Effective PR for owner-operators: some cost-effective ideas to showcase your brand

There are plenty of things that owner-operators can be doing on a much smaller scale that will impact on a brand and its reputation at the local level. What’s more, these activities don’t have to break the bank either. In this article we discuss some PR and marketing ideas that will highlight your brand in local communities.

Sponsor the local sports club

Getting involved in the community is a great vehicle for raising the profile of your brand locally. Sponsorship of a local sports club is a very visible way of getting your name out there. And it’s also to very much to your advantage to be seen actively giving back to the community.  It could take the form of supplying team shirts with a name check of course, sponsoring the sausage sizzle or giving away products for fundraising events. Whatever form it takes, involvement in local sports clubs helps to demonstrate your commitment to the neighbourhood which is an important factor for local shoppers.

Support local schools and charities

Similar to sports clubs, active support of local schools and charities is another very positive PR activity for owner-operators. Whether it’s providing a stall at the school gala, sponsoring a fundraising quiz night or making supplies available for the school’s garden to table programme, the important thing is to get your brand out there and being seen to be proactive in the local community.

Make an effort to connect with local media

Local media are always on the lookout for a story angle that has relevance for their readers. An outlet’s sponsorship of the local rugby team’s fundraising effort for an overseas tournament will tick all the boxes and offers you free publicity.  Often the results of this kind of PR activity are very tangible for owner-operators with an increase in foot traffic and comments such as ‘I saw you in the local paper’.

Utilise social media

The reach of social media nowadays makes it a very valuable PR and marketing tool. If you haven’t already got one then it pays to set up a local Facebook, Twitter or Instagram page for your brand. It can complement the national activities by head office. However, it’s a great way for you to communicate directly with your customers locally. And it’s also a great platform for you to showcase your involvement in the community and your support of local groups and charities. One ‘like’ or comment from a customer can show up on literally thousands of news feeds of other potential prospects. It costs nothing to have a social media presence and so it’s crazy not to take advantage of the potential.

So rather than riding on the coat tails of the PR and marketing efforts of a head office, it’s important for owner-operators to find their own voice locally. These cost-effective and easy to implement ideas will see your outlet building strong connections with the local community.

See any of the ideas above that you need some help with in regards to branding yourself - keeping the look and feel of your business cohesive?
Then give me a call to discuss - I love helping businesses market themselves for more business!

Contact me terri@tgdesign.co.nz or call 021 2121306
Look forward to hearing from you.