Craig Agranoff

Craig Agranoff is a TV correspondent specializing in marketing & tech. He also runs a persuasive marketing agency.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Sure, change feels scary, but new builds bring jobs, affordable housing, and tax revenue to fix roads/transit. Without growth, towns stagnate & taxes skyrocket. Traffic worries? Mitigate with bike lanes! Progress > preservation of the status quo.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Memories are not facts. They are stories wrapped in feelings. If your brand makes people feel good, their memory of you will be good even if the facts are not perfect.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Casinos swap cash for chips, foreign trips turn dollars to ‘play money.’ Customers spend big when it feels fake. Businesses, try loyalty points or app payments to loosen wallets. Gamify spending, watch sales climb.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Marketing isn’t a department.
It’s a growth system. When your data, product, and onboarding teams are aligned, your CAC goes down and your brand loyalty goes up.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Empty buildings don’t create many jobs. Neglected commercial corridors don’t encourage investment. And restricting new housing doesn’t magically make housing more affordable.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

The best-performing brands don’t “market” to customers. They design the experience so well that customers stay. Marketing should be the welcome mat, not the whole house.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Not all “empty buildings” are actually available. Some are tied up in trusts, ignored by absentee owners, or just sitting as tax write-offs. Dead buildings = dead downtown!

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

When cities celebrate growth as success, they teach everyone involved that producing more is what gets rewarded.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

If every restaurant on a block closes Monday, advertising the district on Monday is an expensive way to disappoint someone. Cities should look at business hours collectively. The experience they’re promoting has to exist when the visitor arrives.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

If you’re not segmenting your audience by loyalty or frequency, you’re flying blind. Your biggest promoters are hiding in plain sight.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Exclusive content isn’t a bonus. It’s a loyalty engine. Behind-the-scenes access. Early drops. VIP updates. Give your best fans more to hold onto.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

There’s something backwards about making a place wonderful for tourists three months a year while the people paying property taxes live with the decisions twelve months a year.

The better goal seems obvious:
Build something residents love that tourists happen to discover.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Residents need fresh evidence before they’ll recommend a place they wrote off years ago.

“Downtown is back” asks them to take your word for it. Give them a specific Saturday worth trying, with enough detail that they can invite someone without risking embarrassment.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

You don’t need more customers. You need to go deeper with the ones who already love you. Make them feel seen. Make them feel special.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Please stop making every prospective business download the same 40-page city brochure. A bakery owner and a medical device manufacturer have different questions. Give each a useful starting point. Let the brochure be optional.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Friction is competitive. Downtowns aren’t merely competing on restaurants, architecture or events. They’re competing on the entire experience of deciding to go there.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Cities spend millions trying to attract people and surprisingly little asking why the people already there might leave.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

Downtown bullies love to shout about what everyone else should fix. Rarely do they mention their own peeling paint, empty windows, or “Closed” signs.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

If your competitors can change the name on your ad to theirs and the ad still works perfectly, you haven’t said much.

[Craig Agranoff @agranoff]

A strange marketing question:

If your company were a person, would you recognize its customers standing next to it?

You probably should.