One of the largest misconceptions with local store marketing is that social media can be a quick fix in targeting your desired audience. Unfortunately social media used improperly can be as ineffective as poorly implemented traditional print campaigns. The Wall Street Journal highlighted a survey that found in some cases the majority of “likes” and “fans” can be outside of the targeted community, and therefore not driving traffic with the right consumer base. Like all marketing tools, social media campaigns should be carefully thought out, planned and implemented for maximum results. A good way to approach social media is to consider it as an outlet for community promotions, adding relevance to your business by highlighting the community around it.
So much for local marketing through social media. Only 15% of the average local business’s fans are in the city where the business is located, reports Roost.com, a social-media advisory company.
The finding came from Roost’s Local Scorecards, which analyze audience distributions and other marketing metrics. The report was generated over the past month by tracking “likes” on the Facebook pages of 800 non-Roost and Roost users. On average, each business had 344 fans.