This year, the eight area councils of the Osceola Chamber are inviting the public into their board meetings at least once a year to bring you informative content from great speakers that can be found among the membership in our Chamber.

The first of these was hosted by the Small Business Council on April 27. The SBC board identified a need among small business owners who are often tasked with fulfilling their business’ marketing needs themselves. This can be daunting when it is not your area of expertise. At the SBC’s open meeting, two very diverse Chamber members with marketing experience unleashed tips that they have gained from their experience in very different areas of marketing a business.

First Kevin Crain, President of Osceola Press – Printing & Signs, shared the benefits that continue to come from the use of Direct Mail Marketing. For one, everyone looks at their stack of mail as they sort it, providing your postcard or mailer with a guaranteed moment of visibility. Here are some highlights of Kevin’s presentation:

• The direct mail response rate is 4.4% compared to mass email’s response rate of .12%
• 53% of Americans read their mail, and another 21% at least scan it
• Direct mail creates a sense of trust with some consumers – particularly seniors – who might be less comfortable with technology.
• Direct mail his highly trackable
• Offer incentives in your direct mail to entice recipients to take action

Next, the program took a complete 180 and Bianca Belabre, founder and owner of A Creative Station, shared a series of social media marketing hacks that every business owner can tap into to strengthen their social media presence. Here are a few points of note from Bianca’s presentation:

• Always create a social media strategy
• Monitor analytics
• Feel free to repeat content that is popular
• Provide value or solve a problem with your content
• Entertain your audience
• Create batch content quarterly that you can use for a while
• Use hashtags, carrousel posts, stories, and templates for your reels on Instagram

Attendees also enjoyed lunch catered by Susana’s Cafe and time to learn about each other’s businesses. Small Business Council Chair Marcy Theobald with Iron Valley Real Estate raffled off a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card to one lucky attendee, and Bianca also offered a raffle for a free consultation with her.

Our next council open board meeting will be hosted by the Hospitality & Tourism Council. We will once again meet here at the Chamber on May 16. Lunch will be served and attendees will learn about the County’s budget and budgeting process from Osceola County OMB Director Matthew Fuhrer. You can register to attend that luncheon HERE.