A majority of small business owners say attracting new customers is key to surviving a competitive market. Many owners are turning to social media, like Facebook and Twitter to grow their business. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Terry Ward reports.
TERRY WARD: Eighty percent of small businesses in America have a Facebook page. It’s getting happy customers to log-on and ‘friend’ that business that’s the trick to growing the customer base. So says Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact, a business consulting firm. Goodman says getting a customer to sign-on to a company’s Facebook page starts with asking.
GAIL GOODMAN: They’re not just going to stumble on you on Facebook. You need to ask. So, whether that’s in your store, your restaurant or as you finished a client engagement, finish it with, “We’d really like it if you’d friend us on Facebook.”
WARD: Goodman is author of the book, “Engagement Marketing.” She says social media builds on the age-old method of attracting new customers: Word of mouth.
GOODMAN: So if you have existing customers and you get them to engage in social media, mainly Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In, then you can drive more word-of-mouth referrals by getting social visibility.
WARD: Goodman says customers look for and trust comments and reviews of a business found online. She cites a Neilsen survey showing 78 percent of people trust consumer recommendations. Constant Contact is an NPR underwriter.