Harnessing hashtags
Group power boosts regions
#Hawera, #Waihi, #Ruapehu. People are searching for information about the country’s smaller areas on social media, but when they get there, nothing can be found.
This is the problem Steve Adams, not the basketballer, has been trying to solve.
‘‘Studies show when a business gets online, they crank 20 to 30 per cent more turnover.
‘‘For a business in a small town, that’s really apparent because all of a sudden your market is ten times bigger, even if you’re just cracking Hamilton, rather than just the people who walk past your shop front in Hawera.
Towns could be marketing to 150,000 people every month.
‘‘From an economic development point of view, it’s the best thing you can do for a town.’’
Adams, the co-founder of digital agency Socialize, has launched About Us, aimed at making it easy and free for small business owners to get online, use the internet better, and make more money.
He said somewhere between half and 65 per cent of small-tomedium enterprises (SMEs) did not have a website, but at the same time, more than 80 per cent of people were looking for businesses online.
As such, Adams last year began the first of more than 10 workshops with councils and businesses out in regions such as Hawera, Whanganui and Waihi.
These were all about how to get online for peanuts using platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Adams said the majority of small business owners were older than 35 years old, which meant there were few ‘‘digital natives’’.
‘‘That’s a problem because people are increasingly looking for stuff on those platforms.
‘‘They’re not even using the internet, they’re using Instagram, and they’re searching for #Hawera, and there’s no one there.’’
Adams said with a town of businesses on board, you could easily be reaching more than 150,000 people every month.