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!

This is not a one-way relationship. If you’re going to build a website, you need to ensure that it offers the things that your customers expect to find. Here’s an overview of the top five things customers want to see on your website and will leave if they can’t.

1. Your NAP Information

First things first, your website should contain your name, address, and phone number. While this seems obvious, these are things that many website owners forget. This is a significant problem and easily avoidable.  

Customers who cannot find your phone number also cannot call you. Considering how many website searches start with local intent, it’s downright silly not to have your address on your website.

If you don’t post your address, phone number, and name, customers don’t know where to locate you, how to get in touch with you, or really anything that they need to know to do business.

With this in mind, keep yourNAP information up-to-date and on your website. As a general rule, it should be large, centrally located, and easy for customers to find no matter where they are on your site.  Bonus points for making it clickable.

If you have a separate business and mailing address, use your physical address on your website. That’s mostly the one that customers will be looking for, and is an essential one to present to them.

2. Contact Forms

In some cases, customers aren’t necessarily looking to call you right away. They may have a complaint, may have a question, or may have some other inquiry that they would rather submit via email or contact form. As such, it’s ideal to offer an electronic means of contact on your website.

This is also essential for small business owners who can’t always get to the phone, and don’t have a dedicated gatekeeper. Email addresses that are unfamiliar tend to be picked up by spamming Bots so many small-business owners set up contact forms on their website. These forms work on WordPress sites or other similar platforms. For best results keep them short and to the point.

3. Pricing Information

One of the first questions. The only way they’ll get an answer to this question is if you post pricing information on your website. With this in mind, respect everyone’s time and make your prices clear, easy to understand, and simple for your customers to navigate. Customers want to know that they’re working with a person.

Your website should have extensive pricing information. This will give potential customers an idea of the level of service they want to purchase before contacting you.

Not only will this help you come off as upfront and honest to your customers, but it will also save you plenty of time on the phone explaining your pricing and going back and forth. To avoid issues with publishing your pricing, be sure to update pages frequently and inform long-standing customers of any price changes.

4. An “About Page”

Customers want to know who they’re working with, what your company is all about, and what drives you. Because of this, it’s essential to offer a comprehensive, detailed, unique about page.

Although thisabout page will vary depending on who you are and what your company’s mission is, the general must-haves for an about page include your company’s background, a bit of information about the founders or managers, a breakdown of your services, and a general expansion of your company’s elevator pitch.

Your website, no matter how short or long it may be, should always have an about page that explains your experience, your company’s values, and what makes you unique.

5. Social Media Links

No website is complete without some social media links. To keep your customers coming back for more, offer social media links right off the bat. They should be prominent, featured at the bottom of each page on your website, and should link directly to the social page and question.

For best results, use matching social media icons to take customers to your various pages. When customers can find your social media effortlessly and easily, they’re more likely to follow, share, and interact in the ways that you want them to.

Additional Tips to Make Your Website Better for Customers

Once you’ve ensured your website meets the above requirements, you’re well on your way toward a functional and helpful site. Are there things you can do to make it better, though? Of course! Here’s your step-by-step guide to a better site, made simple.

• Improve Your Images. One of the easiest ways to make your website higher-quality and more customer-facing is to reboot it with images. Think of a set of fresh images like a coat of fresh paint: it’s the perfect, low-cost way to improve your site design and ensure your customers have something nice to look at. If you’d like to, you can hire a photographer to refresh your website images. This is an option for marketing companies with a larger budget, as this will be a relatively expensive option. If you’re looking for a lower-cost alternative, consider investing in a few excellent stock images, instead. Sites likePexels andShutterstock offer high-resolution free or paid stock photos that you can use throughout your website and other marketing materials.
• Improve Your Typography. A strong typeface is ideal for setting your website apart from the rest. Ideal for creating hierarchy and visual interest, typography is an excellent way to make your website more modern and beautiful. Not sure which typefaces go together?  This breakdown fromCanva is a great way to see which fonts pair together nicely.
• Add a Video. Did you know that the human brain processes visuals 60,000x faster than text? With this in mind, consider adding a video to your website homepage. An excellent way to give your customers an immediate breakdown of your company, and ensure they know what they’re getting by visiting your page, a video is an excellent addition to any high-quality website.

A Better Website Starts Here

There are dozens of ways to improve your website, but they’re not all created equal. When it comes time to build it, the first thing you must do is ensure you’re offering the experience customers want. By giving them the five things they’re coming for, you can enhance interest and ensure they have a positive experience. Take this one step further with the bullet points above for a site that will knock your buyers out of the park!

As if that weren’t enough, there are also 1.15 billion people using Facebook on their mobile device each day, which represents an increase of 23% from last year. With all these people on Facebook, we’ve got one question: what are they coming to learn?

