Begin with the audience, the action you want and the evidence you will use to judge the result. A local campaign works best when the message, landing page and follow-up are planned together.
Define the offer and audience
Write a specific customer need and a useful next step. Confirm the service area, availability and claims before creating ads. Keep editorial coverage, sponsored content and display advertising clearly identified.
Keep ownership and measurement clear
Document who controls the domain, website, creative files, advertising accounts and analytics. Track meaningful inquiries separately from page views or clicks. Test the actual form or call route and verify receipt before paying to send traffic to it.
Review the claims and agreement
The U.S. Small Business Administration provides guidance on marketing planning. Ask a provider for the deliverables, reporting, costs, cancellation terms and asset handover. Use the partnership inquiry to discuss a specific Richmond audience and campaign objective.
Richmond-area starting points
- Richmond networking sources — Compare local relationship-building opportunities with paid advertising in the marketing plan.
- Small Business Administration — Use the agency’s business-management resources to organize the offer, audience and operating plan.
- Partner with Richmond Authority — Describe the business, service area, audience and campaign goal when asking about local partnership opportunities.
Define a campaign before buying placement
Record the answers in one place so you can compare options on the same basis.
- Audience and service area
- Offer and landing-page action
- Creative and account ownership
- A tested inquiry route and response owner
- Cost, reporting, term and cancellation
