How to Win Over the Locals

You want your PR campaign to win over as many people as possible. This goes for a nationwide audience as well as the locals in your area. However, they are two entirely different worlds, and not treating them as such can be a problem.

This is because of a different mentality of the two groups. A nationwide audience needs you to make them feel a certain way before they’ll buy your stuff. Often this can include a feeling of “inclusion,” like they’re part of a secret club.

For locals, though, you need to turn this feeling up to 11. This is part of the local experience you should tap into.

Local Pride

If you’ve ever lived in a small town, you know what that kind of community feels like. There’s a sense that only WE understand what it’s like to live in this particular slice of Earth and nobody else gets it. Even if that town is pretty much like every other little town in America, everyone likes to think their town is special.

And in a lot of ways each little town is special, because it’s special to those who inhabit it. That’s why making your local customers feel that “local pride” is one of your priorities. They want to know you care about the community as much as they do. If not, then why are you even there? You might as well be a huge megacorporation with a HQ far, far away.

Make sure you go out of your way to show that you’re invested in the community. This could be something as simple as participating in a citywide “cleanup” event, sponsoring a local softball team, or just getting out into the community at local events.

Focus on Local Media

While obviously small towns have the Internet, many residents will still get their news from local newspapers and other local sources. They might read the New York Times or watch CNN, but they will get a majority of their news from the Small Town Times or a local website.

So when you’re sending out press releases to media, don’t neglect the little guys. These could end up being even more important to your company than getting into the New York Times, especially if your big focus is on the local contingent. Seeing a press release in a big newspaper is one thing, but if the people they know and trust from the neighborhood are vouching for you, that’s another.

Look Them Up Online

Want to get a better idea of what your potential fans are thinking and feeling? Don’t just guess; look them up online. You’re already in the community, so look up some of the people you know and find out what they care about.

You could be very surprised at what they’re talking about online. It could be an entirely different world than what you hear in the day in and day out of living in the community. This could lead you down a different path than what you expected when you first started trying to get into their heads.

In the end, this should make you a better candidate for a spot in their collective hearts. They’ll at least know you care about what they think and feel and are looking out for their best interests. Combine this with the other points above and you should be golden with the locals.

Does your community trust your company?

via Business 2 Community http://ift.tt/1qrLro7