Grow your local economy with content creators
Economic developers and tourism leaders are looking for creative ways to increase local dollars spent and retain visitors as lifelong residents. Local content creators are today’s most relevant, impactful solution.
Local Recommendations Drive Behavior
Ever had a neighbor or friend absolutely rave about the latest happy hour they experienced? Or a dish at a restaurant you have to try? That recommendation likely inspired you to take action, or at least got on your “mental list” of things to do in your community.
These types of recommendations are happening every single day on social media completely unprompted. Locals are sharing their delicious cocktails on Instagram Stories, their birthday outing pictures on Facebook, or their out-of-this-world breakfast sandwich on an Instagram Reel.
This is happening all the time because people want to share the things they’re enjoying, and it’s influencing their local peers, followers, friends, and family to follow suit.
Recommendations from real, local people drive behavior. And it’s the exactly the type of behavior economic development organizations (EDOs) and community leaders should be looking to leverage to make their community a more attractive place to live, work, and play.
Stuart iowa created buzz with hummingbirds
Stuart Chamber of Commerce came to us looking to create buzz during the 2022 holiday season. We sent 20+ local content creators from around the area to Stuart to shop on their Main Street and tell their social media friends and followers what they found.
Here are three key results we saw:
Awareness: people who had never heard of Stuart, Iowa learned it’s just a short drive from the Des Moines metro and has great shops.
Fresh perspective: Stuart added fun boutiques and shops on their Main Street, which transformed the narrative that some people held of what Stuart looked and felt like.
Gratitude from businesses: the businesses in Stuart were tagged and saw a ton of social media love from hummingbirds! This builds an even stronger commercial corridor when businesses see their local chambers and EDOs investing resources to ensure they are successful
Here are just a couple posts of hummingbirds in Stuart capturing their experience through social content.
How to Work with Local Content Creators
Whether you want to keep spending locally or you’re trying to drive tourists to your city or state, there is a clear advantage to getting trusted voices on board to spread the message.
Here are 3 ways to work with local content creators:
Create a compelling “shop local” campaign that gets dozens if not hundreds of locals out into the community supporting commercial districts and spreading it like wildfire on social. You can do it during the holiday season or create an annual campaign to keep the message loud and clear all year long. Give content creators gift cards to use when shopping locally as a way to thank them for creating content.
Launch a “show off your city” campaign that gets locals sharing the best things to do in your community during different times of the year. Not only does it capture the attention of locals, but the content creators with networks beyond their own city can influence tourists to spend a weekend participating in all the things they saw their friend recommending on their Instagram Stories from that campaign.
Get content creators at the most exciting events in town to create long-lasting UGC. There are key events and experiences in different cities that draw in guests from all over the state or country. Get content creators covering those events to repurpose the content in digital or print advertising for future campaigns. From Reels to short videos to pictures, this type of content will likely resonate more with people than beautifully polished photos with paid models.
Looking for more ideas? Book a call with our team to explore how our local content creators can boost the growth of your own community in collaborative, creative ways.
