With a Christmas lights ‘switch on’ no doubt coming to a town near you in the next couple of weeks, you’ll probably have seen lights and a tree starting to adorn your local high street in preparation.
Along with the bling, boards and signs will inevitably appear as local businesses take the opportunity to support this festive tradition in return for some publicity in the run-up to the event and on the night itself, as the happy bobble-hatted crowd gather for the big countdown to the switch on.
So does this sort of thing really boost sales? Or is it an expensive way to take the fast track to the top of Santa’s ‘nice list’ by showing your support for the local community? Is it worth it for the feelgood factor of being noted as a pillar of the community? Or is there a more hard-headed reason for a business to get involved? And is sponsorship only really for big businesses with money to throw at marketing anyway?
We advise that it depends on a couple of critical factors. For example, if your client base is local to your office and the majority of work comes from your local area, then demonstrating a tangible commitment to supporting your local community can form a valuable plank of your marketing strategy.
Equally, if you are a large employer looking to retain staff and attract high-quality candidates from the local area, then it’s worth exploring.
Taken as part of a planned programme of marketing activity designed to reach your target audience, a focus on local marketing could be a smart move. Whilst the return on your investment might not always translate into immediately increased sales, it can bring other benefits such as brand awareness, customer loyalty, lead generation as well as good will.
Used judiciously, it could also help you to break into new markets or connect with new groups of potential customers. For example, thinking beyond the obvious – such as sponsoring the local football team for example – can help you to connect with specific, discrete groups of people with whom you want to communicate.
Take a business that wants to reach working mums for instance. Sponsoring a local school’s recycling or fundraising initiative is a quick, easy and inexpensive way of reaching exactly the right people. For the cost of a couple of hundred pounds, you’ve immediately tapped into a whole network of people who might consider your business when they might not have previously done so.
Compared with the cost of a direct mail campaign or leaflet drop to the local area – which can run into thousands – it’s cheaper and comes with automatic credibility through association with the organisation you’re sponsoring. It means your hard-fought marketing message is more likely to be heard and less likely to end up in the recycling itself. Charities, trade organisations and community groups might also be worth investigating.
In the meantime, we’re off to scour the local paper to find out which minor celebrity is switching on the lights this year!
For more information on how Solve Legal Marketing could help your business connect with the right people, call us on 0800 133 7127 or email info@solvelegal.co.uk.
This article was submitted to be published by Solve Legal Marketing as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
