A grassroots marketing strategy puts your company's name in the community, helping you find potential customers in the area. These campaigns are usually affordable making them excellent for new businesses, but the gains of reaching out to the local market is something that can benefit even well-established companies.
The entire point of a grassroots marketing strategy is to put your company in the conversations of the people in your community. Grassroots marketing plans need to be updated frequently, changing in response to the current social environment. A poorly executed strategy may make your business look out of touch, potentially hurting the perception of the brand. Connect your business with local events, and offer giveaways and discounts in order to keep people interested in what you have to offer.
In-House Resources:
Smaller business owners have the advantage of connecting directly to their customers. Take advantage of this in your grassroots marketing strategy. Find out what your community of clients want and tailor your messages to those desires. Schedule events at your location to coincide with local festivals or other public engagements. This demonstrates to the customers that you’re a part of the community, and fosters a feeling of loyalty and connection to your brand. Take customer criticisms seriously, but also pay attention to praise. If customers comment on how they appreciate your hours, or your specials, or even the arrangement and design of your storefront, capitalize on that in your marketing. Your customers will often tell what’s working right with your business, use that information as a basis to entice others.
Word on the Street:
It’s difficult, in some cases impossible, to compete with large corporate offerings online. Online sales may be able to undercut your prices, and give the convenience of having products delivered. A grassroots marketing strategy taps into important things that customers value more than just price. Perhaps now more than ever, people place high value on service. Play up the connection your company has with its client base. Word of mouth, especially for service industries, is incredibly important. Many people will select businesses that may charge slightly more if they perceive that the company is honest, fair, and friendly.
That’s not to say, of course, that you should ignore the online component. Having a well-designed, easily searchable website can make or break a good grassroots marketing campaign. Maintaining a quality web presence is a key component to any grassroots marketing plan. Using digital media to identify and reward customers is an ideal way to keep connected to your clients.
Make and Keep Customer Connections:
A successful marketing strategy will connect your in-store community and your online communities. Offer specials and discounts on social media that will bring people into your store. Email lists are extremely common now, but some customers actually see these as a nuisance with little value. Consider instead promoting a Facebook, LinkeIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, or Instagram account (or combo of all of them), which allows customers to interact and offer their own reviews and feedback. The benefit of social media over automatic email lists is that it gives customers a feeling of agency. They connect and communicate with you directly instead of just being passive receivers of information.
If it’s feasible in your physical space, court groups to your location for workshops, speaking events, demonstrations, think outside the box. Doing this encourages people to think of your place of business as a community center, a gathering point, not just a place to spend money.
A grassroots marketing strategy requires effort, but the rewards for you and your customers can be great.
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