Posts Tagged ‘local marketing’

Add Local Twitter Hashtags to Your Tweets

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Only a few years ago Twitter was the shiny new toy that not everyone was sold on. Now, almost all business owners realize that Twitter offers a lot of benefits to small businesses when it’s leveraged properly. One way that small business can leverage Twitter more effectively is by using Twitter hashtags. If you’re unfamiliar with hashtags, you can read more about them in article we wrote about leveraging Twitter hashtags for running a Black Friday marketing campaign.

Adding Hashtags to your tweets is a great way to get your content in front of relevant people on Twitter. You see, people can follow certain hashtags. If I’m interested learning about Social Media Marketing I might follow the hashtag #SMM. If I’m a fan of football I might follow #NFL or #NFLlockout for the latest information on the NFL lockout. When someone tweets with one of these hashtags then that tweet comes into my stream, when it normally would not have if I wasn’t following that person. Another big hashtag trend is local hashtags. Businesses and individuals are using localized Twitter hashtags to keep up with their local communities. Media sites use local hashtags when tweeting news about their local area. Many people follow local hashtags in order to know what’s going on in their community. Businesses can take advantage of local Twitter hashtags to build a community of high quality followers.

Small Business Twitter TipsAs our readers know, we are all about quality over quantity in all that we do here at Catalyst. Having a HIGH QUALITY online community is much more powerful than having a community of thousands who aren’t interested in what you’re doing. If you’re a small business that operates in a certain community, then you should be using local Twitter hashtags in your tweets. If you operate a local business then it’s assumed that your target audience is primarily the local community. By using local Twitter hashtags in your tweets you can get your information in front of your target audience. An example of a local Twitter hashtag for a business serving Philadelphia might be #Philadelphia or #Philly. You can even get down to the County and Town level. We are located in #Chalfont in #BucksCounty. Anyone following these hashtags will then see your tweets. Hopefully they find them valuable and decide to follow you. Now you have effectively turned someone you did not know into a new community member. Pretty powerful stuff!

Tips for Using Local Twitter Hashtags

  • Search Twitter before using a new local hashtag to see if there is a lot of activity behind it. You don’t want to use a local hashtag that others aren’t using (unless you want to start something new, in which case, BRAVO – Just be sure to let people know you’re starting it).
  • Be sure to follow the local Twitter hashtags that you use most. You want to monitor the conversation. The way we do it is by adding a column in TweetDeck for the hashtag.
  • Try multiple hashtags to see what works best or maybe they all work well. If you sell in multiple areas, like a city, county, and town, then include local Twitter hashtags for all areas.
  • SPELLING COUNTS! – Don’t mess up the name of your city or town.

Adding local Twitter hashtags to your tweets is a very simple action that you can take in order to make Twitter more effective for your business. All that it takes is a little research, some tweaks to your Twitter profile or TweetDeck, and you can start adding local Twitter hashtags to your tweets. Your content will now get in front of more people and more quality people! Ultimately this will lead to an increase in sales for your small business.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Twitter Marketing | No Comments »

Create a Google Places Listing for Your Small Business

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

If you’re a business owner who’s looking for ways to attract more web prospects to your small business website, then Google Places is a MUST. Local Search is really beginning to build momentum. Next time you use Google Search, add a location to your search term, such as “Social Media Marketing Doylestown” and notice the listings that come up next to the Google Map. This post will help you list a business on Google.

Why is this important? It’s important because as a small business, you can start outranking large organizations on Google. If you notice, the local listings appear at the top of your search page. This means that those businesses who used to rank 1st on Google, are now ranking 4th or lower.

Having a Google Places Listing for your small business can greatly increase the traffic to your website. Setting up a listing is actually pretty easy. The only pre-requisite is that you have a Google account. If you don’t already have one, simply create one and then get started on your Google Places Listing – it’s FREE. Here are a few steps to help you out:

  1. Navigate to the Google Places Business Center and click “Add New Business”
  2. Fill out your profile as completely as possible, the more details, the better
  3. Add your business listing
  4. Add your business information – TIP: Add a few custom fields and insert relevant search terms for your small business. This will help you rank for those search terms
  5. Last, but not least, claim your new Google Places Business Listing – You can claim your listing by phone, text message, or postcard
Montgomery County, PA Social Media Marketing Agency

Not only will having a Google Places Business Listing help increase traffic to your small business website, but there are also a number of other benefits. Here are just a few:

  • You can add coupons for your small business to your Google Places Listing
  • The Google Places Business Center allows you to track stats for your Places Listing
  • You can provide your business contact information on your listing
  • Customer Reviews can be added to your listing to help build credibility for your small business

If you don’t already have a Google Places Business Listing for your small business, definitely take some time and add one today. You’ll be happy you did.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in location marketing, Online Marketing | 4 Comments »

LinkedIn Discussions Can Generate Sales for Your Small Business

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

LinkedIn is an online social networking tool that’s been around for years, yet doesn’t get as much hype as it deserves. Personally, I think LinkedIn has been the best prospecting tool for Catalyst Marketers to date. Some say LinkedIn just isn’t as “sexy” when compared to other giants like Twitter and Facebook. Here’s a great back and forth between two big time thought-leaders in the social arena. This conversation took place on Twitter this morning.

