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Client Facing Marketing Plan
1. SoDo District B2C Marketing Plan
September 29, 2019
Eric Alpizar, Ana Caires Saboia, Enrico Guasti, Marc Tejeda, Jordan Trammell
2. Table of Contents
1.0 Executive Summary 3
2.0 Situation Analysis 3
2.1 Overview 3
2.1.1 SWOT Analysis 3
2.1.2 Target Market 4
2.1.3 Online Presence 5
2.2 Rival Districts 5
3.0 Objective 6
4.0 Personas 6
5.0 Online Presence 7
5.1 Social Media 7
5.1.1 Humanizing the District 7
5.1.2 Video Content 8
5.2 Website 9
5.2.1 Consumer UX 9
5.2.2 Automated Widgets 9
6.0 Physical Presence 10
6.1 Display Advertising 10
6.1.1 Locals 11
6.1.2 Tourists 11
6.2 Landmarks 11
7.0 References 12
8.0 Appendices 13
A. Example Business Spotlight Blog Post 13
B. Mock-up Lamp Post Banner 14
C. Editorial Calendar 15
3. 1.0 Executive Summary
The SoDo (South Downtown) district is a region of Orlando with aims to entice
more consumers to enjoy the many businesses that have congregated within
its limits. Already well established as a successful navigator of the business-
to-business arena, SoDo now aims to reinforce their business-to-consumer
strategy.
This marketing plan shall illustrate several unique tactics which could benefit
SoDo’s already established marketing endeavors. The plan includes three
distinct areas of focus: social media/online presence, community building, and
consumer-based marketing.
Section 5.0 will conjure ideas on how SoDo’s established web presence can
be altered to be more inviting to consumers.
Section 6.0 demonstrates theories that will help transform the district into a
true community; which will motivate consumers to return frequently.
In summary, this marketing plan will illuminate steps that should lead to
greater numbers of visitors, shoppers, consumers, and residents without
exhausting valuable resources or time. SoDo will accomplish its goals while
executing a plan that is both efficient and sustainable.
2.0 SituationAnalysis
2.1 Overview
The following section will demonstrate in greater detail an assessment of
SoDo’s current attributes; to include: strengths and weaknesses, target
demographics, and online presence.
2.1.1 SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
The SoDo District is a vibrant, eye-catching ecosystem where residents and
locals in the community can live, work and play with 440 businesses all close
by. The district attracts people for numerous of reasons being surrounded by
Orlando’s historic neighborhoods known for their lakes, walkable parks and
streets the district has an advantage.
4. In 2016 SoDo District was awarded a Golden Brick Award (City of Orlando).
The Golden Brick Awards recognize projects that have positively impacted
Downtown Orlando.
Weaknesses:
A challenge the district faced was 3 years ago on June 12, 2016, there was
an attack on the LGBT community at PULSE Nightclub killing 49 people and
injuring 53. The result is that outsiders looking in associates SoDo with that
event.
District leadership is burdened with many responsibilities and wants for great
efficiency to compensate for their work load.
Opportunities:
There’s an opportunity to create a specific B2C strategy to match the already
well developed B2B strategy.
Also, there’s an opportunity to solicit at major events that happen at the
Amway Center and Bob Carr Center with them being walking distance from
the district.
Threats:
Although the district is building a museum in remembrance of those who were
lost in the PULSE event, the survivors and family members have formed an
organization to oppose the building. The reasoning for this is because they
feel that any memorial constructed on public property, and any money raised
for the museum should be channeled to survivors, they said (Associated
Press).
The 2030 report projects that Central Florida will add roughly 1,500 people
per week, buoying the population to over 5.2 million residents, up from the
current 4.3 million (Orlando Weekly). This uncertainty will have an effect on
the metropolitan area in many unforeseen ways.
2.1.2 TargetMarket
The Personas (section 4.0) are a representation of the Target Market. SoDo
residents are mainly 35 to 55 years old, male, with an average of 2 people per
households and employed which is represented by Kevin Joshua that is 35
years old, male, married with no kids and employed. The individuals from
5. SoDo are a target market because our plan will enhance the sense of a
community.
