Benefits of Working With a Local Agency

Benefits of Working With a Local Agency

So you’ve decided to hire a social media expert to support your business. The decision to outsource social media support is not an easy one, and within that there are even more decisions to make. One that we are often asked is: Does location matter? If your business is based in Toronto, is it best to work with a Toronto-based social media agency?

For certain industries, particularly local, independent businesses like cafes, restaurants, bars and boutiques, working with a social media agency that is close by and in touch with your target market can have significant benefits. It can be tempting to look to foreign markets or US-based firms or, if you’re a franchise, out-of-town agencies supporting the headquarters. But first, consider these 4 points:

1. Timezone Alignment – Daily content research and proactive social engagement often needs to start early in the morning in order to capture the attention of morning commuters when engagement is often high. Of course, peak times vary across industries, but working within the same timezone is always an advantage.




2.  Local Photography – Beautiful, high quality, on-site photography featuring your location, your product, your customers and the surrounding neighbourhood is a critical success factor – for best results, your target audience needs to recognize their lifestyle (ex: local coffee shop, neighbourhood, city) in photos.




3. Leverage Key Local Insights – A local agency that is dialed in to the local customer base can easily capitalize on a number of insights such as:
   
   • Customer knowledge: Understanding the target demographic and what performs well, drives engagement and grows audiences in social media amongst this specific group
   • Weather & Geography: Posts featuring sunrises on the city skyline and buzz-worthy weather events perform particularly well in social media, especially for local and independent brands
   • Events: Having a finger on the pulse of what’s hot and happening in the community always makes it easier to connect with local audiences
   • Influencer Identification: Knowing and connecting with local social media influencers to amplify brands to targeted audiences can be done from anywhere, but a local agency will have a better handle on who truly has influence in their home city – both online and offline
   • Synergies with local businesses and charities: Having a strong knowledge of local and complementary organizations that your business can collaborate with to drive reach, engagement and growth
     




4. Currency / Exchange rate  – Now is an expensive time for Canadian small businesses to be working with US-based firms. Canadian businesses are far better off looking to smaller, local agencies for savings and value

Toronto is an incredible city with a diverse culture and strong startup and small business community. Pinch Social is located conveniently in Toronto’s downtown core. Trust us when we say that we know this City By Heart: We’re a young, driven team fueled by our passion for this city and for digital marketing. Learning about new, local businesses is our passion, and helping brands reach people is what we do best. The opportunities to get your brand out there are endless.