February is the month of love. It’s our time to romance that special someone. I’m bucking the trend and bragging about myself. Ok, that’s not entirely true; I’m explaining why a SW Virginia Marketing Agency like mine is the right match for your local business.
And while in past Februarys I’ve talked about relationship marketing and bringing the woo, today, I will bring it all together to explain how that’s all a lot easier to do with a Virginia marketing agency when you’re in Virginia yourself.
Local Business, Local Problems
A lot of people say they want to support local businesses and do their best to walk the walk. Butwhen that “Buy local” bumper sticker usually brings to mind farmer’s markets and local shops and restaurants. People tend to forget about the local service companies.
But local businesses like Virginia marketing agencies need your love, too! And there are multiple benefits to supporting small local businesses that help not only them and the community at large, but also you, the supporter!
Local service businesses understand local problems. For example, my client, NRV Tree Guy, gets Virginia Tree Care better than a chain of companies that treats every environment the same. RCI Business Technology knows the local tech and telephone ecosystem and has seen every SW Virginia tech issue a thousand times, making them an excellent choice for Roanoke IT support!
There are a thousand little things that local businesses learn about the local economy that you can’t get from someone working from another state.
A SW Virginia Marketing Agency is a Hop/Skip/Jump Away
It’s a sad truth that marketing has a low barrier to entry – at least if you don’t care about quality. Anyone can claim to be a marketer, but that doesn’t make them a good writer – and, most importantly – an ethical person.
Since it’s so easy to call yourself a marketer or marketing agency, companies can make themselves appear better than they are, take your money, and not deliver on their services or just disappear. Sadly, I’ve seen this a lot. While I’m always happy to bring on a new client, I’d rather help them from the beginning instead of after they’ve suffered at the hands of a glorified con artist!
When you have a local Virginia marketing agency, there are people nearby you can talk to about how the work went. You’ll see real businesses you can easily visit. And you may even find that someone you know has already had a good (or bad) experience!
If you have a problem with a Virginia marketing agency, you know where to find them. I once had a customer tell me he wanted to work with someone nearby so he was more accessible “to strangle.” He seems an otherwise peaceful man, and I’ve not given him a reason to murder me yet!
There are also times when an in-person conversation might go better. It’s nice to have a face-to-face every once in a while to feel like you get to know the people you work with! From my perspective, it also helps me get my clients’ tone since it’s my job to communicate effectively in a way they would if they had the time or ability.
That Brand New Local Flavor
When you’re on the ground in a community, you understand things that people reading about it from far away don’t. You can read that we have a Local Colors Festival and Chili Cookoff each year, but that’s not the same as living in the area and smelling the flavors in the air!
When the weather changes here, we don’t just know it. We feel it.
Is that relevant to every post? No. But it can inform some of them, and one of the things I tout most often here and when talking to businesses is authenticity. And there’s nothing like immersion to bring an authentic voice.
A Virginia Marketing Agency Puts Money Back in Your Virginia Community
If you’re at all community-focused, you’ll be glad that the dollars you spend on local businesses return to the local economy. I use my paycheck to pay for food from local restaurants and the salaries of local store workers. When you buy services from out-of-state companies, that money does not come back to make your community better.
Tertiary Benefits
Another way having a Virginia marketing agency support your local business is ancillary benefits. At POP, I work with a lot of local people, so when I find a new client (or non-client) who needs the services of one of my current clients, I’m never shy about introducing them.
Now, I’m not a sales guy who spends my time trying to sell my clients’ products or services, so I’m not saying that would be enough to pick a Virginia marketing agency, but it’s a nice bonus.
We Love Roanoke
At POP, we love Roanoke. We love the businesses and people who make it! We even spend some of our resources to shout out local companies that aren’t our clients. A few times a month, POP employee Aaron Baldwin pops in to share news about local places. Keep up with him on Facebook with Aaron Poppin’ In.
But that’s just part of what we do. We’re out in Roanoke doing Roanoke things and supporting local Roanoke businesses because it’s not just what we do. It’s who we are.
And you’ll find a lot of local business owners feel that way! So when buying local, remember to buy local services too and support your friendly Virginia Marketing Agency!
