Local Business Social Media Use: Roost Study

CEO of social marketing platform builder for individual professionals, businesses, consultants and agencies, Roost, Alex Chang was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about a recent study conducted by the company into small business success with social media. The study uncovered a few secrets that small business people have used to increase their social media reach and overall effectiveness.

Thanks to Alex Chang for his time and for his intriguing and informative responses. They are greatly appreciated.

What was the background to the conducting this research into local businesses and their use of social media?

Alex Chang: We’re constantly trying to understand how to help our local businesses get smarter and more effective at social marketing. Roost is built to suggest the right types of posts for a local business to generate engagement, so it’s very important we constantly research and benchmark those types of metrics.

How have local businesses been using social media effectively to boost their engagement with clients and customers?

Alex Chang: Generally speaking the most effective businesses at social media create a sense of community and interest with their brand at the hub. They do this by offering interesting and valuable information, offers & content on a consistent basis that both attracts and engages customers.

Was there a measurable difference in the results from using different types of posts on Twitter and Facebook?

Alex Chang: Yes. Facebook and Twitter behave very differently for our clients and different strategies work well in each. For example we know that Photos are extremely effective on Facebook, while Quotes and Links work better on Twitter.

Alex Chang, CEO Roost (photo left)

What were the most effective results for local business users of Twitter?
–
Alex Chang: Generally we find that Twitter is most effective for trying to get quick, large awareness

What were the most effective results for local business using Facebook?

Alex Chang: Facebook tends to be more effective at generating actual customer engagement and dialogue

Your research indicates the importance of photo usage on Facebook. How effective were photos in gaining Likes and other responses on Facebook?

Alex Chang: Photos are extremely effective at generating both impressions, but also engagement (Likes, comments etc) on Facebook. In many ways Facebook is a social networking site oriented around photo sharing

Besides photos, did local businesses find success with other forms of engagement on Facebook?

Alex Chang: Yes. We find asking your audience interesting questions generates significant engagement.

On Twitter, local businesses were often successful in receiving retweets of their tweets. What type of posts on Twitter resulted in retweets for local businesses?

Alex Chang: Quotes and links generate the most retweets, and this makes sense if you think about it. They are easily digestible and prone to sharinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

What was the most surprising result that arose from the study?

We were surprised to see the extent to which Photos outshone other post types in generating impressions. We expected them to do well, but not that well

What is next for Roost?

Alex Chang: We’ll be continuing to publish data driven tips for local businesses to get smarter about social media marketing…and we have many exciting new features planned for Roost as a terrific free tool to help them manage this!

***********

For more information about social marketing platform builder Roost

Check out Blog Business Radio for more articles by Wayne Hurlbert

There are 2 Comments. Add Yours.

website
January 10, 2012 at 4:16 am

Many businesses seem to believe that the online world is the ONLY place to promote their business. True it is an important place, but you neglect the offline world at your peril. Equally, if you are using the internet to promote your company, the current pressure to use social media should not be allowed to force you into doing less work with search engines.
Stephen
October 4, 2011 at 4:18 pm

Interesting findings. In order for SMBs to succeed using social media companies should create an online community. There is an issue that SMBs are coming accross and that is how do you manage multiple communities? I know a couple of businesses that use social media monitoring tools to help manage their communities. Do you have any other suggestions?



*Do you have a business* site?** Submit your business related site FREE!

Accounting Book Keeping, Training... Advertising PPC, Print, Banner... Investing VCs, Mutual Funds...	Brick and Mortar Stores, Offices... Research/Studies Research, Data, Studies... Tips/Tutorials Tips, Advice, Tutorials...

» Submit your site «

Local Business Social Media Use: Roost Study

Get smarter about social media marketing!

What do you think? Respond. Cancel reply