As social media continues to gain popularity among people looking to reconnect with high school friends, military buddies or previous co-workers, more businesses are eying those outlets for marketing opportunities.

That means that people increasingly are as likely to become Facebook fans with their local car dealership or favorite restaurant as they are to catch up with their 10th grade English teacher or high school girlfriend.

A lot of people ask the question, “Why?” when they hear all the buzz about social media, said Lorrie Delk Walker, president of Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc., a public relations firm in Tampa and Lakeland. That question is easy to answer when reading studies of how Generation Y communicates.

David Fallarme recently wrote on The Marketing Student blog that while Baby Boomers communicated via written letters, telephone calls or face-to-face meetings, Generation Y uses myriad social media outlets, including Facebook wall posts, private messages, instant messages and texts.

“If Generation Y isn’t already part of your client base, they soon will be,” Walker said. “So businesses need to communicate on their level.”

That means learning to use these outlets appropriately is paramount. For all the creative ways there are for businesses to use social media to their advantage, there are just as many ways to use it incorrectly.

“If not done right, social media can hurt you more than help you,” Walker said. “For example, if a restaurant sends out 14 tweets in a day and not one of them has anything to do with the restaurant, that’s not beneficial.”

Walker recalls a Lakeland barbecue restaurant that posted tweets about getting to work late, what a busy day they had ahead of them and what the weather conditions were.

“That provides nothing of value to a potential customer,” she said. “Tell me that you offer catering, or that you have pulled pork as today’s special, and that gives me a reason not only to follow you, but to actually give you my business.”

On the other hand, too much good information can have the same effect as useless info, Walker said. Businesses should not overload people.

“I think people are willing to become fans of businesses on Facebook or watch their YouTube videos if they aren’t nagged about it every 5 minutes,” she said. “If I’m going to follow a used car dealership on Twitter, I don’t want them sending me information about a new car on their lot or the latest service special 30 times a day.”

Businesses looking to jump on the social media bandwagon might consider consulting with a marketing or public relations company that understands how social media works for some guidance.

“It’s better to get it right the first time and build a following that sticks with you, rather than go through trial and error, anger people, and constantly lose followers,” Walker said. “Those people who quit following you aren’t going around talking you up in a good way to their friends.”

With that said, marketing businesses that cater to specific niches are popping up everywhere to assist industries in using social media effectively.

Auto Dealerships
Showroom Logic helps car dealerships market themselves on the Internet, specifically through Facebook and Twitter, said Mike Annable, Showroom Logic’s co-founder. Dealerships want sales leads, and these outlets provide a way to communicate with people who are in the market for a vehicle.

“Social media enables people to find products and services without feeling as though they have to deal with a pushy salesperson first,” Annable said. 

If a person in Tampa wants to buy a used car, they can search for a dealership on Facebook and become a fan, or find a dealer on Twitter to follow. Dealers who work with Showroom Logic have mechanisms in place to automatically update their Facebook and Twitter accounts each time they get a new vehicle on the lot.

“If the person sees something they like, Twitter and Facebook gives them an outlet to communicate with the dealer,” said Dave Ingold, IT/marketing manager at Park Auto Mall in Pinellas Park who uses Showroom Logic’s services. “If not, they simply keep looking without feeling pressured by a salesperson.”

Showroom Logic enables dealers to spread out their posts. If a dealer gets 10 new cars on the lot and wants information posted on all of them, it will be done automatically over the course of hours, not minutes, Annable said.

Real Estate
Real estate agents are another group always in search of marketing outlets, and Snap Tours in Lakeland has created a way for agents to market themselves and their listings on 39 social networking sites.

Snap Tours offers a complete marketing package for agents to create virtual tours, branded e-mails and brochures. With just one click, Snap Tours converts photos, information and the agent’s personal brand into video, said Michael G. Barrett, the company’s creative director.

Gate Arty, a Lakeland Realtor, said the Snap Tours technology is “vastly superior” to other virtual tour Web sites.

“It’s just a better quality product overall,” Arty said. “I like the multi-functional aspects of it.”

Restaurants

Social media outlets also are an obvious marketing tool for restaurants, Walker said.

Lakeland residents who follow Black & Brew Coffee House and Bistro learn of summer specials, weekend live music and new menu items via Twitter.

Subs ‘n Such in Lakeland offers specials to followers who mention Twitter when they eat at the restaurant.

“Yesterday, I saw where they offered a 12-inch sub at the 8-inch price if you told them you saw the offer on Twitter,” Walker said. “That’s a great way to advertise your business, and to measure the success of advertising via a particular social media outlet.”

Learn More
If you are in need of Lakeland or Tampa public relations services and social media advice, please visit www.lorriewalker.com for more information, or call (863) 614-0555.

© 2009 Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Sinai Marketing is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this article is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.