Good business keeps it local[/caption]Kate Simmons---Staying with one's local business helps the local economy, brings people to focus on their local community, adds transparency to what is happening, gets people to feel less isolated, and brings about an emotional investment in the area. Even fans of the cult British television show The League of Gentlemen know the local touch can make a difference in how people understand and relate to an idea or event.
These fans can’t call The League of Gentlemen anything but bizarre. Many British shows are remade for the US market with varying degrees of success (for every The Office, there’s a Coupling), but The League of Gentlemen was perhaps simply too bizarre to make the transition. Two of the best-loved characters, Tubbs and Edward (who have unexplained pig like noses) run the “Local Shop.” It’s a local shop, strictly for local people, and if anyone other than a resident of their small town attempts to buy anything, they take this as an attempt to dilute the localness of the town, and the customer is “dealt with” in a violently creative way. While the vast majority of business owners would welcome out of towners spending their money, there are actually some major benefits for a smaller business to focus its marketing efforts on the local community.
Why Consumers Want to Stay Local
From a consumer point of view, the concept of buying locally is an increasingly fashionable trend. While this can conjure up images of Brooklyn hipsters wandering around Williamsburg in their skinny jeans while saying things like “artisan” and “carbon footprint,” the desire to buy locally has taken root in the general consumer as well. There are a variety of reasons for this, but perhaps a sense of solidarity has emerged from the global financial crisis, meaning that consumers want to support a local business that employs locals and keeps money in the local community.
Local folks develop an emotional attachment to the local business. It's more likely someone will be attached emotionally to the local dress shop owned by a friend from high school whom you know has been dealing with fashion for years, then the big department store 20 miles away in traffic. Furthermore the local business knowns the local crowd, sufficient to cater to the taste of the folks they know and the pocketbooks of those same people. Good business that arrives in the local community from somewhere else adopts these same premises when setting up in a new town, and the smart ones get an idea of what is going on before even making the move. Staying local is a win-win that way, something many consumers prefer; and businesses that bring the knowledge and sensitivities of the consumers are those who make good business for everyone.
Considering the Local Community
Businesses that are part of a chain or exist as a subsidiary usually have their marketing efforts determined at head or state office level, often with little regard for the local community. Smaller local businesses have the power to essentially work out their own game plan, designed specifically to interact with the local community. You might be offering a comparable product or service to a large chain store operating in your town or city, so you need to differentiate yourself- you can’t simply rely on goodwill towards smaller local businesses. You can also participate in the everyday life of the community and combine these efforts with marketing – a sort of local-level CSR could be another effective tool to market your business.
Targeting the Local Community
Smaller local businesses don’t usually have the marketing budget of their larger counterparts, so a certain degree of creativity is required, especially since ideally you want your business to actually become part of the community. Traditional efforts such as flyers and newspaper advertisements can be effective, but also consider loyalty cards and combining marketing efforts with another non competing local business (you can give a discount voucher for their business and vice versa). Keeping environmental considerations in mind is another factor that local communities highly value.
Global and Local
Smaller businesses can also use global resources in order to access the local community- a website, Facebook and Twitter are more or less mandatory in the contemporary business world. The Yellow pages have become obsolete in the age of Google, and people simply enter the query into the Internet giant, even if they’re searching for a service that might potentially be around the corner. Utilizing the services of a local online marketing company can be hugely beneficial, as they know the ins and outs of getting your business to the top of the Google search results.
Even in large cities, a sense of local community is something that is cherished and encouraged, and is certainly something that your small business can benefit from. Just remember that killing shoppers from out of town is generally considered to be bad for business.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a guest post by Kate Simmons, a freelance business writer and blogger. Kate is mainly interested in entrepreneurship and local business practices.
