{"id":12054,"date":"2018-03-05T05:48:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T11:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/?p=12054"},"modified":"2023-07-10T11:15:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T16:15:44","slug":"giant-checklist-social-media-marketing-basics-small-town-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/2018\/03\/giant-checklist-social-media-marketing-basics-small-town-business.html","title":{"rendered":"The giant checklist of social media marketing basics for small town business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Start with this checklist<\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n
Here are specific steps any small business in a rural area can take to get started on social media marketing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Physical, bricks and mortar businesses, claim your Google listing first:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Claim your Google listing at\u00a0https:\/\/www.google.com\/business\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. What to do if you’re not in the right place on the map<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Update your info, especially hours<\/li>\n
  4. Add some photos<\/li>\n
  5. Use ongoing updates to post holiday hours, special opening times, events, specials for people who find your listing<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For every business, have a good website<\/strong><\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Include the basics from this checklist<\/a>: name, address, phone, true rural location, and hours<\/li>\n
    2. The number one feature is the location of your store <\/a><\/li>\n
    3. Ask your customers what they want from your website<\/a><\/li>\n
    4. Use landing pages to check your results<\/a>\u00a0from your social media efforts<\/li>\n
    5. Here are\u00a09 reasons to include a\u00a0blog even if no one subscribes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Then, ask customers what social tools they use<\/strong><\/h3>\n
        \n
      1. Know the general rural trends: Rural people use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter at same % rate as urban people. But rural people lag urban on LinkedIn, Pinterest use. (Pew Internet 2016<\/a>)<\/li>\n
      2. Find out if they’re email users (may depend on age and occupation)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Next, pick just one social tool to focus on<\/strong><\/h3>\n
          \n
        1. Usually Facebook is the one where most of your customers are<\/li>\n
        2. But remember to put\u00a0Facebook in its place alongside email and your website<\/a><\/li>\n
        3. Facebook Groups are hot right now, but expect things to change (for more on Facebook Groups for business\u00a0listen to this podcast<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Everyone, definitely email your customers<\/strong><\/h3>\n
            \n
          1. Getting started with email marketing for small town businesses<\/a><\/li>\n
          2. Ways to build your email list<\/a>\n
              \n
            1. Without breaking the law<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
            2. Stop thinking clutter and start thinking of email as personal<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              How to keep up with the trends in social media<\/strong><\/h3>\n
                \n
              1. Should you keep up with trends? Ask your customers<\/li>\n
              2. Build a layer cake with others in the community<\/a><\/li>\n
              3. Start something like Tweetfolk Tours<\/a> in your area<\/li>\n
              4. Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement<\/a>\u00a0is a social media marketing resource for growers (but good for any small business trying to keep up)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Other specific tools to be aware of<\/strong><\/h3>\n
                  \n
                1. Pinterest and Vimeo<\/a><\/li>\n
                2. Yelp isn’t big in my town. I know because I compared five weeks of my views on Yelp to the same month of views on Google. (see the graphic below)<\/li>\n
                3. TripAdvisor matters for some tourism-related categories<\/li>\n
                4. A few thoughts on “influencers” and your business<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \"\"

                  Yelp doesn’t look very competitive in my market for my business. Your results may vary.<\/p><\/div>\n

                  <\/div>\n

                  ————————————<\/h1>\n

                  Take the small town social media approach<\/h1>\n
                  Platforms and tools come and go. These techniques apply in every channel and tool, no matter what changes.<\/div>\n

                  Where to find the time<\/h3>\n
                    \n
                  1. Use checklists for social media work<\/a> to keep it from ballooning<\/li>\n
                  2. How to find time for writing<\/a>\u00a0while still running your business<\/li>\n
                  3. Fit social marketing into your existing plans<\/a><\/li>\n
                  4. Apply the Simplified Marketing Plan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Plan ahead with a content calendar<\/h3>\n
                      \n
                    1. Planners and calendars<\/a><\/li>\n
                    2. Tap seasonal campaigns like Shop Small throughout the year<\/li>\n
                    3. Shift Your Shopping series<\/a> you can reuse any year<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Small town style for social media<\/h3>\n
                        \n
                      1. Our small town culture can be a big asset in social media marketing<\/a><\/li>\n
                      2. Talk less about you and more about them\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n
                      3. Be a social media mirror\n
                          \n
                        1. Share customer content, with permission<\/li>\n
                        2. Set up easy ways to contribute: email, hashtag,<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
                        3. 18 Topics to talk about<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                          Use a variety of different media, no matter what channel you pick<\/h3>\n
                            \n
                          1. Include words, pictures, and video<\/li>\n
                          2. Here are some tools for easy graphics creation\n
                              \n
                            1. Canva<\/a><\/li>\n
                            2. Pablo<\/a><\/li>\n
                            3. Landscape<\/a> (a photo resizing tool specifically for social media)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                              Listen to customers and respond<\/h3>\n
                                \n
                              1. Answer customer questions<\/a><\/li>\n
                              2. Ask customers for requests and follow them up<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                Be part of the local community<\/h3>\n
                                  \n
                                1. How to get locals to follow you on your social channels<\/a><\/li>\n
                                2. More ways to get locals to follow you<\/a><\/li>\n
                                3. Talk about your causes, your people’s causes<\/li>\n
                                4. Talk about what’s going on<\/li>\n
                                5. Talk about competitors<\/li>\n
                                6. Show what there is to do in your town\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                  Use photos effectively<\/h3>\n
                                    \n
                                  1. Always include captions<\/a><\/li>\n
                                  2. Where to find photos online that you can use for your business<\/a><\/li>\n
                                  3. Know the restrictions on using photos you find online<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                    Use video well<\/h3>\n
                                      \n
                                    1. How to use video to promote your small business<\/a><\/li>\n
                                    2. How to do simple videos for your business<\/a> (an old look at the equipment and process I used when I started)<\/li>\n
                                    3. How to do live video like Facebook Live<\/a><\/li>\n
                                    4. 21 things to cover\u00a0 with video<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                      Audio and podcasting<\/h3>\n
                                        \n
                                      1. Podcasting basics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                        Cited in academic papers:<\/h2>\n
                                          \n
                                        • Austy\u2019s Bookstore: Leveraging an Online and Social Media Presence to Increase Customer Engagement,<\/em> student team report Audrey Gacsy, Stephanie Fiorentino, Jessica Schneider, Olivia Stephens, Sustainability Law and Policy, Indiana University Bloomington, Spring 2021\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
                                        • Social Media as a Business Strategy: Rural Grocery Stores as a Case Study,<\/em> Amber Berg and Jessie Carr, Rural Grocery Initiative, Kansas State University, 2018<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                          Start with this checklist Here are specific steps any small business in a rural area can take to get started on social media marketing. Physical, bricks and mortar businesses, claim your Google listing first: Claim your Google listing at\u00a0https:\/\/www.google.com\/business\/ What to do if you’re not in the right place on the map Update your info, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":12058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,3,7,8,11],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Yelp-vs.-Google.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12054"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15106,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12054\/revisions\/15106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}