WAYNE — The Main Line Chamber of Commerce has launched a new initiative designed to keep local businesses top of mind for consumers during the holiday season.
The Shop Dine Main Line campaign is rolling out this week and will continue throughout the holiday season. The campaign will use lawn signs, email marketing and social media to support businesses that were among the hardest hit during the pandemic.
The Shop Dine Main Line initiative has been in the works for a while, as the chamber looked for interesting ways to help its more than 900 member companies, according to Bernard Dagenais, president and CEO of the Main Line Chamber of Commerce.
The goal of the campaign is to direct the purchasing power of workers and residents toward restaurants, retailers and other small businesses that can be found on a new website portal at ShopDineMainLine.com.
“These are great businesses that have been in the communities for, in many cases, decades, and we want to support them. They are part of what makes the region successful,” he added.
Dagenais said the campaign — a new type of campaign for the chamber — is a way to draw attention to the businesses and bring in customers.
He said it’s also an opportunity for many of the region’s employees to think about spending their dollars locally and “to identify fellow chamber members that they may want to support.”
“Many of those employees have been asking themselves ‘how can I spend more of my dollars locally and where do I spend my dollars.’ We’re providing some guidance and some ideas as to how they can do that,” he added.
Another component of the campaign is a partnership with Let’s Rallie, a new mobile app that has signed on as a communications partner to connect consumers with activities and offers from small businesses. The Philadelphia-based Let’s Rallie helps people find things to do within ten miles of their current location.
Dagenais said the partnership is a good fit, provides an additional marketing tool to the Shop Dine Main Line campaign and the timing “was perfect.”
As planning was moving forward on the Shop Dine Main Line campaign, Dagenais said the chamber heard that Let’s Rallie was planning to expand its foot print and its product to a wider geographic area.
“They were happening on parallel courses and we found out about each other and we thought we could help each other,” Dagenais said.
Chamber members will be able to use the app to market in real-time and easily communicate specials, changes in hours of operation, events and more. The service comes at no cost to businesses through the holiday season.
The app is available for free download at the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
“We are excited to continue to support small businesses, by introducing them to new customers and giving them an easy tech tool to support their marketing and promote their services,” Wendy Verna, co-founder of Let’s Rallie Inc., said. “The partnership with the Main Line Chamber aligns with Rallie’s initiative to offer all businesses equal exposure to consumers who are actively looking for something fun to do in real-time.”
Verna said Let’s Rallie has a “street team” that is going door-to-door to introduce businesses to its partnership with the chamber and the app, helping them to sign up and share content through the app. Additionally, calls are being made to businesses in follow up, as well as the use of social media and emails.
“The businesses and the communities are super receptive to the app. We are loving that we are hearing so many positive comments about the MLCC and all they do for their businesses,” Verna said, adding that the business owners are busy, “wearing multiple hats to keep their doors open,” but are excited to sign up.
The app is available to businesses throughout the region traditionally defined as the Main Line as well as businesses in surrounding areas that include King of Prussia, Conshohocken, Blue Bell, Broomall, West Chester and Media.
The Shop Dine Main Line campaign is live this week. The website — shopdinemainline.com — includes Main Line businesses and information about the Let’s Rallie app.
Dagenais said the chamber is getting the word out to the community through social media and the distribution of lawn signs.
“We encourage the public, including the thousands of employees who power our companies, to make a point of buying locally. Spending dollars in our communities allows small businesses to reinvest in our region, providing services and jobs that fuel the local economy,” he added.
The launch of Shop Dine Main Line is partially supported by a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation, which supports small businesses, financial health, housing affordability, and sustainability and environmental justice.
According to Verna, Rallie Inc. was conceived three years ago by her son Robbie Verna after he graduated from Fairfield University. The app launched in the East Falls section of Philadelphia four months ago to support local businesses that were “confused and overwhelmed” with all the marketing decisions that need to be made.
BTC Marketing Communications of Wayne designed the creative content for Shop Dine Main Line as part of its focus on impact marketing.
For more information, visit www.mlcc.org, www.letsrallie.com or www.ShopDineMainLine.com
