It’s not enough these days to open a business and advertise the old-fashioned way. To stay competitive, you have to use all platforms of social media.
On “The Early Show” Monday, CBS News Business and Economics Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis took a look at one business that’s using social media in interesting ways to expand.
Back in 2009, entrepreneur Luke Holden wanted to bring high-quality lobster to New York, but at reasonable prices. So, near the height of the recession, he took a risk: He opened his first restaurant — Luke’s Lobster — in the East Village.
Holden said, “We are a young, hard working team who’ve never had a whole lot of resources. (FourSquare) has enabled us to grow during hard times, and efficiently, more than (other) small businesses are able to.”
To make it work, Holden held onto his day job at a bank and spent nights and weekends serving $14 lobster rolls from a less than 300-square-foot storefront.
A few months later, he took another risk: Shunning traditional forms of advertising, he put Luke’s Lobster’s campaign online. Holden teamed up with a tech start-up called FourSquare.
Holden explained FourSquare is an easy way to get discounts when you’re on the go.
“Forget about loyalty cards, coupons; (this) makes it so it’s more digital and virtual,” he said. “(I’ts) a digital wallet that you can carry around and its constantly rewarding you.”
FourSquare is a mobile application that enables its 10 million users to virtually “check in” from their smartphones when they visit a local business like Luke’s. The information is then shared with everyone in the individual’s social network
Holden said, “Word-of-mouth from your friends is stronger than any other form of advertising in my opinion.”
The information is also shared with the business where someone’s checking in, so a company knows exactly who its customers are.