(Or share this and beg your friends to support yours).
Things have been super tough for small, independent businesses recently (and big ones! But it’s the small ones that will find it hardest). I’ve seen so many posts on social media suggesting everyone supports their local businesses so I decided to write a little blog about how best to do it - without spending a single penny!
So if you have a friend with a small business you’d like to support, or you are a small business and want to share with your supporters how they can help you, here are 3 great tips on how anyone can support a local business on social media.
Engage with their brand on social media. Like, comment, share. But mostly comment. And make comments that will encourage more comments (like asking questions). This gets them seen in other people’s newsfeed and helps get their brand seen by more people (and doesn’t require much effort on your part at all!).
Share their ‘page’ or profile or invite friends to like their Facebook page. But sensibly..... and be relevant. Yes, we’ve all been inundated with invitations to ‘like’ a business Facebook page, but why the hell do I want to ‘like’ a cat toy shop in Scunthorpe? I live nowhere near it. I won’t go to the shop. I don’t have a cat. Invite others to ‘like’ your friend’s business but only ones that would interest them. And along with it, send a message to say why. They’re more likely to take on board the recommendation. For example: ‘this is a great cat toy shop and it’s right down the road from you’ (to someone with a cat, obvs).
Leave them a review. Not a fake one. Don’t do it because it’s your sister/cousin/mate. Only leave a review if you have used the business and write it properly. Take the time to do it. It’s not a lot of time, just a few mins and a few words (don’t just give the 5 stars and bugger off. That does not look genuine). People care about reviews. I bet you check out reviews all of the time and use them to make decisions about your purchases. But how often do you leave reviews? Hardly ever I bet. They make a massive difference to a business (reviews can literally make or break a business). And google takes this into account too. (And while you’re at it, leave them a google review too. They’re REALLY important).
And a Brucie bonus? If you have a website or blog.... link to their website. Even better, write about what they do and how wonderful they are at what they do in a blog AND link to their website. Google checks this stuff out and uses it (and those reviews) to decide whether to display a link to their website in google search results (Part of a whole other thing called SEO if you don’t know about this stuff. And if you don’t I won’t bore you with the how or why, just take my word for it that it’ll help).
Just a few minutes of your time can make a huge difference. And if there are businesses you love out there, that you’re worried might close down following all this Covid difficulty, take a few minutes to support them and help build them back up. Help them stay open so you can continue to enjoy your favourite bars, restaurants cafes and tourist attractions. They’ll be some of the worst hit by this crisis.
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