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Here’s how it works:

1. Visit their website and download one of their smart phone apps. They have one for the iPhone, Android phones, and Blackberries.
2. Sign up for a free account and build your profile.
3. Choose a hub city. Which ever big city you are closest to, pick that city as your home city.
4. Next time you are at a restaurant, bar, retail store, or any other small business, pull out your phone, open up the App, and check to see if the place you’re at is already in foursquare’s database. If they are, simply hit the “check-in” button and you’ll notify foursquare friends where you are and foursquare will award you points for checking in. If the place isn’t in their database, then Google Map their address and enter the information into foursquare so others can check in without searching for it in the future. Foursquare awards 5 points for adding new venues.

How Small Businesses Can Use Foursquare

Every small business wants to build a core base of customers that keep coming back to their store or restaurant over and over again. Once you’ve built a loyal customer base, your business will start to grow from word-of-mouth marketing and personal referrals. Like Facebook and Twitter, foursquare uses the power of sharing to connect people and businesses. Businesses can post incentives on their foursquare page such as:

• One free beer for the Mayor of John’s Pub
• Free side item every time you check-in at Joe’s Pizza
• Free shampoo after your 3rd check-in at Mary’s Salon

The possibilities are endless, but the incentive should never be too good so that customers don’t try to abuse the system. I like really like the idea of getting something only when you show someone that works at the venue that you are checking in. Then, there’s no way they could have cheated the system to gain the incentive. We do internet marketing in Orlando, Los Angeles, and West Palm Beach right now, and all of those cities already have great presences on foursquare. I’ve already seen the huge growth of foursquare in Orlando, and it’s pretty fun to see how I stack up against other foursquare users.  Foursquare can build brand awareness for your business, make customers more loyal to your business, and give them another reason to give referrals to their friends and family about your business.

Foursquare for Social Media Marketing Professionals

It’s a great concept and a great resource, so as internet marketing professionals, we should be integrating social networking applications like this in our overall strategies for small businesses. Facebook and Twitter promotions work, but they don’t provide an incentive for customers to come back after their first visit. Foursquare does this, and brand loyalty is huge for small business owners.

If you’d like to talk to us about starting a social media marketing campaign for your small business, please contact us or call 352-871-0794.

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1. Why Social Media Marketing Works Best For Small Business

So what is it?

It’s a conversation between you and your customers. You’ve always wanted to connect with your customers on a more personal level, but you don’t have the time or resources to greet them personally. When you throw yourself out on in the world of social media, it gives your customers a chance to comment on your new products, tell you how you’re doing, It gives customers the chance to interact with your brand.

Interaction is Key

Ask a question. Start a discussion. Share relevant information with your social media followers. Make it fun with photos and videos. If you have an event or do something in the community, take pictures or video. If you have a new product out, take photos of it. Create a video demonstration of it.

Keep it up-to-date

Your social media marketing strategy will never work if you set it and forget it. I always think of that lame info-mercial about that rotisserie grill with the tag line, “set it and forget it!”. My mother-in-law bought it and said she set it and forgot it, and her house almost went up in flames. You must keep up with social media marketing on a daily basis or it won’t work. You must respond and react to comments in a timely manner and answer questions as quickly as possible.

Insert Shameless Plug: You probably don’t have the time to keep your Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn account, and other social media outlets up-to-date, but Presence Media does have the time. This is one of the main reasons we tell business owners they should outsource their social media marketing campaign, because they often don’t have the time it requires and social media requires a different voice. You must sound fun and hip, because you will initially attract a younger audience.

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1. Why Social Media Marketing Works Best For Small Business

Small business is slowly realizing that having a website isn’t enough anymore. Or if they do have a website, it better not function solely as a business card. Web visitors want to interact with brands. They want to build trust with you before they use your products or services. The best way to do this is by implementing a social media marketing strategy. Social media works with small business, because it is designed to help businesses connect with customers on a local level. In downtown Orlando, many night clubs, bars, and restaurants are finding that connecting with people on Facebook and Twitter is a great way to get the word out about their promotions and discounts. This is happening all over the country, and here’s why it works:

Customers take ownership of certain small businesses

Most people can list off the top of their head their favorite bar, favorite breakfast place, favorite boutique, and favorite pizza place. We naturally like to take ownership of local businesses that we enjoy patronizing. Engaging in social media with your customers helps them solidify this ownership mentality. By starting a Facebook page, you can respond to customer requests, update them on new menu items and concert events. If you are a franchise of a larger brand, you can separate yourself from other franchisees by offering incentives on Facebook and Twitter to encourage repeat business by casual customers.

Gain Customer Trust

Creating a presence on social media sites puts businesses at a certain level of vulnerability. They are now opening up the conversation stream for customers to critique them, praise them, and offer suggestions. What many small businesses fail to realize is that customers appreciate when they see small businesses making an attempt to reach out to their customer base. If you are honest on your social media outlets and you respond to customer inquiries, you’ll gain their trust, and they will choose you over your competition.

Establish a New Voice

Do you want to tap into a younger demographic? Do you find that no one young comes into your store? Then, you need to go to where they are. They are never going to find your website no matter how much search engine optimization you do. Building a Facebook page and sharing it with friends and family will start the snow ball effect of viral word-of-mouth advertising. But, having a Facebook page means nothing. You must fill it with fun, relevant content. The content is your voice. Don’t sound like a business owner. Don’t sound like someone’s parent. Sound like their friend, and they will respond favorably

If you’re a small business with questions about marketing your business on social networking sites, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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