By Nick Bilava, Storage.com
If you’re looking to interact with your local community via social media, Twitter is the perfect platform.
Interaction and personality is at Twitter’s core, and it enables you to get in front a large number of people in your area. The first part of accomplishing that is choosing the right accounts to follow. Instead of searching through Twitter, we’ll break it down for you, and you’ll see where to begin.
Traditional Media: TV, Radio, & Print
Start with the local media. Your favorite newscast will usually have several accounts: one for the station, one each for sports and weather, and perhaps other topics it regularly covers. The anchors and reporters of the station will also have their own accounts. Every station is set up this way, so if you have more than three stations in your area, you might want to stick with the two or three in your target market.
Radio follows roughly the same principle. A good starting point is your favorite station. Again, there will be an account for the overall station, and individual radio personalities may have their own. However, you don’t want to limit the radio stations you follow to only your favorites. You want to cover the bases of all potential prospects by following multiple stations over multiple formats in your area that appeal to your target market.
Your local daily newspaper is also a good account to follow. The paper will have multiple accounts covering every aspect of life in your city. Like TV, they’ll have a general news account, but they may also have accounts covering specific topics, such as metro, finance, food, arts, sports, and more.
Specialized Publications and Alternative Papers
Your major daily isn’t the only newspaper you should follow. Your area will most certainly have publications directed at the business and legal communities, real estate, women, and more. Following the business publication is a must if you’re looking to target commercial tenants.
Your local college’s newspaper will have at least one account, perhaps more (If you’re serving student tenants, you must follow as many of these as possible).
Another idea for following print publications on Twitter is your local alternative and arts and entertainment paper. These are normally free pubs geared toward arts and culture and feature a few alternative news and sports stories. Typically, they’re published weekly and found in restaurants, galleries, and clubs.
Prominent Local Entities
The local entities that nearly everyone cares about garner a fair amount of attention, and they shouldn’t escape yours. This extends to major businesses, civic entities, and local attractions in the area. Local government arms, such as city council, law enforcement, and fire departments are following must-haves on Twitter. Same goes for utility companies. You can benefit from following and interacting with them.
Following large businesses in your area works to get you in front of many potential prospects, as well as the businesses themselves. Chambers of commerce, libraries, museums, zoos, major local attractions, game and parks, and various arts councils will have large followings, too.
Sports Teams
Your local area should have some professional, college, semi-pro, or minor league teams. Following them is a show of support, and chances are they’ll reciprocate by following you back. You’ll be able to engage their fanbases, and you can mention them in your tweets, especially if they’re performing well.
Twitter is a fantastic way to get in front of prospects, and focusing locally is the place to start. Now that you have a few accounts to explore on Twitter, start thinking about creating engaging content that will help you interact in your area!