If you’re not familiar with Facebook as a platform, or you’re working on ways to make your interaction on the network more functional and effective, the first step is understanding what these people (or at least your portion of these people) want from you. What are they coming to your page to learn? How can you give it to them as effective as possible? What can you do to make your interactions on the platform more effective and straightforward?

Here’s your complete breakdown.

Why You Need a Facebook Business Page

If your business does not have a Facebook page yet, its time to make one. With upwards of 60 million active Facebook business pages, participating in on this social platform is now becoming essential to ensure you’re connecting with your customer base.

Based on the sheer size of Facebook, having a presence on the site is an effective way for your business to gain the insight it needs to be successful in the social media space. A Facebook business-centric feature called the Insights tool allows for real-time updates on how your content is performing and your followers’ responses or lack thereof. This useful and compelling data for a business in the midst of creating a strategy for delivering strategic content.

Creating a Customer-Centric Facebook Page: What Users Want

With so many customers on Facebook, it’s essential to ensure that you’re giving your clients what they need. If you don’t know what those things are it’s impossible to make it happen. Fortunately, we’ve got the answers to those questions. Here’s what customers are coming to your Facebook page to find out:

1. Customer Support

One of the primary reasons customers come to a Facebook page is to locate customer service. Facebook is the ideal platform to respond publicly to customer inquiries, as well as a great place to provide one-on-one private conversations.

Today, more than 1 billion people use Facebook Messenger each month. That’s a huge number! Since it’s integrated automatically with each Facebook page, though, it stands out as a powerful tool for answering customer questions and ensuring your clients are getting what they need from your page.

Facebook users and businesses right now send more than 1 billion messages daily. This is a huge amount, and yet 87% of all customer queries on Facebook go unanswered. While this isn’t great for the customers issuing unanswered questions, it represents an opportunity for companies who want to capitalize on the customer service offerings of the platform.

Wondering how best to deliver customer service on the platform? Chatbots are a great option. They respond immediately to customers and are a great way to ensure customers are getting what they want from your business.

2. Deals

Everyone loves a bargain, and your Facebook audience is no different. If you’re like most Facebook users in your own right, you probably find yourself following many brands just because you know they’re posting outstanding deals, codes, and giveaways. You’re not alone in this. Today,35% of all Facebook users like pages so they can participate in promotions.

Not sure what kind of contests you should be running? Caption-style contests are a great option, as they bring in more than 5.5x more comments than other posts. You can also feel free to use your creativity to find a contest type that works for you. No matter what you do, it’s essential to ensure you’re providing value for your customers. This is the key to winning their hearts for good.

3. Content

The most important part of Facebook is content. While customers come to your page for dozens of reasons, content is one of the most central and essential. While it seems obvious, you’d be shocked to learn how many companies share content on Facebook that’s more confusing than it is helpful.

No matter what you do, don’t forget that customers are coming to your page to learn more about your company, and they need to know that you’re going to make it worthwhile for them. Sharing information and content is the best way to do this. No matter who you are or what kind of business you run, your content should be informative and useful. Make sure it’s relevant to your business and industry.

4. Information

Lots of customers start their interactions on Facebook for the sake of finding out where your company is located, what your hours are, or how they can interact with your brand more effectively. With this in mind, be sure you’re offering the information your customers need.

YourNAP information should always be current and up-to-date, for example, and should change whenever any of the information within it does. You’ll also want to update your hours according to your holiday hours and anything else that may change.

5. Community

Facebook users want to share the things they love with other people. When someone loves a brand or product on Facebook, they naturally want to share that product and brand with other people. This is where the importance of the community comes into play. Think about how you foster community in your daily life.

The same goes for people on Facebook. They want to come to your page to find a sense of community and excitement. This is essential. With this in mind, encourage interaction among your Facebook community. Ask questions, promote a vote on a selection of choices, and watch your participants create discussions and keep comments going. It’s a great way to foster community on your digital page.

3 Fast Features of Every Great Facebook Page

Checked off all the essentials? Here are three features to add to your Facebook page to stand out from the crowd:

• Plenty of photos. Only have a few, low-quality photos of your building, office space, or products? Change this up, starting right now! Customers are highly visual creatures, and they want to be able to flip through their fair share of beautiful photos when they come to your social page.

• Fresh content. If your page doesn’t have fresh content, you’re missing out. In addition to posting your own pages, blogs, and materials, be sure to share items from other companies or similar pages in your industry. As a general rule, 80% of your posts should be original to you and your brand, and 20% should be curated from outside sources.

• Quizzes. Encourage customers to get interactive with your brand by offering creative, unique quizzes. Not only are these fun for your customers, but they allow you to get to know your customers better and to use that information in future marketing.

