One of the largest complaints we hear from small businesses is that they simply don’t have time to market themselves to the extent that they’d like. They also don’t have the resources to dedicate to hiring someone who solely does marketing. Hiring an agency is also out of the question because of the rates in doing so.
What’s a small business to do?
On the other side of the coin, chambers are looking for ways to engage members and provide more value. They can’t rely on networking events as being the reason to join anymore because business people can network among a variety of groups including those online and in local Meet Ups. And they can do it for free or for the price of a cup of coffee.
The problems on both sides create a chocolate and peanut butter kind of solution. Absolutely perfect together.
Small Business Marketing Help from Chambers
Here are a few suggestions on how you can help small businesses with marketing for very little money on their part:
- Include them in a chamber directory, online or in print
- Invite them to be part of your local currency program
- Host a cash mob at their business
- Feature them in a member spotlight on social media or in a newsletter
- Give them a social media shout out for something about their business
- Include a picture of their business or product
- Invite them to be part of the member-to-member discount program
- Host a lunch-and-learn on marketing in minutes a day
- Host a scavenger hunt and include them as a stop
- Include them in a #FF post on Twitter
- Share their social media content
- Write a blog post featuring them or all of their kind of services/products in town (example: a write-up on all the bakeries)
- Publicize their anniversary, honors, or other notable events
- Invite them to write a guest post on your site and share it with the community
Chambers have a large audience. There are a number of ways you can share the power of that audience with your struggling members. The key to successfully creating sales opportunities for your businesses through marketing is to be as specific as possible as to what they do well. Remember talking about their “mouthwatering pumpkin rolls with cream cheese drizzle” will get people buying a lot faster than “delicious baked good.”
