How to Promote Your Business Locally to Help it Thrive

Every year my small town holds an “Old Home Day” event. It’s a 120-year-old tradition where neighbors, friends, and family come together at the town common and celebrate community spirit. It involves all manner of events, including a 5K run, live music, games, and a range of local businesses will sponsor, support, and celebrate the occasion.

If you’re a small business owner, attending community events like this can be a great way to promote your business locally. But how do you find these opportunities? And how should you take advantage of them?

This article is a good place to start for answers to those questions.

How to Promote Your Business in the Community

Sometimes, just showing up at local events is enough to get your business noticed. 

Here are a few simple tips and strategies to maximize that opportunity:

1. Do a test run. Find a local event that you think might be a good fit for your business and attend as a visitor first. Observe what works and what doesn’t, then use that knowledge for your own booth.

2. Listen and learn. Talk to seasoned business owners to gather insights on successful strategies, including tips for attracting visitors to your booth and the best payment methods for local events.

3. Know your audience. Take some time to research who might attend the event. What’s the demographic? What’s the age range? Locals or out-of-towners? These details can help you tailor your marketing techniques and sales pitch to really connect with event-goers. 

4. Refine your 30-second elevator pitch. This is a crucial step to ensure your event sales pitch is concise, engaging, and delivered confidently. Practice it out loud with a stopwatch to perfect it.

5. Create an inviting booth. Deck it out with professional-looking banners. The nicer your booth looks, the better it reflects on you and your business. And don’t forget to smile and have fun! Booths are also a great way to display brochures and other marketing materials, and they create a buffer between you and attendees, allowing them to approach you more comfortably.

Promoting your business locally doesn’t always require attending events. Here are some other ideas to consider:

1. Donate your time. Volunteer your skills to a worthy local cause and display a sign promoting your business.
2. Promote a loyalty program. Offer loyalty stamp cards or a points system to reward local customers and encourage repeat business.
3. Foster referrals. Provide incentives for customers to refer others, such as free services for successful referrals.

Local Events to Promote Business

Check your town or city website for a calendar of local events throughout the year. The Chamber of Commerce also can be a valuable resource. Community events to consider include:

• Fundraisers and charities (golf tournaments, marathons, car washes, bake sales, donation drives, silent auctions, charity concerts, and more)
• Celebrations
• Food festivals
• Training events
• Community team-building exercises

Consider Joining a Facebook Group as a Business Page

Joining community groups with your Facebook business page can be another way to connect with your community.

When you join a group from your area (or a group related to what your business offers), you have the opportunity to offer helpful advice and gain insights into what potential customers may be looking for.

It’s not all about selling, though. Look for opportunities to comment, post, and interact with people. It can be a good way to get your name out there and build trust and credibility.

Joining a group with a business page is the same as with a personal page. If you don’t have a Facebook business page, this guide can help. 

Protect Your Business and Your Community with Insurance

As you think about all the different ways community engagement can help your business thrive, it also may be a good idea to think about how you can protect your business and the people you serve in your community by having business insurance.

Having insurance can build credibility, which is super important within community circles. Having the right policies in place shows your community that you’re managing risks seriously.

Just tell us a bit about your business online, and we can help find the coverages you may need for your small business.We can answer questions, too. Our licensed agents are available M-F, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 844-654-7272.

Together, We Can

Good things tend to happen when communities and local businesses come together. And we’re here to help you thrive with more than insurance. Our Resource Center is your go-to hub for all types of guides, tools, and tips. Here are three articles to get you started:

• How to Use Digital Marketing to Grow Your Business’s Digital Footprint
• How to Prepare for Small Business Sales Events 
• Get to Know Your Customers’ Day