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In need of some Shop Local Marketing Ideas for Your Small Business?

With Small Business Saturday just around the corner, there has been a growing momentum over the last few years to encourage consumers to shop and buy locally produced goods.

shop local marketing ideas

As a small business, are you taking advantage of the local movement?

Local customers love to support local business. Everyone has a sense of patriotism and it extends down to the city level. I don’t know how many times I have recommended this to clients. Start gaining a following and customer base locally, then leverage that success to go national, and then once you have national success, go for worldwide sales.

Your local media also loves to support local businesses. For example, one of my Atlanta-based customers took my advice and pitched a story to their local newspaper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and got press coverage in their “Made in Atlanta” section of the newspaper, dedicated specifically to supporting local businesses.

Don’t discount your local market. They will be loyal and repeat customers and they will be more likely to recommend you to friends and family. Many popular, name brand companies started with local success, such as Starbucks, and then turned that local success into national and then international success.

3 Shop Local Marketing Ideas You Can Try

Approach your local media, be it your newspaper, TV station, magazines, even radio, and see if they have a regular small business feature. They are probably even starting to think about editorial for Small Business Saturday, so your timing might work out well.
Approach popular local merchants and see if they will try carrying your products in a small section of their store for just one Saturday, entitled, “Support Local Small Business“. Tell them you will bring all of your friends, family and customers to their shop that day. It could result in press for them as well (local shop supports local business).
Add local labels or tags to your products (such as the logo above which you can download at my Etsy shop and use license free) so that when you sell at local craft shows or local shops, customers are influenced by the fact that your products are home-grown.