Town of Rocky Mountain House launches online festival to help businesses grow digitally

“The Town, along with our colleagues within the Chamber and across our local business community, have been watching the trends to see how our entrepreneurs, producers and creators are going to be successful through this year and going forward.”

Town officials point out that several studies have found there has been a huge spike in Canadians’ collective screen time.

They note a September 2020 Harvard Business Review showing social media, video and content marketing are ‘the’ forms of communication for business in our “new normal.”

According to Statistic Canada, year-over-year e-commerce sales have more than doubled with a 110.8 per cent increase since May 2019.

The #RockyOnline Festival hopes to capitalize on these trends by empowering local entrepreneurs, producers and creators with digital media education and promotion, allowing them to harness the changing landscape of e-commerce.

“Rocky Mountain House has a diverse selection of businesses within the community,” says Michelle Meatheringham, Rocky Chamber’s Administrative Executive/Community Liaison.

“One of the questions we hear from our members is how can we build our business online? This is an opportunity for businesses to learn how digital media can compliment their current business model, building awareness and growing businesses.”

Launching Nov 24 and running through Dec. 15, those who shop local across the community are invited to “tune in” to a series of Facebook LIVE events, hosted by RMH’s business community on their Facebook pages.

The collection of Facebook lives include virtual tours and the ability to “go behind the scenes” at some of the region’s top offerings.

The Town has partnered with Travel Alberta, Repsol, FestivalSeekers.com and Rocky Chamber’s “Rocky’s Passport to Christmas,” making this unique experience a reality.

“We’ve recruited Seekers Media to support the Festival’s production, a Western Canadian award winner in advancing local business opportunities through social and digital media,” says Hartling.

He adds that Economic Development has been following the success of Seekers Media’s efforts in other parts of the province, which garnered them an Alberta Urban Municipalities Association award.

“With this template, we knew it would be a perfect fit for our community’s strategy in supporting our small business,” remarks Hartling.

Seekers Media founder Jim Barr explains the process in which businesses are encouraged to join the free festival and receive one-on-one training on the art of using their smartphone as a content generation and business development tool.

“With an increased online presence, this template has shown increased sales for those participating, while encouraging more people to shop local,” he suggests.

For more about the #RockyOnline Festival, check out the event’s Facebook page, including businesses like the Farmhouse, The Crafted Keep and other Rocky Mountain House favourites.

For businesses interested in learning more, they are encouraged to reach out to the Rocky Chamber of Commerce, though space is limited.

Businesses interested in “doing more with digital” are encouraged to join their business colleagues for the “#RockyOnline” Digital Readiness Workshop on Nov 23.

Tickets are available here.

by rdnewsNOW staff

Town of Rocky Mountain House launches online festival to help businesses grow digitally

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