Back to basics. For marketing that means moving away from PPC and social media marketing campaigns to grow your business. Getting back to basics involves implementing grassroots marketing strategies that rely heavily on more traditional promotional tactics, with a splash of digital technology added to spice it up a bit.
Grassroots marketing is an especially effective promotional strategy for small businesses.
What Is Grassroots Marketing?
Grassroots marketing is all about targeting an audience. Although many marketing campaigns try to reach as many consumers as possible, a grassroots approach targets a certain niche of consumers to spread the word about your business organically. Social media can play a pivotal role in developing a successful grassroots marketing campaign, but the “back to basics” motto remains the cornerstone of this old-school style of promoting your business.
Let’s see how we can get your grassroots marketing campaign up and running.
Work with a Charity
Working with a charity is an effective way to increase brand awareness for your business. The best part is this strategy targets an audience that responds favorably to the charity you choose as a partner. Nine out of 10 millennials consider switching to a different brand based on the charity the different brand works with to promote a good cause.
Exposure from your business comes in many forms, from wearing t-shirts with your company name and logo printed on them to receiving press coverage because your business gave back to the community.
Host a Special Event
The goal of grassroots marketing is to get more potential customers to walk through your front door. You can do this by hosting a special event such as a craft show, product demonstration, or a mix and mingle with your commercial and residential neighbors. Invite a local musical artist to perform and decorate your business to match the theme of the special event.
Tear-Off Flyers
Many marketers avoid tear-off flyers like they avoid the plague. However, tear-off flyers used in a grassroots marketing campaign are much more than a fad that advertises yard sales and free dancing lessons. Tear-off flyers represent an affordable way to spread the word about your business. Many high-profile brands such as Weight Watchers effectively use tear-off flyers to boost recognition for their brands.
Hand Out Product Samples
Consumers love samples and your business should leverage the love by offering free product samples. Think about how you feel after trying a tasty sample handed out in front of a mall’s food court restaurant. The delectable sample might motivate you to get in line for a meal. The more people you get to try a product sample, the more people become curious about what your business has to offer.
Promotional Items
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of promotional products or giveaways are pens and coffee mugs. These are fine classics to incorporate, but to really get some attention, jazz up your promotional gift offerings by giving away items that you do not see anywhere else. Let’s assume it is a scorching hot day and your booth at a civic event is giving away small, portable fans. The interest in your booth will skyrocket because you offer something of value that visitors to your booth can use immediately.
Gareth Parkin of Go Promotional in the UK says that customers who have chosen uncommon items report back a much higher level of engagement. “We routinely suggest clients come up with a humorous phrase to add to their cotton totes, for example, instead of just their logo,” he shares. “A dog food company can add, ‘Why yes, I would love to show you pics of my dog.’ for example.” Seek out the unique and unusual.
Write Helpful Guest Posts
This is where we spice up your grassroots marketing campaign by going digital. Building plenty of trust is the key to turning a customer prospect into a loyal patron of your business. One of the most effective ways to build trust with customer prospects is to share your expertise in thoughtful guest posts. After you share your expertise, you leave your name, the name of your business, and contact information at the end of the post.
Partner with a Local Business
Local businesses that stick together grow together. Perhaps you can establish a partnership with a local business that does not operate in your niche by displaying your products in your new partner’s store. You reciprocate by displaying your new business partner’s products in your store.
It is a win-win relationship that costs you just a little bit of your time.
Donate Products to Community Events
There is nothing like a raffle or silent auction to get the blood flowing faster. You can donate some of your products to a community event that includes a raffle or silent auction. Include information about your business with the products that you donate. This is an effective strategy for getting your business more exposure in the community.
Bonus Strategy
What do you do when you decide to try a new restaurant or visit a recently opened clothing store? You probably go online to read the reviews left by customers. Regardless of which of the right grassroots marketing strategies for small businesses you choose to implement, asking your customers to leave reviews on sites such as Yelp and Google can help you build the trust required for new customers to visit your business.
The more customer reviews you get online, the more successful your business will be with implementing grassroots marketing strategies.
