Mediaboss Marketing

Source: Facebook.com

Lost in the shuffle was a lesser-played story of two guys who own a small pizza joint in New Orleans. As part of the news story for NPR, they were paired with a Facebook ad expert who set up a campaign for them to see if Facebook

The pizza joint owners spent $240 on Facebook advertising and after asking every single customer how they heard about them, realized not one had come from the ads. Failure. Waste of money. End of story, right? Nope.

Heres the story that people missed. For small businesses which create over two-thirds of net new jobs, and employ more than half of all working Americans Facebook is less about advertising and more (much more) about engagement, which Ill explain below. The real story is that you, the small business owner, possess the engagement skill in spades and can use it to grow your business. I call it Engagement Marketing.

You know your customers

We all do business with small businesses. Think about those you frequent on a daily or weekly basis: your dry cleaner, Web designer, wine merchant, day care provider, barber, or deli, to name a few. The person who owns the business, or the employees, greet you by name, ask about your spouse or children, get you what you need, and wish you a great day. We leave feeling good.

This is such a common occurrence, we dont even think about how remarkable it is! This personal touch or creating a WOW! experience is the cornerstone of Engagement Marketing.

Customers look to you for answers

Engagement is talking with your customers versus marketing at them. If a customer comes into your nursery, for example, and asks about a plant and soil conditions, you give the answer. This is what you, as the small business owner, do naturally every day. Why? Because it keeps customers coming back.

Now, take this engagement and put it online. When customers connect with you through Facebook, follow you on Twitter or subscribe to your e-newsletter, you have the same opportunity to help them, and keep them connected to your business even when theyre not physically doing business with you.

Read the original post:
Social Marketing: Engagement Equals Endorsement