Also, residents around SoDo are an important marked, for example, Winter
Park. Winter Park has a concentration of Colleges and Universities, and we
can target their students and staffs, and Chris Smith is a representation of
them. He is 20 years old, male, singles, a college student, and employed.
Lastly, SoDo can benefit from Orlando Theme Parks already existed market.
The city receives more than 51 million tourists every year, and they come
from the USA and all over the world. Kin Akiyama represents those tourists:
female, 40 years old, married with kids, employed and visits Orlando’s theme
parks every year and also explore the city.
2.1.3 Online Presence
South Downtown Orlando is already fully prepared to welcome consumers
and potential residents alike. SoDo has a strong online presence
demonstrating a powerful business-to-business brand. The district is already
enjoying healthy commercial success and is only searching for further
stimulation to attract greater numbers of consumers.
Their online presence holds many key strengths including: well-designed
website, strong Facebook community, engaging Twitter account, and well
positioned Instagram account.
2.2 Rival Districts
There are a total of 10 districts including SoDo as a part of the main street division.
Each has their own distinct features that lure visitors in. Some are a hub for urban
living, entertainment, farmers market or historic and European living. What makes
SoDo righteous in its own is that it contains the major medical facilities of Orlando to
help improve the economic stability of the district.
*Below is a graph to compare what the other districts are known for
6. 3.0 Objective
The objective is to attract a greater number of consumers to SoDo to enjoy
the fantastic businesses already congregated in the district.
The core strategies are to enhance SoDo’s online presence and main-street
physical appearance.
The online presence will be enhanced by creating more casual/humanized
content that is more attractive to consumers (which will be further detailed in
subsection 5.1.1). Focus areas include: social media posts about the
community, videos about the businesses through a consumer point of view,
and by reposting/sharing community generated content through Facebook.
The physical presence of SoDo will be enhanced by display advertisements
that are intended to create local awareness and generate a sense of
community. Additionally, there will be a display advertising push focusing on
locally relevant areas.
4.0 Personas
Kevin Joshua
Located in SoDo district
Male, 35 years old, married, employed
Earns 3 times the minimum wage salary, interested in cars and
gourmet food
He benefits from the SoDo by going to restaurants, doing groceries
and weekend entertainment.
7. Chris Smiths
Located in Winter Park
Male, 20 years old, single, college student, employed
Earns 2 times the minimum wage salary, interested in music and
entertainment.
He benefits from the SoDo by going on the weekends for
entertainment and dining.
Kin Akiyama
Located in Tokyo, Japan
Female, 40 years old, married parent, employed
Earns 4 times the minimum wage salary (JPY converted to USD)
She loves visiting Orlando’s theme parks with her family and visits
once a year.
She benefits from the SoDo district by getting to know more
interesting parts of Orlando instead of the theme parks areas.
5.0 OnlinePresence
5.1 SocialMedia
SoDo already has an established and attractive social media presence on
Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Ideas to adjust activities on these platforms
to better target consumers will prove easy on such impressive framework.
Below are three strategies to accomplish this objective.
5.1.1 Humanizing the District
As the year 2020 rapidly approaches, it must acknowledge that the integration
of social media into one’s everyday life is truly complete. Consumers on social
media are found to more frequently engage with brands and ideas on these
social platforms when the content seems alive, not manufactured. To capture
the consumer’s attention, making an emotional connection will prove more
fruitful than establishing a professional one.
It is important to reiterate that SoDo’s current social media presence is far
from callous or robotic. This strategy is nothing more than a slight altering of
8. the attitude of SoDo’s already strong online foundation. The adjustment will
move content away from a “Professional” as a B2B staple, and more towards
“Fun and Alive” more commonly observed in B2C.
Posts, promotions, and replies only require a minor sprinkle of humanity and
enthusiasm to attract the attention of a social media user; a user whom
otherwise is perpetually bombarded by soulless advertisements and junk mail.
Consumers who feel as though SoDo’s online persona is a living and
breathing thing will be far more likely to engage online, and eventually
participate in SoDo’s commerce in person.
