Social Media Marketing Ideas for Local Businesses
September 27, 2021
Local businesses that don’t have a strong “social” side to their business often struggle with social media, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.
With minimal time investment you can create a presence on social media, most notably Facebook. Your leads are there, so there is value in getting your name in front of them. Here’s how.
Important tip: when commenting on posts as we suggest below, make sure you’re commenting as your business instead of from your personal Facebook page. This way your brand name shows up in comments.
#1. Post About Local Events
Imagine yourself at a neighborhood BBQ. People are chatting about things to do in the area. You’re aware of a number of cool events coming up, so you tell everybody about them.
At the local level, you can do this on social media. Keep apprised of events taking place in your area and share them in posts. Be part of the local conversation.
How, you wonder, will this help you get new leads? It does one thing: puts your name in front of people. This is kind of like having a billboard, but instead of just using a tagline, you provide some useful info.
#2. Follow Local Sports and Schools
Following and commenting on local sports teams is an easy way to get your company name into a local conversation. Same goes for any other schools, clubs or groups, particularly that kids are involved in.
Anything connected to schools gets a lot of local following. On Facebook, in particular, the main audience you’ll reach is the kid’s parents, aka your leads.
#3. Follow Local Businesses in the Entertainment Space
Your business may not have a lot intrinsically interesting topics for social media, but there are businesses around you that do.
Follow local businesses like restaurants, bars, venues, microbreweries, and coffee shops. Share their posts through your business page. Coming events and special offers have value for everyone in the community, but when you share them through your page you get (just a little bit) of the credit.
#4. Share Local Photography
Banks who send out calendars have long understood this tactic.
People like nice photos of nature and local landmarks. This is easy to post and easy to share content on Facebook.
Take some fine shots with your phone when you’re out and about. Or better yet, hire a professional photographer and collect of a batch of really excellent photos you can share over a period of time.
People see and share a lovely picture…and associate your brand with it. Renting more space in their minds.
#5. Inspire
Inspirational quotes get a lot of shares on Facebook and make for fairly easy posts to create. Here is an example from the Marketing 360®:
Of course you can also do memes and funny posts like this:
This content won’t have anything directly to do with your business, but it gets shared and – again – gets your brand in front of your local audience.
And that’s the point.
Here’s JB with the overview:
Originally published on June 5th 2019
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