Get on social platforms

Picture this: a customer walks out of your store thoroughly satisfied, unlocks his phone, and searches for your brand on Facebook or Instagram. He finds your handle, follows it, and engages with the first few posts. Now — what happens when your brand isn’t on social media? How is that customer supposed to find you, review the experience, or stay updated?

Reach new people

Brand awareness is the primary incentive. Most of your customers are active on social platforms, so build an established presence there and stay active enough to gather a following. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit let businesses advertise at wallet-friendly cost; if you’d rather grow organically, set aside time daily and use your content to establish authority and thought leadership in your space.

Reconnect with customers

You need a way to reach customers when they’re not being serviced by you. Building an engaged community isn’t as daunting as it sounds — talk about things that matter to them: informative content, motivation, daily tidbits. Consumers review the brands they interact with, and on some platforms a customer’s review or check-in surfaces to their friends. That’s how the cycle starts.

Build brand persona

Social media marketing is word-of-mouth marketing for the 21st century. Build a story around your brand so people relate to it, and aim for an emotional connection between your audience and your product. Social is a huge stage for this.

It’s great for local SEO

Every social handle is a high-value mention pointing at your website and a gateway for more visitors — effectively another directory listing, except you must actively participate to get the full benefit. Tag your location when posting storefront photos so nearby searchers stumble onto you, and check in at local events so the community sees you’re engaged.

Traffic → Leads → Conversion

Every effort should translate into website traffic, and every follower is a prospective customer. Promote content, run simple contests, run lead ads, or push offers. Social platforms are a fast, inexpensive channel that boosts local SEO through reliable citations, a steady source of reviews, and better rankings.