Spotlight on the Promotion Point

Main Street America’s Main Street Approach™ is a time-tested framework used for community-driven revitalization. The Approach™ incorporates the four broad areas of Economic Vitality, Design, Organization, and Promotion (known as the Four Points) to implement Transformation Strategies. Work involving the Promotion Point positions the district as the hub of economic activity and creates a positive image that showcases the community’s unique characteristics.

Promotion includes four areas of work:

• Image/Brand Development: creates an overall impression of what people will experience in the district.
• Events: creates opportunities to drive traffic to the district and allows people to experience what’s happening in the district.
• Retail Activities: creates relationships with businesses and customers in the district.
• Media Relations: creates an environment to share information about the district and organization.

Planning is key when embarking on Promotion work because projects need to evolve from the mission of the organization and tie-in to Economic Transformation Strategies/goals/work plans. Promotion projects are an opportunity to control the narrative of your district, tell stories that energize the community, and brand the district as a destination. Additionally, an improved image creates a climate of confidence resulting in more customers, higher profits, and more reinvestment in local businesses and property.

New Mexico MainStreet has three Promotion Point Revitalization Specialists, Robyne Beaubien, Julia Royal and Cam Wilde. They’re available to support affiliated districts/projects with Promotion projects and training.

“It’s been really rewarding working alongside so many dedicated New Mexico MainStreet Executive Directors. The excitement around new and out-of-the-box projects (and even collaboration between several communities and other Revitalization Specialists) has been contagious. Being able to help bring clear and thoughtful visual awareness to what’s happening out there — and seeing the results — is something I think the entire Promotion team is proud of,” NMMS Revitalization Specialist Julia Royal said.

Learn about four recent Promotion projects from NMMS district Executive Directors:

Santa Rosa MainStreet developed a new brand and logo for their district to reference wholesome family-friendly nostalgia and Route 66 while including a modern vibrancy that feels like home.

“The logo project was a great experience. We decided to begin this project because our Mainstreet had not adopted a formal logo and brand to represent our district. Our Mainstreet is fairly new, and we understood that it was time to begin the branding process. Cam and Julia did a fantastic job, and Robyne worked with us to gain community input for the design and develop concepts. This project was the start of many projects. First, we started the branding with Robyne and pulled in Cam and Julia for design. Once we completed branding, we quickly moved on to wayfinding with Amy Bell and her team. Amy eventually pulled Cam and Julia back into the mix for sign design and ways to integrate the city’s logo with our MainStreet logo to create a cohesive design.

Robyne has a wealth of knowledge and helped guide our branding team through the whole process including the launch. Cam and Julia helped me design coasters, lapel pins, banners, and rack cards for the launch. My Board and I love the logo, and it’s really helped us share our district’s story.

For other districts looking to start a project like this, NMMS Revitalization Specialists are the best! Soak up all their expertise and creativity. Along with completing these projects, the Revitalization Specialists helped ensure we stayed on track with the year plan of branding and wayfinding projects. Both projects were very successful, and we’ll continue to see their results for many years to come.”

– Santa Rosa MainStreet Executive Director Chantel Lovato

Alamogordo MainStreet developed a construction mitigation communication plan for their $1.9M MainStreet Makeover infrastructure and streetscape project. The Makeover project will install ADA sidewalks, public art, lighting, benches, trash cans, and more to improve access, safety, and walkability in downtown. Additionally, they’re working on marketing campaigns to provide construction/parking information and project updates, promote a positive message, and provide information about local businesses that are affected by construction.

“This Promotion project will help us succeed because we see communication as vital and key in everything. We see this project as an opportunity to build trust with the community and it will also provide accountability around the contractors, city, and ourselves.

We started this project because we understood the need for promotion and communication with the community to help our businesses thrive during construction. Our ultimate goal is for our businesses to continue to do well during construction and the street closure. We also felt it opened the door for community buy-in and ownership of the construction project, basically we are bringing them along to dream with us about the possibilities for our district.

Currently we’re working on two multifaceted promotion campaigns, one surrounds the construction project on our street and the other is aimed at the businesses downtown.

We’ve been working with NMMS Revitalization Specialists Amy Bell, Rhea Serna, Julia Royal, Cam Wilde, and Robyne Beaubien. We see the Revitalization Specialists as the best way to extend the capabilities of our single staff person. Revitalization Specialists don’t just consult with ideas and guidance, they actually generate deliverables, push projects forward, and coordinate behind the scenes to generate more impact.

My advice to any district thinking about a project like ours is to use your Revitalization Specialists! They are honestly the resource that’s most vital to a MainStreet program and they push everything to the next level with their experience, knowledge, and help. Also, build a strong promotion team first; we ended up having to do this backwards and it has been difficult to get the projects moving in full force because we’re trying to plan without knowing what strengths and team members we have in the promotion committee.”

– Alamogordo MainStreet Executive Director Nolan Ojeda

Tucumcari MainStreet completed an events marketing plan to create a social media & public relations strategy to increase sponsorships and utilize social media advertising.

“This marketing plan will help Tucumcari MainStreet better promote our events, program, and organization. In turn, this will allow us to draw more people to the events and help expand the general knowledge of the organization’s team and mission.

We wanted to do this project to expand on the marketing we’re already doing and help increase awareness of Tucumcari MainStreet’s mission.

In the future, we plan to do another promotion campaign to ‘Meet the Board’ and promote the organization in addition to marketing our Down At The Depot, Fired Up, and holiday events.

We worked with Robyne on the development of this plan. She was thorough, thoughtful and helped us create a plan that will not only maximize our exposure but also our marketing efforts for our events and programs.

My advice to any district thinking about a project like this is to think outside the box of traditional marketing. Think through what your goals are for your organization and events, and have fun with it!”

– Tucumcari MainStreet Executive Director Connie Loveland

SE New Mexico Partnership: Small Towns, Big Fun!

Six SE NM MainStreet districts (Artesia, Carlsbad, Clovis, Lovington, Roswell, and Ruidoso) partnered on a summer event promotion campaign to boost attendance at their summer special events. They joined forces to create the Small Towns, Big Fun! campaign to capture regional tourists, boost local events, and support small businesses. Since all six communities are only a days-trip away, this Promotion project was a great opportunity for districts to support one another, boost regional tourism, and encourage visitors to explore the shopping/dining/recreation opportunities in each district.

“It was a lot of fun working with the other communities and promoting them. I love working with the NMMS Revitalization Specialists – they do an amazing job of making ideas a reality. They are always patient and supportive.

My advice to others interested in this kind of Promotion project is collaboration is key to growth.”

– Lovington MainStreet Executive Director Mara Salcido