Today, I want to share an excellent example of a local business that used social media effectively to make the sale.
I’m a big fan of Dunn Bros Coffee in downtown Nashville. I even walk past a Starbucks to get to the store. When you walk in and smell the aroma of their on-site coffee roasting, you’ll understand why.
On occasion, I’ll tweet about dropping in and grabbing my favorite beverage, a vanilla iced nirvana. The folks at Dunn Bros have taken notice. On Thursday, I received the following tweet:
@lauraclick 2 for 1 Vanilla Iced Nirvanas coming this Monday – sounds like this special was made just for you 🙂
— Dunn Bros Nashville (@DunnBrosNash) July 29, 2010
Do you think I made it a point to stop in today? You bet I did!
The beauty of this tweet was that it was targeted to me and my interests. It showed that they are paying attention to me by giving me a heads up on the promotion even before it went out via e-mail.
Although what Dunn Bros did is quite simple, it seems many small businesses miss the boat on this. If you’re not quite sure how to leverage social media for your business, here are a few simple tips:
- Listen. In other words, pay attention to people who comment on your blog, “like” your Facebook post, check in to your business on Foursquare or mention your brand on Twitter. The people who do these things are already connected to your business, so it’s important to understand who they are, what they like and why they visit. Social media is an excellent tool for learning more about your customers.
- Engage. Once you take notice of people talking about you online, strike up a conversation and interact with them. Thank them for stopping by or find a common thread and just say hello. The people who are talking about your business are your biggest fans, so it pays to connect with them.
- Encourage. In social media, overt sales tactics can be a big turnoff. If you’ve never communicated with a person, sending them a message asking them to retweet your special will not be well received. But, if you’ve taken the me strike up a conversation with someone, they will welcome your a message about your upcoming special, especially if it’s catered to their likes and interests. With Dunn Bros, for example, we have communicated a number of times about my love of vanilla iced nirvana. So, when they sent me a tweet about their upcoming deal for my favorite beverage, it made me feel special and excited to take advantage of it.
What are some other small businesses that are doing social media right? Share your examples and experiences in the comments and let’s applaud these businesses who are doing it right!
