What Type of Customer Best Responds to Community Marketing

This is Part 2 of our community marketing series.  We’re moving on from “Why Implement a Community Marketing Program” to the type of customer that will respond favorably to community marketing. It’s all about relationships.

Brand loyalty is especially important to the customer who is most affected by a community marketing program. Customers who are typically brand loyal are terrific advocates for organic community marketing. These are the people from whom less involved customers seek advice.  These customers enjoy developing relationships with the businesses in their community. They value the opinions of others and are always ready to discuss their purchases and potential purchases with friends and family.

Local marketing allows you to attract these types of customers based on the immediate vicinity of your facility.  Yes, these customers are brand loyal, but they also enjoy the convenience of proximity to the places where they do most of their errands.  The like to shop and eat close to home. No matter what and no matter where, customers are going to travel only so far to store their belongings.

It’s important to understand that many people create a “mental map” of their surrounding area.  They are aware of traffic patterns, create shopping habits and engage in a great deal of repeat business based on their individual mental maps. To secure a spot on these mental maps, a business that is new to the area has to work particularly hard to make their presence known.  

The Radius of Influence

Your radius of influence directly relates to the type of area in which you do business.  The further you get from a major metropolitan city center, the bigger your radius of influence, and the further away from your facility your customers will live and work.  Urban areas tend to have a much smaller customer radius than suburban and secondary markets.

Community Marketing General Specifications:

• Customers:  the general population  within a 3-, 5-, or 10-mile radius, or a 10-15 minute drive
• Competition:  other self-storage facilities within the same 3-, 5-, or 10-mile radius, or a 10-15 minute drive
• Store Characteristics:  location, size, amenities, immediate neighbors, ease and accessibility

Marketing to your locality is about knowing and interacting with your neighbors.  It’s not just about the money; it’s about building relationships by attending events and attracting those typical customers. You need to connect with people on a face-to-face level to build your local brand. Remember, a successful community marketing program is about understanding the community and creating a place of significant presence in local customers’ mental maps. This will in turn increase referrals and word-of-mouth traffic.

Now that we’ve explained community marketing and the typical customer, our third and final installment in this series will help you to understand how to start your own community marketing campaign.  We’ll provide you with tips and suggestions to get your started on a successful program. Be on the lookout for our final blog, “How to Start Your Community Marketing Program – 5 top Suggestions.”

In case you missed our first installment, here is the link. https://fineviewmarket.wpengine.com/why-implement-a-community-marketing-strategy/