I live in Dubai most of the time, but my spiritual home is the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Many years ago, my first paying job was delivering the local newspaper once a week into people’s mailboxes. At the time it was one of the ways a local business could advertise to a geographically limited market, but things have changed.
Many small businesses still think that social media requires a massive global audience to get results, however if you are a butcher, or you make potplanters out of tires, or run a grocery store that stocks locally sourced produce, a little bit of time invested in an instagram account or Facebook page, may be a better return on investment than ‘paid’ media.
Take Mornington Prime Cuts as an example. I discovered their Instagram feed by browsing the Mornington Peninsula Hashtag, and the photos caught my eye. There are a million blogs about rules for good Instagram feeds, but being true to your brand and using the right hashtags are a couple that always yield results.
So, from 11,682 km away, I decided to seek out the store when I returned to Mornington, and wasn’t disappointed.
While Amazon and other digital commerce brands might be causing retailers of apparel and electronics to rethink their strategies, when it comes to fresh food, there is a reassuring trend for consumers to seek out local or unique products.
I’m not suggesting that the local paper isn’t a valid advertising mechanism, especially in a market where there is an aging population and the use of Instagram may not be high. But ‘earned’ media should be part of your marketing plan, irrespective of size.
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