If you’re a small business owner, you need to pick your social network battles carefully.
After all, you don’t have the same time, resources, or budget as large corporations to spread your online presence over every single social platform.
When you are looking for the right resources and information that you can use to promote your local business, you should consider Alignable.
In this post, we will explain what Alignable is and why you should use it for growing your business.
What is Alignable?
Alignable is essentially a version of LinkedIn with a hyper-local focus.
Previously, you’d have to turn to LinkedIn when you wanted to network with other small and local business owners.
Well, in 2012, Alignable was created and now has over 7 million users.
Just like LinkedIn, Alignable’s focus is not only so much on connecting businesses to customers (B2C) but instead businesses to businesses (B2B).
Side note: One of the best tools you can use for a small business providing local services is Google My Business. Don’t believe us? Read Why Every Small Business Should Use Google My Business
Specifically, Alignable is designed for the local business community to connect and help each other through:
- Discussions
- Networking
- Q&A Forums
- Messaging
- Referrals
What are the benefits of Alignable for small business owners?
Alignable provides an excellent place for small and local business owners to connect and refer business to each other and allows you to:
- Expand your reach with other local businesses.
- Create a community for your company to boost traffic.
- Create promotions showcasing your products or services.
Learn about these three reasons to be on Alignable at smallbizmarketingexpert.com
How to set up and use an Alignable account for your business.
Joining Alignable is easy, and it is free. Just sign in on their webpage.
Because the network is aimed at businesses, you cannot take special steps to identify yourself as a business account.
After you sign up, you can begin to build your small business network by finding other local businesses and then clicking on the Connect button.
You can even use their messaging options to start a conversation.
Once you’ve built up a network, you’ll see posts by people in it and even have access to Q&A forums to share advice and your experience in navigating challenges that small business owners share.
By collaborating with other business owners, you (and them) can gain insights from each other and boost your brands.
Couple your Alignable with a well-optimized Google My Business Profile to be a local SEO leader in your niche.
Steps to Setting Up Alignable
- Complete your profile (fill out everything), and make sure it looks good.
- Add suggested contacts from your contact list.
- Recommend businesses that you or your company have worked with in the past.
- Ask those businesses to recommend you in return.
- Connect with other local companies that you may have a target audience (or customers) with.
- Engage in Q&A forums to provide value, position yourself as an authority in your niche, and further your reach.
What customers will you get on Alignable?
Unless you’re a business-to-business (B2B) company, chances are you won’t find customers on Alignable, but not impossible.
It’s still possible for you to promote your business.
When you have an event coming up, or want to talk about your latest product, other business owners in your community will see your information.
Let’s be honest; all small businesses want each other to be successful. By seeing each other’s events and products, sharing them, and cross-promoting for each other, the entire small business community can help each other do just that.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’re a Baton Rouge automotive dealership hosting an upcoming sales event at your store. Other Alignable users can help you by sharing the event with their customers to expand its reach beyond your automotive website.
You can do the same for other local businesses, creating positive feedback for all parties involved.
How Alignable helps local businesses
The business connections that you grow in Alignable can be the key to increasing your brand in your local community.
Plus, if you run into a challenge in promoting your store, the Q&A forums are a great place to bounce ideas off of people who have likely experienced the same challenges.
Conclusion
With so many social media options out there in 2020, it can be hard to figure out which platforms are relevant to your business.
Having a hyper-focused network that works in the same community opens new possibilities to boost and promote your brand.
No matter what platform your target audience and customers are on, all small businesses can benefit significantly from Alignable’s connections, interactive community, and other great resources.
Need any help setting up your Alignable account or have other questions about how to market your business locally?
Shoot us an email at info@blaksheepcreative.com, call 225.505.3834 or fill out the form below to talk about how we can help you level up your business online!
