4 Things You Can Do To Help Small Business Through Social Media

Now more than ever your local small businesses need support

COVID-19 has done a number on America. Everywhere we look, things have changed. People have been on furlough for months, schools have been in limbo, and the economy has been on a rollercoaster.

Local and small businesses have been especially hard hit and while it is gratifying to see so many people voice support for small businesses, there’s more that can be done.

Here are 4 things you can do to support local and small businesses through social media:

1. Leave a positive review. A good review goes a long way with small businesses. Leaving an unsolicited positive review is not only nice, but it makes business owners and employees feel good too. Positive reviews can make or break a business on sites like Google My Business and Facebook, and trust me, every positive review is appreciated.

2. Buy a gift card for later. If you’ve got an extra $5 or $10 lying around and you know a local business offers online gift cards, order one! That $5 or $10 can really add up for small businesses and they make great gifts for the holidays.

3. Respond on social media. When you see that a small business is trying to get customer engagement through a social media post, actually engage with them. As a business, it’s easy to feel as if you’re shouting into the void, and hearing from actual customers who know and like your business is an amazing thing. Market research is vital for businesses and hearing directly from customers is something every business dreams of.

4. Use a “Support Small” sticker on your Instagram or use a specific hashtag. This is a step above a review. Using a special hashtag or sticker that actively promotes a local business is one of the biggest things you can do to support a local business. A lot of a local business’s customers come through word of mouth and having someone share about their business takes their potential customer base to a whole new level.

This may not sound like much but just think about the numbers here. On Facebook alone, most people have at least 100 friends. If they leave a review on a business’s page and then share that review with their friends list, that’s a lot of exposure. More importantly, it is trusted exposure. These are your friends, people who trust your opinion and you telling them to shop somewhere has way more influence than any ad campaign.

So let’s all do something nice. Let’s gather together and support a local business, just by doing a little something on social media you can have a big impact. So let our impact be in support of our neighbors and their businesses.