Thinking Outside the Box – Alternative Social Media Channels Your Business Shouldn't Ignore

The major social media sites like Facebook and Twitter offer great ways for businesses to advertise to local customers for free. Location-based social media sites and daily deal sites are even more effective at getting customers in your door. But there's much more to the social media universe than these marketing channels. Thinking outside the box and considering alternatives can boost your business's exposure.

Your Company Blog

Every company needs a company blog and we often forget that this is a form of social media. The important thing about a blog is that it's not just a newsletter or magazine, but a tool that your customers can interact with.

Use your blog to start discussions in the comments field. Give your customers news about your business and ask for their opinions on it. When you let customers engage with your blog, you increase customer loyalty. Put your local promotions, links to reviews, and social media on your blog's sidebar so that readers can easily see them.

Question and Answer Sites

On Q&A sites such as Yahoo Answers, you can answer questions related to your niche using your expertise with a link back to your site or social media profile. This is a great way to market indirectly. When you help people solve their problems or get their questions answered, they'll check out your site to see what else you have to offer. On Q&A site profiles, be sure to mention your local area in your bio box.

Online Forums

Join forums related to your topic and interact with users there. Again, in your signature file and on your profile, mention the local area in which you operate. The idea with forums is not to promote, but to offer help with no strings attached. You can gradually grow your reputation and network with other users, which leads them to your products and services.

Niche Review Sites

There are major review sites like Yelp and CitySearch, but there are also small, niche-oriented review sites that are tailored to certain types of businesses. For example, there are review sites for gadgets, golf courses, certain types of restaurants, and so on. Use the same methods here that you would use on big review sites to get reviews.

Monitoring Your Online Presence

A good way to manage your online presences is to sign up for alerts. Whenever your business name is mentioned, the alert service will contact you and tell you where you’ve been mentioned. You can then respond quickly to reviews, mentions, posts, complaints, and so on. You can also find out where online people are talking about you. You may discover sites where you didn't know you had a customer base. This offers another online channel through which you can find and interact with your customers.