
Melksham Town Council has launched its year-long campaign, declaring 2020 to be the year to ‘Support Local’.
The Melksham Support Local campaign, which is encouraging people to love local businesses, was launched on Valentine’s Day, 14th February.
With the support of Melksham’s mayor, cllr Jon Hubbard, and the town crier Peter Dauncey, businesses in the town centre were offered a #SupportLocal photo opportunity to create posts for the social media-driven campaign, which is part of a national initiative organised by ShopAppy.com.
Economic development manager for the town council, David McKnight said, “Maintaining support for Melksham’s town centre businesses is incredibly important, not only to the businesses themselves, but also to the vitality of our town.
“Consumers have more choice available to them now than ever before and it’s vital that our local businesses continually present themselves to residents, engage with them, understand their expectations and make offers which fulfil their needs. So many purchases now begin with an enquiry via a digital channel and we need to work hard to make sure as many as possible conclude in Melksham businesses.
“There are established correlations between successful social media engagement and footfall in shops. It’s about building relationships with customers, making them aware of the breadth of goods and services available to them, providing the valuable personalised advice which they cannot readily get online, and delivering great experiences in our town.
“This is why Melksham Town Council has embraced the #SupportLocal campaign and why social media is a major delivery channel for us. Our aim, to create awareness of our town businesses and start new conversations between them and existing and potential customers, underpins this campaign which will run throughout 2020.
“We initially approached businesses with goods and services which were appropriate to Valentine’s Day. The launch was highly successful and well received. We will seek to include any Melksham town centre business that wishes to be involved, as the campaign develops. Indeed, a number of businesses have already approached us.
“Melksham Town Council loves its local shops and businesses and it was highly appropriate to launch our work on Valentine’s Day.”
Residents and businesses can play their part in the campaign by retweeting and sharing posts on the Melksham Town Facebook page, sharing positive experiences of Melksham businesses and by shopping in the town. Posts will be tagged #Melksham, #SupportLocal, #ShopAppy 2020, with the business name.