Lewis Howes, Author of LinkedWorkingDavid Garland, Founder of RISE on ABC

@TheRiseToTheTop Think we should all spend more time on LinkedIn? For some reason I just don’t find it sexy.
@lewishowes You know that pushes my buttons when you say Linkedin isn’t sexy. I’ll do a vid just for you my man
@TheRiseToTheTop Don’t worry Lewis, you are sexy. I see the usability of LinkedIn but I love Twitter/FB. Show me the light!

It sounds like Lewis is going to make a video for David, which I’m sure is going to be really informative. I’d recommend following both of these guys on Twitter and on their other social platforms as well. With the above being said, the reason for this post is to shine some light on a LinkedIn Discussion I’ve been having for the past week. LinkedIn Discussions through LinkedIn Groups can be AMAZING platforms to spread ideas, establish partnerships, and even drive sales.

UPDATE: This post sparked a Skype debate between Lewis Howes & David Garland. Check out their debate on, Is LinkedIn Sexy Enough to Spend Time With?

I recently wrote about Cross-Promotion on this blog and to help promote that post, I started a Discussion in many of my LinkedIn groups. I made sure that each group I chose contained audience members that would find the topic interesting, relevant, & valuable. The question I asked was, “Have you considered partnering with other local businesses to cross promote each others products & services?” I then explained my idea of Cross-Promotion and how it can work for small business owners.

LinkedIn for Your Small BusinessThis discussion topic really hit home as I had numerous responses within several different LinkedIn groups. Alan Openshaw, a Mortgage Consultant at Cornerstone Lending Inc in Philadelphia responded to the discussion from within the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce LinkedIn group. He weighed in on Cross-Promotion and then left this little gem, “By the way, by responding to your last discussion, I started dialogue with a local Realtor and am currently assisting one of his clients….so Thank You!”

By participating in a previous LinkedIn Discussion that I started, Alan built a relationship with a local Realtor, and was able to land a new client through his relationship with that Realtor. So, not only should you be using LinkedIn Discussions to spread your ideas and start discussions, BUT you should be responding to discussions within your LinkedIn Groups. You never know who’s listening…

Subscribe to our blog to read an upcoming post on How To Start a LinkedIn Discussion.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Online Marketing, Small Business | 4 Comments »

Cross Promote by Partnering with Local Businesses

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Are you constantly looking for new ways to build awareness around your business, your products, or your services? If so, congrats! Small businesses in today’s economy should always be pressing forward in trying to find creative ways to get their name out there.

Is your business located in a small town? How about a big city? Either way, I’d imagine that the majority of readers who own and operate a small business have it located in an area close to other businesses. With that said, have you ever considered approaching any other local business owners to see if they’d be interested in doing a cross promotion with you and your small business?

Cross promotion involves two or more parties who setup a program where each party helps promote the others’ products & services. I had the idea the other day when I was meeting Steve Keib, owner of Tranquility Life Spa & Salon, for lunch at Spatola’s Pizza in Lansdale, PA. He and I were discussing creative ways to market his business when the idea hit me. Steve should have a flier on each table at Spatola’s. In exchange for space at the tables, Steve could offer to put coupons & a menu for Spatola’s at his cash register – persuading each and every customer to take one with them as they pay for their Spa services.

How much do you think a promotion like this costs? If you said almost $0 then you’d be right. It takes a creative idea, a little time and networking, some printing costs and that’s it. You now get access to all of Spatola’s customers and vice versa. Each small business owner is happy and hopefully traffic increases. Definitely be sure that you setup some measurement tools, such as adding a unique code to each coupon you put in someone’s store OR by having your flier say “mention that you saw our flier at Spatola’s and receive 10% off”. For each customer who mentions it, be sure to track that sale in your computer/register so that you can go back to see just how well the promotion is working.

The best part about this idea is that you don’t have to limit your partnership to one other business. You can work with many different businesses in your local area. Just be sure the customers who come into your partner’s store are the same target customer who you want to attract.

Is anyone currently running a cross promotion strategy like this? If so, how’s it working for your small business?

Tags: , ,
Posted in Small Business | 3 Comments »