Posts Tagged ‘branding’

Miller, SD has got Facebook figured out

October 13th, 2009

I’m always on the lookout for rural communities that are using social media to build conversations.  Recently, I found a great example with Miller, SD. 

Joe Fiala and Amy Howard of On Hand Development Corp. launched the Miller, SD Facebook page on Sept. 24, 2009.  Within weeks they built over 500 fans, which is very impressive in a community with a population of approximately 1530 people. 

Amy Howard and Joe Fiala, On Hand Dev. Corp.

What has impressed me more than the number of fans is how people are interacting on the page.  Lots of people start Facebook pages, but not many do a good job of generating conversations with their fan base. 

Joe and Amy do.  They even have people who have moved away from the community saying how much they miss the community.  Impressive.

With that in mind, I contacted Joe to find out what’s the secret sauce in his recipe.  The following interview  with Joe is the result. 

 

Why did you create a Facebook page for the community of Miller?  Does it connect to your organization’s goals? 

We were looking for ways to engage our community utilizing the internet beyond our “regular” website. Facebook is a way to easily interact with people living in Miller, people that used to live in here, and people that had visited our town.

Using Facebook helps us reach our goals as a business development organization because we can showcase our community and lifestyle. It allows us to communicate more effectively with the young adults that will be the next generation of business owners in town.

 

One of the things that impresses me about your page is number of people commenting.  What have you done to try to create “conversations” on your Facebook page?

We have made a conscious effort to create posts that garner comments from the fans. We’ve tried to post items that people will find interesting, but we also ask questions within the post.

Our partnership with our local newspaper, the Miller Press, has been effective too. They have a “Talk on Main Street” question each week in the paper. We asked if we could address that same question on the Facebook page and they agreed.

 

Any future plans for your page? 

As we have events in Miller like the opening weekend of pheasant season, the Christmas on the Prairie celebration, and the 4th of July festivities, we will post pictures of the events.

We will also listen to our fans to see what items they would like us to post.  Our page is set up so that fans can post items and we are hoping that they will take advantage of this and add to our content.

 

We constantly hear how social media tools are sucking up work time and decreasing productivity.  How much time do you spend each week using Facebook? 

Our goal is to post an item on every work day, whether it is an announcement, a picture, or a question. So far, we probably average about 10 minutes per day.

This is not much time and we are reaching an audience of over 500 people that have already shown interest in being involved in our conversation. For a small town, that is an amazing amount of publicity for so little time involved.

 

Why did you choose Facebook as a social networking tool over others tools like blogging, Twitter, MySpace, etc…?

Facebook lends itself very well to holding a community conversation. It allows short posts, pictures, and comments. All of these actions are very easy to do.

However, the deciding factor was that a large majority of young adults and high school students use Facebook.

We are planning to incorporate a blog as part of our website communication tools. This will allow us to post articles that are too long for Facebook to handle efficiently.

 

Note:  Wow!  Working with the local newspaper is a great idea.  And if you go to their page you will see that they do a nice job of asking questions that engage their fans.  (You don’t have to join Facebook to view the Miller, SD Facebook Page.  Check it out by clicking here. )

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Marketing Matters for you

June 26th, 2009

For those who didn’t already know it, the importance of a strong marketing effort was driven home at the 7th Annual Economic Gardening Conference. If you heard the message and want to strengthen your marketing efforts, I’d encourage you to check out the following free webinars by the Small Business Administration in South Dakota.

Titled “Marketing Matters,” the training is divided into 4 one-hour training sessions that you can access from your home or office. 

 If you are interested, check out the following link and learn how you can sign up.  Learn more here.

Note:  Although it’s free, phone lines are limited to first-come-first-serve basis.

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One last thought: Branding is key

April 27th, 2009

(This is the 5th in a series of posts about a study title “Attracting College-Educated, Young Adults to Cities” and focuses on “people attraction strategies“. Links to earlier posts may be found at the bottom of this post. )

 

After analyzing and discussing the “Attracting College-Educated, Young Adults to Cities” with my colleagues at the Rural Learning Center, I’ve concluded the most important take away is that branding is the key to attracting Millennials. 

As one of their conclusions from the study (slide #28), the Segmentation Company stated:

Despite this desire to exercise greater control over where they live, college-educated young people do not have well-formed opinions about cities and areas they would be most or least likely to consider.  Impressions of cities are most likely to be limited to climate/weather, diversity (or lack thereof), proximity to beaches/oceans and perceptions of safety, crowds and congestion.”

This lack of definition creates an opportunity for cities and communities to brand themselves with positive imagery and messages. 

