Operators alter sites for social media

By Alice Leader

- Last updated on GMT

Social-friendly: small biz owners make changes to their sites to be more appealing on social media
Social-friendly: small biz owners make changes to their sites to be more appealing on social media

Related tags Social media Pub

Social media is proving to have quite an impact on small businesses as operators reshape their sites to make them more visually enticing.

New research from American Express Shop Small shows 40% of small businesses have felt the need to make changes to their sites to become more social-friendly by:

  1. Changing how products are displayed – e.g. on shelving or how food is served – 44%
  2. Adding signage asking customers to tag on social media – 38%
  3. Changing the lighting to make the space easier to photograph – 34%

Burger restaurant Archie’s’ creative graphic design manager, Glenn Mullan, said: “As a small business, we think it’s important to respond to trends such as these to encourage our customers to come back for more as well as recommending us to others.

“We’ve also found that the American Express Shop Small campaign has played a big part in encouraging even more people to try the Archie’s experience and keep their custom local.”

Socially shareable

American Express Shop Small also polled 4,001 people, with the results showing that the changes small businesses are making are in line with increased demand.

More than 2 in 5 (42%) Brits say if a place is socially shareable it would influence them to visit this Christmas. This number rose amongst millennial respondents, of whom 57% said it would influence them.

A fifth (20%) of respondents aged 16-22 agreed they are more likely to visit a café, pub or restaurant with a great festive interior this Christmas that will look good on their social media, compared to only 1 in 20 (5%) of respondents aged 55 and over.

The findings come as American Express simultaneously announced that millennials are changing the look of the traditional Christmas dinner.

Visual feast

Over half (54%) of respondents said they will purchase colourful foods this Christmas to ‘ban the beige’ on their plate, with 72% seeking to source a number of these items from independent businesses

Mullan continued: “We know that our customers like to share their experiences with their friends, family and followers, and we believe there’s no better marketing than seeing your friends have a great time.

“Given this and the rise in social media, we’ve filled our stores with engaging and social media-friendly details, like our famous neon quotes, so that coming to any Archie’s is a visual feast as well as a literal one.”

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