Today, Google turned on “real-time search.” That means you can see Web results from minutes ago — and the search results will appear as they become available. And it includes results from public Facebook pages.
So what does that mean for local businesses? It means you have an easy way to drive business based on timely offers and discounts. For example, my local sports booster club just updated its Facebook page with a special offer for T-shirts celebrating the school’s new soccer team. The offer showed up right away in Google search results, even for people who are not logged into Facebook.
How about other uses? A local bakery could offer free muffins to the first 10 customers in the door. A restaurant can post daily specials to Facebook and it will be cross-promoted on Google. It offers you an opportunity to extend your immediate reach beyond Facebook and Twitter, and into the realm of search.
As Google integrates real-time results more fully into its search tools, smart local businesses will be looking for ways to take advantage of it with time-sensitive offers.
Update: I just noticed the real-time search page includes a new feature — location-based search. Combining location with time-sensitive information opens up even more opportunities for local business who get creative with their promotional efforts.
If you want ideas for how to engage your customers with interesting content online, you should check out the Junta42 Top Content Marketing Blogs. It’s a list of the best blogs on the topic of “content marketing”–the best way to build strong, lasting relationships that will lead to better sales, better customer service, and better overall health for your organization.
You know you need a Facebook page for your business. You may even think you know what kind of stuff you want to put there. But before you go one step further, you should think about this question: if my Facebook page is successful in engaging customers, what will that look like?
For an example, take a look at a page I’ve set up for a little hobby website of mine, RepublicTigerSports.com. (I cover local sports exclusively focused on my hometown.) The season is just starting, and last night was a good example of what an actively engaged Facebook audience looks like. In about 6 hours, here’s what people posted to the page, out of the 1,300 fans:
- 3 user-generated wall posts
- 14 comments on my posts
- 12 clicks on the “like” button
That’s about a 2.5% participation rate — but keep in mind, I’m only talking about a single 6-hour period. Most traditional websites are lucky to get participation of around 5-10% over a much longer period of time. I could never get that kind of comment rate if I merely posted sports updates to my website.
The point of the example is that a Facebook is a great way to engage people. And engagement is more important than building up a huge number of fans. That’s because engagement — getting people to take action, even if it’s just clicking a “like” button — is a sign that you are building a relationship with your followers. And that’s the point of pouring time and energy into social media in the first place.
Here’s yet another story of how Facebook and social media have helped a local business connect with customers. The Springfield Foodie has details on how a Qdoba burrito franchise in Springfield, Missouri, grew from 200 to 4,000+ Facebook fans in just a few months. (Hint: They didn’t just create a Facebook page. They’ve been creative and consistent about generating content for it.)
Every organization produces content, even if it’s just a newsletter. But to get the most out of the content you’re producing, you should be asking yourself a few questions. The Marketing Genius Blog has a list of 10 questions you should ask about social media and content.
My favorite:
Who have we assigned to govern our content on an ongoing basis?
Producing content on a regular basis makes it extremely important to assign someone in your organization to maintain and govern it. Ideally this is a content strategist.
For those of us without the luxury of the ideal, be sure to select someone with high attention to detail and a knack for organization.
I’d add one other option (partly because I’ve seen this work with a lot of my own clients). Bring in a trusted partner to serve as a freelance content creator. Let that person work closely with you to generate ideas, and then turn them loose to write articles, make podcasts, create videos, and make engaging content for the people you want to reach.
However you do it, not assigning a point person to the content-creation role is the most common mistake I see organizations make when they try to participate online.
