Campaigning for your Readers Choice Award

Strategiesforpromo.ngyourbusinesstovoters.

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2017ReadersChoiceAwards

Forthe22ndyear,theReadersChoiceAwardscon5nuesthetradi5onofaskingreadersthroughoutEasternMassachuse<sto

votefortheirfavoritelocalbusinesses.Eachyear,hundredsofthousandsofvotesarecastasawayofsaying,“thankyou,”tothe

localbusinessesthatservethemthroughouttheyear.

Thisyear,vo5ngbeganonJanuary16thandwillrunun5lFebruary15th.Readerswillbeabletovotebyusingtheballotfoundintheir

localcommunitynewspaperorbyvisi5ngballot.wickedlocalfavorites.com.

ThiseBookoffersstrategiesforyourbusinesstousesoyoucan

reachyourcommunityand

promoteyourbusinesstowinaReadersChoiceaward.

Fromin-storepromo5onsto

twee5ngoutahashtag,wewantyourbusinesstohaveallofthe

toolsnecessarytobevotedthe

bestintown!

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StartWithSocial!

Socialmediaoffersawidevarietyoftoolstospreadyourmessagetocustomers,andencouragethemto

voteforyourbusinesstowinaReadersChoiceaward.

Whileallsocialmedianetworkshavedifferenttypesofaudiences,yourapproachforoutreachcanbe

similar.Simplyincludeacall-to-ac9oninyourvo5ngpoststhattakesvotersdirectlytotheonlineballotatballot.wickedlocalfavorites.com.

Youcanalsocreateahashtagtobuildexcitement

withfollowers.MakesuretoincludetheofficialReadersChoicehashtag,#wickedfavorites,alongwithyourhashtag.Thiswillletthemknowthattheir

votescanhelpyourbusinesswin.

SocialMediaNetworks

FacebookThebiggestsocialmedianetworkgivesyouthe

bestopportunitytoreachalargeamountof

customerswitheachmessage.

TwiEerTwi<eroffersyourbusinessachanceto

connectwithcustomersinreal-5meandpromoteyourselfwithshortmessages.

InstagramInstagramgivesyoutheopportunitytoshare

yourmessage,visually,withconsumers.

PeriscopeLivestreamingvideoshavebecomeoneofthemostpopulartypesofdigitalcontent.With

Periscope,youcanshowcaselive

demonstra5onsorannouncementswithyour

customersviavideo.

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DigitalPromo9on

Therearesomekeydigitalstrategiesbusinessownerscanturntowhenpromo5ngtheirbusinessasapoten5alReadersChoiceawardwinner.Hereareafew:

UpdateYourWebsiteUpdateyourhomepagetoincludethelogofortheReadersChoiceAwardswithalinktothedigitalballot.Incorporatemessagingwithittoremindvisitorstovoteforyourbusiness.

SearchEngineMarke9ng(SEM)Inves5nginSEMhelpsputyourbusinessatthetopofsearchengineresultsforkeywordsrelatedtoproductsandserviceslikeyours.Thisprominentplacementmakesiteasierforuserstofindyourwebsite,andthusseeyourmessageremindingthemtovoteforyou.

EmailMarke9ngConnectwithconsumersthroughemailmessages.LetthemknowthattheReadersChoiceAwardshavebegunanddirectthemtotheonlineReadersChoiceballot.Don’tforgettoencouragethemtovoteforyou.

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Whiledigitalmarke5ngcanhelpbolstervotesamongonlineconsumers,adver5singyourbusinessinyourlocalprintpublica5onisalsoagreatwaytodrawa<en5ontoyourReadersChoiceAwardscampaign.

BallotBoardsPlacingadver5sementsforyourbusinessinprint,neartheReadersChoiceballot,givesyouanopportunitytobetop-of-mindtovoterswhiletheycasttheirvotes.Youcanremindthemofwhyyourbusinessisdifferentfromcompe5tors,andpromotespecialeventsyouhelporganizethroughouttheyear.YoucanalsotoutanyReadersChoiceawardsyouhavewoninpreviousyears.

ReachAllVotersMakesureyourprintaudienceisjustaswellinformedabouttheReadersChoiceAwardsasyourdigitalaudience.Createamarke5ngstrategythatwillengageandencouragecustomerstovoteforyourbusinessintheReadersChoiceAwardsacrossallformsofmedia.

PrintPromo9on

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WhiledigitalandprintstrategiesarekeyelementstoasuccessfulReadersChoicecampaign,crea5nganin-storemarke5ngcampaignisanothergreatwaytospreadyourmessagetocustomers.Ifyou’vewontheReadersChoiceAwardsinthepast,makesureyourcer5ficateisprominentlyondisplayinyourstore.Remindyourcustomers,astheycheckout,thattheycanvoteforyourbusinessbyfillingoutaprintordigitalballot.Spreadingyourmessagetoin-storeshoppersprovidesadirectwaytoremindcustomerstovoteforyourbusiness,whiletou5ngpreviousawards.

In-StorePromo9on

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ThroughoutthiseBookwediscussedavarietyofstrategiestopromoteyourbusinesswithReadersChoicevoters.Thekeystosuccessinvolveawellroundedcampaignacrossmul5plechannels:

• SocialMedia

• DigitalPromo5on

• PrintPromo5on

• In-StorePromo5on

Spreadthewordforyourbusiness,andmakesureyourcustomersknowthatyouneedtheirsupporttowin.Whenyoudowin,don’tforgettothankyourloyalvoters.

Visitwww.wickedlocalmediasolu.ons.comformoreideas

onhowtopromoteyourbusinessortorequestapreviousReadersChoicecer.ficate.

TakeHomeThePrize