There is a new buzzword in town:
Hyperlocal.
It simply means: Local business enlisting social media to promote themselves within their community.
In the past I have heard local business owners saying that social media works only for big corporations. The reasoning behind belief is that the customers know the shops in the area; everybody can walk by (and in), word spreads fast in the community. No need to tweet around the globe because someone from Amsterdam is not going to become a regular customer of your ice cream in New York.
This argument is losing momentum. On Tuesday afternoon I could witness at the Social Media Week event (hosted by EFactor and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce) four successful local business owners from Brooklyn who use social media and thus have boosted their revenue considerably.
Here are some compelling facts from the event:
• 80% of budgets are spent within 15 miles of the home
• 82% of local searches follow up offline via an in-store visit, phone call or purchase
• 20% of national brands are spending over 25% of their budget on local marketing
• 37% of companies that track ROI (Return on Investment) expect local marketing campaign ROI to be higher than their national campaigns
These statics show clearly how rewarding it is to employ Social Media on a local level, be it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other site that is best suited to the nature of your business. Brooklyn’s Karen Tapping, CEO of Karen’s Body Beautiful, said that she uses the social channels to become more visible and approachable locally and so became the face and voice of her brand.
And it clearly pays off.
