Local Social Media: 6 Simple Ways to Geo Target Tweets

If your business operates in a limited geographic area adding a hyper-local component to your tweets is far more valuable for your customers and for you.

Six simple ways to optimize your twitter stream for a local audience:

1. Create a #hashtag with your city and product (#oaklandcoffee)
2. GeoTag your tweets (learn how to automatically GeoTag tweets in dlvr.it)
3. Add location as a prefix or suffix (i.e. Joe’s San Francisco: 50% off Lattes)
4. Be certain your bio on Twitter includes your location
5. Organize a tweetup at your business. Learn more about successful tweetups
6. Encourage guests to check-in using a location based service like FourSquare

Bonus, #7

Whether you’re the local butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker, become the go to twitter account in your community by adding local content to your twitter stream. Use a tool like dlvr.it to feed useful information including local events, local entertainment, local news and weather. Relate the content to your business vs. just pouring into your twitter stream.

1. Use a site a like Topix.com to find relevant local news to share. In dlvr.it, add the RSS feed as a route and set-up filters to get pull out the most relevant content for your audience.
2. Follow local twitter users. Invite them into your business. They are also a good source of local information.
3. Add a weather feed  and relate the weather back to your business. If you’re a coffee shop, mention on a cold day that you have warm pastries and freshly brewed coffee for only $x.xx to keep you warm inside.

Are you a small business serving a local community? Tell us your twitter success stories and we’ll highlight your story on our blog.