Today, customers expect more of companies than ever before, and they want to know that the brands they work with are supporting causes and missions that are important to them. To this end, modern customers tend to support companies who are involved in their local communities.

That, then, begs the following question: what does it mean to be involved in your local community?

The answer, of course, is varied. Being involved in the local community can mean anything from sponsoring local 5Ks to volunteering for causes and hosting outreach booths at related organizations and companies.

If you’re interested in driving more business and expanding your reach, here’s what you need to know about getting (and staying) involved in your local community.

Community Participation: The Best Form of Modern Networking

Getting involved in your local community is one of the best ways to network, build relationships and drive brand awareness. Important to local customers, creating a company that’s involved in the local community is also an excellent way to connect with potential leaders, employees, and investors.

Regardless of whether your company is large or small, new or old, getting involved in your local community is an excellent way to conduct modern networking. After all, volunteering and sponsoring local events is a solid way to demonstrate business stability, presence, engagement, and passion.

Strong Communities Create Strong Customers

In the world of business, it’s rare to find a truly effective way to nurture relationships with your customers. It’s even harder to find a way to groom your customers, from start to finish. When you get involved in your local community, though, this is exactly what you’re doing. At the end of the day, strong communities create a strong customer base.

When customers have a chance to understand who you and your brand are, even long before they begin working with you, it’s much more likely that they’ll come to do business with your company when they need a product, good, or service you offer. It’s also more likely that your company will get involved with the causes or activities they care about, which can go a long way toward promoting connection and meaningful interaction for years into the future.

7 Immediate Ways to Get Involved in Your Local Community

So, you’re sold about the idea of getting involved in your community. But how do you do it? Here are seven ways to make the leap:

1. Join a Board

Looking to position your brand as a thought leader and authority force in the industry and community?

One great option is to join a board. One of the best and most expedient ways to get involved in the community is to serve on a board that addresses the population or topics that concern your business. The Downtown Business Council, for example, is a great idea, or the Council for the Arts, if you’re a creative company.

If you work in education or offer services that would be helpful to educators, you can also look into local school boards and similar options.

2. Volunteer at an Event

The power of volunteering is immense. In addition to demonstrating that you’re willing to be selfless and donate your time, volunteering shows that you’re a team player, especially on behalf of your community.

If you can swing it, go one step further than just volunteering yourself: instead, volunteer your entire organization, including your employees and managers, to help out at a local event or organization.

3. Create Partnerships

If you’re already volunteering or getting involved on a community board, building partnerships is a great way to take your community efforts one step further. After all, you’ve already made connections with the leading people in your community.

Now, it’s time to leverage those relationships to create local initiatives. In addition to forming connections, you need to work to extend those connections and ensure that you’re connecting with local companies and organizations that sell products, good, or services similar to yours.

4. Donate

If you don’t have your time to donate, consider donating funds. While that’s one of the most obvious ways to donate, you can also take a step outside the monetary and get more creative. If you have space where community members could hold an event, for example, you can donate that.

If you have materials that will help another organization, you can donate those. If you have anything else that could be helpful for customers, consider finding a way to donate those for the betterment of your community.

5. Get Involved in Local Festivals

Most towns host festivals or parades throughout the year.

If you can, find a way to get involved. Because so many people typically show up at these events, they’re a great way to get your name out in front of people and to promote recognition surrounding your brand and mission. If you choose to participate like this, be sure that your marketing is on-point and that your company and employees are very visible to passers-by.

If it’s applicable to your company, consider bringing sign-up sheets, incentives, or freebies to keep customers engaged and involved.

6. Host or Sponsor Events

Get customers through your door by hosting physical events in your space. This step builds on all the other methods of interacting with the community and ensures that people are not only familiar with your location, but able to recommend it to other people and organizations when the time comes. You can also sponsor events to gain more attention.

7. Offer Promos, Contests, and Giveaways

Ideal for virtually any of the other engagement methods on this list, hosting promos, contests, and giveaways is a great add-on to any other community event. When you create a promotion, contest, or giveaway, it not only gets people excited about your company but also incentivizes people to attend and participate. This is a great way to promote positive interactions with your brand and ensure that people are happy to recommend you to their friends and relatives.

