Marketing is social
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- Published on Wednesday, September 23, 2015
By Vern May
Minnedosa & Area Community Development Corporation
“Well, no… I don’t have a plan, per se. That’s what we have an economic development officer for.” These were the words that unraveled what appeared to be a strong campaign of an aspiring mayor during a recent municipal election. The candidate had been asked about their plan for business retention and growth in their community.
What is important for each of us to realize is that while some municipal and civic roles are specialized and unique, there are some areas that require a team effort of all community representatives – mayor and council, boards of directors, chambers of commerce as well as our merchants and citizens. When it comes to looking out for the best interests of our community both now and into the future, it is not a task assigned to a single custodian.
One such area is marketing. In large organizations in the private sector you could see a whole department devoted to marketing and communications – spin doctors at the ready to address media relations, website development, social media, brand development and damage control when things go awry. However, in a setting such as ours, we may not be in a position to allocate salaries to retain services of this nature. Yes, key assignments will be carried out by civic staff, but when it comes to ensuring the strongest possible distribution of our brand messaging and marketing, that’s a task that may require multiple voices at the table.
Consider the philosophy that success isn’t achieved by what you know but rather who you know, and the potential for our future success gets very exciting. With each of us tapping into our personal network of contacts – the people we know not only personally but also professionally — it doesn’t take long before the ripple effect has fanned out to a wider audience than any one individual could accomplish on their own.
Consider the explosive popularity of social media. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have taken off for businesses because of the tremendous potential for network marketing – it has changed the way that business can be done. Even successful business icons like Donald Trump are identifying that had they been able to forecast the power of this new medium, they would have implemented a network marketing strategy far earlier.
It looks like this: If I have 100 contacts in my little black book and I share promotion about our attractions and upcoming events with each of them, if even 10 per cent bite on that and in turn send it out to their pool of 100 contacts, I’ve now reached 1,000 faces with my message. The effectiveness of this increases when every member of your team is doing the same in a co-ordinated strategy. Consider if every member of the community who is active on social media made a co-ordinated effort to promote our local events, attractions and even our community Facebook page itself. Chances are, you saw the wave of enthusiasm last year around the ALS ice bucket challenge to raise awareness for Lou Gehrig’s disease. This saw its great success through network marketing, and we can do the same to draw attention to local tourism, opportunities to create a home or business in our communities. Get the message out there, in front of as many eyes as possible.
Are you ready to implement a social media strategy for your community project or business? Let’s continue the conversation and explore the possibilities that exist; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 204-867-3885. The best things around that I have ever seen, came from small towns and big dreams.