Welcome to Your New, Customer-Centric Facebook Page!

Facebook doesn’t have to be a difficult place to interact. And as we stated above, its time to finally make one or to overhaul an outdated page. By focusing on your interaction in the ways above, you can create a customer-centric Facebook page that which engages potential consumers while continuing to grow your brand.

Need help overhauling your Facebook page? Contact our team today to learn more.

You’re not alone in this!

Many small business owners start the same way. Fortunately, there are some easy steps you can take to ensure you’re not taking on more than you can chew, or that you’re finding people to handle the things that you can’t or won’t. This is where outsourcing comes in.

Here’s what you need to know about how (and when) to outsource:

Why Outsourcing Works

There are dozens of benefits of outsourcing. Before we discuss those, though, let’s talk about what outsourcing is: outsourcing is the practice of contracting out business functions and processes to a third-party provider.

The benefits of outsourcing can be massive. They include but aren’t limited to cost savings, efficiency gains, and an increased competitive advantage. Outsourcing may also allow you to increase your reach and connect with a larger variety of audiences and customers.

The drawbacks of outsourcing, though, is a loss of control and the ownership of a product by someone else. There may also be issues with confidentiality and security as well as service delivery, which may fall behind the time frame or be below expectation.

8 Things to Outsource Immediately

In an ideal world, you’d get to spend your workday using your best skills to complete the things you’re best at. From there, you’d delegate the other things out to other people, who could then use their best skills to handle those things and improve upon them.

While that may not happen all the time, there are some ways you can start creating that lifestyle for yourself right now. To that end, here are seven things you should outsource immediately:

1. Appointments and Logistics

Imagine how much time you’d save if you never had to schedule appointments, logistics, or reservations for yourself. A virtual assistant can handle these things for you, freeing up plenty of time and energy for you to focus on other, more important things.

There are dozens of services available to do this, but you’ll have the best luck if you hire a designated firm to do it for you. Not only is this service more reliable, but it’ll go further toward supporting your overall goals and helping you reach your objectives.

2. Answering Your Phone

Few things affect your output and timeliness more than answering phone calls. Talk about an ongoing interruption! Fortunately, you can get around this by outsourcing your phone calls. While a traditional VA might not answer your phone, a real receptionist will.

If there’s room in your company’s budget, consider hiring someone whose dedicated job is to answer phones for your office. This will ease the burden of your call load, lessen interruption, and allow you to address phone calls and messages when you decide you’re ready to do so.

3. Research

Whether you’re on a mission to create a database of information or find sources for an ongoing post or content push, research is one thing that’s notoriously easy to outsource. Online services likeUpwork and Fiverr are great places to find research assistants who can help you handle your information and find more of it.

These assistants may also be able to help you compile information into an easily accessible format that makes it more usable for your team. If you’re going to hire someone to do your research for you, be sure to agree on a delivery protocol and a method to keep track of the progress.

4. Graphic Design

Not a graphic designer? Spending time trying to learn to be inefficient and more troublesome than anything else. With this in mind, consider hiring out your graphic design efforts.

Online platforms are great places to find these specialists, or you can hire a dedicated marketing firm that can handle your digital marketing efforts for you. Once you’ve hired someone to help you with this, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy all the beautiful design materials that you didn’t have to work on.

5. In-Person Tasks

If you’re interrupting your workday by running senseless errands to drop documents and pick things up, you can start outsourcing this task. This is a great option for a receptionist or assistant to do and can go a long way toward creating more uninterrupted workdays for you. As soon as you start outsourcing these things, you’ll see how much more time you have in your day.

6. Shopping

If there’s shopping you need to do for your office, which you can’t do online, consider outsourcing it to someone on your team. This falls into the same category as in-person tasks but will go a long way toward keeping you on-task and ensuring that you have what you need, all the time.

7. Writing

Writing is one of the most common things companies outsource. And for a good reason. It takes a great deal of time and can be quite difficult to do. With this in mind, consider finding a company or individual who can help you handle your writing efforts and create content for our company. There are dozens of talented freelancers out there who will be happy to help you do this. Whatever you do, be sure to check the quality of the freelancer’s work before you dive in.

8. Social Media

Social media, when you do it well, is very time-consuming. With this in mind, consider outsourcing your social media efforts to someone who specializes in the field. Not only will this make the process of acing your social media interaction more manageable than ever before, but it will also be a great way to expand your reach and enjoy the social-media process more than ever before.

Outsourcing Makes Your Life Easier

If you’re looking for a way to free up time and enjoy the process of running your business more, outsourcing is your best friend. By outsourcing your in-person errands or your social media, you can go a long way toward creating something that is long-lasting, efficient, simple, streamlined, and good for yourself and your company.

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

The stakes here are high, and you can’t afford to miss the mark.

Think of it this way: the last thing you want to do is invest largely in the event, pouring time and money into it, only to realize that it isn’t creating the ROI you want. Mistakes, in this arena, are costly, and it can be very damaging to try and rush a party without taking the time to pay attention to detail.

Here’s what you need to know to create a customer appreciation party that drives results.

How to Host an Event That Knocks Everyone’s Socks Off

Never was a party planner? That’s okay. You don’t have to be, and it’s still possible to throw an event that keeps everyone wanting to come back for more.

There’s a catch, though, and that’s simply that throwing a “wow” event requires ongoing planning and organization, as well as careful attention to detail. Depending on the size of the event, you’ll want to start planning about 3-6 months in advance.

This gives you enough time to iron out details without sacrificing anything, and not enough time that your customers have forgotten you’re even having a party by the time it comes around.

If you have a team that’s going to help you plan the event, it’s a great idea to meet a few times a month to discuss details and ensure everyone is on the same page.

5 Things to Consider for Your Event

The most overwhelming part of planning a customer appreciation party is that the process involves dozens of easy-to-miss details. Luckily, this list will help ensure you’re not overlooking anything you should be paying careful attention to:

1. The Purpose of the Event

Sure, a customer appreciation party is meant to show your customers you appreciate them, but what else are you looking to create at this event. For example, if you want to lightly drive attention to a new product, good, or service, now is a great time to do it. If you’ve laid the right foundation, your customers will be primed, shop-ready, and more than willing to hear about what you have to offer, regarding new products. Bonus points if they go out into the world and tell their friends.

This is also a great time to announce a shift of direction in your company or to release any exciting new news regarding management, location, ownership, etc. that you may have.

2. Who Does What

Defining responsibilities is an essential part of ensuring the party goes off without a hook. It’s also critical for making sure nothing gets overlooked or neglected as you take your customers down to party town. To this end, be sure to lay out key details, such as who does what, the theme of the party, the event’s budget, date, and initial guest list. From here, team leaders can assign more specific tasks and work together to ensure every base is covered, from start to finish.

3. Invitations

How will you invite your customers? This is a major consideration and one that comes down to how you typically interact with your customers. If you send a great deal of direct mail, for example, you may choose to mail out paper invitations. You can also invite on social media or send out digital invitations, via your email newsletter or a service like Paperless Post. If you send out emailed invitations, be sure to follow up about 6-8 weeks before the party date.

4. Entertainment

Entertainment is essential to any great party. What you choose to hire depends, in large part, on the type of company you’re running. If you’re in touch with local bands you know and trust, consider hiring one of them to play the party for you. You can also look into creating an office band or making a move to bring in some outside entertainment that you’ve heard good things about.

No matter what, entertainment should be exciting, appropriate, and something that your customer base will enjoy.

5. Your Venue

Depending on the size of your event, you may choose to have it at your office, or offsite, somewhere else.

The type of venue you choose depends, in large part, on the size of the party, the theme, and the budget. If you’re on a budget, consider looking into non-traditional venue options, such as parks, local community buildings, and restaurants. These are all great places to hold a unique event without going over-budget.

If you need help finding a good venue, you can always look to local party planners, your local chamber of commerce, and party rental companies who may have some great recommendations.

What About ROI?

Now that you’ve planned a killer customer appreciation party, you’ll want to come up with a plan to gauge the ROI for the event. After all, why put all this money into a party if you’re not getting something back? This is especially true if you’re offering things like coupons, vouchers, discounts, or other “appreciation” prizes to your customers, or if you’re giving them free items or materials as a “thank you.”

To gauge your ROI, you’ll want to refer back to the goal you initially set. For example, if the goal of your party was simply to encourage engagement with your customers, you’ll want to find a way to tie new business back to the people who attended your party. You can do this by adding an option to your “how you heard about us” form or by simply tracking coupons, discounts, and vouchers.

This is a great way to keep an eye on how far the effects of your party truly go, and whether your ROI is positive or negative. It’ll also provide a basis for planning future parties, and learning what to do and what not to do.

Making Sure Customers Appreciate Your Appreciation Party

The point of your customer appreciation party is to thank the people who keep you in business and allow you to keep growing, changing, and reaching for your goals. Because of this, it’s a significant event and not one you want to take lightly. Fortunately, these five tips can help you cover your bases and create an event you know you’ll be proud of. They’re also an excellent way to make the most of your existing customer base and ensure they remember your brand as one that cares deeply about them. So, what are you waiting for? Get planning!

Need help putting together an award-winning customer appreciation party? Contact our team today for top-quality 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!