Home › blog › 2018 › August › 30th › social media for local marketing
Social media for local marketing
30th of August 2018 Article by Laura Napper
Laura Napper, managing director of Twilight Cleaning and Facilities Management and regular ECJ blogger looks at how social media can be a valuable tool in local marketing.
In the old days, before social media, local marketing was straightforward. You could advertise in the local newspaper, on local radio, sponsor the local football team etc. Getting your brand recognised in your local vicinity was, in most cases, easy. Nowadays, in the globalised social media landscape, growing a local brand is more complex, but we've found some simple methods to use your social media accounts to gain local brand recognition.
1. Interact with well-known local media on social media, especially on any business-relevant topics. The local newspaper, local radio etc welcome comments on news stories - engage with them on all platforms and encourage opinions from members of the public. This is really good on Twitter, as generally, the people interacting are more likely to be local.
2. Tag your posts on social media with your location and with local hashtags, so followers can be reassured of your local identity, and new followers can find you easier. The more hashtags you use, the more your profile will rise to the top of search results, but don't be over zealous!
3. In the same vein, make some of your posts about the local area - photos, videos, thought-pieces. Don't make it political, but use social media to stand out as a local brand. This is a great way to use Instagram
4. Competitions are a great way to encourage local business as well. Devise a competition through social media channels and make it location-relevant.
5. Join local Facebook groups and engage with other members. Again, don't get political! Facebook is a great way to network without actually networking locally in a physical sense.
6. Search for local tags on Snapchat, Instagram etc, and follow new users, and/or engage in conversation.
7. LinkedIn is another easy way to use local social media. Search for people from your location- it's more than likely you will have some mutual friends if you have been using Linkedin for a while. Connect with local business people, and join any relevant local business groups.
If you have any more tips, I'd love to hear them! Email me at laura@twilightcleaning.co.uk or tweet me at @tenterdentwcc
RSS