COVID-19 Response
The effects of COVID-19 hit Harrisonburg in mid-March 2020, leading to a ripple effect of closures, pivots, new offerings, and first forays into e-commerce as small businesses struggled to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape and adapt in ways that could maintain their revenue streams while keeping their customers and employees safe. Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance (HDR) similarly had to adapt quickly as we faced major upheavals with our internal events and plans and suddenly needed to support downtown businesses with resources, assistance, and promotions wherever possible.
COVID-19 Directory
I immediately enlisted the help of HDR staff and interns to help me source and compile information to make an all-in-one resource for community members looking to support local businesses. This went through a few changes before landing on a table format that displays contact information and online shopping links at a glance. The page has been regularly promoted by HDR via organic social and email newsletters and has seen significant viral reach in the community. In the first month of its existence, this page has received nearly 11,000 sessions from over 7,000 unique users. Additionally, one organic Facebook post highlighting the directory saw an all-time high reach of 52,000 users and nearly 10,000 post clicks.
The success of this directory also led to the creation of a business-specific page in which I compiled all financial, technical, and community resources for small businesses that we have identified thus far.
#EverydayHVA
To encourage the safe support of downtown businesses and also help foster some social media positivity, I strategized and produced the #EverydayHVA campaign. In this campaign, we asked the community to support the small businesses they'd normally be frequenting — their "Everyday HVA" routine — through the purchase of gift cards or online shopping for a chance to win a $25 gift card in return. You can learn more about the campaign and the mechanisms for entering on its landing page here. I also collaborated with local artist Hannah Johnson to distribute downtown Harrisonburg coloring pages to all entrants as a bonus perk. Additionally, local marketer Mike Miriello reached out to me to provide photography and coordinate social media posts about the campaign 'from' his clients who were looking to get involved in supporting local businesses. The campaign was launched March 23rd and has enjoyed steady growth in entries week-over-week with promotion via our organic social and email marketing channels.
Social Media
Social media has played a bigger role than ever in the time of COVID, with our Facebook and Instagram channels offering the quickest way to share rapidly-changing news and updates with our community. In addition to sharing closures, changes, fundraising campaigns, and product offerings from downtown businesses, I've been focusing on finding and sharing 'feel-good' stories and sources of positivity from business owners and community members downtown. HDR intern and local writer Katie Mitchell has been producing regular HDR blog content highlighting the "Friendly Faces of the Friendly City" all year and has pivoted that focus to interviewing those who are currently making a difference in the community in response to COVID-19. We've been seeing massively increased engagement with our organic social media in general since the start of the pandemic, showing that the downtown Harrisonburg community has been looking to us during this time of crisis. HDR has been receiving frequent accolades from Main Street organizations all over the country on my timely and engaging social media and marketing work in response to COVID-19.