Steve and I both do a great deal of reading online trying to learn new things and observing how others handle their online presence.  By reading blog posts you can learn a lot but I think sometimes you learn more by reading the comments on the post.

The other day I was reading the comments on a post.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember whose blog I was reading or even what the post was about.  It was just one comment that sticks in my mind and for whatever reason I just can’t stop thinking about it.  I suppose part of the reason it bothers me is that the person that wrote the blog post did not reply to the comment.  In my opinion they really should have.  If someone takes the time to write a comment on a post you wrote, you should have enough respect for them to reply.  And, in this case, if there is one person that believes what this commenter believes there are many others.  What they believe is just not true.

The gist of the comment was that this person believed that they should never use social media for self-promotion.  In their mind social media was apparently just for communicating more on a personal level or giving recognition to others for good things they were doing.  While I do agree this is a big part of how social media is to be used, part of the reason people are following you is to learn what’s going on with your business.  They want to know if you are offering something that they might benefit from.

Also, I do not believe that social media is a “one size fits all” type of thing.  Each person, each business needs to determine what it is that their customer needs and wants from them.  Then develop their social media program around that.

What are your thoughts on this?  Do you agree or disagree?  I’d love to hear what you think.  I will reply to your comments!

Photo credit:  Victoria Jarvis

We live near a college town and it’s interesting to watch how some businesses communicate with the students.  Of course, all the students are on Facebook and at least some are on Twitter.  I’m sure there are other social media platforms that they use but Facebook is the big one.

Pizza X has figured out they can reach their target market (college students) via Facebook and Twitter and they do it well.  By being a bit creative, they engage their audience and generate excitement about their restaurant and their promotions.  Not only that, one of the promotions also gives other businesses in the community some recognition.  I think this one is great.

This promotion is something they call “Fun Photo”.  First, I should say they have generated some exited with their plastic cups.  Their customers like the cups they serve drinks in and choose to collect all the different colors.  These cups, of course, have their logo on them.  Anyway, they take one of their cups to other businesses in town and take a picture in some obscure spot around the building.  They then put a tweet out, along with a Facebook post which includes the picture, that it’s “Fun Photo” time.  Guess where the cup is and win a Pizza X hoodie, frisbee and pizza meal.  They only give 20 minutes for people to figure out where it is.  Because their customers know they do this promotion, they are there at the time of the competition and participate.  Their fans interact with each other by throwing out thoughts and ideas of where it might be until finally someone figures it out.  At the end of the 20 minutes, they congratulate the winner (if there is one) and let them know their prizes are at the store waiting for them.

There are three things going on here that are great.  First, they are engaging their customers and creating excitement on a regular basis.  After all, who wouldn’t want to win the prizes?  Second, is that they are getting a mention out about other businesses in town.  What a great way of developing a sense of community with local businesses.  And third, every week they add someone else that is wearing their logo around town doing Pizza X’s advertising for them.

This is just one of the creative ways in which Pizza X uses social media but I must say they are doing a great job.  Pizza X can be found on Twitter by clicking here and on Facebook by clicking here.

What kind of creative ways are you using social media?  How do you engage your customers and generate excitement?  How do you help your customers advertise for you?  And, what do you do to help develop your business community?  We’d love to hear your success stories and be able to share them with our community.