Wigton businesses got a surprise when a samba band starting playing outside their premises last week.

The noisy Brazilian beats soon drew a crowd and it was then revealed that the samba drums were part of a campaign to highlight the best ways to promote local businesses across Allerdale.

The drummers from The Nelson Thomlinson School Samba Band lined up outside businesses such as The Scout Shop and Corner Barbers who have yet to get free Google listings, the point being that there are easier ways to drum up support for your business than having a samba band play outside your shop.

It was all part of a publicity stunt by Allerdale Borough Council’s All Doing Digital campaign.

The campaign aims to help and encourage business owners across Allerdale to make the most of digital opportunities and how to sell and promote their business online.

Diane Tea, a volunteer at The Scout Shop, said: “It was wonderful to hear the students play the samba drums outside the shop. 

“They’ve definitely caused a commotion which has attracted customers into the shop.”

Andrew Walker, deputy headteacher at The Nelson Thomlinson School and the Samba Band leader, said: “All the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves so thank you for giving us the opportunity to play and support your campaign.”

Councillor Mike Johnson, Leader of Allerdale Borough Council, said: “The publicity stunt was a fun way of drawing attention to some of the fantastic local businesses we have across Allerdale and to encourage them to make the most of all the digital opportunities available to them to help them promote their businesses.

“The campaign is part of Allerdale Borough Council’s ongoing commitment to support local businesses and help our towns and villages to thrive and we hope that local businesses will make the most of the digital opportunities available to them.

Research commissioned by the council revealed that 35 percent of more than 1,500 businesses surveyed throughout the borough do not have a Google Business Profile and have not taken advantage of the free online listing.

This is a free listing which makes key information about a business (such as location, opening hours and contact details) easily accessible to customers, without them having to sift through dozens of search results.

The All Doing Digital campaign includes factsheets, videos celebrating local businesses who are already leading the way and help with getting you listed effectively on Google with a Google Business Profile. 

Diane at The Scout Shop said: “The factsheets are very well designed and informative, and we will definitely make sure that we list the shop on Google as it’s important that people from Wigton and further afield know where we are and what our opening times are.”

The factsheets, and further information about the All Doing Digital campaign can be found here: https://bit.ly/AllDoingDigital