The Case for Community Involvement

When it comes time for marketing your community effectively, getting involved in the community is an excellent option. In addition to spreading the word about your brand, community involvement is a fantastic way to create a platform for positive engagement and ensure that people are leaving with a good impression of your brand and mission. If you’ve been waiting to get involved with your community, stop waiting. Now’s time to dive in and make a difference in your community!

Our team can help you maximize your local marketing efforts. Contact us today to learn more!

It’s also important to remember, though, that social media is a very crowded field, and standing out requires getting creative. The more you can set yourself apart from the competition, the better you’ll fare. One of the best ways to do this is simple: brand your images on social media.

Here’s what you need to know about this straightforward approach, and how doing it can improve your efforts, both now and in the future.

Why Brand Your Social Images?

Starting a business is a great deal of work. It’s especially challenging in the digital age when companies must either adapt rapidly to online norms or fade into obscurity. One consideration that entrepreneurs need to get right from the beginning of the startup process is how to deal with and stand out from the competition.

We live in a highly capitalistic society, and everyone’s “out to get theirs.” For online companies to succeed in this industry, they must develop approaches which are unique and separate from the rest of the herd.

This is where branding social images comes in. Because Facebook is a highly visual platform, it stands out as one of the most crowded platforms on the web. It’s tough to stand out and even tougher to have your images noticed in the virtual sea of images. Fortunately, it’s easier to get around this issue if you figure out how to deal with competitors right from the get-go.

5 Reasons to Brand Your Social Images

There are dozens of reasons to brand your social images, not the least of which is recognizability. Here are a few things you need to know about the benefits of branding your social images, and how it can help your brand stand out online:

1. Recognition

Part of any great brand is recognition. Think about it with the brands you know and love. Nike, for example, Nike and Coca-Cola are both highly recognizable brands, and they achieve this with intelligent branding. Each brand has a defined color scheme, a specific and continuous brand voice, and a masterful understanding of how best to brand their social media images and interactions. Both of these things create a sense of recognition for consumers, and make it easier for customers to trust brands across the board.

2. It Makes a Great First Impression

First impressions go a long way, we have all heard it before. Specifically, when it comes to your business’ website or social media page, the first glance can make all the difference and ultimately whether you just made a sale or not.

Our fast-paced, smartphone-driven world has accelerated this process. Having a well-designed website is essential to a productive first impression.

According to a report from the 2007 Design Council Report, companies with intentional design-conscious websites and social media sites outperformed those who did not. Simply stated, if you want a positive first impression and to form a lasting relationship with a potential customer, put some time, effort, and resources into these digital assets.

3. It’s Engaging for Consumers

When starting a new business, never be afraid to take a page out of someone else’s book. Established, successful businesses offer bulls-eye information about how effective design and creative branding can engage customers for the long run.

Take two examples: Apple and Nike.

Both use creative quotes and aesthetic design in their branding to engage consumers and ultimately offer an experience that is not just about shoes or computers. To capture the attention of a potential buyer in today’s vast consumer sea, focus on functional elements of design in your marketing with a brand strategy which speaks to your mission.

4. It Allows You to Target Certain Consumers

Whether it is a specific holiday campaign or a new product release, effective use of design in your marketing will help push sales either for a target audience or for a specific market. Make sure that your design choice aligns with your message and goal.

For instance, let’s suggest that you are the proprietor of a small local crepe shop on and as the leaves begin to change color, everyone enters a pumpkin spice frenzy. You want to further capitalize on this demand and reach as many potential pumpkin-spice aficionados as possible, so you incorporate fall design elements on your social media sites, create some storefront advertising, and perhaps put a new banner on your Facebook page to signal the return of the pumpkin spice extravaganza. All of it is equipped with your logo, and – boom! – you’ve got an effective marketing campaign.

It’s easy to see how creative and effective design and campaign alignment can boost sales in a particular group of consumers.

5. Direct Marketing Tool

There are many marketing tools in your toolbox. Print, email, website, TV, radio, etc. When reaching directly to consumers in this fashion, as we mentioned earlier, first impressions are paramount.

Effective design, consistency, and focus of message will heighten your success. For new business owners who lack the funds to be able to invest heavily in some of the more expensive direct marketing options, think and start small, a well-designed business card is an easy way to make a lasting impression.

