Dover and Wilmington back marketing plan | Business

DEERFIELD VALLEY — A marketing plan will continue to be rolled out to bring more visitors to Dover and Wilmington.

At a special joint meeting on Feb. 16, select boards of both cities approved funding for a fiscal year 2023 budget presented by Tim Dolan, who started as marketing director of the bi-city project there. about two months old.

“Thank you for your support,” Dolan said.

Dolan said that for the current fiscal year, which is the first of a five-year plan, 10F has been hired to redesign visitvermont.com, making it “much easier to navigate and much more user-friendly.”

“It’s going to allow us to create really high-quality landing pages for the ad campaigns that we’re going to put in place,” he said.

Southern Vermont Deerfield Valley Chamber paid 25% of the cost of the website upgrade. For the project, $15,000 was budgeted, but $8,000 was saved.

Dolan said Trampoline Design was hired to define “brand pillars, voice and tone, and key differentiators” to guide the advertising he hopes to begin this year.

Other efforts included hiring six local photographers and videographers. They captured content to help advertise and market the region.

The next budget of $111,957 will be split by the two cities for a total of $55,979 each.

For Dolan’s salary, $50,501 is allocated. Professional fees budgeted at $38,538 include brand development, creative fees, website maintenance, photography, videography and blogging.

The project received a $30,000 state grant. Approximately $8,000 is budgeted for photo and video shooting, and $22,000 will be used for an advertising campaign.

The spending plan calls for $98,500 for a digital ad, including $20,000 from the grant. Dolan said the goal is to create a phased campaign running from April through early October and focusing on families, young adults and diverse populations in major metropolitan areas within day’s driving distances. The majority of the campaign is expected to run on Amazon and Facebook.

Information technology positions total $2,000 and cover short-term rental website tracking programs, photo and video editing, social media management, and data tracking. The printing budget is $11,500 to purchase banners, materials to educate local business employees, and postcards to provide to lodging establishments for distribution to guests.

Wilmington Select Chairman Tom Fitzgerald, the only member of either board to vote against funding the plan, questioned whether investing for a year meant committing for five years .

“Absolutely not,” Dolan said. “We are only asking for this amount now.”

Fitzgerald raised concerns about the five-year plan, totaling around $1 million, as he reviewed past and projected costs.

“Our manufacturing disappeared a long time ago,” said Gretchen Havreluk, economic development consultant for the city of Wilmington. “[Tourism] is our industry. We have to make sure that we keep that front and center. »

Fitzgerald said about $230,000 had been spent to date and he had never seen work worth spending so heavily on. Havreluk offered to share information showing the success of the project.

The plan should be reassessed every year, said Dover Select board chair Victoria Capitani.

“A marketing plan is a coordinated plan,” said Dan Baliotti, board member of Dover Select. “It’s not something that can be done in five minutes.”