Many businesses are seeing the power of being a local hero for their industry. The expert in their field that when one person needs what your business provides it, they are made aware of you. So many businesses are losing sight of the locality, thanks to the wider reach of the internet. Many people look to the internet for things that they need, that much is true. Which is why in recent years a lot of businesses have placed a heavy focus on this sort of marketing and advertising strategy. Extending their reach online, instead of looking more closer to home. While this, of course, will always be beneficial to companies, after all, technology is only advancing, recent trends predict that more people are going back to the older way of doing things. The way they shop is changing, who they turn to is changing, and now is the time to take advantage of this shift of focus.
Which is why local advertising is far becoming more of a focus for many smaller businesses, startups and larger corporations. There are plenty of ways you can focus your marketing strategy on this, direct mailing your community, relying on word of mouth. However, nothing could work any better than actually being part of a local event where the whole community can feel involved. I thought I would share with you a very quick step by step guide for any business to consider the basics of hosting a beneficial local event.
Planning is everything
One of the first things anyone should do is to consider the planning side of the event. There is so much to think about. The date and time in which you hold the event, the purpose of the event and even the locality of it. If you are planning on having an outside event, then the best advice would be to consider a date and time that would work better in regards to the weather. A summer event could then open up ideas for all sorts of themes for your event itself. A fete, a fair, or even something family orientated. Many local areas have open air spaces that could be utilised from parks to greenbelt areas. Speaking with your local council would be able to highlight areas of interest to you.
Consider what is there
Once you have a date and time and even location for the event you need to think about what you want there. The idea is to create as much opportunity for advertising as possible, so marquees and tents could be a great starting point. They can also be a great idea for event promotion which will be ideal ahead of time.
You may also want to think about the entertainment side of things, an event itself can not be solely about the business as that will be too much of a sales approach. Which can have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve. This might present an opportunity to make your business approachable. Making something family oriented like hosting a fair, for example. It can not only be good for business but also local morale.
Get other local businesses and charities on board
Any event shouldn’t solely be about your business, but more about the local community. This is what will instill the trust into your business from new and existing customers and clients. This is why any event should be focused on this purpose, and a great way to do that is to get other local businesses on board or even local charities. All of which will benefit from the exposure a local event can provide. Other local businesses can pool together for the cost because of the advertising exposure they will get. Local businesses could help open up a new audience to you while they will also benefit from the sponsorship you and the other businesses could provide.
Advertise through different mediums
It is important to ensure that you make the most of the advertising through as many different platforms as possible. One of the most direct ways you can do that first of all is through direct mail. Letting the local area know of your plans can also build up hype to your event. Another option would be to consider advertising through local press and even radio advertising. The idea of a localised event is to ensure that you can get as many people to attend as possible.
Thankfully, social media is a great way to get the word out of an event, so take advantage of this and promote it as best you can. Facebook and Twitter, even Instagram have options where you can sponsor posts so that they can be seen by a certain demographic. This could help with a focused demographic on an area in regards to advertising your business and the vent you are organising.
Invite as many people as you can
You need to consider who else you invite and your current customer database should be one of your first port of calls. These are the people that invested in you already, and chances are they will speak highly of you to others. It’s a great opportunity to even consider repeat business as well.
Document the setup and the event
Finally, don’t forget to document the setup and the event itself. These days social media will always be one of the top marketing strategies for any business, especially if you have content to share. Setting up the event, the people involved, who you are working with should all be mentioned and documented on various different social media channels. You can then document the event itself. Using some of the live features readily available such as Facebook live or Instagram stories. Even going live on things like Twitter and YouTube. They offer a unique touch and could be the grounding for future events.
I hope this step by step guide helps you and your business when it comes to organising a special event for your business. Local events can make a huge difference to your business sales and word of mouth advertising when done right.