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 Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook Increase Your Sales

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Written by Robert Rios | 06 December 2010

 

Using social media tools like Foursquare may give us a good picture of consumer trends. Target made a herculean effort to market its Black Friday sales, including buying the hashtag "#BlackFriday", and received nearly one-quarter of all check in's via the location-based, micro-blogging site.

Target has not released any specific sales figures but if it received any share of revenue close to the percentage of check-in's it received, it was a good day. The National Retail Federation reported that there were 17 million more shoppers in stores this year over last year and sales revenues are estimated to be $45 billion overall.

For small businesses, there are lessons to be learned from the big boxes' strategies.

Using Foursquare or Facebook Places to promote your company and special offers is effective!

The first step is to build a robust, online social media presence. There are literally hundreds of platforms out there so investigate which are the best suited for your business.

Secondly, an audience of people with similar interests or specifically interested in you has to be built. For instance, if you're a restaurant, get a Foursquare account and watch who becomes your friend or checks in to your location. Then, click on each profile. You'll be able to see if that person lives in your city, and if he or she is on Facebook and Twitter. If so, click through and send them a friend request on those platforms, too. Though it takes time, this will pay off in the long-run.

Next, you need to engage in a dialogue offering information, education, inspiration and humor. Ultimately, the larger audience will provide for more potential customers. Converting customers will depend on the type of your business and services offered. Creating awareness of your promotions and special offers allows your audience to choose your business. Naturally, you don't want to keep putting the same message out every day, and it's best to find out the best time to post your messages.

A steady, long-term campaign will help your business maximize conversions when your customers are ready to buy. If you're thinking about taking the next step into social media marketing, contact NewMediaPlus by filling out this simple form.

Click here to view the full article: http://bit.ly/icvSwe