Essentially, what Millennials know about communities is superficial, so developing clear messaging (ie - branding) about communities is very important.  After all, if the weather in the Upper Great Plains is the only impression people have, rural communities (and the Upper Great Plains in general) are going to be losers in the people attraction competition.

(By the way, I think older generations understanding of communities is equally limited.) 

But how should rural communities shape their brand to meet this opportunity? The Segmentation Company offers the following advice (again, slide #28):

Provide positive reassurance on basic quality of life issues

I’ve always felt branding is important for rural communities because people have a lot of misconceptions about them.  That’s why projects like “Get Kansas” are so important. 

But at the end of the day, each rural community is responsible for its own brand.  Hopefully this study helps rural residents recognize the importance of branding and encourages them to begin developing the imagery that helps connect what they have to offer with the people who are looking for it. 

 

Previous posts in this series include:

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Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (2)

design:SD — What does branding have to do with design?

April 3rd, 2009

During the recent Design:SD charrette in Deuel County, I continually found myself asking the various communities who were represented (there are eight: Clear Lake, Gary, Altamont, Astoria, Brandt, Goodwin, Toronto, Lake Cochrane) a single string of questions.

What is your community’s niche?  What makes you special and different than the other communities in Deuel County?

Not surprisingly, this question was a bit difficult for people to answer.  Not because the communities aren’t unique, but because they simply haven’t taken the time to really think about what those things are.  I think the answers to those questions are intrinsically related to branding. 

Branding can be a really difficult concept to understand, and even more difficult to execute.  But it doesn’t have to be.  If you can answer the question above, you’re well on your way to identifying your community’s brand.  Of course there are other elements you will consider as you dig in, but the basics come back to knowing who your community is and being able to communicate it to others. 

So, what does this have to do with Design:SD?  

Design:SD always tries to start with the strengths of the communities as they currently exist.  Knowing your strengths (the foundation of your brand) gives the design team a solid foundation to build upon. 

A strong brand can also help your community decide what’s most important to work on first.  It can help you understand what elements need to stay because they build character and make your community unique, and what elements need to go because they detract from it. 

So, if you’re reading this post and aren’t sure where to start in your community, I’d challenge you to answer the questions above and begin focusing on those ideas and projects that build a stronger sense of who your community is.  I don’t think you can go wrong when you begin there. 

Photo Note:  The Deuel Design Team digs in to identify the boards that they will produce for the Deuel County community.

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The Importance of a Strong Sense of Place

January 7th, 2009

Developing a strong “Sense of Place“ is one of the most important things a rural community can do to attract visitors and residents. 

That key message  was presented by Eric Abrahamson in a report to a group of citizens in Lead, SD last night.  It caught my attention because Eric did a masterful job in explaining why developing a strong sense of community is essential to community branding.

Many towns have, or are currently going through the process of developing a brand for their town.  Often, these brands focus on the attributes of the town that make it special.  Those attributes are essentially the same attributes that help residents develop a strong sense of place.

Unfortunately, the messages developed to articulate that brand are often focused on an “external” market - visitors, new residents or new businesses. What Eric reminded us was that local residents need to hear these message as well.

I believe that is particularly important - especially as a brand is first being developed. If the local residents don’t know and believe the message, others who come to the community won’t either. 

The benefits of messaging are compounded when local residents begin to feel better about their community after repeatedly hearing a message about what makes their place special.

This is particularly vital in a community like Lead, which developed a sense of abandonment after the Homestake Gold Mine shut down. Not only did the mine’s closing result in the loss of jobs, but many community members felt like the community lost its’ identity.  When this happened, they stopped feeling good about the community and its future.

It’s a great observation for any community attempting to develop its brand.  I hope the residents of Lead take to heart.

Note:  Eric is not a professional marketer.  He’s a professional historian - and an exceptional one at that. Through his company Vantage Point Historical Services, he worked with the Rural Learning Center and Jones and Jones Architects to prepare a summary report of year-long community conversation about Lead’s future. He and Joe Bartmann presented that report last night to community residents.

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Bernie on the Blind School

November 26th, 2008

Bernie Hunhoff, editor of South Dakota Magazine, captures the essence of Joe Kolbach’s bold vision for turning the former South Dakota School for the Blind campus in Gary, SD into a community revitalization project. 

The Gary community has been saddle for years with this incredible asset that has deteriorated to the point of being a community detriment.  Way too often, some of the best physical assets in our small towns (i.e. - old school and bank buildings) have been purchased by individuals - often with good intentions — who end up neglecting the property.  Un-mowed lawns lead to broken windows, lead to graffiti…, you get the picture.  (And if you don’t, take a closer look at the picture to the left.)

