EVOLVING
WITH THE TIMES
Articles included in the “ Evolving With The Times ” series of the Small Business Corner Section of The Rea Report are written to provide business owners with expert insight while anticipating trends that will help them become even more wildly successful moving forward . To read past articles in this series , visit www . reacpa . com / small-business-corner .
How Well Do You Know Your Customers ?
Social media gives businesses the gift of easily accessible market trends & simple consumer research techniques
The holidays will be here before we know it and soon our lives will once again be filled to the brim with traditions , parties and shopping for gifts sure to knock our loved ones ’ socks off . That is , until we find ourselves drawing a complete blank ( as we do every year ) when we are confronted with having to buy something for that person who is simply impossible to buy for .
When gift-giving , people are quick to say , “ it ’ s the thought that counts .” While this may be a nice notion , I can ’ t say I completely agree . When I give somebody a gift , I don ’ t want them to smile politely and push it aside . I want to give them something they will cherish , something that is an expression of just how much they mean to me . Of course , finding that perfect gift for an impossible-to-buy-for person year after year is easier said than done .
How To Make The Impossible Possible
One holiday season , not so long ago , the impossible-tobuy-for person on my list was having a particularly difficult year , which made me really want to make her Christmas extra special . So I spent weeks agonizing about what to buy – to no avail . Then , to make matters worse , her husband called me – he was having the same problem and was looking to me for ideas . Ugh !
That night , I logged onto Facebook and began looking at her page in search of ideas . It didn ’ t take long before I finally landed on a solution in the form of a recipe for hot chocolate . Actually , the recipe itself wasn ’ t important . Rather , it was how she had shared it – via her Pinterest account . Before I knew it , my Facebook stalking turned into Pinterest creeping and I was suddenly inundated with a treasure trove of brilliant gift ideas . There , in plain sight , was a list of items , trips and experiences she wanted . What ’ s more , this list of interests was not only readily available to me – but to everyone !
Leverage Social Media In Your Business
Because social media has become a part
By Katie Snyder , CPA , supervisor , katie . snyder @ reacpa . com ( Wooster office )
of so many people ’ s daily lives it has also become a great resource for businesses . The ability to tap into the social insights of a targeted market has empowered businesses – large and small – to produce better products , improve customer service and enhance organizational practices . Social media platforms like Facebook , YouTube , Twitter , Instagram and Pinterest have given businesses a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of the customers they serve ( or want to serve ). If you really want to know more about your marketplace , all you really have to do is know where ( and how ) to look . The following methods are a great place to start .
1 . EMBRACE HASHTAGS : Hashtags are used on social media as a way to index and compile content . For example , while I was on vacation in Cape Cod , instead of googling places to eat , I typed “# capecod ”
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