Social media has become an indispensable tool for small businesses that want to build a local audience. Social media can help owners build awareness of their small businesses, drive foot traffic, and create relationships. Read this blog to learn about 6 ways you can build your local audience on social media.
1. Identifying Your Local Audience on Social Media
Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish on social media, you need to know your audience. It’s impossible to create effective messaging if you don’t know who you are trying to talk to.
2. Localizing Your Social Media Presence
Make sure your social media profiles are set up properly for your location. For Instagram, this means adding your location to your name field and bio. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, make sure you add your address in a clickable way. You don’t want to increase the friction between the customer and what you want them to do.
3. Engaging with the Local Community
Participating in local conversations can help increase your visibility. Make sure you engage with local influencers, community groups, and other businesses. Comment on their posts, share their content, and consider collaborations. When you actively engage with these groups, you are more likely to get on their followers’ radars.
4. Crafting Relevant and Valuable Content
Don’t create bad content. To attract a local audience, your content should be relevant to their interests and offer value. There are a lot of ways to define value, but this will come down to your overall content strategy and target audience research.
5. Using Social Media Advertising
While we focus on organic growth, it is important that you don’t overlook the potential of paid social media advertising. You can target advertisements and promotions of your page to a specific geographic region. This can help increase your visibility among local audiences.
6. Encouraging Reviews and User-Generated Content
You need to get reviews. Positive reviews can boost your reputation significantly, and social media offers an excellent platform for gathering and displaying these reviews. Ask your local customers to share their experiences on social media and tag your business. User-generated content can offer social proof and create a sense of community around your brand that can’t really be manufactured.
Social media offers a wealth of opportunities for small businesses to grow their local audience. Remember, social media is a long-term strategy. It might take some time to see results, but the payoff in customer loyalty and local visibility can be significant.