MEMBERSHIPupdate

By: Evelina Davidson

Greetings To All Of Our Amazing Members!

In March we touched base on a few simple ways that members can take advantage of their Chamber membership and gain some additional exposure and credibility in the Redmond community. This included setting up an online member profile, keeping information updated on our online Member Directory, displaying a Redmond Chamber of Commerce Member decal at your place of business and utilizing our logo on your website and social networking pages. This month, we are going to continue expanding on the different ways members can capitalize on their membership by doing or being included in the following:

• Redmond Visitor Guide

• Submitting A Member Byte

• Facebook & Instagram Mentions

• Weekly Email Updates

• Donating Business Swag or Services

• Event Sponsorships

All of the above have one main thing in common…ADVERTISING or MARKETING! So let’s talk about how the Redmond Chamber of Commerce can help its members in this aspect. Believe it or not, the Redmond Chamber of Commerce is a valuable resource for businesses looking to enhance their advertising and marketing efforts. As mentioned, we offer a variety of advertising opportunities…some of which are included with membership and come at no additional cost to the business. This includes being listed in the official Visitor Guide for the City of Redmond. Our members automatically get listed in the Visitor Guide when they establish a membership. This publication gets distributed to over 10,000 individuals and businesses in the region and statewide.

Other free marketing and exposure benefits offered by the Redmond Chamber of Commerce include being able to submit a Member Byte and/or flyers for sharing in our weekly email updates. A Member Byte, for those of you who don’t know, is an article containing up to 150 words that is submitted to us by our members that is published in this very Business News publication in a section titled “Member Bytes” usually located towards the front of the newsletter. This gives our members an opportunity to share a bit about themselves or their business or to promote an event that they have coming up in the future. Does your business have a flyer or an announcement it would like to make on shorter notice? Send us a PDF copy of your flyer or the announcement that you would like us to share and we will include it in our weekly email that gets sent out to over 1,200 recipients every Monday morning. Because it is a weekly email, this allows our members to promote events or make important announcements on shorter notice if necessary. Call us at the office for more information on submitting either a Member Byte or including flyers or other announcements in our weekly email updates.

Make sure to also tag the Redmond Chamber of Commerce in your Facebook and Instagram posts and we will reshare your posts on our social media platforms. We currently have almost 9,000 followers on Facebook and the exposure that can be gained for your business through tagging us in your posts is a substantial benefit that only our members can take advantage of. Our members are also welcome and encouraged to donate business swag or their services at Chamber events such as Coffee Clatters, Business After Hours, Annual Golf Tournaments, etc. What better way to promote and advertise your business than to have us do the work for you by including your swag in giveaways, thank you totes, and Swag Bags at many of our most popular events hosted for the entire community as well as all of for our members.

Free marketing and advertising opportunities are critical for our members to affordably maximize their visibility and reach in the community, but don’t forget that the Redmond Chamber of Commerce is also a resource for community event sponsorship opportunities. By partnering with the Chamber, members can effectively promote their businesses, establish a strong presence in Redmond and gain access to a larger audience by sponsoring big community events like Music On The Green, Redmond Brewfest and Nightglow, Trick or Treat on 6th Street, Holiday Village Market, the Annual Golf Tournament and many others.

It’s because of these types of offerings that the Redmond Chamber of Commerce serves as a hub for businesses looking to strengthen their advertising efforts and grow their customer base. By leveraging the resources provided by the Chamber, such as business directory listings in the Visitor Guide, social media mentions and digital marketing, event promotions, and publications, our members can gain valuable insights and connections that can further their marketing strategies. We are thrilled to have such wonderful members to partner with and are always looking for new ways to promote the businesses that make the Redmond Chamber of Commerce what it is today!

Evelina Davidson Membership & Finance Director Redmond Chamber of Commerce & CVB