Guy R. Williams has a plan to market downtown Oxford, but first he needs to find out if local business owners are willing to participate by investing a little time and money.
‘It has to be grassroots,? said Williams, who’s president of Community Marketing Associates. ‘The business owners have to come to the conclusion that this makes sense.?
To that end, Williams is inviting business owners within the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) district to attend a Wednesday, Jan. 27 meeting to learn more about the community marketing services he’s offering. The 30-minute meeting will begin at 8 a.m. and be held in the village’s community room at 22 W. Burdick St. (See ad on page 13.)
Last week, he pitched his proposal to DDA board members Mark Young, Tony Lasher and Don Sherman along with DDA Promotions Committee member Ed Hunwick and DDA Director Madonna Van Fossen.
‘The communities that are presenting themselves to the whole area, those are the communities that people are going to read about, hear about, and check out,? he told them.
As someone who’s been helping communities market themselves since 1997, Williams explained his program has two simple goals ? 1) increase the number of people visiting Oxford; 2) get as many of those people as possible to visit at least one business.
‘If you can bring 10,000 new people into Oxford and get 20 percent of those people to visit one business, that’s 2,000 visits ? and those are low numbers,? he said. ‘Oxford is one of those communities where if you come once, I guarantee 70-75 percent of the people are going to come back, but you got to get them here.?
One of the ways to make that happen is by having local merchants issue press releases regarding what’s going on with their businesses.
‘Every business has newsworthy items; they just don’t know how to get them out to the media,? Williams said. ‘There are two-to-three newsworthy things happening at every business throughout the year.
ply that by a hundred businesses, now you’re talking somewhere between 100 and 300 newsworthy stories, and 95 percent of them are missed. That’s heartbreaking.?
Under Williams program, press releases would be handled by a public relations coordinator (or PRC for short).
This PRC would be journalism or marketing college student who would work 20 hours a week for Williams? company. This person would spend a good deal of time visiting local businesses, looking for newsworthy items and marketing opportunities.
‘What I look for is somebody that knows that community,? he said. ‘A college student from Oxford would be perfect.?
After finding some news items, the PRC writes press releases, which are reviewed and approved by the businesses, then issued by Williams? company.
‘The press releases are key. You’ve got to do that,? he said. ‘The one thing I know about the media is if it’s newsworthy, they’ll cover it.?
Having a vehicle like The Oxford Leader to spread the word is a big plus in Williams? opinion.
‘One of the things that interested me about Oxford is you guys have a local newspaper,? he said. ‘That’s huge. That’s a great advantage.?
But press releases alone aren’t enough. Williams indicated they must be coupled with advertising, which reminds people of the story later on.
‘You need an advertising budget,? he said. ‘The people who say advertising doesn’t work, it’s just not true. We have thousands of years of proof that it does work, but you have to do it the right way.?
In order to properly advertise the community and bring people here, Williams said two things are needed.
The first is eight great community events designed to draw people to the town throughout the year.
The second thing is a $120,000 advertising budget to promote these events.
‘The idea is to get people to visit for the first time,? Williams said.
Each event would have a $15,000 promotion budget that would be spent on advertising through the newspaper, radio, television and internet.
‘Every community I know has great events,? Williams said. ‘The problem is they never have budget to promote them and promotion is what brings more people.?
The money for this advertising budget would come from a mix of local businesses and corporate sponsors.
To make it work, Williams said he would need 100 local businesses each contributing $50 per month (or $600 a year) toward the advertising budget.
‘We’re just not talking about a whole lot of money,? he said. ‘I don’t care what business you’re in, you can afford $600 a year.?
Usually, when a business spends $600 a year they’re ‘not getting anything that’s going to make a difference,? according to Williams.
Having the businesses pool their money into a larger budget makes each contribution much more effective.
‘Every single business benefits from a community advertising budget,? said Williams, noting all the participants would receive a copy of the 12-month advertising plan to review and discuss.
The other $60,000 for the advertising budget would come from corporate sponsors obtained by Williams.
In addition to public relations and advertising, Williams? program would also help create customer surveys designed to generate consumer profiles.
‘I want to find out exactly who’s visiting Oxford, where they’re coming from and what they think is missing in Oxford,? he said. ‘We’ll share that information with businesses.?
Williams would work with eight to 15 business owners to come with ‘the perfect 10-12 questions? for customers to answer on a card when they visit a store.
Because communication is essential to Williams? program, if Oxford were to participate, the business owners would be asked to spend five minutes a month reading an e-mail from him designed to update them on everything that’s going on with regard to upcoming events and other businesses.
‘The biggest thing is you’ve got to communicate,? he said.
But before he approaches the DDA about participating and paying his $45,000 fee (which doesn’t include the 15 percent of the advertising budget his company would receive for creative services), Williams? indicated he needs to know at least 25 businesses are interested in participating.
Once the initial 25 businesses and the DDA are on board, then he can begin recruiting the other 75 businesses.
‘Without business participation, the program doesn’t work,? Williams said. ‘I think everybody in the community, all the stakeholders, have to participate in marketing. It only makes sense.?
He said the program can’t be a government-led thing, or even viewed as such, because that carries a stigma with most business owners.
‘Almost every business has a story of the horrible thing the (municipality) did to me,? Williams said.