First and Monday: Engaging your Community On and Offline

Happy Holiday season everyone! As we get ready to enjoy friends and family in this season, we wanted to write about a similar topic for your professional family too!

According to a study published by CMX Research in 2016, 85% of marketers format their strategies around supporting their community to build trust and win business.?

Earning trust and a reputable place in the community is a crucial place for your business to be. Humans look for the good in everything.

Give someone a reason to trust you, your goals, and your product, and your organization will retain business. Fall behind in winning that trust, and it can be tough for your business to engineer new impressions.?

Engagement and support are two keys to success in building and maintaining a healthy community reputation.?

When engaging your community, we often remind our clients that they need to think about it in two parts.

First, they need to build up a reputation with those who live in the same zip code as they do. Take care of your local customers, and you are building an easy base of repeat customers and loyal business.?

Secondly, remember your online audience. Community doesn’t just mean your in-person neighbors; it also encompasses those who follow and interact with your brand through social channels.?

The goal, of course, is to curate the best possible experience for your community. Experiences travel fast through communities, both on and offline.

It’s thought that the average person may relate a positive experience to nine people in their social circle, while negative experiences will result in sixteen people hearing about the inconvenience.?

While you’re actively engaging your fans, part of that effort should be boosted by the support you offer to the community.?

Humans make decisions based on emotion, and then justify those decisions logically. Showing that you care about local causes, other local businesses, and the individuals that make up the community go a long way in creating trust.?

Some easy ways to do this are by partnering with local charities, supporting youth initiatives, and helping support those who are less fortunate.?

It’s easy to lose sight of some of the local faces in your community in the hectic routine of the day. Use this as a reminder to invest in your local community, engage your audiences on and offline, and support those who support you.?

Tip of the week: Smile with your eyes

In an era of video meetings, it can be easy for your eyes to glaze over and your face to tighten up. We talked about active listening in our last article...try taking a moment to reset and then engaging your client with an active smile. Smiling with your eyes is one of the best ways to let someone know you are listening and value what they have to say.?

Statistic of the Week: It's time to invest in brand videos

Do you want to learn more about how you can be involved with what Progage is doing? If you're an athletic director, a collective operator, a marketer or business owner, or someone interested in getting involved in the space, please get in contact via the link here and we will be in touch!