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.

Yesterday I was working on a project for another site that required I research several local bands.  Assuming they had a web presence, I started by searching their names on Google to see what I could come up with.  It surprised me to learn that many of the bands did not have much of a web presence and one I wasn’t able to find at all.

Why was I surprised?

Not that I know anything about the music industry but, for whatever reason, I assumed that these bands would have a strong web presence.   That they would be interacting with their fans to, at the very least, let them know where they are going to play next.  How do their fans know where they are going to be if they don’t tell them?  Do they assume that the club they are playing at is going to promote them?  Are their fans supposed to find them by driving by the club and notice that the band’s name is on the sign out front?  Do people find them by accident?  They decide to go out that night and the band just happens to be playing at the club they go to.

A business like any other

Do bands realize they are a business?  No, they don’t have a store front but they are a business.  I guess I can understand that when a band is young, they are focusing on creating music and improving their sound.  But, developing their fan base is what’s going to get them “climbing the charts” so to speak.  It’s what’s going to get them more gigs.  If the club is packed with fans that came out specifically to hear then, the more the club owner wants to hire them.

Every business, including bands, need to have a web presence.  The value of developing relationships with your customers (your fans) should not be underestimated.  Those customers, those fans will ultimately be your biggest asset.  They will be the ones doing the advertising for you.  They will be the ones telling their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their friends and so on, about you.  It doesn’t matter if you are a band or a t-shirt shop or a small café, it works the same.  The more people you communicate with, the more people that are telling others about you.

Get out there on the social media platforms your fans and customers are on and start developing those relationships.  Developing relationships IS developing your business.

What’s your social media strategy?  Are you where you customers or your fans are?

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