Sports Franchises have the whole Fan thing down. Show up to any football stadium on game day and you’ll find people shouting the team name, dressed in team colors, and sporting hairdos and accessories they would never wear on the street. This is how Fans show the world where their loyalty lies and, essentially, where they are spending their money.

With smart phones and wireless internet at our fingertips, Social Tools have made this kind of public, unabashed support available even to local restaurants and tiny boutiques. Sure, your customers are probably not wearing an oversized pizza hat to your Happy Hour, but they are showing their support to their friends and network in other ways.

In today’s post, we want to show you just a few ways to facilitate communication with existing customers, give them reasons to keep coming back and inspire them to become your biggest fans.

Connect…
Via Facebook

· Remember: People have profiles, BRANDS HAVE PAGES.

· Create events on your Facebook page and INVITE your fans to attend. They will have your event in mind when deciding where to go on their night out and want to see who else might be there.

· Include photos of customers enjoying themselves at your events or Happy Hour.  They can tag themselves in photos and show their friends that they are patrons.

· Post your daily lunch feature and Happy Hour specials about an hour before it starts. When fans are checking their newsfeed and trying to decide where to go, you’ll be top of mind.

· Respond to fan comments on your page and thank them for being a customer.

· Share stories and links about what is important to your customers. If the Guinness drinker at your Happy Hour is raising money for a local charity, share his story or a link to his blog on your page. Show the love by promoting others in your community.

Retain…
Via Twitter

· Monitor your brand name, keywords and products via Twitter search. Respond to questions and critiques and show your audience that you are listening.

· Encourage your customers to follow you on Twitter and then FOLLOW THEM BACK. Retweet their posts about your business and encourage them to share their experiences.

Via Digital Coupons

· Segment your email database based on buying habits and send coupons specific to each group’s product or service preference.

· Google Maps has “Coupons”, Yelp has “Special Offers” and CitySearch has “Offers” available for businesses to post for free with their listing. Keep these updated and relevant.

· Utilize a “Specials” landing page on your website to give first time and returning guests discounts in exchange for their email address or the referral of a friend.

· Never rule out the tried and true loyalty card or frequent buyer stamp card. Reward your most loyal customers when they purchase and they will come back for the earned discount.

Inspire…

Via Geolocation Tools (like Foursquare)

· Make sure your location is on the map for tools like Foursquare, GoWalla and Loopt.

· Post tips and special offers on these tools and use them yourself so that you can understand how they work.

· Encourage customers to “check-in”. A recent Inc.com article stated, “By checking in, they're in a sense affirming to a wide net of friends and online connections that they ‘like’ your business. It's a sort of endorsement.”

Via Contests and Promotions

· Companies like Wildfire make running an online contest or promotion seamless and inexpensive. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

· Group buying sites like Groupon and Living Social cost nothing out of pocket and enable customers the ability to easily and inexpensively gift your offer to friends.

Keep in mind these are just a few of the things that you can do to connect with your customers online and turn them into brand evangelists. Creative Link can build custom strategies for engaging your audience and help you understand what will work best for your unique business concept.