Do you SoLoMo? Yes, I know that sounds like the latest offering from the Starbucks menu, but the acronym actually stands for social, local, mobile. What you do need to do however, is wrap your head around why SoLoMo is a very important concept and marketing tool for your small business to use.
What is SoLoMo and how can it help your small business?
The union of these three was virtually inevitable. As location based services have become ever more advanced, tracking our every move, it was not a huge step to having businesses be able to connect and touch someone, (like you!) with location based notifications and offers. Pew Internet & American Life Project recently found that around 74 percent of smartphone users use their mobile devices to obtain local information, and approximately 18 percent use them to check in on local businesses with geo-location services like Foursquare, Yelp and others. As increasing numbers of mobile users are searching for local products and services, either you and your company will discover a way to serve these people, who are out, phone in hand and wallet virtually open, or you’ll discover that your competitors will!
3 Ways to your business can employ SoLoMo
- Use social media – Through the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and others to interact with and inform your customers and prospects, you’ve found a most effective and low-cost solution to build relationship and energize your brand at the same time.
- Optimize your local presence – Make certain your small business is optimized in local search directories that are applicable, and you are actively catering to local business with your marketing.
- Spend some on mobile marketing – Mobile ads are returning excellent ROIs, since most users who are searching local are out there searching for it in the field. Also, some local advertising techniques are cheap or free, such as check in deal on Facebook or FourSquare.
A great example of SoLoMo in action is exemplified by Walgreens. Checking in with Foursquare gives their customers coupons and a great deal more! SoLoMo isn’t likely to do anything but expand dramatically, so take the time to make sure your small business is all set for it!
