Advertisers target ads on Facebook

Some companies have had success with Facebook advertising, which gives them a way to target who sees their ad on a hyper-local basis. Facebook was at one point projected to become the largest display advertising medium in terms of revenues. Local marketing and social media experts encourage businesses to use Facebook to target their audience by age, gender, location and interests in a way that is inexpensive and easy to see the impact. “It comes down to the idea that this is where people are spending their time,” said Katie Miller-Smith, director of Catchfire Media LLC. “Why wouldn’t you want to be there?”

Online coupons become the rage

Daily deal websites such as Groupon Inc. and LivingSocial broke onto the scene in late 2010 and exploded in popularity in 2011. Des Moines even saw its own iteration of that develop in the form of DSM Daily. The basic idea behind all the sites is to give businesses a chance to spotlight their product for a day to customers who might not have ever used it. Although the business might not make a profit for that specific deal, it does get customers in the door and could lead to more business in the long run, the coupon providers say.

Businesses learn to value social media presence

More businesses are starting to see the value in monitoring themselves, their competitors and their industry on social media websites. That can have major customer service implications; some local companies use social media sites to find out what customers think of their products and even respond to questions and concerns. It can also have marketing implications; some companies do it to see how they can best communicate through their Twitter account or Facebook page. “Without a doubt, I would bet that there isn’t a business in Central Iowa that hasn’t been mentioned at least once on Facebook or Twitter,” said Drew McLellan, owner of McLellan Marketing Group and a Business Record columnist.