Growing Business & Community - Marketing alongside events

Printed in Niagara Frontier Publications 5/19/23  

Each year business owners and residents start calling our office in early January looking for the popular “Come and Play in our Backyard” event calendar.  The Chamber prints the pocket sized calendar with a comprehensive list featuring some of the major festivals and events in the region.  It is a nice resource that comes in handy when planning schedules. With over 20,000 distributed throughout the region, we still have a stockpile available at the Chamber office if you would like to have one to keep on hand.

At a recent business group meeting comprised of mostly retailers, we encouraged businesses to plan their marketing alongside events to maximize exposure.  The discussion took place around foot traffic for shopping and browsing and how businesses can encourage more of it.  Marketing with events isn’t a new concept by any means, but sometimes businesses get wrapped up in the day to day that it’s easy to forget about opportunities available to work from. 

Here are a few ways to promote your business around events:
Our local newspapers do a great job of congregating ads around their event sections.  Consider placing an ad in the next insert to showcase your business. The publishers of the local papers create opportunities for businesses to advertise around event advertorial, schedule info and more.

Offer promotions or sales during an event that can be geared towards the event audience.

Tag, mention or hashtag the event and event organizers in your social media promotion.  This helps expand the reach of the event and also aligns you with their followers. Create original content around the event with your own photos/video.

Artpark just sent out a full schedule highlighting the 50^th season of programming, with the first event starting on Saturday with an outdoor Native American Ceremony and a Main Stage Concert on Sunday with the Avett Brothers.  The Artpark audience spans from all over Western New York and beyond.  They are looking for things to do and places to explore in the region.  Tag Artpark and #lewistonny

Old Fort Niagara draws visitors from all over the world.  This weekend is their Artillery programming.  Tag the Old Fort Niagara and #youngstownny in your weekend promotions!  The Youngstown Yacht Club, Everything Youngstown and Youngstown Business & Professional Association have some great events coming up that fill Main Street with people.

Ransomville Speedway has brought a crowed every weekend from May through September from all over Western New York!  Tag the Ransomville Speedway and #ransomvilleny in your posts!  

The Sanborn Farm Festival is coming up in July and brings tractor enthusiasts and their families in the middle of July.  Tag the Sanborn Area Historical Association and #sanbornny.

Consider partner with other businesses and tagging your neighbor businesses and organizations when posting. 

Working together can help us gain new awareness to the regions services, dining, shopping, attractions and outdoor experiences.  For a full listing of events, check out our community calendar online at www.UpwardNiagara.com

Jennifer Pauly, President
Upward Niagara