Branding Social Images

In the digital age, the competition is more ferocious than ever, the landscape ever-changing. Creating an authentic voice into today’s digital marketplace is essential to establishing a brand consumers are interested in, and more importantly, connect with.

We all want an edge, and by using social media and other digital mediums, you take an important first step in creating a lasting connection with consumers all while establishing your digital voice.

When done effectively, your customers will value your authenticity and want to see and know more. Think about first impressions, your design aesthetic, how to effectively communicate your values, and how you can use your social images as a way to improve your business for the long run and for certain campaigns.

Are you looking for a skilled agency to help you brand your social media images? Contact our team today for additional assistance!

You know what all these companies have in common? Besides hard work and a clear vision?

They took the time to build local interest, first.

As is true with most things, you need solid roots before you can branch out. By creating local interest and becoming a local hero in your community, you can lay the foundation for successful brand interaction, both now and in the future.

Here’s what you need to know:

How to Spark Local Interest

There are dozens of ways to gain positive recognition in your company’s hometown. Some of them are common tactics: standard advertising or marketing, donations to local causes, hosting local events, participating in local festivals, and more.

Aside from these standard approaches, though, there are dozens of ways to spark interest and get involved in your community. Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Talk to the Press

If you’ve never met with the local press, now might be the time to do it. While large companies pay for traditional PR and ongoing advertising campaigns, small companies typically don’t have the budget or the ability to do this.

Because of this, meeting with local press is essential. In a small town or community, local press typically has a large and expansive reach. Because of this, a simple write-up in a local magazine or newspaper could go a long way toward expanding your reach and ensuring you make a positive impact in your community.

If you’d like to take it one step further, consider conducting a full interview and having a journalist take some photos of your business and staff. It’s a great way to promote your business and become a local household name.

2. Host a Local Class

If you’re lucky enough to be in a position where you’re one of the few companies in your area that offers a certain product, good, or service, it’s safe to bet that you offer a service that many people want or want to know more about. One great way to capitalize on this is to provide a course or class to enlighten your local customers and spread knowledge about your product, good, or service.

For example, if you run a marketing company, teaching a local marketing course is a great way to make people aware of your offerings and bring them through the door. While some people believe that educating people will only make people less likely to take advantage of their product, good, or service, this isn’t true. Customers may be more likely to do business with your brand if they find that they can learn from you, in the first place. Say hello to local hero status.

3. Join the Chamber of Commerce

Take a more proactive approach to local decision-making and policy-creation by getting involved in your local chamber of commerce. In addition to providing a business listing for your company, becoming a member of your local chamber of commerce is an excellent way to create connections.

By meeting with other area business owners, it helps ensure you have the tools and resources needed to create new insights and ideas to solve strategic issues. What’s more, customers who know that a company is involved in the local chamber are 44% more likely to think favorably of it than they would if the brand was not involved in the chamber.

4. Support a Local Charity

If there’s a local charity that people in your community care deeply about, go out of your way to support it.

Donating to a local charity or organization that’s important to your community is a great way to stand out as a cause-minded and community-focused brand. Wondering which organizations to get involved with?

You may want to choose to support efforts that impact members of your community, such as supporting victims of a local catastrophe or supporting a specific family in need. You can also volunteer to be a drop-off point for holiday goods, toys for children, donated meals, and more. In addition to helping you win community exposure, this is a great way to support people around you and give back to the community you love.

5. Create a Local Scholarship

Help promote good works in your community by creating a local scholarship. Support academic efforts and excellence by setting up a scholarship either for a single student or students who are pursuing careers in your industry, for example.

There’s virtually no way to go wrong with this: simply pick a cause that’s important to you and run with it. Not only will you help people you care about, but your community will see your efforts and develop a compassionate viewpoint toward you.

Additional Tips

Looking for other ways to become a hometown hero? Here are some simple hacks:

• Participate in shop local events. Keep the money local by getting involved in “shop local” events this holiday season. Black Friday is a great time to hop on this bandwagon, as is Small Business Saturday. Be a local hero for your own company and other businesses by promoting these things.
• Host community meetings. Find a cause you care about and host community meetings dedicated to supporting it. From your local AA chapter to a community environmental organizations, there are many ways to support causes you believe in.
• Shift your marketing. Shift your marketing to focus more locally. Instead of stock photos, hire a photographer to take pictures of your actual, local customers and products. This makes marketing more personal and meaningful and helps you stand out in your industry.

