Local businesses nominated during our 30 Faves in 30 Days competition saw new customers coming 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 people 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.  

We 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.

Our 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, @findyourlocalmanningham, 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 our webform on the Find Your Local webpage.

The most nominated businesses for each category were: