A website and media campaign, live in four hours
Days before a town vote on a Colonial Beach development, the developer needed a press release, then a web presence to inform residents and tourists in an area with few local newspapers left.
A press release approved within a day, and a website built in four hours, with a sign-up form so the developer could keep interested residents, buyers and investors informed.
The story ran in several outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where it was the most-read story of the day.
The need
Days before a scheduled vote to approve a real estate development in Colonial Beach, Va., our longtime partner at Dodson Development called to tell us about the project.
The first request was simple: a press release. But as we learned more, it became clear the developer also needed a presence on the web. Colonial Beach has few community newspapers left to cover a town meeting, and residents and tourists needed somewhere to learn about the project.
Our approach
We drafted the press release and had it approved within a day.
The website came next. The development’s name and branding were still being worked out, so we reserved a generic web address and built the site in Squarespace. Total time: four hours.
The site is a digital brochure with one addition that matters: a sign-up form that captures the names of interested people. As the project moves forward, the developer has a list to keep informed. That list includes residents who want a voice in the project, along with potential home buyers, business owners and investors who could help bring it to life.
Ideally, a project like this gets a few weeks of planning. This one didn’t have them. There was no time for long strategy sessions, so we stayed flexible and relied on experience to get it done right.
The outcome
The story ran in several media outlets. Thanks to our relationships with Virginia reporters and editors, it reached the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the state’s newspaper of record, where it was the most-read story of the day.