City Initiative Helps Amplify Businesses inPleasanton

The city of Pleasanton is bolstering its ongoing effort to promote local businesses with the inPleasanton campaign, which encourages residents and visitors to explore all that the community has to offer.

For businesses, tagging @inPleasanton on social media gives the city’s economic development team the opportunity to see and potentially reshare posts through official city and community channels, thereby helping businesses reach a wider local audience. Residents and visitors benefit by having an accessible hub to discover shopping, dining and more in Pleasanton.

“inPleasanton is managed jointly by the City's Economic Development Division and Communications Team, which allows us to pair economic development priorities with communications expertise,” said Abraham Salinas, the city’s Economic Development Manager.

“Together, we use inPleasanton as a platform to showcase local businesses and encourage people to explore the community. The brand has deep roots in Pleasanton, dating back to 1999, when the original inpleasanton.com website was created, well before Instagram or Facebook existed,” Salinas added.

While the effort has evolved with the ways people find information, from a website to social media, its purpose remains rooted in connecting people with Pleasanton.

The inPleasanton brand is part of the larger Support Local initiative which features programs such as the monthly Business Spotlight.

Each month, inPleasanton features a local business through the city's business newsletter – which has over 4,500 readers – and through social media, where @inPleasanton has more than 6,200 followers, according to Salinas.

“This program is important for several reasons. Small and mid-sized businesses often lack the marketing resources to reach a broad local audience, and a Spotlight provides meaningful exposure at no cost,” Salinas said. “It also helps residents and employees connect with the people behind the businesses they visit, which builds loyalty and encourages them to shop, dine, and spend locally. Because that spending supports jobs and sustains the local economy, the Spotlight serves both the individual business and the broader community.”

The city’s latest work to champion the local business economy has already made a tangible impact.

The expanded Support Local effort launched in the fourth quarter of 2025 and continued through the first half of 2026. It brought together inPleasanton social media promotion, the refreshed Support Local Guide and the Gift Pleasanton bonus-card promotion, Salinas noted.

The Support Local Guide was distributed to 34,000 Tri-Valley households, placing participating Pleasanton businesses in front of potential customers well beyond their own marketing channels.

inPleasanton reinforced the guide through its social media channels, extending the message to residents who engage with the community online. The Gift Pleasanton bonus-card promotion added a practical incentive, encouraging residents to purchase gift cards that can be used at participating local businesses and keeping those dollars in the community.

Some inPleasanton posts have reached over 100,000 views – surpassing the number of residents in the city. “That shows how a locally focused brand can draw regional attention to the businesses and experiences it features, including visitors from across the Tri-Valley and the Bay Area,” Salinas said.

“A post about a restaurant, shop, or local event may look like simple community content, but it serves a larger purpose,” Salinas noted. “Helping someone discover a local business can be the first step toward a visit, a purchase, and an ongoing customer relationship. Over time, those individual choices add up to sales tax revenue, local jobs, and a stronger business community.”

Businesses in Hacienda and throughout Pleasanton interested in participating in the monthly spotlight can contact the Economic Development Division at econdev@cityofpleasantonca.gov.

For more information about inPleasanton and Support Local, visit cityofpleasantonca.gov/your-community/visit-pleasanton/ or follow @inPleasanton on Instagram and Facebook.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash