German Chocolate cake at C. Adam’s Bakery in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Public Market (photo by Sheila Scarborough)

This is one of our favorite examples of collective online strength and visibility.

We’ve mentioned the HGMA (Historic Granbury [Texas] Merchants Association) in several recent social media workshops for Main Street/downtown development organizations, because . . . they build what we see as a marketing “layer cake.”

How?

1)  Yes, the HGMA itself is great at social media. They highlight and share their member activities and achievements. They make their historic town square sound like a happening place (and it is.) BUT,

2)  The association merchants and retailers are also individually strong on social media. They do not wait for the HGMA or the Granbury CVB or the city of Granbury to tell their stories online; they learn about social media and they connect with their own customers, guests, and visitors. AND,

3)  The individual merchants on the downtown square support one another with social media Likes, Comments, Shares, and shout-outs. The independent hotel talks about and tags the bistro which talks about the shop which mentions the theater which highlights the special events in town, including relevant hashtags.

They build an awesome marketing cake for their downtown, layer by layer.

They understand that the strength of one merchants association or Main Street organization or CVB can only take a town so far. Individual tourism or retail partners have to pull their marketing weight, too, including online.

No one in Granbury waits for the “Magic Marketing Fairy” to show up. Their stories, relationships, and customer service ARE the magic.

Nice work, HGMA. We love to talk about you.

Go here to learn more about our in-person social media training workshops.

Holiday Destination Marketing

We’re honored to be a part of the team that runs the monthly #tourismchat on Twitter.
The November chat is on Thursday, November 19 at 2 p.m. Central, and the topic is digital destination marketing for the holidays.

Bring your hacks, ideas, questions, and tips (plus maybe a tourism or hospitality industry buddy?)

Go here for more info, on the chat’s Facebook Event info Page.

Update:  Great chat! Here’s the transcript, if you missed it: https://chirpstory.com/li/293650 

Sheila, Leslie, and Becky

Is your destination, attraction, or hotel on a designated scenic byway or heritage highway?

We’re finishing up the first of what we hope is many years of working with the U.S.National Scenic Byway Foundation as their preferred online training partner.

In addition to educational webinars in 2015, the NSBF conducted focused Byway leader training, participated in IPW Orlando to connect with international visitors, shared Byway photos and information on the America’s Byways Facebook Page, and worked hard to bring more visitors to these special roads.

Learn more about them on the NSBF website and at the upcoming 2016 Heartland Byways conference in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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