Savvy Waco businesses are getting into social media in a big way, and business owners say it is boosting their bottom line. A recent look at Facebook and Twitter turned up a healthy number of local businesses, educational institutions, and non-profits already using these new services. We looked at only a small sampling of them for this article.

Ulf and Inga-Lill Westblom, of TCV Winery, started a Facebook (facebook.com) page when one of their wine tasting students suggested it. Inga-Lill said, “It has been so helpful. Baylor students are all on Facebook, and when we had our recent Wine and Cheese Festival, we can honestly say forty to 50 percent of our attendees came because they heard about us on Facebook. We have friends, and they have friends, and notices go out to all of them.” The winery’s Facebook page has 423 “friends”, or people who have signed up to receive updates and event invitations.

Common Grounds, the coffee shop near Baylor University, has one of the most popular Facebook pages in Waco, with 4,089 “friends”. It is used primarily for alerting followers about upcoming performers and events.

Congress Clothing near Baylor has both a Facebook page and a Twitter profile (twitter.com). “We just started with Twitter, but we’ve been on Facebook for about 3 years,” said Whitney Walker, who works at the store. “We use Facebook as a way to announce sales and talk about the new items we get in the store. We feel it helps get people in the door when we have sales. Just about every college student is on Facebook, and that’s why we use it.”

Non-profit organizations in Waco are just starting to get into social media and are using it to engage their audiences. The Waco Civic Theatre asks “What shows would you like to see?” on its discussion board. Ten people responded with the shows they would like to see staged at the theatre. Parker Willson, interim director, said, “It’s a neat way to reach people. It’s important to know what our audiences want to see, and we may very well stage one of the suggested plays in the future. It’s on our list.”

And the Junior League of Waco, with 107 friends, uses its Facebook page to communicate with its members and promote its Deck the Halls event. Other Waco non-profits on Facebook include the Waco Arts Initiative, Waco Humane Society, and Keep Waco Beautiful.

Facebook is even used to promote specific events. “Just Give Me Jesus,” a revival slated for September, has its own dedicated page. Varyn Gross, the local organizer, said, “We started a Facebook page to try to attract young women. We have a blog for the event as well.”

Twitter, a micro-blog that is growing by leaps and bounds, is still in its infancy as a business tool for Waco business owners. Twitter is much simpler than Facebook; users post the answer to the question, “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or fewer, and “followers” receive the answer on their own Twitter page. TSTC Waco has a Twitter presence, as does the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, the Waco Tribune-Herald, Dogtopia, and Brazos Family Dentistry, among others.

Yelp (yelp.com) is a social media website where local businesses are given reviews and ratings by their customers. There are only a few reviewers in the Waco area who are currently involved with this. Becoming a reviewer costs nothing except the time it takes to sign up for a free account and then the time to enter thoughtful reviews of one’s experiences with local businesses. The site is often used by travelers to find recommendations from locals for restaurants, hotels, and attractions. Sorting by the highest ratings, Bangkok Royale restaurant is the #1 business, with ten reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars; Uncle Dan’s Barbeque is #2 with 8 reviews and a 5-star rating. Dr Pepper Museum, Common Grounds, and Taqueria Arandas round out the top 5 rated Waco businesses.

Waco social media users are not always online; sometimes they get together in real life. Many of the local Twitter and Facebook users meet monthly to discuss social media. They have created a group in Facebook called the “Waco Social Media Group” to help organize the monthly meetup. The group is open to anyone interested in social media and what it can do for their business or non-profit. And recently, a “tweetup”—a real life meeting of local Waco Twitter users—was held at the Dancing Bear Pub near Baylor University. Twelve Twitter users turned up, which was four times the number attending the first Tweetup in August.

Many other Waco businesses, non-profits, and educational institutions are also using social media; this is just a sampling. Clearly, Waco businesses are tuning in to the benefits of social media, and reaching new customers in new ways.