Local Small Businesses can win like Dunkin "DunKings" Donut

Dunkin Donuts may have won the Super Bowl with its hilarious "DunKings" commercial.  

The Ben Affleck Dunkin' commercial that debuted during Super Bowl LVIII highlighted the new DunKings Menu in a humorous take with celebrities like Tom Brady and Matt Damon. As a small business, you can draw inspiration for local marketing strategies to drive revenue and customers for your business without big-budget marketing dollars. 

Here are ten strategies with actionable examples that you can execute using the Dunkin Donuts Super Bowl ad as inspiration:  

1. Leverage Local Celebrities: Partner with local or community influencers or well-known community members for your marketing campaigns, similar to how Dunkin' used Ben Affleck and friends.

2. Create Buzzworthy Content: Develop unique, engaging content that can go viral to gain organic reach on social media. You can create a contest for the community to produce the funniest video for a prize. You can later use that video for other marketing.

3. Programmatic Digital Advertising: Use programmatic display or video ads from your buzz-worthy content to target local audiences around your business. Optimize these ads in real-time for the best KPIs (walk-ins or e-commerce) to ensure your ads reach potential customers at the right moment.

4. Paid Search Campaigns: Use Google Ads with keywords like "best local coffee shop" or "fresh pastries near me" to appear at the top of search results when local customers are searching.

5. Offer Exclusive Local Deals: Introduce special menu items or discounts for your community, akin to Dunkin's DunKings Menu, to encourage local patronage.

6. Host Community Events: Organize events that unite the community and showcase your products or services, increasing brand visibility and customer engagement. You can use programmatic ads to promote these kinds of local events.

7. Develop Collaborative Partnerships: Collaborate with other local businesses for cross-promotion, enhancing your reach and providing mutual benefits. But make sure the collaboration makes sense for all involved companies.

8. Customer Testimonials: Share positive reviews and testimonials from local customers on your website, social media, in-store, and advertising to build trust and credibility.

9. Innovate with Product/Services: Keep your offerings fresh and exciting, as Dunkin' does with its menu, to keep customers returning and attracting new ones. Think of ways you can offer new products or services. Then, promote using social media, paid search, and programmatic advertising.

By adopting these strategies, local small businesses can effectively compete in their local markets, even without the extensive budgets of larger companies. Creativity, community engagement, and leveraging digital marketing tools to maximize reach and impact are critical.