Our quest to Share the Love continues with a heartfelt note from DMSA member and local bearded, brewery wizard, Ben Esley of the Bearded Monk. Join us as Ben discusses the importance of sharing your love for local business with others, and how it benefits the businesses you love to support. Let's dig in.
This year for Share The Love, Downtown Denton Main Street asks you to do just that! SHARE! Some of us just don't have the funds to shop at all of our favorite stores and get meals and drinks from all of our favorite restaurants and bars, but we can all find a moment to peruse our favorite spots' social media. And it only takes a minute to share a post on Facebook or leave a review on Google and Yelp.
But why is engaging so important? I know what my favorite shop is doing and I already know that my favorite restaurant has a certain meal deal. First and foremost, sharing that post about your favorite Monday Night Special is showing the information to your friends and family that may not be aware that the restaurant even exists. Each of us has a unique collection of friends, family and followers on social media. Some of those folks may not be in your circle surrounding your favorite spot.
Well, let them in! Post about your experience and what really highlights that spot for you. If you like it, you can bet that many of your friends will too. Your sharing also shows that YOU endorse this place. We're all constantly inundated with the big stores' and big companies' ads, but small businesses don't have multi-million dollar budgets for that kind of in-your-face marketing. Small businesses rely on genuine word-of-mouth. They rely on us spreading the word in lieu of expensive actors reading from a marketing team’s script. It might be scary for your Aunt Jone to try that Monday Night Special when she knows exactly how that chain's hamburger is going to taste from the 8 ads she saw today. But if she sees that you shared that Monday Night Special post, that gives her the confidence to pass by that chain and finally try something new.
Your opinion of a small business outweighs everything that business could do to encourage Aunt Jone. She may have already seen posts from your favorite restaurant. She doesn't know if the salad is good, if the booths are comfy enough or if the staff is nice and safe, but your sharing tells her that someone, who's opinion she respects, enjoys this place so she probably will too.
The above is what happens in our world when we share a post. But what happens behind the scenes on social media? When you share a post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, you're telling those platform’s algorithms this is a worthy message that more of the existing fans should see. Social media is focused on the user experience. These platforms show us more content that matches our interests. That’s great for us users, but it means small businesses’ posts are throttled back and not shown to all of the fans of a business. Your share, sets that post as more important and should be shown to similar fans like you. So strangers that you do not have a connection, will also see the post.
With a simple share you can show some love to Denton and ensure the culturally-significant small businesses can be around to; continue to buy thoughtful, local products, continue to support local charities and hire your neighbors for that classic small business expertise and customer service.
-Ben Esley, The Bearded Monk