August 14, 2018 | 7 Ways To Bring Your Main Street On Screen | By Dave Schmidt, GAH! Films
The value of a marketing campaign for your Main Street is difficult to overstate: pictures, videos, and stories that shine a little light on the wonders of your town can encourage tourists (and even locals!) to step out and contribute to your community. A well-run campaign can even be a gift that keeps on giving, encouraging people to capture their own experiences and share their time with friends and family who might, in turn, do the same. You don’t need to be a big-name district to make a video that goes viral; you just need to know what you’re doing.
But like the old saying goes, if it were easy, everyone would do it! Managing your limited time and budget and designing a campaign that showcases the year-round magic of your district — or perhaps highlighting a few main events — can be hard for a busy office with limited time and seemingly unlimited demands on it.
Thinking about making the best use of those resources, there are a few things to keep in mind to maximize your impact. Our experience working with businesses, entrepreneurs, schools, and local tourism boards to create marketing and brand campaigns led us to some of the best practices we encourage customers to think about when working on projects. The best projects match the skills of the videographer with the clients’ local knowledge — experience that can make a good campaign into a great one. Whether you’re directing your next campaign in-house or looking to work with professionals, these tips can prepare you to make the most of your project.
About GAH! Films:
GAH! Films is a full-suite creative and production service helmed by Joseph Sliker and Joseph Wilinski. They’ve helped tourism boards, schools, and entrepreneurs to tell their stories to audiences all over the world. https://www.gahfilms.com/
Editor’s note: In addition to our downloadable video series on the power of Main Street’s potential, we rounded up a few of our favorite Main Street video examples below. Have you recently completed a campaign? Add your video to The Point’s resource library and include any additional tips/best practices that could benefit your fellow members.
- Downtown Franklin’s Local Greeters Program: https://www.facebook.com/287051691327308/posts/we-are-so-proud-of-the-franklin-locals-greeter-program-have-you-chatted-with-one/2019111514787975/
- Metuchen Downtown Alliance’s “Meet Me Downtown”: https://youtu.be/H6dUVozl-T4
- The District Quincy’s Quincy TV: https://www.facebook.com/TheDistrictQuincy/videos/10156492795489330/
- Downtown Berkley’s promo video: https://www.facebook.com/DowntownBerkley/videos/10156598096863774/
- Wausau River District’s promo video: https://youtu.be/1gBJtMNbE7Y
- Brunswick Downtown Association’s "A Day in the Life of Brunswick, Maine": https://youtu.be/su-8pC3oasQ
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