Local Hero Status Starts Here

If you’re a local business with a dream of making it big, you need to start small. When you drive interest with any of these approaches, it’s easier than ever to ensure that the people around you understand your company’s value and mission. Keep in mind that these aren’t your only options: the more creative you can be about your interaction with your local community, the better.

Contact our team today for local marketing assistance and more!

To put this another way, local search is BOOMING, and now is the time to hop aboard.

If you’re wondering how to optimize your website to speak to these local customers, wonder no longer.

This post is here to guide you through the process.

5 Must-Have Website Elements for Local SEO

If local customers are everywhere, how do you attract them to your website? Here are seven actionable tips to implement right now:

1. Keep Your NAP Consistent Across All Directories

NAP stands for name, address, phone number, and refers to the “how to find us” information you must always keep consistent. The reason for this is simple: NAP information is instrumental in ensuring customers know how to locate you. If it’s inconsistent or inaccurate, you thwart the best attempts of your customers to track you down.

Unfortunately, about 49% of businesses never update their NAP information online. To make the most of local search, don’t be like these businesses. Instead, keep your NAP information consistent and update it across all major listings whenever anything changes.

2. Collect Positive Reviews

If you want to build credibility for your business, collecting local reviews is one of the best things you can do. The reasons for this are many. The most important, though, is trust.

Right now, 84% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends. Because of this, collecting a few high-quality online reviews is one of the best ways to position your company as trustworthy and reliable, and ensure those local customers keep walking through your doors.

If you’re not sure where to start collecting reviews, turn to social sites like Facebook, your Google listing, and relevant platforms like Yelp and Angie’s List.

3. Create Local Content

If you want to dominate local search, you need to focus on dominating local content, as well. Local content serves a few essential purposes when it comes to your site’s SEO. To start, it makes it possible to earn links and get the “link juice” you need to ensure search engines are pointing customers to your site.

Secondly, creating local content positions you as an authority in your industry, and ensures that customer will turn to you for information and knowledge.

Finally, having a large amount of local content in your holster gives you material to share on social media and boosts the likelihood that you’ll land positive press mentions, which, in turn, make it possible to grab the attention of new customers and earn the business you deserve.

4. Optimize for Google My Business

Google is the most dominant search engine in the world, and it wants to focus on sharing content it can support and verify.

While Google uses dozens of different metrics to verify a site’s quality, Google My Business is their primary tool. As it stands now, Google evaluates My Business listings to determine if a business is authentic, learn what it offers, and push listings to customers.

With this in mind, it’s essential to optimize for Google My Business. Here are a few steps to do that:

• Create and verify a Google My Business page
• Use Google Posts within your account
• Gain reviews on your Google My Business page
• Encourage customers to post and respond to reviews online

Google automatically assembles this information for your business based on other data they can find about your business online. This is important because, unless you claim your business listing through GMB, you could be missing out on positive reviews and feedback left about your company across the web.

5. Optimize Web Content

The final step in optimizing your site for local SEO is to turn your attention to your lesser-noticed content, including your URL, title tags, headers, and meta description.

While a great deal of local SEO is just showing up and making it possible for customers to find you, there’s also a very technical aspect to the process. Since Google indexes your pages for later use, it pays to ensure all of your content is optimized accordingly.

With this in mind, check your URL, title tags, site and page headers, and meta descriptions for relevant elements like keywords, geo-targeted information, and more.

Not only will these elements help your content appear in search engines, but it’ll make it possible for highly desirable local customers to find you.

The Case for Local SEO

Today, four out of five customers turn to search engines to find information on local businesses. Because of this, you could miss out on about 80% of your possible customers by simply failing to optimize for local search.

Fortunately, positioning your website for local search is easier today than it’s ever been, and following these five tips is a great way to get a leg-up on the competition.

While SEO is always changing, the importance of local search will only continue to climb, and now is a fantastic time to hop aboard.

Need help with your website? Contact our team today to start your project!