the same great customer service and friendliness that they experience on your social media.

How Do You Get People in the Door?

Did I miss anything? I really do want to know! Leave me a comment! Thank you.

Social Media: 7 Ways Your Business Can Connect with Locals

Want to Find Locals with Social Media?

What is the first thing that someone looking for you would see if they looked for you online? Would they see a sadly abandoned account, and hear crickets? Would they get an ad telling them to sign up for a free newsletter? Would they hear an anthem from the 80s? Or would they see a finely tuned profile that appeals to their local audience? If your business depends on locals, here are a few ideas to use on the big social media platforms to magnetize your presence.

Have Apps on Your Phone

Because everyone is online these days, going from online to offline should be seamless. That means having apps on your phone so that when you meet someone, you can immediately connect and continue the conversation online–on their favorite platform. And when you “e-meet” someone, you can hopefully continue to talk offline.

Reach out to Your Audience: Post Local Events

Maybe you have a meetup, like my friend Ruby Rusine does, and you’d like to get more people to attend. You could post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and then tag people who might like to attend. Or **gasp** pick up the phone and call a few people in the area.

Create an Event Board on Pinterest

On Pinterest, have your own event board and take photos which you upload. You can then add a url to the pin to send people to your website for more info. Don’t forget to change the dates when you have a new event!

Post About Local Events

Twitter Local Search

You can use Twitter’s search on your city. For instance, let’s say your business is in San Francisco, California. By searching on either San Francisco, #SanFrancisco, or #SF, you can get local news, traffic reports, etc. There might be a big event that you’d like to attend, or maybe there’s a news story you want to share. Advanced search has even more options. For instance, you can search on zip code.

Tweets Near You Integrates with HootSuite and Google Maps

Tweets Near You

A great Chrome plugin is “Tweets Near You,” which shows you other people tweeting near you, and integrates with HootSuite and Google Maps. In the screenshot above, you can see tweets within 5 km of AT&T Park (a fabulous place that you must visit, by the way!) to see the incredible San Francisco Giants and their wonderful social media cafe. But I digress.

Communicate Directly Through Instagram or Twitter

Another way to reach out to your local audience is by communicating directly through Twitter. Restaurants can search on terms like “I’m hungry,” “hamburger,” “I need sushi,” etc. Use hashtags (i.e. #specialdeals, #dailydeal, etc.) to maintain follow through with your client base; they can directly message you regarding your business in real time. A clever business could also use Instagram to search on a hashtag (one sushi restaurant did this with me recently) to find people who already love whatever they sell.

Facebook

Although Facebook has recently throttled its traffic, almost everyone and their mom, sister, cousin, and grandma is there. Social Media Examiner has a terrific article with tips about filling in your profile and appealing to locals.

Get Traction through Local Visibility

Be Found

Just as you can find others, you want to ensure that you are found, too. So make sure to optimize your profiles everywhere, and keep the content fresh. And if you need someone to help you, you could read my Social Media Managers: Top Ten Questions to Ask When You’re Looking for One.

Have You Been Found? Or Has Someone Found You?

I’d love to hear your story about being found online if you have one. Really!