By Aunalyn Colipano of our Geranium Lake Flowers Account Team
For the past few weeks, four others and I have been working with a local floral shop in Portland, OR, known as, Geranium Lake Flowers. They create beautiful custom arrangements for anything from weddings and graduations to lovely gifts just because.
A few of our goals are to increase Geranium Lake’s presence on social media and to the Portland community. We also want to research ways to achieve brand expansion. In order to accomplish our goals, we decided that reaching out to local influencers all around Portland will be a great way to start.
While working with GLF, I have learned the benefits of supporting local businesses, which can serve as influencers for your company. Here are five other reasons why you should support local businesses wherever you are:
- Community Engagement
Community engagement is essential for growing a community and a business.
Locally-owned businesses have the potential to bring communities together. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people and build new relationships with those who live near you. Matter of fact, it’s an awesome way for you to get to know small business owners and learn more about why they do what they do. It can also connect your client to the greater community.
- Personalized Customer Service
Small business owners strive to be the best they can be. Not to put down chain companies, but you’ll find a difference when purchasing items from a local business compared to a chain company. You’ll have the opportunity to meet those involved with the company, and get to know them a bit more each time you go. It hits closer to home when you can meet and strengthen bonds with people you can trust. When it comes to customer care, local businesses express a sense of ingenuity.
When joining a local community, your client should also go the extra mile to get to know its customers in order to increase brand loyalty and feelings of trust. In order to do this, it can be helpful to visit local businesses to see how they are interacting with the local audience.
- Environmental Benefits
Another great factor of supporting local businesses is that they tend to be more environmentally friendly compared to chain companies. Some local businesses are stationed so close to your home that you may not have to drive, which may lead to reduced automobile use and traffic congestion. Overall, this can lead to better air quality.
When thinking about implementing an environmental strategy for your local client, think about ways that the community cares about the environment and try to connect the product to that overall cause.
- Local Jobs
Local businesses provide job opportunities for people in the local community. Rather than making a commute from city to city, employees have the opportunity to stay close to home. Not only will travel time be cut in half (or even more), but those local businesses will be given even more support by gaining help from people in the community.
As an employer in local communities, you can also share the stories of employees. This can help to generate earned media as well further connect your organization to the local community
- Keep the Economy Flowing
It’s important for local businesses to share their ideas and hard-work with their community. In smaller communities, it is often this collaboration that allows for small businesses to thrive. Generating new ideas and keeping up with trends allows for a healthy marketplace, as well as fulfilled consumers!
Next time you find yourself going grocery shopping or looking for a gift for a loved one, try looking into attending the nearest Saturday Market, or using Yelp to help find cool local businesses to check out!
And if you are a business looking to open in a local, loyal market, take a look at some of the practices being currently employed by other local businesses in the area to get a better idea of how your business can relate to the community as a whole.