5.1.2 Video Content
An addition on the SoDo website will be a Business Spotlight section, to be
integrated into SoDo’s blog page. This will be a weekly post every Thursday
focusing on one business within the district.
Each business chosen that week will have the opportunity to create a 2-3-
minute video to be featured by SoDo. These videos can be simply made from
a phone with a selfie stick or however they chose to film it.
Ideally, the person recording will give a tour of the business establishment
while giving interview questions to the consumers like Kevin, Chris, and Kin
asking them about themselves, and why they like to shop or eat there. The
description under the video post will include info, the history, and what deals
or discounts might be going on. This will give personality to the business, in
addition to SoDo.
5.1.3 CommunityGenerated Content
The strategy of community generated content is mutually beneficial to all
parties engaged. The primary method of implementation is through the SoDo
Facebook group. This group will evolve into a space where consumers,
businesses, and district personnel of SoDo can all be seen and heard. When
consumers and businesses engage with each other naturally, it is both an
opportunity and benefit for SoDo. Even better, if these parties create content.
The strategy is to simply stimulate these centers of communication and
community in regular intervals to promote their continued use. Eventually, the
aim is to allow these communities to become self-sustaining and perpetuate
discussion and promotion on their own.
9. Another area where this strategy is effective is via Twitter. Whenever a SoDo
consumer or business tweets about their SoDo experience, the official SoDo
Twitter need only retweet these posts with a brief reply or engagement to
spread the reach of this content.
Not only is this naturally earned publicity effective at gathering the attention of
consumers; it is wonderfully efficient. A well-executed retweet or share could
eliminate the need for original social media content, thus alleviating work flow.
5.2 Website
The official SoDo website is delightful to look at and is well laid out and
organized. In its current state, it is set up to be a powerful business to
business resource. There is room to grow in regard to business-to-consumer
endeavors.
Only a slight revamp is required in some areas of the website to increase its
use to consumers. The following subsections will illuminate how great can be
made greater.
5.2.1 ConsumerUX
First, the areas of the website that have not been updated in a long time could
potentially be removed or altered to become more manageable. Even if the
existing content is fantastic, a consumer is unfortunately discouraged when
blogs or updates are infrequent. To this end, “less is more” may be a motto to
employ to reduce the burden on frequent updates. A streamlined website with
only easily updated sections should give the appearance to the consumers
that the lights are on. “Someone lives or works here, and they care.”
Secondly, the top bar and drop-down menus are well designed and have an
appealing aesthetic; but can lead the average consumer to become misled or
confused. One example is the “Things to Do” selection delivers a user to a
page with a list of SoDo business partners. The business partners could be
listed on a different page and the “Things to Do” page instead provide a mall
directory of sorts, that will clearly show what business or attractions are
located within SoDo.
5.2.2 AutomatedWidgets
10. Thirdly, social media websites over a wide variety of tools and widgets that
can be embedded directly into a website. An example is a Facebook feed of
the events taking place in or around SoDo. This feed of information is
generated by all business and community leaders within the SoDo Facebook
group and is automatically updated. Should this feed also be included on the
SoDo webpage, we would discover a maintenance/hassle free extension that
will accurately convey to a visiting consumer what SoDo has to offer.
6.0 PhysicalPresence
Establishing landmarks or indicators of the district will allow visitors and locals
to become more familiar with the SoDo limits and brand.
The importance of physical presence lies in building an understanding with
the visitors and residents. The goal of this strategy is to create an informed
thought of “I’m still in Orlando, but now I’m in the SoDo district.”
6.1 Display Advertising
There are lots of methods on how to advertise a district like SoDo. The next
topics will show the methods of advertising that should be more benefit to the
district.
Transportation Posters: Lynx buses and train station would be an excellent
spot to advert the district on posters. Outside the bus driving around Orlando
showing the advertising of SoDo can catch the attention of most of the people
around town that are driving or walking. People that catch the train will also
find SoDo’s advertisement at the train station near downtown, at this point
SoDo will be covering all the major local transportation reaching a lot of
people in town.
