I wanted to talk a bit about supporting local businesses. Obviously, the most direct way to support local businesses is to shop at local businesses. But times are very hard right now – for individuals, families, and local businesses alike. That’s why I want to talk about other ways you can support local businesses – most of which cost you nothing.
Spread the word: Share on socials (cost: free)
The old-school, more traditional forms of marketing are – in many ways – dead. Local TV, radio, and newspaper ads? Reaching fewer and fewer people with every passing quarter. The one traditional method of marketing that is still very much in play – and likely always will be – is word of mouth. And these days, social media makes sharing news about good deals, great customer service, flash sales, or discoveries even easier.
Follow them online (cost: free)
Social media exposure is critical to local businesses – especially independent ones. As you’re on social media anyway, why not follow their pages and/or comment on their posts? It helps them grow their online audience – and that, in turn, means more people – beyond their followers – will see them. You can also engage with them by sharing posts like polls and competitions (often links to some sort of prize in the end and who doesn’t love a prize?).
Leave a review (cost: free)
Local businesses rely on people being able to find them online and convince them to come in or move forward with a transaction. Reviews REALLY make a difference.
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- 87% of consumers read online reviews of local businesses regularly.
- 93% of customers say online reviews influence their purchasing.
- Positive reviews can increase customer spending by 31%.
- 74% of consumers say that reviews increase trust in a company.
If you have a favourite local business, found them knowledgeable, or just had a nice customer experience, take a minute or two to leave a positive review to let people know. Some of the places I leave reviews:
- Google: you don’t have to have a Google account to leave a review)
- Facebook: if the business has a Facebook page, they may well have a ‘Reviews’ tab alongside the About, Posts, and Services tabs on their main page)
- Trip Advisor: yes, you can leave reviews for local businesses – it’s not just for reviews of places you go while on holiday. Particularly useful for hospitality businesses)
- Check-a-trade: (one that people check ALL the time so if a tradeperson has done a good job, post a review)
Become a loyalty scheme member (cost: membership fee, varies)
Find out if there are membership or loyalty schemes offered. Lots of coffee places & cinemas do this – X number of stamps to get a free coffee or reduced booking fees for movies, that sort of thing. But lots of other businesses do it too with different rewards (discounts for members, early notice of sales, etc). Do you know of such schemes here in Banbury? Share it in the comments. If you are a local business with a loyalty scheme – post about it, give me a heads up and I’ll share it. I bet others will too.
Buy a gift voucher (cost: amount of voucher, varies)
Why not add gift vouchers to your gift-giving mix for birthdays, thank yous, rewards, and holidays? If there is a shop someone loves or maybe you know the type of thing that they want but it’s the kind of thing they need to make the specific selection – these are a good way to show you’ve thought about them specifically. And those gift vouchers give a local business’s cash flow a short-term boost. As with the loyalty schemes, if you are a local business that offers gift vouchers, post about it, give me a heads up and I’ll share it. I bet others will too.