The Small Business and Facebook

A funny thing happened as we all got connected on the internet—we suddenly wanted to embrace our local community. Seemingly overnight, Facebook became ground zero for local businesses promoting their services and products.

In 2011, Facebook started rolling out tools to allow hyper-local content.

In embracing local communities, Facebook made it easier to make these sorts of connections:

DEFINITION

Hyper-local content is information that’s only pertinent to people within a certain community. The term usually applies to physical communities, not virtual ones.

Check in is when a customer uses a mobile device to let friends know that he or she is visiting a particular establishment. Checking in is done via a social network, such as Facebook, or a check-in app, like FourSquare. The check-in is shared with the customer’s friends, which creates advertising opportunities for the business.

A Step Ahead

Books like the one you’re now reading wouldn’t have been as relevant even a few years ago. Not only was Facebook in its infancy, but businesses were still trying to get their bearing online. Granted, having a website was standard, but other technologies and concepts were barely around, if at all:

FEEDBACK

Many businesses saw a serious loss in profit during the economic downturn that begin in 2007. Smart business owners knew that they had to make use of new technology to survive. Without the recession, many companies wouldn’t be pushing to be as innovative as they currently are.

Local Community

The Facebook change is also a reaction to the wildly popular check-in services, in which people can tell their friends, families, and even their favorite companies where they are located. Arrived at your favorite bar? Check in on your phone and your friends know that they can meet you there. Check in at the airport? Your family now knows that you’ve touched down in your hometown.

These are two major check-in services:

However, numerous other apps and websites have embraced the check-in concept, including Facebook, Google, and Yelp.

FEEDBACK

Checking in to a place requires a smartphone with apps or a solid internet browser, like the Apple iPhone or a Google Android phone. Your audience will not be able to check in if the majority of them have an outdated phone.

For now, you can probably imagine the impact check-in services have had on local businesses. The quiet diner at the corner now has busy rushes when a particularly popular person on FourSquare checks in there. The local barbershop can cut its advertising budget because Yelp check-ins keep it popular on the rating’s website.

Point of Sale

Finally, mainstream America has gotten very excited—some argue too excited—over mass-market coupons. Over the past couple of years, online companies began offering deals for half-off various services. For instance, you may get an email for a local restaurant offering a $40 meal for $20.

The two leaders in the mass-market coupon field are Groupon and Living Social.

FRIENDLY ADVICE

Coupons are a huge business—and the big tech companies know it, too. In fact, in late 2010, Google reportedly offered Groupon $6 billion to be purchased outright. It was even more shocking that Groupon refused, reportedly because it thought the number was too low.

And a bunch of other companies are getting in on the action, too, including these:

The deep-discount deals are mailed to millions of subscribers, so a local business could get a huge uptick in traffic from just one daily coupon. Facebook recognized the power in encouraging local commerce.