Marketing in a Small Town

Remember: You Can’t Do It All – Alone.

EDUCATE YOUR LOCALS Do you know the hot spots for tourists and visitors around town? Gas stations Local eateries Retail stores Why not host an open house just for them twice a year? Several businesses could partner up and do this. And while you’re at it – invite the local press. This is word of mouth marketing and very effective.

CURB APPEAL Curb appeal is what draws attention and brings people in your doors.  70% of first time sales happen because of curb appeal. Try extending your inside to the outside.  Plant some flowers in pots and put outside.  Or bring some of your items for sale outside.   Did you know that women make 80% of all retail purchases?  What if you put a bench outside for the husbands and partners to sit on while the women shop?   Cornerstone Cottage sells kids items in Hampton, Iowa and they play games outside after school. Could you put out an interactive product?

Front and Back Photo by Becky McCray

SIGNAGE Signage – are we using what works?  Is the sign on the front of the store high up on the building?  Did you know that people driving cars can’t see it?   Is your name on the window?   When the sun is shining, you can’t read it.  If it only has your name, does it tell people what you sell

Beautiful building – what’s missing?

NO PUBLIC BATHROOM? Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash One more thing.   Don’t put a sign in the window that says ‘no public bathroom’.  How welcoming is that?  Does that make you want to shop?  Let people use your bathroom.  Make your bathroom a fun place to use.  Make sure that fun extends into the rest of the store too!  When someone is using the bathroom, you have a captive audience.  What can you promote at eye level in your bathroom? Scott Meyer of 9 Clouds talks about tattoos and the value in treating your business like a tattoo. Scott said “You don’t need to tattoo the name of your business on your forehead, but the identity of your business should be visible in everything you do. Your identity and your story make your business unique and memorable. In a digital age we can work with anyone, anywhere. How then do customers decide? ” Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash

THINK OF YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A TATTOO Scott Meyer of 9 Clouds talks about tattoos and the value in treating your business like a tattoo. Scott said “You don’t need to tattoo the name of your business on your forehead, but the identity of your business should be visible in everything you do. Your identity and your story make your business unique and memorable. In a digital age we can work with anyone, anywhere. How then do customers decide? ” THINK OF YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A TATTOO

7 Day Make Over Projects - Marton AU www. creative-communities 7 Day Make Over Projects - Marton AU www.creative-communities.com/7-day-makeover/ They spent $4,500 to make this look better.

Partnerships your product or service.  You have to find ways to market what you have or what you do. Partnerships with ‘different’ kinds of business are an avenue we often forget about.  Some of the partnerships we’ve seen in my town are are: Osweilers, a woman’s clothing store, has given $25 gift certificates to their customers when they spend over $100 in their store. inTANDEM Marketing, a local coworking location, has hosted Travel to Ireland presentations for the Chamber. Wilson Brewer Park and The Depot crew (a local historical site) partnered with Summer Nights (a downtown festival) and brought old timer costumes for kids to try on and have their picture taken. The chamber asked them not to just set up a booth and hand out flyers. At the next event they took several old pictures of buildings and put them on blocks. Then people had to identify where those buildings were! Schlotfeldt Engineering partnered with The Tour of Empty Buildings and provided the maps for the tour. Find ways to work with other businesses in your community to promote each other. You probably don’t all have the same customers!

Let’s Talk Social Media

Social Media Rules for Marketing You want more followers? Post more 80/20 Rule Consistency Don’t do it, unless you’re going to do it

Who is your average user? Facebook Who is your average user? They have 130 friends and are connected to 80 community pages, groups and events.

Be Available

Post Often

Hashtags and Pictures

Compare to something

Google Alerts Okay, it’s a tool. But a damn good one and I didn’t want to forget it@

Twitter… more than just fun Okay, it’s a tool. But a damn good one and I didn’t want to forget it@

Research

See how I sent it directly to people? I also tweeted it generically

Who can you follow that will help?

Thought Leadership

Watch Your Hashtags

What do we talk about? How is your family involved in your business? Where else in your town should someone shop? What are you doing for fun? Where do you get your ideas for new products? Do you volunteer in your community, and why? How are you partnering with other businesses in your town? Have you been to any community events lately? What and why? Shoot a two minute video on your smartphone. About a product in your business. Share that. What do we talk about? Remember the 80/20 rule – 20% about your company and 80% about other things … This advice is good for: Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Enewsletters, Pinterest

Google 11 billion people every month, use Google to search. Put your location on the map and end up on the front page of Google. Gybo

Email Newsletter Give advice/a story Then give an offer at the end Consistency – what do you have time for? Be an expert in your field

Traditional Marketing Give it new spin

Newspapers Play the contests Share their posts Make comments on their pages Tag them with your comment Write an article and submit

Radio

Thank you! www.buildingpossibility.com www.saveyour.town deb@saveyour.town Thank you! Get the handout at: http://buildingpossibility.com/marketing/