Social media: Word-of-mouth exploded
Having grown up in Inverness, I had led myself to believe that I knew every shop; every café; every nook and cranny of city centre highlights.
“Shall we go into The Byre?” my friend asked as we finished our catch-up lunch in Artysans. “The what?”, I queried. It was only next door, yet I had never even come across The Byre, a quirky furniture and homeware retailer located on Strothers Lane. After some brief enquiries, I learned that The Byre has been open for three years and sells items ranging from £2 to £2000. Who knew? Maybe you did, and I’m the last person to jump on the bandwagon, but the conversation and discovery highlighted to me the importance of ‘spreading the word’.
Word-of-mouth can be achieved through numerous means. There’s the more traditional sense of the term where you tell people you know, and they tell people they know and so on, much like my friend telling me about the Byre – you can’t beat a personal recommendation, after all. But now the possibilities for word-of-mouth have exploded. Through the internet and social media, we can provide information to and access those who otherwise have no connection to our lives or our city. To quote an overused but ever-appropriate saying: the opportunities are endless.
Are there any other hidden gems out there, Inverness? Spread the love; spread the word!
