Small businesses, local businesses, home-grown businesses: they all have the chance to positively impact the community they live in. Even large, multi-national corporations can play a significant part in making the world a better place for all. Giving back is entirely within your reach, and it doesn’t have to impact your bottom line at all.
If anything, it can help your business improve its goodwill and its marketing efforts. Being newsworthy is consistently one of the best ways to improve your standing organically and with SEO in mind. Host a fundraiser yourself, participate in a local community action event, or partner up with a local charity – all of these events work to improve your community and can help make your business a household name.
Partner with Local Charities and Organizations
It’s always a good idea to know what local charities and organizations there are. However, you never know when there is an easy opportunity to give back. For example, a café can work alongside a soup kitchen to donate unsold or wonky products that are still good to eat. A clothing brand can partner with housing authorities or shelters to offer clothing repair services. You can actually help a lot by doing a little and can use those to help highlight key issues in your community while also marketing your own business. From charitable contributions to hosting your own workshops and events, these are the best ways to give back to your local community.
Offer Unique Training and Job Opportunities to Those in Your Area
The job market is incredibly tough, and you can help. Host workshops to help train those in your area in what you do or in key business skills that they will need. You can also offer traineeships, summer programs, and more. Try to aim these services to the most disadvantaged. It may feel like you are going out of your way, but you helping others get on their feet will directly impact the community you operate in for the better. Not only that, but it is an excellent way to increase your name amongst households and to also benefit from a great reputation.
Done right, you can even use these efforts in a PR campaign to increase the number of authoritative news sites and other websites talking about your business.
Bring the Community Together (and to Your Business)
Host a community event that has a charitable goal, and you can bring out many people from your community to your business. This is an excellent event marketing opportunity and can also help other businesses in your area. For example, if you are a small café on the street, partnering with other businesses on said street to host a street party can increase the event’s popularity and can work to bring more people to your street.
Why Give Back?
Giving back to your community offers two big benefits for businesses. First, it is an excellent marketing and PR method to get more locals and news companies talking about your business. This, in turn, can lead to more traffic to your website or store and can help boost your business that way.
The other benefit is that you are actively working to improve your community as a whole. Your work can help more families better support themselves, and in turn, they will have more spending money and a great brand they can shop from.
