Today, social media is heralded as the end all be all to help grow your business. It seems that endless opportunities abound for anyone who has mastered this revolutionary practice. Once your Facebook and Twitter accounts are active and videos posted on YouTube, with the wave of a wand and an utter of the magic word – Abracadabra – you’ll have more customers than ever before and you can sit back and watch your bank account grow. As if! Social media can’t and won’t magically build your business. What most people don’t realize is that building your friend or fan list on this type of media is not the same as developing an effective marketing strategy.

The number of views or followers doesn’t determine your actual success. Fans, apps, tweets, or videos don’t constitute a solid marketing strategy. How much money are you making with social media? Can you make a direct correlation to internet sales and the number of fans you have? Have your YouTube videos demonstrating how great your products and/or services are increased the number of new customers?

While I’m not discounting the value of social media, which for small businesses or ones with a niche product or service is a great way to get your name in front of a large customer base for a relatively low cost, the problem is that the majority of companies focus too much on the latest social media trends rather than on their customers. When it is all said and done your customers don’t care about how many fans or video testimonials you have. They want to feel valued and be treated with respect. While I believe social media is valid and has its place, I know from experience that social media will never replace the personal touch.

The Most Potent Strategy for Businesses of All Sizes

A popular misconception exists that because neighborhood marketing is a community-based strategy, it’s most effective with small businesses, and that bigger companies ought to stick to mass media campaigns. To the contrary, big box stores will also gain the competitive advantage by deploying neighborhood marketing strategies, as will non-retail businesses such as maid services, lawn care, pest control, etc.  The truth is, any mass-market media campaign won’t work without a complementary neighborhood marketing campaign. It actually doesn’t matter if you’re a multi-billion dollar company or a corner grocery store – the same principles apply.  In fact, these days more and more big-name companies like Starbucks, The Cheesecake Factory, Virgin Group, and Harley Davidson rely on neighborhood marketing strategies rather than mass media campaigns  Mass

A Revolutionary Concept as Old as the Corner Grocery Store
The revolutionary concept of Neighborhood Marketing is as old as the 19^th Century corner grocery store, whose owners knew their customers’ names, addresses, and birthday.  From the corner grocer to the big box superstore, what distinguishes neighborhood marketers from their competitors is the fact that they care about the people who live and work in their communities.  As a result, they deliver superb service, provide a product line that’s sensitive to their customer’s needs and desires, and generate an ever-growing following of intensely loyal patrons.   Not until you’ve maximized all of your opportunities within your own four walls, should you even give mass marketing a passing thought.  For the past 40 years, we’ve been teaching thousands of businesses that it’s all local, and that everything sells.  Neighborhood Marketing begins inside your four walls, from your employees, to the real estate located within 10-minute drive or walk from your place of business.  And it’s your most powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal, no matter how big or small you are.