The Catalyst

We all have seen how social media has changed the landscape of how we communicate … both as individuals and as businesses. Here are a few social media ideas that will generate referrals and add-on sales for your local business. There are (at least) 10 free steps we would advise; the first three are below:

1. Create a free Facebook® account under your name. Then create a page for your business for free. Email your existing customer list or tell them in already planned correspondence (email, direct mail, statement stuffers, etc.) that they can now become a fan of your business on Facebook®. Add a link to your new company Facebook® page to the Contact Us page of your existing web site. Some companies use Facebook® as a way to provide helpful information to their customers, i.e. an accounting firm posting a short video clip or a few paragraphs on a new tax law, and others use it to get customers in the store more frequently like a furniture store announcing a private sale with special discounts for fans of the business. By having the information on Facebook in addition to your web site, you don’t rely on the customer coming to your web site on their own to check for updates and you increase your online footprint which helps your search engine optimization. Your Facebook® page and web site should link to each other.
2. Go to LinkedIn. Create a free account under your name. Then go to the section labeled answers. At right, click on a topic relating to your industry. Read the questions asked by other LinkedIn users and answer one or two a week. You can see the name, bio, location and professional contact information of the person needing the expertise you have, and then you can write a custom response to their question that everyone can see. Sign up to be notified of all questions asked in that category. For example, an employee benefits firm would monitor all questions asked by LinkedIn users in the category “Compensation and Employee Benefits” under “Hiring and Human Resources.” Those organizations focused on providing business services to other companies will especially benefit from this free tactic.
3. Get a web cam or a digital camera. Make a list of the top 10 most frequently asked questions you get as an expert in your field. Record yourself answering each one of these questions in 10 different short videos. Be yourself and answer the question the way you would if you were on the phone or in front of a prospective customer. Keep the camera focused shoulders up and look slightly off camera as if you are answering someone across from you. Now, post these videos on your web site and then gradually release them onto a bigger stage by posting them intermittently to your Facebook page and YouTube. If one of the videos addresses a question asked by a LinkedIn user (see #2 above), post a link to the video as part of your answer. Posting the videos to YouTube helps optimize your web site because search engines are giving links from social media sites like YouTube greater and greater importance as they evaluate what web sites should receive the highest organic results.

All three of these free steps help you further the idea that you are the expert in your field and enable you to indirectly convey the reasons someone should work with you. All three also make it easier for your customers to give you a referral and give them polite reminders of why they should. As you venture into the din of social media, please heed one key piece of advice. Your time is valuable. Budget it wisely and create a realistic plan for you or others in your organization to gradually integrate social marketing into your business. If executed properly, your best form of marketing – referrals – just got better.

Jodi de Riszner is a media and retail strategist in the firm ESA & Company, based in Red Bank, New Jersey. She lives in Buffalo, where images of sunshine dance in her head.