Featuring six guests from different backgrounds in the marketing realm, the program’s organizers sought to help provide local business owners with resources to properly market and improve their businesses, Alison Zook, membership liaison for LFB and owner of A.Z. Vintage, said.
Panelists discussed several forms of marketing, including social, digital and print, as well as how marketing is driven by culture.
One panelist was IU Kelley School of Business senior lecturer Benjamin Schultz, who took on the task of speaking about the academic approach to marketing as well as moderating the event.
Marketing exists on two levels, micro and macro, he said. Micromarketing deals with selling products and advertisements.
Macromarketing is about creating and delivering a standard of living and is more of a social process.
He also said that when marketing, business owners have to manage the four P’s: product, place, promotion and price.
Other panelists included Bloom Magazine Design Director Kaye Lee Johnston and author of Bloomington Fading, Derek Richey.
Following the 50-minute panel, patrons were invited to speak with each panelist one-on-one to better understand how to market their business.
Nikki Wooten, South Central Community Action Program Project Development Manager, said she took a lot away from the event.
“Working for a non-profit, we’re always challenged to do more with less,” she said.
“Now I can apply this knowledge to my business and hopefully see higher performance.”
The event did not just target Bloomington’s microcosm of small businesses but the community altogether.
“We want the community to be empowered and informed about the types of marketing out there: what they’re being presented with by business and how that would differ on a big-box store level as opposed to a local business,” ?Zook said.
LFB is a non-profit organization with pending 501(c)(3) status. According to their website, LFB is committed to supporting and promoting locally-owned, independent businesses and encourages the community to purchase their products and services.
“When you buy local, that money stays in the local economy,” Zook said. “Local businesses pay taxes locally.”
She said those taxes then support local projects like road and park ?maintenance.
“It’s more than just the actual product you’re buying,” she said.
“Your money and the taxes sustain our local economy.”
