SmallBusinessNewz

It has been proven time and time again that social networks can help businesses spread brand awareness, increase customer engagement, and ultimately bring in more customers and sales. While there are tremendous benefits to online businesses, social media can be particularly useful for local brick and mortars as well.  Do you promote your social media presence in the offline world?

It makes sense that social media and local would go hand in hand. It's much easier to be social with people who are actually around you in the physical world. People are more likely to engage with local businesses - businesses they can actually visit in person.

I saw something the other day that struck me as blatantly obvious, but not as commonly practiced as it should be. I drove by a restaurant and right on their main sign, they said something along the lines of "become a fan of our Facebook page." Reference your social media accounts in your signage.

Everybody that drives past this restaurant, let alone visits it, now knows that it has a Facebook page. For a lot of businesses, it would not even occur to the average consumer to look for their Facebook page, but if prompted to do so, they may be more likely to hunt it down and become a fan. And once they've become a fan of your Facebook page, you will be right in their stream as consistently as you want to be (depending on how frequently you post updates - don't overdo it though. you may risk losing them). That can be a powerful thing, considering how much time people actually spend on Faecbook.

The idea is of course not limited to Facebook. If you prefer Twitter, promote it. Use it on your signs, business cards, direct marketing materials - anywhere consumers will see it. If you prefer MySpace, do the same.Your social media profile will be a lot more valuable if people know it exists.