Accel Entertainment Illinois Gaming Blog

How You Can Use Social Media to Market Your Small Business

Written by Jacob Klein | Feb 21, 2024 3:00:00 PM

Many small businesses utilize social media as a means to promote their business to a larger, often younger audience than they typically would through a more traditional promotional strategy. However, many businesses seem to think that simply having a social media profile will lead to an expanded digital reach. Unfortunately, that is not the case. If you would like to turn your social media into a true marketing asset, this article is for you! Here are a few ways you can use social media to market your gaming location.

 

Choose the Right Platforms

Social media is not limited to just the more popular apps like Facebook and Instagram. Platforms like Twitter, SnapChat, Pinterest, Yelp, LinkedIn, and so many more are available for your business to use to expand on your brand digitally. However, it is important to choose the right platforms in order to best reach your target audience. According to financialgrade.com, Facebook is used by 75% of the U.S. population aged 50 - 65. If you are trying to promote your business to that population segment, Facebook would be the right platform to build out your brand on.

Accel also recommends, assuming you have the necessary resources, creating profiles on multiple social media platforms. This way you can reach different demographics through different platforms.

 

 Online Reviews

Many people use online reviews of a bar or restaurant as a way to aid in their decision of whether or not to visit that location. In fact, many people will not engage with a business unless it has at least 3.4 stars. This is why it’s important to foster a positive customer experience within your location at all times.

Try owning a listing on Yelp; by owning a listing you can engage and respond to reviews left by your customers. By responding to reviews and comments left by your patrons, you show them that you care and value their opinion.

 

Post Engaging Content

Simply having a social media account will not lead to increased brand recognition or customer engagement with your business. It is necessary to post interesting and relevant content to your audience in order to increase the likelihood that they engage with it. For example, content that implores your audience to leave comments underneath the post tend to do well in organically increasing post engagement. If you are having trouble coming up with social content, Accel is here to assist in any way that we can. All partner locations have access to festive co-op social graphics designed to engage your customers in all things gaming.

Accel also recommends posting 3-5 times per week in order to create a feeling of consistency with your brand digitally.

 

 User-Generated Content

User-generated content is an incredibly effective tool for small businesses to boost their social media presence. It refers to any content that is created by customers or clients of a business, rather than the business itself. This can include everything from photos and videos to reviews and testimonials. By utilizing user-generated content in their social media strategy, small businesses can not only save time and resources on creating their own content, but also foster a sense of community and loyalty among their customer base.

One of the simplest ways to incorporate user-generated content into a small business's social media strategy is to repost or share content created by their customers. This can be as simple as reposting a photo of someone using a product or service, or sharing a glowing review left by a satisfied customer. By doing so, the business is not only promoting their own products or services, but also showing their appreciation for their customers.

Hopefully the above tips can give you insight into how your location could more effectively use social media to promote your location. Check out Accel’s other articles on how you can market your small business!