Newspaper: A partnership with the Orlando Sentinel or Orlando Weekly will
provide SoDo the attention it needs from the local people to see the ad on the
newspaper and look for more information of the district at their website and
social media. Readers would be reached really fast because of their loyalty to
the local newspaper.
Post Banners: When in SoDo, banners on light posts will make the visitor
know that they’re at SoDo district driving or walking towards South Downtown
Orlando. The banners give the appearance of an important district in town that
wants the visitor to know how great that part of the map is and can show how
much that area has to offer to visitors. The impression will be positive
11. because it’s a sign of independence and power among the downtown area
that attracts a lot of people daily.
6.1.1 Locals
For locals, having a physical presence in the community is for a sense of
pride to show that it is thriving socially, economically and culturally. Something
as small as a banner can inspire and motivate the people to take action in the
community.
6.1.2 Tourists
Tourists are an excellent bonus for SoDo. As shown in the Personas section,
tourists that visit Orlando for theme parks can be beneficial for the district.
Those tourists come from all over Central Florida and Orlando to downtown
near SoDo for Magic games, Bob Carr theater or for whatever else that
downtown can offer.
With that being said, the intersection point between all those tourists is the
Orlando International Airport. MCO has received more than 4.3 million
passengers just in May of 2019 and has been growing 15% per year. Millions
of people pass through the airport and areas around monthly meaning that
banners, posters, even newspapers are extremely effective when it comes to
gaining visibility for the district.
6.2 Landmarks
SoDo’s brand is already positioned to be a synergy of industry and the arts,
so this strategy is just to take that one step further. In the appendices will be a
mock-up of what minor signage could look like, embellished with the SoDo
logo, to signify to commuters and residents alike that they are within the limits
of SoDo. This is directly motivated by benchmarks set by colleges throughout
Florida.
While driving near or around a major college, you may never actually lay eyes
on the campus or a school building, but the flags and banners hanging from
street lights and decorating landmarks will make that institution known. This
strategy will raise awareness of the SoDo district and also directly reinforce
community building.
12. When in SoDo, banners on light posts will make the visitor know that they’re
at SoDo district driving or walking towards South Downtown Orlando. The
banners give the appearance of an important district in town that wants the
visitor to know how great that part of the map is and can show how much that
area has to offer to visitors. The impression will be positive because it’s a sign
of independence and power among the downtown area that attracts a lot of
people daily.
7.0 References
A local thing. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.orlandomainstreets.com/districts/sodo-district/
Staff, O. W. (2019, September 6). Orlando's SoDo neighborhood has
transformed into a legit locale. Retrieved from
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/orlandos-sodo-neighborhood-has-
transformed-into-a-legit-locale/Content?oid=25061611
Fantz, A., Karimi, F., & McLaughlin, E. C. (2016, June 13). 49 killed in Florida
nightclub terror attack. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/index.html
Aguilera, J., & Fitzgerald, M. (n.d.). Concerns Surround Pulse Nightclub
Memorial Construction. Retrieved from https://time.com/5605008/pulse-
nightclub-onepulse-memorial-museum-audit/
Press, T. A. (2019, August 15). Community group opposes museum for Pulse
nightclub massacre. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-
out/community-group-opposes-museum-pulse-nightclub-massacre-n1042681
Georgieff, L. (2019, May 7). 13 Tips for Anyone Moving to Orlando. Retrieved
from https://www.lifestorage.com/blog/moving/moving-to-orlando-tips/
Peters, X. (2019, September 14). More than 5.2 million people will call Central
Florida home in 2030, report estimates. Retrieved from
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/03/30/more-than-52-million-
people-will-call-central-florida-home-in-2030-report-estimates
13. 8.0 Appendices
A. Example BusinessSpotlightBlogPost
Example B.S Blog
Freshfields Fram is a fresh market that offers the freshest produce,
meats, seafood.
They started out as an small meat market in Orlando in 1973. They
was first named “Momm’s Meats Popp’s Produce” but decided
changed there name in 2008 to “Freshfields Farm” to signal their
increased commitment to offering the highest quality and freshest meat
and produce.
Currently instore they have daily deals with their meats and produce.