But is the preservation of historic buildings really a path to community prosperity? I emphatically say “yes” as I’ve experienced it first-hand.  Back in the mid-1990’s, I helped a start-up tourism venture in Beaufort, South Carolina, a once sleepy, depressed community located half-way between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. 

There the focal point was antebellum, plantation-style homes that were being restored to their original splendor.  Visitors flocked to see the see the magnificence of the restored mansions and hear the history of an era gone by.  Along the way, they left their dollars at main street businesses.

Equally important is the role the restored mansions played in changing the community’s brand.  In marketing terms, a community’s brand is what others say and think about you.  Ask anyone about Beaufort’s image during the 1960s and 1970s, and they’d tell you it was a community without a future.  The restored homes helped change that image.

It’s too early to say what impact the former School for the Blind will have on Gary and surrounding Deuel County.   But what’s important is that communities attempt to regain control over these assets and incorporate them into the community’s vision for the future.   

Update:  The transformation of the former blind school into the Buffalo Ridge Resort and Business Center is not complete.  Check this post for further info and pictures.

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Posted in Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)

Marketing a Community — it’s more than a website

November 17th, 2008

For anyone who was uncomfortable with the message of the video in my last post, I’d highly recommend you go read the follow-up explanations from the video’s producers. (See Beyond Relevance)

What he explains is that that churches should NOT be doing what is traditionally thought of as marketing (i.e. - creating a brochure, flier, mailing, etc…).  At least not until the congregation has addressed how visitors “feel” when first attending their church.  If visitors feel awkward, they probably won’t come back; and even worse, they’ll tell their friends why they’re never going back. I’m sure you see how that relates to rural communities as well. 

I also bet you can see the relevance of the following quote to rural places: 

Most churches are not successful at marketing because they don’t quite understand the fact that it encompasses every aspect of church life. They often make the mistake of assuming that marketing is about having the coolest website, but it’s so much more than that. Reality: every single church out there is currently marketing whether they know it or not-there are just some doing a great job, and some doing a not-so-great job.

 Replace “churches” with “rural communities,” and the statement is dead on.  Unfortunately, many of us are probably doing worse than “not-so-great”.

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What if Starbucks Marketed like a Rural Community

November 14th, 2008

I’ve been interested in how rural communities welcome new residents and visitors for a long time now, and I recently found a video that can teach us something on the subject.

Before you watch it, let me admit that when I first viewed it, I was uncomfortable with its message that churches do a poor job of marketing themselves to new members. If you’re like me, you want your church to be more about faith than marketing strategies. But the more I watched the video, the more it spoke to me about how rural communities welcome new residents. I hope you’ll keep an open mind to that idea while you watch, and think about how the video might relate to your community.

I’m sure many viewers have opinions about the relationship between marketing and the church. If interests you, I’d encourage you to go to the site where I found the video and post your comments there. If, however, you are interested in how the video relates to new residents in rural communities, I hope you’ll read further, and then share your comments at the bottom.

How we welcome new residents

Does your rural community have a “welcome wagon” committee? That concept has been around for eons, but has tired as a means of engaging new members. Sometimes it’s the members of the welcoming committee who tire and don’t connect well with newcomers. Let me provide two examples.

Do people in your community create a sense of separateness with new residents by unintentionally staring at them? If you’ve gone into a small town café, you’ve probably experienced this. Everybody at the tables turns their heads to see who’s just walked in. If it’s someone they know, greetings usually follow; but if it’s someone who is new, everybody turns back to their meals without further interruption. Although not intended to ostracize, newcomers often feel that they are being singled out in these situations. Making matters worse is that this experience plays out in numerous other setting around town, multiplying its effect.

Does your community create situations like the “tip jar” scene where newcomers are being asked to donate (time, talents, or money) on their first day? This may apply more to new businesses than to residents, but both can create a sense of uneasiness with newcomers. Building a relationship should be the first priority, then the ask doesn’t feel so obligatory.

These are just a few of the examples provided by the video, and I’m sure readers have countless others. Whether you’re the “welcomed” or the “welcomer”, I hope you’ll share your thoughts. It’s the only way we’re going to see these actions in our lives.

Conclusion

So what’s the bottom line? In today’s world, people - especially young people - need to feel the authenticity of “the welcome”, regardless of what form it takes.  It doesn’t matter what form the welcome comes in, the individuals need to connect and feel the sincerity of the welcome. In short, a friendly smile just isn’t enough anymore.

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Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural, Rural Life | Comments (2)