Encourage people to shop local every day in 2016 not just on Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday, the day after Black Friday, is coming up this Saturday. It’s an important day (and weekend) for local merchants as some bring in as much as 30% of their year-round revenue just in that weekend following Thanksgiving!
While that can be a real boon to the merchants’ own holidays it shows you how much patronage dips off during the rest of the year. For local merchants to stay in business, they need your support the other 364 days as well.
A 365-day a Year Shop Local Push
Holiday campaigns are great because people are out there spending money and you might as well entice them to do it locally. However, shop local campaigns are their most effective when you don’t have to gear up and reeducate everyone each season. An ongoing push helps people keep shopping local in mind. It becomes more of a spending habit and less of a campaign.
One way to keep shop local on top of your community members’ minds is by introducing a local currency program. This brings the power of gift certificates to businesses that might otherwise not be able to handle the administrative overhead on their end. It provides a non-dues source of revenue to your organization and brings additional marketing opportunities to your local merchants.
Another way to make shop local an all year idea is to showcase your members in meaningful ways through your social media channels and content. Don’t just mention them, explain why they are special.
An effective shop local campaign requires educating your community on why shopping local is important. Without the educational component it becomes a marketing catch phrase. For your shop local push to be successful, you need it to become a spending habit. It has to go deeper than words.
Create an education program on the value of shopping local within your community. Local stores are what draw the shoppers to your town. Yes, sometimes people travel for chain stores, if their town doesn’t have one, but they could get the same thing at the Walmart in the other direction as well. It doesn’t have to be YOUR Walmart. Local merchants make a big impression and people return because of their unique offerings.
If you center your shop local campaign around one day a year, it will take more effort on your part and be less effective. Mount an ongoing campaign to keep the importance of shopping local in everyone’s minds year round.
