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Imagine that you run a small business and your potential customer base can change by as much as 200% depending on the time of year. This is a reality that affects many small towns, tourist and resort areas worldwide. There is a solution, and not surprisingly, it is web-based.
We live in a very unique community that is both a geographic phenomena and a geological wonder. The location results in four very distinct and different seasons. Creative and artistic people have flocked to the area over the past few decades earning Bancroft, Ontario Canada the title of “The Most Talented Town in Ontario”. Of course, as a result of the significant season changes, the population fluctuates widely from a low in the winter of 15,000 people to a high of 45,000 people during the summer months. The majority of people in the community earn their living in small business, are self-employed or operate a specialty business. We have developed a non-traditional strategy to address the mobility and transient nature of the potential customers for local area businesses.
The problems businesses face in a seasonal area are numerous.
1) Most local businesses are diverse and multi-faceted and traditional media (i.e. newspaper/radio/highway signage and direct marketing) are cost prohibitive in detailing their many offerings.
2) Traditional advertising does not reach the majority of your potential customers.
3) Yellow pages, another alternative to traditional advertising, is expensive and copies of which are not available to the majority of your potential consumers.
4) Small specialty businesses have limited or no advertising budgets whatsoever.
5) The geographical area is large and many businesses are off the beaten path and receive no exposure at all.
6) Many businesses require visuals that are not available with most local media, except newspapers. Of course, with newspapers, visuals impact the cost of producing and running your advertising.
7) If people aren’t aware of availability locally, they will likely bring it with them rather than purchase locally. Some studies indicate that every dollar spent locally will be re-cycled seven times.
Our solution to these problems facing local businesses in a seasonal community, was the creation of www.shopbancroft.ca. It is a web-site in support of the arts, accommodation, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, transportation, professional services, sports & leisure, and home and garden services and products. Our site also features other areas of interest in the community including theatre, the local art gallery events, the library and links to popular local web-sites.
Many local web-sites exist in small communities, but the majority of them are lacking in product or service information, contacts and how to actually find them. These sites are created from Chamber of Commerce business directories or some other source. Some businesses are not even aware they are on these sites and in some cases, the information is inaccurate.
The www.shopbancroft.ca solution is that only paid advertisers appear on our web-site. Sponsorship for the web-site is created by direct sales initiatives to each business. Today, more people seek out product or service information on the web than through the Yellow Pages. Our service is text based only with web-links if a business requires visuals.
Our advertisers receive the following package with their sponsorship.
1) An exclusive profile page for their business that details their product and/or services they offer.
2) All contact information - phone, fax, toll-free numbers, e-mail and web-site links.
3) Listings in up to ten different categories under the alphabetical search by category.
4) Any word used on the profile section will be found when a keyed-in search is entered.
5) Each advertiser profile page quantifies the number of hits to that advertisers page rather than a home page hit count.
6) All advertisers confirm the data on their profile pages for accuracy.
7) Additions and deletions to the profile page are accommodated at any time.
A map or directions to the business.
9) All information is managed by www.shopbancroft.ca. The client need not own a computer, be on the web, or have a web-site to participate. This ensures accuracy and consistency on the clients profile page.
The success of a web-site requires two main components in order for it to work. Firstly, in the area of sales, you must sell enough sponsorships to make the site a useful tool for consumers. With multiple listings available, 100 sponsors will translate into 500-600 category listings and a useful directory for customers. The second objective, and equally as important as your sales initiatives, is advertising - and that is driving traffic to your web-site. We have accomplished this through the following tactics:
1) Web banner highway signs.
2) Newspaper advertising targeting local consumers.
3) A newspaper article about the web-site to promote use and generate sponsorship sales.
4) Web-links to other high traffic sites (i.e. Chamber of Commerce)
5) Make sure you get your web-site on the most popular search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo.
This is a marketing strategy that we recommend to communities that rely on and cannot survive without those transient consumers that visit or temporarily live in their community. It is also a model for web-sites for Chambers of Commerce, Boards of Trade, Business Improvement Areas and Economic Development initiatives to support your community.
Glenn Wert spent thirty years in the television industry primarily in the marketing of commercial airtime. He worked for the two Canadian National Broadcasters, CTV & CBC. His expertise in marketing of television also saw him work in Sydney, Australia and Sarajevo, Bosnia. Glenn worked in all facets of commercial airtime sales as an account executive, sales management, Director of Audience Research, sales promotion management and ultimately Director of Marketing.
Having recognized the incredible power and cost effectiveness of the internet, Glenn created http://www.shopbancroft.ca for local businesses. He says it is a simple solution for small towns that survive based on the transient consumers who are the basis of our economy. It promotes economic development providing tourists with the information about the products and services found in the area. The support for the idea from local businesses has been gratifying and continues to grow.
While this is Glenn’s first commercial venture on the internet, he has other initiatives in development. Reach Glenn through the website.