How do you do that? If you’re a local moving company, you want to reach the people in your community who are moving, or people who are moving to your community.
    One area where you can get in front of potential customers is through community message boards. By being active on these, you can expand your business profile. One such site is city-data.com, a large national site that’s quite popular. But these message boards are also becoming more common for specific neighborhoods.
    Go on these boards and see if you can answer questions people might have about a particular neighborhood, questions about the community in general, debates about issues in the community, or questions related to moving. Remember: You’re not selling them, you’re acting as a trusted resource, and “Use My Moving Company” is not a useful post.
    That’s the more direct approach. For an indirect, and probably more useful approach, cultivate relationships with people in your community who can refer business your way. These can be people in real estate, or people who have taken active civic roles in the communities and know lots of people.
    Follow these types of folks on Twitter. Just like with message boards, answer questions that people pose, ask questions, post links to articles that your followers might find interesting – anything of value to people who are following you. Be the ‘moving expert’ in your community. Luther says this type of interaction is crucial for eventually reaching the specific people you’re targeting.
    That’s where the exponential power of social media comes in – you might have only 50 followers, but those followers have followers, who have followers. If you can present useful information in an interesting and fun way, or you can point people to information they’re looking for, your followers will share that with their network.
    “[New business] rarely comes from people who you are following,” says Luther. “You’re not really selling to your followers, you’ll selling to their followers.”
    But you have to back up your brand with solid information. That’s another change from marketing before social media. “It used to be you could slap ‘Best Moving Company’ on a side of a truck, and people would believe it or not,” says McHolm.
    Now people can check out your claims to be the best. So you have to back it up online for people who are considering using you for their move.

GETTING STARTED
    The great thing about social media is that it’s pretty easy to use. You don’t need a tech team to start a blog. You can Tweet without a marketing consultant at your side.
    Tap the person in your audience who’s already active with social media. “Find someone in your organization that kind of gets it already,” says Luther.
    However, be aware that you’re entrusting this person with your brand. “Some companies make the mistake of thinking they’ll be on social media, hire a college kid and say ‘go,’” says McHolm. “You’re giving somebody your brand.”
    McHolm suggests starting a personal Twitter account just to get an idea for how things work. Follow people in the industry who you think do a good job and watch and learn to see what strategies, tips you can pick up from them. When you’re comfortable, you can expand to your business.
    You can follow a similar course with Facebook: set up your own personal page, and then fan some business sites. See what seems to work before setting up your business on Facebook. As moving’s slow season drags on, now’s a good time to get your feet wet, says McHolm.
    Despite the hype about social media, both McHolm and Evans say social media should complement your current marketing effort, not supplant it. “Social media is taking a larger chunk [of our marketing efforts], but all the other avenues are still valid,” says McHolm.
    And don’t forget reviews. Both Evans and McHolm say they actively monitor what people are saying about their company in online reviews, and because more review sites are now allowing people to comment, it’s become an important tool in interacting with customers. ◆