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Social Media may be new, but local businesses have understood the concept forever

Successful small, local businesses thrive when they carve out their niche by catering to a local group of loyalists, develop deep relationships, and create customers for life.

Social Media has the potential for large companies to feel small and make each customer feel valued like local businesses have been doing for years.

My local dry cleaner

Each week when I drop off my dry cleaning at the local dry cleaner, the owner greets me by my first name. I've even seen the owner working out at the local gym and he still referred to me by my first name.

Making me feel valued and worth remembering

It's one thing to see a customer's vehicle pull into your parking lot giving you have a few moments to recall their name, it's another to see the customer out of context and still remember their name.

It's hard to explain how this feels as a customer to be remembered both in and outside of the business.

I have yet to feel this way after visiting or purchasing from a website.

Which is your social media strategy?

That of my local dry cleaner? Or something else:

There's little in the relationship and loyalty department to be gained when your business' Twitter account is for posting your cheapest products, your Facebook page is about acquiring the most followers, and your blog is filled with content designed for search engine rankings and not people.

Build a relationship, not a campaign

The point of Social Media is not to "build a list," "go viral," or "get impressions/mentions." Social Media is not a campaign.

Social Media, done correctly, enables your business to intelligently connect with your loyalists to build deep relationships over time.