Local farms team up to support local businesses with #ShopLocalSEO
Three local farms have come together to show support for fellow local and small businesses in southeastern Ontario.
Mackinnon Bros. Brewing, Topsy Farms, and Enright Cattle Co. have started a campaign to spotlight businesses in southeastern Ontario: #ShopLocalSEO.
For those unfamiliar with these local farms, Mackinnon Bros. is a craft brewery, and they host on-farm events; Topsy Farms raises happy sheep on Amherst Island, has on-farm experiences, and sells wool products and yarn; and Enright Cattle Co. is a sustainable focused beef farm with direct sales of beef and leather goods.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many local and small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and the impact is being felt clear across the province. The #ShopLocalSEO campaign is hoping to support those small businesses who may not have a large online presence.
According to the organizers, the three farms have nearly 40,000 combined social media followers who already believe in shopping locally. The farms will highlight other businesses with smaller profiles so that more people can learn about them.
“It’s so difficult to operate a small business” says Kara Enright of Enright Cattle Co. “That’s truer now than it ever was before, but the internet makes it possible for a farm to talk directly to a potential customer; this is a very new thing. We want to share what we have.”
The farms will use their social media platforms to do profiles on some of their favourite local shops, organizers say. They will also add links to other small business websites on their webpages for easy click-through, and will do everything they can to help and support other businesses. Shoppers will be encouraged to use and follow the hashtag ShopLocalSEO when making a purchase.
