franchises, it must build goodwill with the surrounding community. You can have Facebook fans or catalogue customers all over the world, placing orders by phone and email, but if locals aren’t walking in the door, you’re doomed.
Join all the local trade organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce. These are great ways to network, but many such groups put out directories or give their members some sort of seal of approval. In a sense, these organizations are doing your marketing for you.
List your business on Yelp and Foursquare, and encourage customers to “check in” when they visit you and to write a review. An easy to way to use Foursquare is to offer a discount or prize for the “Mayor” – the person who checks in at your business the most. This triggers the best kind of competition: Who can visit your business the most often?
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| Image courtesy of Tom Edwards (@TheBlackFin) |
benefits a local charity. Give a prize to whichever employee can sell the most
candy, bring in the most cans to recycle, or raise the most money. Prizes can
be as simple as an extra vacation day. Again, there’s no point in keeping this
a secret; tell the charity, post updates online, and display a leaderboard so
your customers can see your efforts.
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| Photo courtesy of D’Anna Associates |
endorsements from the local TV anchors. Congratulate local teams on their
victories and let nearby schools post flyers for their events. You can even
make the community part of your tagline: “Proudly serving Plano since 1997,” for example, not only shows your commitment to the community but also helps with your SEO.
brand and differentiate you in the marketplace. Organizations from local banks
to TOMS Shoes have successfully incorporated the spirit of giving, which
creates a strong emotional connection to their brands. And that makes
customers want to spend money on your products or services
instead of your competitor’s.
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