10.26.2010

Qwest Small Business Website Makeover

How can you take advantage of search and social media to build a powerful digital presence for your small business? We put together a seven-step process for you to apply to your own small business. To demonstrate how serious we are about the topic we invited one of our readers to let their small business go under our digital knife for a social media makeover. Mike Maichele offered up his Olde Town Tavern and Grill and today we present the results of our engagement.

If you’re walking through Arvada, Colorado and ask a local where to watch the Broncos game or grab some food and drinks with friends, they’ll invariably direct you to The Olde Town Tavern and Grill (OTTG). Mike and his team of enthusiastic employees have served local Arvada since 1997 and exemplify the small business values of personal service and quality product. If you’re lucky you’ll arrive in time for the awards ceremony at their annual antique car show with drinks on the patio to follow.

We knew we’d love working with Mike when he mentioned his approach to marketing during our introductory call. “If you can’t track it there’s not much use in doing it.” Can social media really drive sales? Will Facebook fans and Twitter followers show up and spend real cash? We explained to Mike that he could use social media to dramatically expand his “four walls” marketing efforts. Instead of only reaching customers already in the building with special offers and incentives to buy, Mike would be able to use social media to connect with his customers in their homes and around town. Driven by an active social media presence, Mike would be able to reach a large number of customers and give them reason to choose OTTG as their celebration and relaxation destination. He loved the idea and jumped into the project head-first.

Follow along as we take Mike and his small business through each of the seven steps we’ve put together to help you grow your small business online. Each step starts with a group of questions to get your thoughts headed in the right direction followed by a brief summary of the work we did with Mike.

For more information on using social media to build your small business, be sure to visit Qwest.com/connectthedots.

STEP 1: Identify your resources, challenges, and desires.

Digging in: Do you have the human resources available to activate and sustain a broader conversation with your customers? How have you been connecting with your customers so far? Are you currently using any social media platforms to connect with your customers? (Social media platforms include sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and the like.) What challenges are you facing in your marketing efforts? What results would you most like to see from an investment in social media?

Our solution: We took a close look at the resources Mike had available. Olde Town Tavern and Grill (OTTG) had a Web site and an e-mail list with over 600 subscribers updated regularly with specials and event news. Mike said he could spend a few hours each week on a social media presence, and that his staff shares his desire to share their fun culture online. OTTG had a limited presence on MySpace and a business website that Mike and his staff found very difficult to update.

As Mike reached out to his customers and staff to let them know what he was hoping to do, he stumbled upon a pleasant surprise! One of his employees had recently set up a Facebook page for OTTG on her own that already had more than 80 fans. Now that we knew the true starting point for our project, we began planning our next steps.

STEP 2: Set priorities and get started.

Digging in: Who is your primary audience? How do they like to be communicated to? What sort of interaction would they prefer to have with your business? What types of messaging do you hope to share with your customers online? Will you focus on one messaging type or many?

Our solution: Mike planned on sharing videos, photos, and regular text updates in long and short forms. Simple was the rule for the day as we worked through the best way for OTTG customers to engage with each other and the business. To meet Mike’s needs we recommended a refresh of the OTTG Web site to include a content management system to simplify the process of keeping his site current. Fresh content plays a big part in keeping visitors engaged and maintaining good search rankings online.

We installed Wordpress, a no-cost platform and chose a layout that brought attention to the most important information on the site. We developed a simple brand identity inspired by OTTG’s signage that current customers would recognize at a quick glance.

For social media, we recommended that Mike and his staff build an online community through conversations on the Web site, Twitter, and Facebook, publish videos through Youtube and images on Flickr with continued e-mail outreach through Constant Contact. You may find it more reasonable to start with your website and one outreach method until you get the hang of platforms and develop a process for creating messaging that works well for you. Because he had help from us and a willing staff, Mike was able to jump right in.

STEP 3: Identify your key messages and who will deliver them.

Digging in: What do you want your customers—both potential and current—to know about your business? Are you offering special rates or additional services, or bringing attention to special events or community outreach? What about yourself will you be sharing with you online community to add the necessary personal element?

Our solution: Mike wanted to let people know about daily specials, fun events (like their antique car show), and sports-related (go Broncos!) features. He identified members of his staff he trusts to help with messaging on behalf of his business and purchased a Smartphone that allows him to monitor Twitter and Facebook on the go.

Because tracking is so important with a time-consuming project like social media, we helped Mike pick a few metrics he could use to measure his progress. We’d measure site traffic with Google analytics, fans, followers, and sales through social media promotions with OTTG’s point-of-sale system. Mike would use applications on his Smartphone to monitor both Facebook and Twitter for customer feedback and questions amid responses to regular messaging.

STEP 4: Research best practices for the platforms you’ve chosen.

Digging in: How are other small businesses using social media to grow? What can you learn from the mistakes others have made in the space you’re entering so you make the best choices possible? Start by identifying some small businesses similar to yours but in different markets and see what they’re doing with social media and digital marketing. This might be a good time for you to put your networking skills to use and call a few of your favorite examples for a conversation about what you can do to emulate their successes.

Our solution: Mike had an advantage in working with a professional team but there’s a lot you can do to gather research and best practices before leaping into social media for your small business. Even with professional help it’s important that you reach out to some of you most trusted customers early on and get their feedback on the changes you’re making.

You can get a list of great social media and marketing resource sites by visiting Qwest.com/Network

Once we’d figured out the who, where, what, and how of OTTG’s social media presence, it was time to start the conversation!

STEP 5: Start a conversation.

Digging in: How will you have a conversation when it seems like there’s nobody to talk to? You’ve set up your Facebook page and the only fans are members of your staff. Is that a problem? Absolutely not! Pick a few topics your staff and customers might find interesting and get them talking. Starting small is the best way to get into the space and get the hang of social media. Welcome the chance to step in slowly and do your best to enjoy the process.

Our solution: Talking to customers online comes naturally to Mike and his staff as hospitality experts who make a living at meeting needs and communicating well. The immediate hurdles of learning new platforms and changing workflow to involve online conversations were figured out quickly. The long-term challenge, as with any business effort, is to consistently invest and optimize for the results that make sustained effort worthwhile.

For 21 conversation ideas you can use to get your community talking, visit Qwest.com/Network

STEP 6: Invite your current customers to join you online.

Digging in: How do you currently connect with your customers? How will you let them know about all the new ways they can keep in touch with your business if they’d like to? It may feel strange to market your marketing effort but now is not the time to be bashful. If you need to call a few hundred people to get your community started, write a short script as a starting point for your conversation and hit the phones. If, like Mike, you already have a list of people who are interested in learning about your business, draft an explanation of what you’re doing and ask them to get involved.

Our solution: We helped Mike draft a letter to send out to his email list and invite them to join OTTG on Facebook and follow @OldeTownTavern on Twitter. If you don’t have a list to work from, that’s okay. Start with what you do have, even if it’s just one person and go from there. This is the part of social media that’s a lot of hard work, but if you treat it as a chance to really connect with your customers you’ll realize immediate value.

STEP 7: Deliver consistent value to your community.

Digging in: Why do your followers follow you, your fans like you, and your viewers watch your videos? Why do your past and future customers care about your business and how will you encourage them to stay involved? How will you sustain a social media presence for your small business that is exciting in the short term and drives real value in the long run?

Our Solution: We can answer that question for you. You’ll make it all happen by doing what brought you to where you are today and continuing to deliver great value over and over again.

Mike will continue updating his community on events and specials, but his approach to idea generation has changed entirely. The days of setting up an event and waiting for people to show up are over. Now he can reach out to his local community, find out what they’d like to do, and create interesting ways to make them happy while delivering value to his small business. Remarkable indeed.

There’s one final step and it’s the reason we all keep showing up—to enjoy the results of consistent hard work.

If you have questions about how you can build your small business online make sure to check out our blog at Qwest.com/connectthedots and check our list of events for one in your area!