Whether your Chamber of Commerce has a full staff or it’s run by the volunteer-driven Board of Directors, executing consistent marketing efforts is vital for achieving the goals you set for the organization. Your marketing is viewed by:
- Businesses and individuals who are thinking about becoming a member
- Businesses who are potentially interested in becoming sponsors or volunteers
- Organizations who provide grants and are considering your Chamber to be a recipient
And additional stakeholders. Because of that, not only marketing your Chamber but marketing it well is important. If you’re looking for ideas, check out our suggestions below.
Marketing Strategies for Chambers of Commerce
Email Marketing
Many Chambers of Commerce leverage email marketing and newsletters, which is likely the most efficient and effective way they keep in contact with their members. Be sure to include an opt-in form throughout various places on your website to give visitors the opportunity to join your email list and receive future communications. The key here is to let anyone subscribe to your list, not just members, as the newsletters you send may encourage people who are on the fence about purchasing a Chamber membership to actually get one.
Send a newsletter at least once a month, but if you have plenty of information to share, you can certainly increase the frequency of them. Your Chamber’s newsletters can include:
- Information about upcoming events
- Sponsor features
- Member events and promotions
And more. Some Chambers of Commerce, depending on the size of their email list, even sell “newsletter ads,” which allow companies to send promotional information to the Chamber’s list for a fee.
Blogging
Blogging plays a key role in driving traffic to your Chamber’s website in addition to establishing thought leadership. Publishing a new blog post once per month is sufficient, but if you have additional content to share, you can increase the frequency to twice per month or even once per week. Here’s the great thing about blogging: the responsibility of writing new content doesn’t have to all fall on the Chamber staff or Board of Directors. Instead, give members the opportunity to contribute content! Whether you publish a press release they wrote about their company or they write a blog post around their expertise, this is a great way to give visibility to your members while also helping you to build new content.
Additionally, those blog posts can be shared through social media and your newsletters to increase the exposure. Plus, if your members link to your blog post on their website under a “press” section or something similar, that will help to improve your SEO!
Social Media
Social media is likely the first marketing initiative that every Chamber of Commerce is using at the minimum. Between the capability to create content quickly and reach a wide audience, social media is a tool that can bring a great amount of return without requiring too much effort. The most important thing to remember is to incorporate multiple social media platforms rather than only focusing on one or two. Just because it may seem like Instagram or TikTok are the most popular platforms, that doesn’t mean that you should discount the other platforms.
At a minimum, using at least Facebook (especially Facebook groups!), Instagram, and LinkedIn will help you to build awareness of your Chamber and all that you’re doing. Social media post ideas include:
- Holidays, both well-known and lesser-known ones
- Benefits of being a Chamber member
- Chamber events
- Member events and promotions
- New member introductions
- Member testimonials
And more. Don’t shy away from partnering with your members to get content. Similar to how they can support you with blogging, they’re also a great resource for building out your social media content.
PR & Partnerships
Has your Chamber of Commerce recently received an award, hired a new CEO, celebrated an anniversary, hit a membership milestone, accepted a grant, or achieved some other accomplishment? Focusing on local PR efforts can increase your exposure and help to build credibility, starting with these publications.
Additionally, you can partner with other organizations who share a similar audience to yours, like Massachusetts Business Network, and collaborate through a directory, events, social media features, and more.
Marketing Opportunities for Chambers of Commerce
Massachusetts Business Network
At Massachusetts Business Network, we are big advocates for Chambers of Commerce and are always open to exploring new ways to collaborate and provide support. Whether it’s getting featured in our Chamber Camaraderie series or partnering together for a webinar, we’re here to bring awareness to your organization.