Social Networking | More Business Today

How to Find Twitter Users in Your City

December 13, 2014December 19, 2012 by Justin Feral-McWhirter

Twitter is currently second to Facebook in a long list of extremely popular social media sites. It is recognized as a great way for people to connect with businesses, friends and relatives by letting them know what they are doing via short posts. Since there are millions of people on Twitter, it provides a great ground to increase customers for any determined local business.

Below are a few steps you can use to gather more followers around your city and consequently increase your sales.

Twitter Search

Twitter offers a great feature that allows users to search for people in the same location. There is an advanced feature dubbed “near this place” that enhances the search and will help you find any tweets in a particular location. This can be used to find targeted customer groups around a city or town.

iPhone Applications

iPhone has made it easy for users to find other Twitter users in a local setting using different apps. There are a number of applications which will allow a business owner to view tweets from a location of their choice and convince them to follow them.

Nearby Tweets

This is a website that will show users where other users are located, depending on the information they submitted during signing up. This is an effective tool that business owners can use to find local tweets that can be of importance to their business.

Tallowhood

This is a search function aimed at local searches. This site provides clickable maps that make the search easy and fast. To enhance the search and the ease with which people can find your Twitter profile, it is important that you first register on Tellowhood.

Finding Twitter users around you can be daunting, but with the right information and tools, the process will be fast and easy.

How to Create a Group for Your Local Business on Facebook

December 13, 2014December 12, 2012 by Justin Feral-McWhirter

Facebook offers local businesses many different tools and features that can help them effectively market their businesses. The good thing about these features is that they are currently free, which means it is the best time to take advantage of them.

One of the most useful tools available to help businesses build a loyal following is the Facebook “group” feature. Facebook groups are not entirely different from Facebook pages; the only difference is that the group revolves around a particular group of people rather than a brand.

Below are simple steps you can take to create a Facebook group:

1. Sign in to your account and click on the link labeled “Groups” on the left side of the home page.

2. The top bar menu will appear and you should click on “create a new group.”

3. A form will open with fields that you will need to fill. Some of them are mandatory while some are optional. Some of the fields you will need to fill include but not limited to group name, description, is your group public or private, picture upload and many others. To create a group that will not leave any questions, it is important that you fill all the provided fields.

4. After you have successfully created the group, you can now take your time to invite people to the group. You can promote the group through other means outside Facebook, such as inside your business establishment, blogs and other effective social media sites.

It is important to start by inviting people who know you as this will prevent any spamming reports or blocking. Another important thing is to keep your group as active as possible. Active groups are more popular and are more likely to give you results.

Do not overlook the power of Facebook groups in your marketing strategies, as they have proven to be very effective in generating more exposure for small businesses.

How to Combine Social Media Marketing and Mobile Marketing

December 13, 2014November 28, 2012 by Justin Feral-McWhirter

With people today busier than ever and on the go with smart phones in hand, your small business needs to be able to integrate the technology your customers prefer into your marketing strategy. Two of the biggest growth areas are social media and mobile marketing.

Social media apps account for 30% of the time smart phone users spend accessing apps from their device. Facebook and Twitter account for a great amount of this time, so your company needs a profile and activity on both of these. Here are some of the other social media sites you may be interested in establishing a presence on:

LinkedIn
MySpace
Google Plus+
myLife
FourSquare

Your social media presence will feed into your mobile marketing strategy and vice-versa. Using multiple channels will enable you to increase your brand recognition and bring in more business which translates to increased revenues.

Here are some specific ways to integrate social media and mobile marketing:

Facebook – Your Facebook page should have a clickable link to your mobile website and a discount offer tied to a text code that will sign the texter up to join your mobile texting list for offers. You may want to establish a different code for each media site so you know which outlet is bringing in the most opt-ins.
Twitter – Your Twitter page should have a link to your mobile website in the banner area and you should post frequent tweets offering a discount or promotion to encourage people to text to opt-in to your mobile texting list.
LinkedIn – Your LinkedIn page should have the basic information about your business, including a link to your mobile website and basic information about the business. As the owner, you should also have a LinkedIn page so people can search by either you or the company name to access your profiles.
MySpace – While MySpace is not the big deal it once was, it won’t hurt to set up a page for your business including photos and interesting information about your business. Links to your mobile website and a text to opt-in code should be included as well.
Google Plus+ – Setting up a Google Plus+ profile will allow you to interact with customers in one circle, vendors in another and employees in yet another. When you set up the page, include a link to your mobile site and a link to opt-in to your text list.
myLife – This tool can allow you to manage several of your social media profiles in an easy to use dashboard and allow for local searchers to find you. Always include a link to your mobile website and text opt-in offer wherever you can. Be sure to set up both a business and personal profile that are cross-linked to maximize your presence.
FourSquare – When you set up your profile here, be sure to include a link to your mobile website and text opt-in offer.

Once you have a social media presence, you can work in the other direction and link your mobile marketing back to your social media profiles. On your contact us page of your mobile website, be sure to have icon links to each of your social media profiles (you don’t have to include myLife, that’s more of a utility for you than your customer.)

Next, offer special discounts and promotions on your mobile website and through your mobile texting program to get customers to recommend you on LinkedIn or Google Plus+ or to “Like” you on Facebook or to check in with you on FourSquare.

Social media is social proof that your establishment is a place that others should frequent – by combining the accessibility of mobile marketing with the popularity of social media, you can most effectively promote your brand and increase your bottom line.

How to Google+ Circles Can Grow Your Business

December 13, 2014November 21, 2012 by Justin Feral-McWhirter

The main purpose of joining social media sites, such as Google+, is to grow your network, gain exposure, and generate customers for your business.

Google+ circles are great when it comes to creating brand awareness and building an audience for your online marketing presence. Circles are similar to “Likes” on Facebook and “Followers” on Twitter; it is used to build a network of people who are interested in your business, products, or services.

However, many people find that Google+ circles are more “user-friendly” than other platforms like Facebook. For instance, its “drag and drop” feature makes it quick and simple to add people into your circles.

Not only that, but you can create many different circles in Google+ and only add relevant people to each circle. As a business owner, it is recommended that you create separate circles for your business prospects, clients, employees, family – or any other segment that relates to your needs.

This makes sharing information a lot easier as it can be tailored only to those groups who have an interest in what you are sharing.

You can also create specific marketing campaigns to target specific circles. The nice thing is that if you offer different types of products and services, you can create individual circles based around those specific things; allowing you to target even further.

Keep in mind that social media is about more than “selling” your products and services. It creates a way for you to “build relationships” with your target audience, which will in turn create more loyal customers over time.

By sharing helpful and interesting information with them, such as tips, videos, or photos, you can quickly build trust and authority status.

With good, valuable content, it won’t take long to find more people to join your circles because the people in your circles will recommend it to their friends, family, and other associates. Although it takes time to manage, growing Google+ circles is not hard for most people.

Due to the explosive growth of Google+, businesses can no longer ignore this amazing digital tool. With more than 170 users, it is a very powerful way to generate more exposure for your brand.