Marketing campaigns come in all shapes and sizes and can involve a variety of platforms and features. In 2021, we facilitated the roll-out of a nine-week public campaign to increase support for local businesses, the ACCC Shop Local initiative.
The Albert County Chamber of Commerce (ACCC) supports businesses throughout the Albert County region, and we have been proudly supporting them for many years. They are an important voice for the business community and provide valuable exposure for our local businesses.
Fronted by local businesswoman Annick Robichaud Butland, the chamber is made up of passionate individuals who represent a variety of sectors through their own businesses.
Annick and Tosh Taylor fronted this particular campaign, with assistance and support from across the Board.
ACCC wanted to create a campaign that would promote the businesses of Albert County, particularly independent retailers, to the residents to encourage purchases in the run-up to the Holiday Season.
The campaign would involve the sign-up of local businesses and a digital passport that would be issued to anyone who wished to take part. Each time a shopper visited a participating store, a QR code would be scanned to “stamp” their passport. On the successful collection of all stamps, the shopper would then be able to submit their passport to receive a local gift card valued at $25. They would also be entered into a prize draw, with prizes being local gift cards of $500.
This was unlike any undertaking from the ACCC previously and we were excited to help support our local businesses, who were dealing with COVID implications through 2020 and 2021.
The aim of the campaign would be to raise awareness of the local businesses, encourage shoppers to go out to stores supporting local industry, rather than online behemoths. Hoped for KPIs were an increase in traffic to the websites of participating retailers and an increase in footfall where they had a physical store. An additional, less quantifiable, aim would be an increase in the engagement between local businesses and residents.
This was a project with many moving pieces.
Planning and logistics
Any successful project relies upon clearly laid out objectives.
Getting businesses involved
The first part of the project required the sign-up of local businesses. Without them, there would be no campaign! The ACCC has an existing weekly newsletter and social media platforms, which we leveraged to get word out.
Creating individual business assets
Personalization was required for certain aspects and a nice touch for others. Every participating business received a pack that included everything they needed.
Campaign promotion
The campaign needed assets to promote itself too. Again, we leveraged existing ACCC platforms to spread the word.
‘Tis the Season to Shop Local was a fantastic success for all involved! ACCC was delighted to see engagement from businesses and consumers from the time of announcement till the close. Regular reporting showed a steady interest and positive results from the retailers involved, exceeding the expectations of the ACCC. It was a fresh challenge logistically for the Cyber PR team and we loved it! It was a great opportunity to showcase our skills and help local businesses dip their toe into the potential of digital marketing.
Goal |
Actual |
|
Consumer’s entries |
100 entries |
380 entries |
Participating businesses |
20 |
37 |
Increased sales/revenue for the businesses |
Estimated +10% |
|
Social media likes |
100 |
256 |
Social media shares |
25 |
99 |
Additional Stats:
Challenges
What I enjoyed
How it was different
“The Shop Local campaign was a wonderful logistical challenge with quick turnarounds needed at several points. When constructing copy and project managing, I made the most of my skills in automation, setting up automated campaigns and utilizing self-directed segments to enable a speedy and efficient roll out of assets to the participating businesses. The execution across the team was a testament to our ability to work as a unit across our varying fields.” – Zoey Hughes, our Client Services Manager and Copywriter
“I love a good project that gets me geared up for the holidays. This was undoubtedly the biggest task I’ve taken on with this team so far. 36 posters and stickers, custom to each retailer with personalized logos and QR codes. We ended up having to scrap one size of the posters we were making because we had so many retailers interested, our list was too big to fit on the single page! This showed there was certainly loooots of engagement from the retailers in our community. I’m looking forward to seeing the same excitement from our shoppers over the holiday season.” – Danica Spencer, our Senior Graphic Designer
“I enjoyed being a part of the Shop Local campaign. I’ve always been a strong proponent of shopping locally so that was a good motivator for me on this project. I also enjoyed the fact that the retailers are from different communities across Albert County. The most challenging and enjoyable aspect of the project was creating individual forms for each retailer – designing a page for them and tying the form to the page. Zoey challenged me to setup a response email to be sent out once the form was submitted and that afforded me the opportunity to dive deeper into the form software. Finally, there was a tight deadline for this project that lit a fire under me; it was very rewarding to see the campaign go live at the designated time. There was great teamwork on this project that required significant coordination by Zoey and Lynn. – Michael MacKinnon, our Webmaster and Technical Engineer
To find out more about how we can help your business with projects big or small, book a meeting or drop us an email.
Get in touch today to discover how we can benefit your business.
Riverview, New Brunswick, Canada
+1.506.381.3820 (WhatsApp)
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