If you’re a small business, you should be on at least ONE of the many social networking sites…It’s FREE MARKETING AND PROMOTION for Pete’s sake!
My favorite site is Twitter for social media business marketing – word spreads FAST, and there’s nothing like a little word of mouth wildfire to bring attention and traffic to your business or event. Many apps/services like Foursquare, Yelp, Gowalla, etc. cater to local businesses in hopes they will actually start to pay attention to their social media patrons.
A cool service I found is schmaps/schnaps and it enables you to add maps and pictures to Tweets to drive attention/traffic to your business or event. Instead of creating yet ANOTHER social media account, schmaps integrates with Twitter and immediately gives you options to add an address or venue name and one image (schmap), or import multiple images from your computer or via Flickr to a tweet (schnap).
So instead of tweeting “Doing BIG things over @ Big Things Bar & Grill on 3rd & Pratt St.” You can actually create a schmap by adding a map complete with an image/flyer of your location or event and a map indicating exactly where it’s located to your tweet. If you want show your Twitter followers what a good time folks are having at your event, you can add up to 8 images to a tweet to create a schnap.
In both cases, a schmap.it url is created and added to your tweet, so users can click (or tap if they are mobile) to see your additional information.
Additional features include:
- Adding additional links, Hashtags, or your own ads
- Preview your schmap/schnap before sending
- Allow visitors to add comments or RSVP on your schmap.it site
Schmaps also offers a free iPhone app that lets you create, edit, and manage schmaps/schnaps from your mobile device.
As far as cost, All of the above is free to use. A $9.95 monthly upgrade to Schmaps PRO will add a TON of additional features, including metrics tracking, turning off schmaps ads in tweets, permanent tweet scheduling, and more.
Don’t be afraid, social media sites are safe to use for business marketing and promoting. With FREE services like Schmaps, you’re just being silly it would behoove you to get on board and take advantage of all the additional avenues to bring business to your doorsteps.