It’s a simple fact—we all love small businesses. A large percentage of your friends, family or community members own a small business, or maybe you do yourself!
There are quite a few things you can do to support local businesses, and using social media is no exception. Monetary support is great, but so are comments, likes and shares. Below is a list of the ways we’ve received immense support through social media and how you can support your favorite small businesses.
Leave Reviews
If you love someone, let everyone know. Leaving a review is a kind way to show support. Find your favorite business on Yelp or Google and leave a few words on how they’ve impacted you—that way new and interested customers can see all that the business has to offer in a trusted, honest way.
Like the Posts
This one is by far the easiest way to support your local small business—just the click of one button can do wonders. Many social media algorithms function by showing users what is most popular, and often that involves a lot of likes. Alternatively, they’ll also show posts to you that your friends are liking and commenting on.
When you like a post, you’re boosting it to your friends for that business. It’s essentially free advertising and so simple. Liking encompasses a feeling of community, loyalty and support into one quick click.
Share Share Share
This one is specifically geared towards Facebook and their sharing feature, although you could apply it easily to Twitter retweets.
Similar to liking, shares take one–okay, maybe two—clicks. The labor of sharing, when compared to the reward to your friend’s business, is minimal. Sharing ensures that most, if not all, of your friends and followers see the post, so this is an incredible way of showing support.
Much like sharing, using the “Interested” feature on events that a business is hosting on Facebook is a great, one-click way to show support. This feature posts on your feed much like a share would, ensuring that many people will see it.
Meaningful Comments
Back to algorithms, posts with comments get more air-time on your feed. By leaving a comment on a local business’ posts or pictures, the social media site—be it Facebook, Twitter or Instagram—will most likely move that to the top of your friends’ feeds. Similarly, it makes these posts easier to “discover” by people that are not necessarily “friends” with you, but engage in the same content as you do.
A comment, one that is sincere and serves a purpose to the brand or business, will help not only move their post to the top of an algorithm but will also show a kind of devotion from their customers for those not familiar to the brand—a double-win for any small business.
Instagram Pictures and Stories
Pictures and stories are a big gesture to show support. If you really love a friend or family members’ business, the permanence in your feed of a full Instagram post is quite kind.
If you’re majorly committed to your aesthetic but still want to offer something, no worries. A story—which is less permanent, as it only lasts 24 hours—is also a perfect way to show off a business. You can even repost their posts, meaning you have no content to create yourself. This allows your followers to click and visit their profile, which means little to no work for you to show off a business you love.
We spend a lot of our time online and on social media—so why not use a little of that time to do something good for a friend, family member or brand you love?