3 Quick & Dirty Tips on Social Marketing for Small Business | Culpeper Column

 

Social Smart

Bottom line, you don’t need to spend millions on marketing. If time is in short supply, here are the top three quick and dirty action steps to take for high growth and return to expand your social marketing online!

 

So frequently, I come across folks in small and medium sized businesses who focus their time and energy on delivering great products, services and client experiences, with no time left for online marketing and social media. I understand this instinct, to leave marketing to the professionals.

However, without the budget for a consultant or staff dedicated to this, these folks can drop the ball – missing the powerful no-cost or low-cost opportunities to market small businesses online.

I’ve collected a few simple high reward actions, and I’ll plan to expand in the future on others, available to establish your presence, broadcast your most dynamic stories, put your best capabilities up front and build your business brand and reputation online.

Create your business listing on Yelp

Yelp is a huge site where people review products and services online. Establish your credibility by directing happy clients to add reviews and respond to any adverse comments of customer experiences. It’s free for you to claim your listing and gives you visibility to the hundreds of thousands of monthly users of Yelp.

Verify your Google My Business page

Have you wondered how some entities have their business information listed on google maps? This is how to ensure your business listing is accurate and up to date. Google My Business will get your business on Maps and Google+, enabling many potential clients to review your business. The reviews on Google+ tend to rank highly in search results, giving you great free visibility.

3 Contribute Meaningfully on LinkedIn and Facebook

You may already have a Facebook and LinkedIn for the business, with your respective number of followers. Join an industry group in these platforms, offer advice and support on a topic of your specialization to become a valued community member. This will establish your credibility in your field and build reputation and sales. Plan to find a way to contribute meaningfully once a week.

Obviously, every business is different, and it is worthwhile to take the time to develop a strategy specific to your goals and resources with a specialist to harness the power these tools have to offer you to grow your business.

In the meantime, these quick and dirty tips, and others that I’ll expand on in the future, will serve to grow your business online.