Local Collaboration on Twitter

Getting followers on Twitter can be hard. I don't think it's so much that locals aren't interested in your tweets as much as they just don't know about your account. We encourage teamwork between local businesses to build awareness of local twitter accounts. Cross promote by re-tweeting and tweeting at each other. But remember, your followers can't see a tweet you send to somebody if they don't follow that person as well. For example, if Butcher Shop (you) tweets "@Candystore hi" to Candy Store, and your follower Bob doesn't follow Candy Store, he won't see the post. To avoid this,  don't lead the tweet with their tag. If you start the tweet with anything except for their twitter handle, all followers will see the tweet. 

So, do this : "Hey @Candystore" or "Hello @Candystore" 

Not this: "@candystore hey." 

Setting Up Your Facebook Page: In Pictures

Open this page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/

The end. 

Facebook Custom Audience: Campaign the Social Way

Follow up to Where Did I Put Those E-mails? .... 

Facebook’s Custom Audience tool let’s you upload an e-mail list and see which Facebook accounts are associated with those e-mails. In other words, if you’d ever like to start a paid campaign, you can target the people most likely to engage with it: your current customers. Targeting current customers doesn't mean you won't see new ones. It means your business will appear in front of people that recognize it, people that have given you permission to keep you updated via e-mail and want to hear from you. The challenge on social is getting shared. You're giving your campaign the best shot by starting with these friends.

• Click on Manage Ads 
• Click on ‘Audiences’ in the navigation bar to the left 
• Click the green Create Audience box at the top right 
• Choose ‘Custom Audience’ 
• Choose either an Excel file with your e-mails or load them from Mailchimp 

Each time you create a campaign you’ll be able to easily select this group from your saved ‘Audiences’. 

Where Did I Put Those E-mails?

Collecting e-mails can be a challenge and managing them is no fun. Someone writes their e-mail on a piece of paper in your shop, you put it in a pile and later throw it on an e-mail list. Problem is you have a few different e-mail lists. You're not sure if all those people who asked to be contacted by you are being contacted. It's disorganized. Try this: 

1. Use MailChimp or Constant Contact to collect e-mails. Both have little collection boxes for your website and your Facebook page. 
2. Segment your e-mail lists. Or don't, but the option is there. 

For those of you with wet feet in the world of internet, go with MailChimp. Their system couldn't make it any easier to setup, organize and grow e-mail lists. 

Next Clicks

MailChimp Website Signup Forms 

MailChimp Facebook Signup Forms (collect e-mails on your Facebook page) 

LinkedIn Company Pages for Local Business

LinkedIn Company Pages can be an easy way to market your service without having to do much anything. Once the page is created your employees can add it to their LinkedIn page under experience and current position. As their network expands, so too does your businesses. The cool thing with LinkedIn is a connection can reach out to one of your employees and inquire as opposed to going through the traditional sales cycle. Maybe it makes them feel special. 
Making the company page is simple: 

• On the top navigation bar click 'Interests' and select 'Companies' 
• Click 'Create', the yellow box on the right sidebar 
• Verify you are an employee with a company e-mail 
• Fill out the information and images 
• Tell employees the page is up if they'd like to add it

Example

Tips
Image Dimensions : http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/32617/~/adding-a-homepage-…
Company Page FAQ : http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1561/related/1

Twitter Advertising Targeting Options

Twitter is an affordable way to promote your businesses' account to locals. Target by keywords, location and more. Some tips when choosing what exactly to promote on Twitter: 

• When promoting an account, make sure your short description in the header clearly defines what you use the page for. Somebody that would follow you on Twitter will recognize your logo and name, so don't be too obvious. Assume that people expect you to be on Twitter, and tell them how you're using the network to add to the community. It could be updates on the menu, or updates on local events around the area you sponsor, or don't sponsor. It's up to you, but make sure it's clearly defined. 
• When promoting a specific tweet ask a question about the community. It's likely you're targeting locals, and since your business is local, talk like a local! Promote a post about recent events in the city. "It's halftime vs. Italy? Will we win by 4 goals, or 6?". 

Remember, on Twitter, Facebook or other networks, you're in the context of all of their favorite things, people, and places. To stick out you have to understand exactly where you fit into their lives. What is it you really do for them? Put things into perspective and it will help you define how you can use Twitter to be an even bigger part of their lives. 

