Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Hundreds of people attend the 42nd annual I love America Night at Wald Park in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. City officials want to use a new marketing campaign to easily share information about Vestavia Hills businesses with people who attend events like this.
Vestavia Hills businesses will get some additional publicity thanks to a grant from the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.
The $10,000 grant, awarded under the commission’s Economic Development Grant Program, will be used for a new marketing initiative at Vestavia Hills city parks and athletic facilities encouraging visitors to patronize area businesses.
Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes said his team has learned much about traffic patterns at city parks and recreational facilities since installing a cutting-edge platform tracking cell phone locations in 2023. Downes said the data has enabled the city to learn about people who visit parks in Vestavia Hills during special events, such as athletic tournaments and city festivals.
“We identified where visitors are coming from to our parks,” Downs said. “Now, we want to capture them and encourage them and give them tools to shop at our businesses.”
Assistant City Manager Cinnamon McCulley said the city realized it gets thousands of visitors to city parks every year, specifically at Wald Park, Cahaba Heights Park and the Liberty Park complex.
"So during these tournaments, there are a lot of people from out of town, and so it occurred to us that when people come to our parks they may or may not be familiar with our area," McCulley said.
The marketing plan, approved by the Vestavia Hills City Council Monday night, will pay for sign installation in parks and recreation facilities. Each sign will include a map and a QR code displaying directions to restaurants, shopping centers and other businesses throughout the area.
"When you scan the QR code, It will take you to a Google map that shows you everything by category — restaurants, places where you can get a massage, have your nails done in between games,” McCulley said. “Whatever you're looking for, somewhere to eat, somewhere to relax, and enjoy the city."
The beauty of that is it's right here on their phone,” she added. “They can click the destination, and it gives them the direction and really helps our visitors experience Vestavia Hills, find what they're looking for, know where they're going and just stay here and do things here."
While the marketing initiative is designed to promote businesses in every part of Vestavia Hills, McCulley said she believes it will be particularly useful in some communities that are more difficult to navigate for visitors, such as Liberty Park.
“If you’re at Wald Park, it’s easier to find the Baumhower's right there, or there are a lot of other restaurants that are easy to find. If you’re in Liberty Park that’s a little more challenging,” McCulley said. “Because you’re in a neighborhood, it’s just harder to find where you want to go to eat.
“They may not know that if you go 2 miles down the street, there are places to eat and plenty of services that you can shop at, so they go into Irondale or they go other places when they don't have to go that far,” McCulley said. “So really that's ultimately the goal — just to be able to share that information and make it easier for our visitors.”
The total cost of the marketing plan is $12,250, with the city contributing the remaining $2,250 following the $10,000 RPC grant.
