SFMA's social media recommendations for WA state small businesses.
What is social media? Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation, and wikis are among the different types of social media. (Source: Whatis.com)
Growing your business with social media
Imagine each social media platform as a big net: All the knots in the net are different users, and information flows through the net like vibrations in a spider web. In joining a social media platform, you will immediately be connected to other businesses, friends, customers, staff and an extensive community of other social media users. Below are SFMA's preferred platforms, with a brief overview on how each works. Whether you're a first-time user or an old pro, make sure to connect with SFMA, so we can build that vital bridge between our fans and your business.
Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, and keep in touch with friends, colleagues and customers. There is no word count for posts. This platform allows for followers to comment directly to your posts, and it is an effective way to engage with your community and keep them updated on your business. For more information, Click Here
SFMA Facebook pages: Ballard Farmers Market, Madrona Farmers Market, Wallingford Farmers Market
Also free, Instagram is unique in that it's a image-based platform. Take a picture or shoot a video from your smart phone, then customize it with filters and creative tools, accompanied by a caption. Start building your followers and following other Washington businesses to create a vast fan base. For more info on how Instagram can help your business, Click Here.
SFMA's Instagram feed: sfmamarkets
Twitter is a free microblogging platform that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called tweets. These tweets are limited to 140 characters of text. They can include video and photos. Users follow each other to receive updated tweets, which appear in a scrolling feed style. It's an effective way to share brief news alerts about your business. For more info, Click Here.
SFMA's Twitter feeds: @BallardFMKT, @MadronaFMKT, @WallingfordFMKT
MAIL CHIMP
Custom newsletters created by you! Pick a pre-designed template or use the email designer to create beautiful newsletters. MailChimp’s responsive email templates make your newsletters look great on mobile devices, too. MailChimp’s integrations allow you to embed signup forms and collect subscribers on platforms you already use like Facebook and Squarespace.
To learn more and sign up for free, Click Here
SQUARESPACE
From goods to services, every business needs a space online to bring in customers. Squarespace gives you full control over your company's image with beautiful eCommerce website templates that feature powerful marketing tools and more. Start a website today for a little as $100 a year. This is the platform we used to build our new website: SFMAmarkets.com
For more info, Click Here
How can SFMA's Social Media help you?
Our social media network includes vendors, customers, neighborhood businesses and continues to grow every week. We invite you to be part of a vast network with a extensive reach!
- Make sure to friend, follow and like SFMA on all your social media platforms.
- Share our blog posts on Facebook.
- Take pictures and share across all your social media platforms, and make sure to tag other vendors and their businesses. Your post will be shared and news and info about your business will travel far and wide!
- Consider doing a demo with our Farm Stand program during the growing season. We feature you on our blog and tag you on all of our social media platforms, before, during and after the event.
And if all this STILL is Greek, we are happy to hold your hand and walk you through the steps of setting up social media accounts over the phone. Please let us help you! To set up your social media consult, contact SFMA's social media editor Matt Kelly at info@sfmamarkets.com