Facebook Image Sizes For Paid Ads

When creating advertising campaigns on Facebook you'll be instructed to upload an image (or several) to be displayed alongside the text. Just like a billboard image is larger than a window display image in a small shop, so too are some paid ad images larger than others. Facebook's Ad Product Details show how large each image should be for different type of ads. Seen here: https://www.facebook.com/help/259040324267414 

To easily resize any image we recommend using picmonkey.com 

• Click Edit at the top
• Select your Image
• Select 'Resize' on the left navigation bar
• Unselect 'Keep Proportions' 
• Add dimensions
• Save 

Google+ and Customer Reviews

Google+ is important for a local business for 2 reasons:

1. It has hundreds of millions of users (estimates vary. We'll settle on 'huge') 
2. It impacts your search engine optimization 

The network itself is very easy to setup and maintain. Business information, news, whatever it is you choose to share. Where you'll want to take advantage of Google+ is in Customer Reviews. Think about how someone finds your business online. 

• Google Search ("Pizza in Delaware") 

We judge by star count and review count. In all likelihood, someone searching for a local service will weed out the weak in 2 clicks: 

• Choose one that looks good (Seasons?) 

• Read first reviews available ("2.8? hmm..")

Encourage your customers to leave feedback on a specific day, or for a reason - have a call to action! "Google Reviewer wins..." "Google Reviewer gets loyalty card with 3 stamps filled out.." 

Next Click

Our recommended starter guide on Search Engine Optimization : SEOMoz "The Beginners Guide to SEO" 

Claiming Your Business Online

Claiming your business on sites like Yelp, FourSquare, and Google My Business gives you more control over your business' online profile. By claiming, you can create paid promotions on the sites and control all of the information. Yelp has a few paid options like profile enhancements and promoted offers. FourSquare gives you the chance to grab nearby customers looking for an incentive to try a new place with a discount. Google My Business is increasingly important in your SEO efforts. 
Claiming is easy for all three sites and an important 1-time exercise so all of your business information is forever available online. Below we've listed the steps to claiming your business on each site and links to more helpful recourses. 
FourSquare 

• Visit your business's Foursquare Page. 

• Scroll down to 'Claim this Listing' 

• Enter your phone number.

• Verify.

• Pay $20.

 From Foursquare...For Business: https://support.foursquare.com/hc/en-us/categories/200071594
Claiming your business: https://support.foursquare.com/hc/en-us/articles/201063930-How-to-claim-you…
FourSquare Tools: http://business.foursquare.com/your-customers/
Metrics: https://support.foursquare.com/hc/en-us/articles/201064250-How-to-view-anal…

Tip
Many FourSquare users sign up using their Twitter accounts, so when they check in they share on Twitter. FourSquare gives you access to their Twitter handles. If you also manage a Twitter account, reach out to those checking in through FourSquare's Analytics. 


Yelp 

• Search your business here. https://biz.yelp.com/signup

• Create your owner account. 

• Answer your business's phone when Yelp calls. 

• Fill out the information, add photos, respond to user reviews. 

From Yelp..
Yelp Ads: https://biz.yelp.com/support/advertising
What to do with your Business Account: https://biz.yelp.com/support/using_business_account
Case Studies: https://biz.yelp.com/support/case_studies

Google My Business
Edit your business info on Search, Maps & more. 

• Request verification by mail (sent to business address) or phone (business location phone) 
• Enter verification number

• Edit info & respond to reviews

Tip 
Google is the #1 search engine in the world. Search engines crawl the internet for relevant information based on a user's search history, keywords, and more. Be sure to fill out all information using words unique to your business and location so more people can find you.


Before You Go Tips..
Use sites like Yext to claim your business on indexes across the internet. 
Often times Yelp will not show reviews from dissatisfied customers. If you'd like to see all of your reviews scroll down and select 'hidden reviews'. 

Pinterest Group Boards and Local Business Collaboration

Pinterest allows you to share the input on boards with others. It's difficult to add a lot of pins for an individual business, and it's really not that fun at all. We recommend joining forces with other local businesses to reach more locals and have more interesting boards. For example, a group of restaurants could create a few boards on food, recipes, or any other topic they feel their community would welcome. The idea is simple: help build awareness for each other. 

1. Create a Board 
2. Select the board and click 'Edit Board' just under the title 
3. In 'Who Can Add Pins?" type the name or e-mail of contributors 
4. Share the board on your collective networks