Creating a local advertising campaign as a small business owner can be hard. It can be a challenge figuring out what to do that effectively builds credibility and your brand image all while bringing in customers. While it sounds impossible it doesn’t have to be. Often there are quite a few different opportunities within the community already that you may not realize exist. For instance, local eNewspaper advertising has many benefits for small business owners besides just the ability to place ads that can really help you tie all your efforts together.
As a small business owner, while our first goal might be to get the community to appreciate the US and shop more, it can be beneficial to first remind community members how much you appreciate them! Reminding your local community that you do give back can be done in several different ways through the help of your local eNewspaper and existing community networks.
Local Media Sources
local media sources such as your local eNewspaper or radio station are a great way to begin building a consistent reliable relationship with your neighborhood audience. Local media helps by lending its credibility to you. The next time you listen to the radio listen to the sound bites of the host endorsing a local business. These spots while shorter than your standard 30 or 60-second commercial are a great way to lend your business some authority from a reputable source who is “vouching” for you. This works in much the same way as a review left on your website except in this case the endorser is the radio personality or the reputation of the publication that your ad is in.
Build Connection
Local shoppers will be more inclined to shop with you if they feel a sense of connection with your brand identity. Often local communities appreciate genuine attempts to give back and stay involved. Participation in local charities and events and keeping the public informed about where you will be next is a great way to start. Consider placing signage, sponsorship opportunities, or partnering with other local businesses for mutual representation. These are great ways to endear you to the community and build brand recognition as well as create more awareness and sales opportunities. These things also have a dual purpose and can make your business seem like a fun and inviting place to work. All of these things make your business something that the community will want to make sure sticks around.
Small businesses may also consider having a press release written the next time you win a business award, or sponsor a local charity or school function. Press releases can be about anything newsworthy and are oftentimes picked up by local papers who love to make news out of local accomplishments. Community members appreciate what happens within their city limits and surrounding areas and find local newspaper advertising to be more credible.
A press release about a heartwarming cause can help build the character of your brand identity and endear you to your audience. Stories like these provide newsworthy common interest articles, that are just as important as news and local events articles. A press release can be a valuable way of reminding your community you are there and giving them insight into the values of your company. Press releases are also distributed online which is great when people are searching for you. Playing an active presence in your community and representing your brand consistently through local newspaper advertising and social media can be a positive way to draw sales both in-store and online. Reaching high income audiences is plus especially for small niche businesses looking to reach High Income demographics such as personal training studios or auto detailers.
Create an Incentive
Running ads that offer the latest deals, sales incentives and coupons are great ways to get people to shop. Also consider giveaways, referral opportunities, and frequent shopper programs, that encourage additional purchases and invite people to create more conversation about your product or service with others.
These are all fun ways which are a great way to create online involvement that includes a ” call to action ” that tells people what you need them to do. Make sure to include verbiage that invites people to visit you online or on Facebook, or participate in a giveaway where they must be present to win. These are great ways to go about creating exciting opportunities that get people enticed to buy.
Create excitement
Contests and giveaway are another way to entice participation from online audiences. Giveaways do not have to be big but consider using it as a way to win a free sample of your product or service. Those who do not win may also get an additional discount from their first purchase for participating.
Stand out
Advertising is a great way to highlight what makes your business stand out from others like it. If your community or region has several businesses similar to yours (perhaps your a dentist office, or a lawn company). Your ads should work at highlighting what you do differently from your competition and what may make you more appealing to your audience. If your business has something about it that you feel makes doing business specifically with you especially inviting, letting your community know can offer you your own unique niche. Stand out qualities could be environmentalism, frequent shopper or referral programs; even an office that is family-oriented, pet friendly, or percentage of the profits going to a unique cause.
Customer service
Even more, so that bottom dollar prices having spectacular customer service will help you increase sales by creating more return customers. These days selling by listening to your customers is the surest way to make sure they come back for more.
And above all,
Be Consistent
Running consistent ads and being a reliable presence in a local newspaper can provide the framework to an improved and enticing brand image. Advertising can remind people of their local business store and increase sales by reminding the community to shop there and support the local economy. Once your ad has begun to run, leave it there! The biggest mistake that advertisers tend to make in advertising is pulling an ad too soon. People begin to look for and expect ads that they recognize in papers that they read.
Studies have shown that for many types of advertising like online and TV, the response begins to diminish shortly after the first time that it runs. This is much different for print advertising where response actually begins to increase the more consistently it runs. Additionally, studies show that the addition of print advertising increases the effectiveness of other types of media.
For businesses that want to reach “ local” consumers but also want an ad that covers a much broader region, consider something like the USA Today networks. This is a local edition that goes into local newspapers across the country also owned by Gannett. By running ads in larger groups of enewspapers or those that have well known reputable titles, you can also help increase your credibility and encourage online sales on a larger scale through the credibility of the paper. Placing an ad in a well-known publication allows your business the benefit of its reputation and the extended reach of the newspaper readership in much the same way as if the newspaper had referred you themselves.
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