Shane Reed joined Twitter in July 2008 and just started playing around. He didn’t expect it to be a part of Strange Brew Coffeehouse’s business — he just wanted to engage with fellow Bulldogs and customers and talk about Mississippi State. Reed, founder and CEO of Strange Brew, said the way it took off has been crazy.
A little over a week ago, Strange Brew reached over 5,000 followers on Twitter — a landmark that led to the business’s followers to receive a discount on their drinks for mentioning the tweet.
“It completely blows my mind,” he said. “In the beginning, I just started tweeting, and I didn’t expect it to be this big. It was pretty lonely for about a year. There were a few early adopters in Starkville … It was really cool because I could engage with them and talk with them.”
Strange Brew is no stranger to social media. Reed created a Facebook page before the coffeehouse opened its doors. Since then, he has become a prominent businessman on Twitter, has a Google+ account and uses Pinterest and Instagram to promote the business.
Reed also started Social Brew, which is a media firm that educates and helps businesses manage social media, because of the necessity social media now plays in communicating with customers.
“When it comes to business, interacting with the community, you have to do it now,” he said. “We want to go in and help small businesses get comfortable with Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest … and be a part of the community.”
Bart Smith, the owner of Local Culture, has been using social media since the opening of the self-serve yogurt store a year and a half ago. To Smith, the shop is more than typical — with live music and a social atmosphere it is a “nonalcoholic bar” in many ways.
With 80 different flavors being constantly rotated (and more on the way), Local Culture uses Facebook and Twitter to keep customers informed on what is currently being served.
“We want people to come here and leave here with what they want,” Smith said. “We don’t want them to come in here and be disappointed. (Social media) provides information to our customers with the least amount of trouble possible.”
He said following Local Culture on Twitter and liking its page on Facebook provides the customer with benefits, rather than the business. Those who check in on Facebook get 10 percent off on their yogurt, and deals have been announced through Twitter.
Pete Smith, associate professor of communication at MSU, said the use of social media from local businesses is an example of narrowcasting. As audiences become more segmented, businesses have to find their target audiences and reach them effectively.
Because most small businesses fail in the first or second year, the owners have a small window to find their niche audience.
“Small businesses have to be creative on how they get their brand out,” he said. “Most have small budgets, and TV and radio spots may not be the best, most effective way. The possibilities are limitless now for small businesses … The small, independent business and artists have benefited the most from social media — it doesn’t cost much, if anything, to post your brand through social media.”
Reed said there are no social media experts because social media is growing so quickly that there are no masters.
“You have to really find what works for (your business),” he said. “Twitter and Facebook are not the secret to our success, but it helps. We’ve had positive sales numbers all throughout the recession. We’ve grown every single year we’ve been open. It’s helped out a lot.”
He said businesses need to get a culture right and use social media to their advantage before they open their doors.
Erin Ray, the owner of Harmonie Boutique, had always planned on opening a clothing store but did not expect it to happen as soon as it did. After graduating from MSU, she got a job on campus and never left Starkville. Last fall, she opened Harmonie, which features a variety of nonprofit products, a niche Starkville boutiques lacked.
Since the inception of the store, Ray has used Facebook and Twitter to advertise her brand.
“Social media has been the biggest advertisement for Harmonie,” she said. “You can’t beat social media — it’s instant and free.”
Ray interacts with her customers by posting photos of her new shipments so they can know exactly what is in the store without having to stop by. Because of the interaction, Ray sees social media as invaluable.
“I never imagined how many people get involved,” she said. “It’s fun for friends, but for businesses you can’t ask for anything better. That’s how everyone is connected, anyway.”
Ray said the businesses in Starkville have formed a close community and have a good working relationship through social media. The city and MSU’s relationship and the attempt to make Starkville a more interactive community is why she said she considers the city special.
“The university and Starkville work together,” she said. “Nine months out of the year, the 20,000 students help businesses survive.”
Smith said the community formed by small businesses is a community effort to keep business in Starkville and to break the stereotype of a one-horse town. In some ways rival businesses have to band together to keep consumers, including MSU students, from exploring other options in the area.
“Students are a vital part of their demographic … The money (spent) can go toward different things for entertainment purposes,” he said.
Reed said social media has given him opportunities to interact with the community, even though he may be busy with running the business.
“Twitter put me back in connection,” he said. “If I’m not behind the counter, I can always talk to you. I would be lying if I said we did social media just for community, but I’m telling the truth about how important the community is.”
Haley Montgomery, a marketing consultant for the Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau, manages the online and social media — including the @mscollegetown Twitter account — for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and seeks to promote the brand of Starkville as Mississippi’s college town.
“There is a newness of Starkville and a new attitude. Things have changed so much in the last five years,” she said. “Once (an audience) tweets or connects, they’re buying into Starkville. We set out to be a voice of Starkville … If there’s something good in Starkville, we want to get behindit.”
Montgomery said the growth Starkville has seen has changed its atmosphere, especially online.
“It’s really a story about people who are excited about Starkville and what they have to offer, and they have the confidence to match up,” she said.