Holiday Marketing 4: Spotlight on Community

We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shift Your Shopping. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach.

This week, the focus is on your community. Our ultimate goal is to build a stronger community for all your local businesses, so let’s share that story with customers. You can do this on Facebook or Instagram, or in print ads you’re planning to run.

Think about a reason you’re proud to be in the community. What makes you happy about it?

Write a three-sentence story about something good in your community. End by saying, “Together, we’re making a better community. When you shift just a little more of your shopping to local stores, you help us all. #ShiftYourShopping.”

While you’re online, look up your fellow local stores. See if they have posted their mini-stories yet. When you find them, like and share them!

Here’s the bonus: I bet you thought of more than one great thing about your community. You’re not limited here. You can do as many of these community mini-stories as you like!

Now let’s look at what some other communities are doing that may be something you can borrow.

Black Friday is all about scoring big deals from big box stores. Cyber Monday is scoring big deals online. And people are so sick of the bad behavior and focus on consumerism, that they are looking for alternatives. Plaid Friday and Cider Monday are alternatives that put the emphasis on local and independent stores. It’s your chance to bring people into your store and build a warm human relationship with them. Monadnock Buy Local makes the most of these days and has good guides to help you use them, too.

Next week, we’ll talk about getting ready for Small Business Saturday.

Shift Your Shopping is our group theme for holiday marketing this year. You have my permission to forward these articles to your local retailers, merchants association, chamber of commerce, downtown development group or any one else you think would benefit from them. All you need to do is list the author as Becky McCray of SmallBizSurvival.com and then let me know who you are sharing with.

Shift Your Shopping 2015 series:

1. Picking your Holiday 2015 marketing theme
2. Set your cover photos
3. Spotlight a local business
4. Spotlight on community
5. Share the causes you care about
6. Support your service providers
7. Small Business Saturday
8. Tell your founding story