(707) 489-7773 liz@askforliz.com

Looking for local customers?

by | Hashtags, Social Media Marketing

Are You Looking for Local Buyers and Sellers?

One of the most common comments I hear from local brick and mortar stores is, “Hey Liz, I don’t need social media because I don’t need to talk to people from half way across the world. I want people that live nearby to walk into my store and buy.”

'I don't need social cuz I'm not global.' Uhm, yes you do. Cuz your local customers are online too. Let's find them. Click To Tweet

But your local customers are on social media too.

Take 5 minutes to do this:

✔️ Go to your search icon

✔️ Enter the name of your city

✔️ Look at the accounts that come up

✔️ Look at the following/followers names for those accounts Now, which ones do you think might be a good fit for what you’re selling? Hit that follow button and interact with them.

What do I mean by interact?  Find a post or tweet that you can identify with and make a comment. Or retweet a tweet or two. Hit like on a few of their posts or tweets. But here’s my caveat (I know, you’re probably tired of hearing it by now) only take these actions if you are sincere. Do they have kids on a swim team and you have kids on a swim team? Make a comment. Did they just step out of a hair salon and you’re looking for a new place? Ask about it. Find some common ground and start there.

They’ll take notice of you and if your social media looks interesting, they’ll probably follow you back.

And then, BAM! 💣Once you’re connected online, you have the opportunity to make them a customer.

ONE EXAMPLE OF FINDING LOCAL CUSTOMERS ON INSTAGRAM:

Start on your Instagram account page and look for the Search icon.

Then go to the search field and enter the city of your choice. I chose San Francisco.
And I came up with this. These photos and accounts will be changing constantly so you can have fresh opportunities constantly!

EXAMPLES ON FINDING LOCAL CUSTOMERS ON TWITTER:

Once again look for the search icon.

Enter the name of the city of your choice in the search field. I again choose San Francisco. (I might have to change this up soon. I don’t want you thinking I’m that predictable.)
Notice the tabs across the top of your screen and note that you have multiple choices. You can click on People to see the accounts. You can click on each and determine if it’s an account that will work for your goals. Generally speaking, I find it’s better to begin interacting with people and not big organizations.
Another tab you might be interested in is Latest. If you want to find people that have met your search criteria and are probably online right now, and therefore more likely to interact with you in the moment, then this is the way to go.

Latest is also the best place to go if you make this a regular part of your Twitter customer search habit since it will always be changing.

Another way to find local business is by searching by hashtag used for a local event. There’s more on using hashtags on this post.

If you’re looking for a jumpstart on your hashtag use, start with the free swipe file I created specifically for real estate agents by clicking here to download my swipe file now!

If you want more information on how you can really drill down into hashtags to use them as a major part of your marketing strategy, take a look at my course at MasteringHashtags.com. You can make changes within an hour that will make a positive impact on your social proof.

Would you like more detailed information on how to find local customers? Leave me a comment below and I’ll try to address it in the next post.

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