The annual Love Your Local Market campaign has been hailed as a great success as we forge new partnerships and the campaign reaches more people than ever before.
Now in its 8th year, the Love Your Local Market campaign ran from 7th May to 31st 2019.
Markets from all over the UK took part in social media conversations online, reaching out to new customers, showcasing produce and promoting the stories of long established and new traders.
Social media followers grew by over 10% to almost 30,000 followers, with the biggest increases being on Facebook and Instagram. Engagement with social media was almost double that of 2018, with nearly 10,000 individual interactions with the campaign.
Total potential impressions for the campaign reached a record 63 million.
The advertising value equivalency of the local, regional and national news coverage was measured at over £1 million. There were 2000 market days of activity across the fortnight.
The support from our sponsors Gala Tent, is key to the success of the campaign and we would like to thank them for their continued support.
In 2019, we were pleased to announce a new partnership with Visa and we are looking forward to working together in the future.
Markets and traders are the driving force for the campaign and the we have recently announced a range of LYLM Champions, who went the extra mile for the campaign.
They included, Bolton Market for their “One Minute Brief” campaign, Todmorden Market’s “Foodie Fryday” event and Cambridge Market for the return of outdoor cinema and night market.
More champions were Freeman Street Market for their wide range of events and active social media work, Knutsford Market’s great imagery, Aylesbury Market for highlighting their fur free status and Oldham Market for their captivating videos.
Individual social media Champions were also included, with Freeman Street Market and Leeds Market taking top honours for Twitter, Leighton Buzzard Market for Facebook and Preston Market for their work on Instagram.
Chief Executive, Graham Wilson OBE, said: “The response to Love Your Local Market 2019 has been incredible. It feels appropriate that we have celebrated a record year at the same time as NABMA celebrates its centenary. We’ve yet again seen amazing examples of trader incentives, market innovation, fabulous imagery and social media accounts full of inspiring and creative content.
“We are proud to work in partnership with Gala Tent and Visa on the campaign and we look forward to the power of Love Your Local Market reaching even wider audiences in the future.
“Thank you to everyone who has taken part and supported the campaign this year.”