Be Findable

This past weekend, I went to Charleston, SC for a mini-getaway. (Side note: What a beautiful city. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, I highly recommend it!!)

Since this was my first visit to Charleston, I wasn’t sure where to eat or what tourist attractions to visit. I could have asked the hotel concierge or checked out the visitors’ guide. Neither of those won out. Instead, one “old school” tactic and one “new school” tactic helped me experience the best of this impressive place.

First, we needed to eat. We searched the Yelp iPhone app, which produced a list of suggested restaurants – some with excellent reviews and some with warnings to stay away. Blossom came very highly recommended on Yelp. And, once again, Yelpers came through. The meal was a-maz-ing.

Then, we went old school. We wanted to take one of those horse-drawn historical tours of Charleston. On one street corner, we found a vendor handing out flyers to passersby. Well, the guy seemed nice and the flyer made them sound like the best option in town … so, that’s how we chose this vendor over the others. Pretty, simple right?

Here’s the point: It doesn’t matter how you reach your potential customers … as long as you reach them. Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, flyers, direct mail – those are all just tools that make it easier for customers to find you. As marketers, we need to make sure we’re incorporating the right tools so people can easily find our companies. (Hint: A static, corporate web site is not enough.)

How about your company? Hard to find or easily accessible? What are some innovative ways companies are using tools – old or new – to be more “findable?”

Photo Credit: Bill Ward