Every new business relies on its community sales to survive. It’s also one way they can grow throughout the years. Marketing plays a massive role in all of this.
Community marketing is a growing strategy among many marketers. Small companies technically rely on this strategy to combat big businesses in this area. However, not many startups know of such a strategy. So, before we go into the different forms of community marketing, let’s first discuss customer acquisition costs.
Customer Acquisition Cost
Every marketer should know their customer acquisition cost. If you don’t know what customer acquisition cost is, it’s defined as the amount of money you are willing to gain new customers and retaining them. It’s an essential cost for every business nowadays, especially if you’re marketing yourself to grow your business.
There are many ways to determine your CAC, but it’s as simple as dividing your overall budget by the number of customers you have. If you spent $3,000 to gain 3,000 new customers, then you’ve spent $3 for each customer. However, it does get complicated once you’re putting the cost of retaining customers every year.
Now that we’ve explained what customer acquisition is, you must keep that in mind moving forward. We’ll now go into the different strategies you can do to market your local community.
Telemarketing
One of the most prevalent marketing strategies right now is telemarketing. It’s technically calling potential customers who might be interested in your product. Initially, this was a strategy many stockbrokers did in the early 1960s. They would cold-call a bunch of random people and tell them they are selling stocks at a definite price. But telemarketing grew from then and has changed its strategies.
There are many telemarketing companies out there willing to do this for you. They’re experienced and know what they are doing. When growing your business, you might want to outsource your telemarketing duties as part of their overall strategy, especially if your community is pretty big. Some community members may enjoy knowing about the products you are selling, especially if they do not know you’re in the neighborhood yet.
If you don’t think telemarketing is for you, then you should consider giving out discounts.
Discounts
Discounts drive sales in many businesses worldwide, and it is one of the most classic marketing strategies out there. Many marketers have found that deals work well in driving sales within the community as well.
This strategy relies mainly on your estimated CAC. Place in a budget and use that as your discount benchmark. You don’t necessarily need to put expenses to have decent discounts either. You can choose to sell old products you might have or pair up services with one another. This usually garners attention among community members and is a great and simple way to gain followers.
Loyalty Programs
Next up is putting up a loyalty program to retain local customers to your business.
Loyalty programs aren’t hard to set up, especially if you already have a couple of customers visiting your business a couple of times a day. First, you have to think of redeemable options for your customer. It can come in the form of products or further discounts. It can also be free shipping within the community.
Next is to calculate your CAC into your chosen redeemable option. This is how you can set a budget for your loyalty program. Lastly, it’s time for you to create a medium for your program. It can be through an app or a loyalty card. This requires you to invest a bit more money in it, but trust us. It’s worth it.
Loyalty programs are the best way to retain consumers in your local community, and one way you can also gain more people in your business.
Local Options
As a marketer, it’s quite easy to forget about your local options for marketing. But it’s essential that you also exhaust these options as well.
Radio, TV, and newspapers are great platforms to make yourself known to the community. 83% of people still listen to the radio, and a lot more people still watch TV. Newspapers are still being read even in bigger communities. Some people even use it as a way to view new businesses in town. The best part of it all is that each option is cheap.
You only need to set a budget that seems right for you. Not only can you help your business grow but also many local businesses in the community.
Community marketing isn’t all that hard. Once you start doing the strategies you have above, you only have to keep doing it until everyone in your community knows about your business.
