Have you ever seen the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? If not, stop what you are doing and go directly to Netflix. It’s a great film. There is a scene (and for the three people who have never seen the movie this is a HUGE SPOILER ALERT) at the end of the movie where Indiana Jones must find the holy grail. Countless cups and chalices are surrounding him, and he must choose the one that will save them all. In this cave of wonders sits an ancient knight, passing judgment on those who are looking for the sacred cup. This scene always comes to mind when I talk about social media branding. Businesses are faced with a myriad of choices, but must choose wisely, for those who try to tackle every social media platform are doomed to fail in their quest. Today we offer some things to think about regarding social media branding for your business. Hopefully, we can guide you on your journey and help you to choose wisely.
In the past decade, social media has become a force to be reckoned with, changing the way brands communicate and interact with their customers. Social media is no fad, and now countless business articles are pointing to the value of these platforms; pushing companies to join. From Facebook to Linkedin and Twitter to Pinterest, it is easy to want to jump on the bandwagon and sign up, especially since the majority of these platforms are free! There are a couple of fundamental questions that any business person should ask themselves before they try to implement any social media branding. Failure to do so would represent a bad choice indeed.
That's where companies like Seafoam Media come in. We can help answer all of these questions and more, helping you to get back to the business of running your business. If you don't know where to begin with your social media branding, contact Seafoam Media today. We can offer a free audit to determine your best practices to finding the holy grail of your social media strategy and engagement. Let us help you on your quest to grow your business digitally.
We had a blast getting a buzz while creating buzz this weekend at the seventh annual Maplewood Coffee Crawl; endless coffee, delicious samples and getting to know our neighbors and fellow business owners. When you're a small business, it’s so important to be part of your community and collaborate with other local businesses. Not only for fun and creating a buzz, but for driving more business (oh, and it’s pretty easy when you have an awesome community like Maplewood in St. Louis, MO!).
We jumped at the opportunity to get out in our local community during the Maplewood Coffee Crawl. Approximately 15 Maplewood shops served coffee, snacks, and other fun treats to over 100 patrons. Businesses represented this year included, All Out Wellness, Living Room, Strange Donuts, Traveling Tea, Tim Hortons, Stone Spiral, Great Harvest Bread Co., La Cosecha Coffee Roasters, Vom Fass, Larder and Cupboard, Foundation Grounds, Mystic Valley, Kakao Chocolate and Schlafly Bottleworks. We were thrilled to not only taste our neighbor’s delicious recipes, but to get to know the owners behind their creations.
We love that all the Maplewood businesses collaborated to promote the area with the Coffee Crawl. Maplewood businesses jumped on Twitter and started sharing, retweeting and liking posts from the day. We met new faces, created buzz for ourselves and others, and new businesses learned about us in return. Social media plays a key role in community collaboration. So if you aren’t on Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, yet, hop on and start connecting with the local businesses in your area. The retweet is the new neighborly wave.
Companies that can create or participate in a collaborative network and connect with other business and potential customers will benefit from a competitive advantage.
Successful networkers understand that community collaboration is a two-way street. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to help fellow small businesses grow. By consistently bringing value and opportunity to those in your network, industry, and your area you’ll be attracting others to your business. In short, by giving business to others, you will get business in return.
1. Offer to swap guest posts for each company’s blog. We love this one because it's beneficial all around. When you're out and about at a networking event, run this idea past your community colleagues. This is a much easier concept to discuss in person than over email. Next time you meet a local business owner, ask them about their website and blogging efforts and see how you can collaborate.
2. Introduce another business on your social media pages. Alliances can bring value to your own customers and business as well as an opportunity for you to be seen by new audiences. Typically if you shout out to someone on Facebook, they will give you a shout out back. This get's both your businesses in front of each others followers.
3. Make your presence known. Utilize events in your neighborhood, like we did with the coffee crawl. Walk around with a few business cards, an open mind, and meet new people. You're bound to meet other local business owners at a local event. While you're there, snap some pictures or videos and tag those businesses when you post.
4. Host events together. Who says you have to host events alone? Throw a trivia night, bar crawl, or outdoor concert with other companies in your area.
The day was filled with sugary treasures , caboodles of caffeine, and new local favorites. Here's a shout-out to the fine roasters at Art House Coffee, Chauvin Coffee, Goshen Coffee, Kaldi’s Coffee, Killi Caffe, Kuva Coffee Co., La Cosecha Coffee Roasters, Riley’s Coffee Co., Stringbean Coffee Co., Tim Hortons and Wayfarer Coffee Co. Now we know what coffee to stock the Seafoam office with.
Check out this South 40 News article for more pictures and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see our favorites from the day! What are your favorite ways to create buzz about your business in your local community?