Photo Credit: Charles County Economic Development Department, Business Appreciation Week 2022
Just the “Deets”
- 6 Recent Business Appreciation Week Events in Maryland
- 8% engagement rate on boosted social media posts (well above the industry standard)
- 230+ businesses recognized across all Business Appreciation Week Projects
In economic development, business appreciation events spark a sense of pride and unity within the business community. They offer economic developers, business owners, local leadership, and elected officials the opportunity to meet face-to-face, building stronger relationships that propel communities forward while highlighting transformative resources that drive local businesses toward greater success.
PPR Strategies has been at the heart of the action in supporting in supporting many economic development organizations (EDOs) with Business Appreciation Week (BAW) planning, coordination, and facilitation to uplift local businesses. Throughout our efforts, we aimed to share the love, joy, and authentic stories of these communities!
Charles County Economic Development Department
Rooted in a love for all things local and driven by a passion for impactful business development, PPR Strategies eagerly supported the Charles County Economic Development Department (CCEDD) in planning, facilitating, and promoting its first Business Appreciation Week in 2022. The PPR team developed a structure in 2022 of events, proclamations, and business appreciation initiatives that have become the basis for Charles County’s primary annual event dedicated to celebrating local enterprises. PPR Strategies continues to support this yearly event.
In 2023, we collaboratively crafted the tagline, “Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Buy Local in Charles County,” to appeal to residents’ pride in their hometown and inspire them to show that love by buying local. PPR’s team was instrumental in helping the CCEDD harness this powerful message for the 2023 BAW and worked to reshape the theme for future business appreciation efforts.
By blending classic advertising techniques with cutting-edge digital strategies, PPR created multi-channel campaigns to powerfully convey the significance of backing local businesses, resulting in notable benefits for consumers and the local economy.
Targeting social media, email campaigns, local radio ads, and cable network commercials, PPR helped capture the attention of Charles County residents and visitors. Two boosted social media posts reached over 50,000 users with over 4,000 engagements, producing an astounding 8% engagement rate—well above the industry standard of 1%.
In 2024, the PPR team supported the CCEDD to add more events to its BAW—including webinars and the launch of a community gift card program, “With Love From Charles.” As part of an effort to support local companies throughout the year, the gift card program is specifically for participating Charles County businesses and helps keep valuable dollars in the community. PPR’s Managing Director Sophie Smith joined the CCEDD team for two days to help facilitate this larger effort and sign up businesses for the “With Love From Charles” gift card.
Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation
When Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation needed additional support and consulting work for their Business Appreciation Week, PPR was there to help lend an extra hand. Acting as a back-end support entity, our team assisted AAEDC through meetings while planning their 2023 BAW. PPR Strategies also helped analyze and interpret BAW content performance to guide the direction of future social media posts and advise on approaches to revitalize marketing content throughout the year to showcase local businesses.
Howard County Economic Development Authority
During PPR Strategies’s two-year ongoing marketing contract with the Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA), our team supported marketing efforts for two BAWs.
The HCEDA wanted to cast a wide net of businesses to recognize during each BAW while prioritizing underrepresented enterprises in their community. PPR’s team took a comprehensive approach to supporting the HCEDA through curated email marketing campaigns, unique graphics, social media posts, and media pitching. PPR helped segment the HCEDA’s audience to engage less-represented firms first, followed by other enterprises in the community. Altogether, PPR supported the HCEDA in engaging an impressive seventy to eighty businesses for visits during each BAW.
Business Appreciation Weeks underscore the importance of recognizing local businesses and how EDOs can connect directly with local entrepreneurs to create lasting impacts within their community that last well beyond the week’s events.
Looking to amplify your business attraction and retention strategy? Enhancing your Business Appreciation Week can be a great place to start. Let our experience become yours! Contact PPR Strategies for Business Appreciation Week support today.
