Staff report
Woodstock is investing in content development for future marketing campaigns.
The Select Board unanimously approved the Economic Development Commission’s (EDC)’s request to spend an additional $42,000 in marketing at a meeting on Sept. 20 to continue funding through February.
“The purpose of the platform is to collect names of people and contact information and to identify their interests,” EDC chair Jon Spector told the board.
The marketing program has been underway since last August. The EDC is paying Class Four, a production company in Burlington, $100,000 to make content for all four seasons, which will be posted on Facebook to attract tourists.
Spector told the Select Board that the program has already been a success.
“We think over the next five or six months we can get 20,000 to 25,000 more contacts to market to,” he said.
The intent of the marketing program has been debated within the EDC. The board discussed the need for the program at its August meeting.
Some EDC members argued visitation to Woodstock is already at a high and funding should be used on current residents. Others, including Spector ,said at the time marketing is needed because some residents in Woodstock were once tourists.
The EDC is funded by Woodstock’s 1% option tax, which in the past has collected about $200,000 annually, but with the surge in sales and visitors from the pandemic, the revenues are expected to increase by slightly more than $45,000.
“We’re doing better than we forecasted,” Spector told the Select Board.
