Find Your Local’s 1100 nominations bring new customers to Manningham businesses

Local businesses nominated during Council’s 30 Faves in 30 Days competition saw new customers wanting to try their products as early as the next day.

“We saw quite a few new customers in store and had more than the usual amount of new social media followers, particularly in the week or two after the cakes category was shared. It’s lovely to reach some new customers.” said Jenny, owner of Miss Sprinkles in Park Orchards.

Part of the broader Find Your Local campaign, the competition was launched last month to get the community talking about their favourite local businesses and sharing their recommendations in 30 different categories.

The competition proved very popular, with locals jumping on board to nominate their favourites for cakes, pizza, gyms, professional services, childcare centres and everything in between. Community members submitted 1103 nominations for over 200 local businesses during the month-long campaign.

Council launched the competition through Instagram,posting a new category every day from 1 to 30 March. Participants either commented on the posts with their favourite local businesses or submitted their recommendations through the online webform.

Manningham Mayor, Cr Deirdre Diamante said the community response to the campaign has exceeded expectations and is a great show of community support for local businesses.

“The response from the community has been delightful. With 537 people nominating, I’m sure many more, like myself, were following along to take note of new places to go and try!”

“It’s fantastic to see so many businesses nominated, and it’s very reflective of the number of high-quality businesses we’re lucky to have in Manningham. I encourage everyone to have a scroll through the Instagram page and make a list of local places to try next time you shop in these categories.”, said Cr Diamante.

The Find Your Local initiative aims to support the marketing activities of local businesses by sharing their products, services and events with the community; and encourage the community to explore local options for the products and services they need.

The next stage of the initiative is to use the Instagram page to promote content from local businesses, continuing to spread the word about the great businesses in Manningham. The Instagram page will feature different local businesses throughout the year, sharing their story and highlighting their latest products, services, events and deals.

Mayor Cr Deirdre Diamante urges businesses to take advantage of this new tool to increase their visibility in the community.

“This new platform is a great way for businesses to showcase their products and services to the local community. It’s also an opportunity for the community to discover new businesses and support their local economy. The page has momentum now and businesses can jump on and ride the wave”, said Mayor Cr Diamante.

Businesses can submit content by adding @ findyourlocalmanningham as a collaborator to their Instagram posts or submitting images or videos and captions through the Council’s webform at manningham.vic.gov.au/find-your-local.

For further information on the Find Your Local campaign, please visit manningham.vic.gov.au/find-your-local.

The businesses nominated by the community for each category were:

Cakes Miss Sprinkles

Dumplings Dumpling Alley

Local Market Warrandyte Riverside Market

Gym or fitness studio Wellness by PP

Plants Beasleys

Fish and Chips Shark Tank

Pet-friendly spot Dogdayz

Coffee Two Doors Café

Jewellery Ruby Tuesday

Gifts Miss Sprinkles

BBQ staples McGregors Meats

Playground Wombat Bend

Avo on toast 3 Monkeys Place

Homewares Interiors by Riveresque / The Yarra Store

Ice Cream Meno Zero

Pizza Slice me nice

Clothing Zabecca Living

Noodles By New age/ppudo/pocha pocha

Souvlaki Alis Jumbo Kebabs

Picnic spot Jumping Creek Reserve

Fruit and Veg/vegetables Colonial Fresh Doncaster

Hair or beauty Sanctum

Flowers Donvale Flower Gallery

Walking and bike riding trail Mullum Mullum Creek Trail

Place to discover the arts Heide MOMA

Bakery The Warrandyte Bakery

Professional services Lower Templestowe Dental Excellence

Local producer A Lot of Good Stuff

Deli The Don Deli

Childcare Centre First Steps Early Learning