Local Base

Ever walked into your local coffee shop and been recognized by the barista by name and drink? What an awesome feeling that is, being appreciated by a business you frequent with the simplest of recognition. 

This feeling instantly establishes a feeling of ownership and allegiance. 

When valuing the importance of personal connection take into account this small example: 

Each morning you walk into the same smoothie shop down the street from your gym, but one morning the manager addresses you by name and asks about your day. Suddenly you feel more connected to the business. Almost as if you yourself are a part of the business. A week later you have a poorly made smoothie, but because you know they recently hired a new employee, you’re compelled to mention the mistake to the manger patiently, and receive a free replacement smoothie. This small hypothetical interaction seems obsolete, but in the same scenario a customer like yourself could have walked in, had a smoothie at the establishment, disliked it as you did, and said nothing to the management. Later leaving a poor review that hurts future customers because they felt no allegiance to the business, even mentioning “two blocks over the Smoothie Stop does a way better job.”

We’ve all heard the old business adage; if a customer has a good meal they may tell a friend, but if a customer has a bad meal they’ll tell ten.

This comes into play significantly less when the customer feels connected to the business through a core customer base of locals. 

Establishing your core customer base is vital in business. The friends and customers that support you through thick and thin make up your word of mouth advertising. The deepest pool with which to search out these individuals is your locals. 

This smaller target audience is easy to approach through content specialized for your area. Utilizing local content creators to show off you area and brand in an even mix will quickly grow your local audience through local-pride. Quickly following establishing your voice, a business should seek out content for their social platforms that sends out the local message. 

Additionally, posting about local events, weather, and stories will help establish you in the local market.