The Bank Street Business Improvement Area will rely more on cost-effective social media advertising in the coming year as it continues with a plan to a build new image.
The BIA, a non-profit organization of businesses that spans 15 blocks on Bank Street from Wellington Street to Gladstone Avenue, presented its 2014 budget at its annual general meeting on Tuesday evening.
Kevin Martin, who helps direct marketing for the organization, said promoting the BIA through social media is a cost-effective alternative to print advertising. In August, the BIA got more than 80,000 webpage views through Facebook after spending $450 on online advertising, he said.
In 2014, the BIA will reveal a new website and create new marketing campaigns to boost sales when business is predictably slow, according to the annual report. The group also hopes to expand the BIA several blocks south to Catherine Street.
“The whole purpose of marketing the street is to get people onto the street,” Martin said.
Earlier this year the area changed its name from Bank Street Promenade to Downtown Bank Street. The group also revealed a new slogan – “Downtown. At the intersection of everything.”
Now that most of the one-time costs of rebranding are complete, the 2014 marketing costs will be lower, says executive director Christine Leadman. Also, marketing will cost less as the BIA replaces community events with more online marketing.
Project marketing expenses halved from the 2013 to the 2014 budget, a decrease in spending of more than $200,000. These expenses account for 37 per cent of the 2014 budget, compared to 59 per cent of the 2013 budget.
Jim MacFarlane, owner of Sports 4, says the street needs to attract major retailers, such as the Gap, to get new and different customers.
“We don’t need any more shawarma places, we don’t need anymore massage parlours and nail salons,” MacFarlane says. “We need to show that we are trying to clean up a bit of the street.”