We’re all going to use the same marketing theme this year. You, me, and every business in your town. We’re all going to use Shop Indie Local.
Here are 5 reasons why.
- There’s a tendency among small businesses in small towns to use the same marketing theme from year to year, the same ads with new dates, the same messages we used last year. Not this year!
- When we all coordinate our message, we’ll multiply our efforts and reach more potential customers.
- It works well with projects you may already have planned, like Shop Small Saturday.
- It’s a great fit for small towns. Rather than just one day, you get a campaign that runs as long as you like.
- You don’t have to create new graphics. You can borrow text, graphics and designs from the Shop Indie Local community.
“Now, more than ever, small businesses must work together,” said Jen Risley, AMIBA director of operations. “Shop Indie Local represents a movement that cultivates hope and empowerment.”
You could just talk about the new items you just got in, or how you offer gift wrapping. Instead, Shop Indie Local asks you to talk about how important your local business community is and how people can support it by shifting more of their holiday shopping to local stores. Then you can talk about your new items.
It solves the “I don’t have anything to post!” dilemma for social media. You can post all day long about other local businesses, cool things they are doing, how much you love the very best things about your town. And when they do the same for you, you’ll both reach more potential customers.
What you’re trying to do is help people see that your business community really is a community and that it matters.
What to do first
1. Decide right now that you are doing it. You are using Shop Indie Local as the tagline, and the importance of your local businesses as your theme.
2. Pass it on. Reach out to your favorite friends who also have businesses. Share this article with them. Ask them to join you.
3. Explore the Shop Indie Local resources and Shop Indie Local Facebook page together with your best business buddies. Look at the graphics, logos and social media templates. Sign up for their updates.
Have more ideas to make Shift Your Shopping the best small town holiday campaign ever? I’d love to hear about it. Hit reply or add in the comments below.
Next step: go public by setting your header photos
Find the photo you want to use as your header on your social media accounts for a while. It’s almost Thanksgiving time in the US, so you may want to pick a Thanksgiving-themed photo. If that’s not for you, consider any photo that emphasizes the change of seasons or the theme of family and home.
Use Canva or your favorite graphics tool to overlay the Shop Indie Local graphic (below) onto your header photo. Then pop it up on your social media and Google Business Profile pages.
As soon as you see your business buddies posting their updated headers, hit LIKE! Leave a comment! That helps your message go farther.
Tomorrow: Spotlight a local business
Next, we’ll all start sharing other businesses in our local community. It’s a great way to start the holiday season with some gratitude for others.
See the whole series:
Read all our articles in our Shop Indie Local series. Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.
Reprint or share this article:
Shop Indie Local 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.
- About the Author
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
