In 2015, 95 million Americans shopped Small Business Saturday, a 14 percent increase over the previous year’s event. Millennials spend $600 billion a year on local goods and services with no signs of slowing down, so establishing yourself as the local eyecare and eyewear provider of choice is essential.
According to Forbes magazine, up to 30 percent of potential buyers won’t shop at a small business if it isn’t on social media. So how do you establish yourself as a small business worth supporting in your local community? Here’s how to utilize social media to go local:
Brand yourself. Social media is the place to broadcast that you are a part of the local community. Make personal graphics for your business that say “shop local” or “shop small” and thank your followers for supporting your local business. You can use free graphic creation apps like Phonto to overlay “Shop Local” text over photos of your optical or office.
Collaborate with other local businesses. Reach out to businesses you have a connection with to collaborate on a social media campaign.
Use the right hashtag. Tagging your post with #shopsmall and #shoplocal are great ways to join the national movement, but even better is tagging your local community. For example, if your practice is located in Atlanta, tag #shoplocalAtlanta in your posts.
Participate in local events … And tell the world about it. Sponsoring a local youth soccer team, holding community eye screenings, and speaking at local civic clubs or school meetings are all tried and true traditional marketing methods, but how much are you advertising this on your social media? Post frequently about your community involvement and tag the event in your posts so that its followers are more likely to find you.
Founded by two millennial ODs and social media entrepreneurs, Defocus Media (defocusmedia.com) manages social media networks for independent optical practices. Dr. Darryl Glover is founder of Eye See Euphoria (eyeseeeuphoria.com) and Dr. Jennifer Lyerly is founder of Eyedolatry (eyedolatryblog.com). For more information contact defocusmedia@gmail.com.