Fort Sedgwick Historical Society (FSHS) was approved to participate in the Restart Industry Associations Program by the Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) in September 2021.
The purpose of FSHS is to promote understanding and appreciation of the history of Sedgwick County, and the surrounding area for Coloradans and visitors to Colorado. With a reach of more than 300,000 visitors annually to the Colorado Welcome Center at Julesburg, FSHS serves as the management entity for the Fort Sedgwick Museum, Depot Museum at Julesburg, the Old Ford Garage, and the South Platte River Trail Colorado Scenic & Historic Byway.
FSHS was paired with Olivia Ward, a CRAFT Mentor with experience in travel and tourism social media marketing, digital advertising, and digital content strategy, to deliver 75 hours of free consulting to conduct the activities listed below.
The purpose of this project was to support the reopening of the Depot Museum at Julesburg by developing timely digital marketing materials to drive visitation and foster broader long-term awareness of all FSHS locations.
Project objectives included:
- develop a digital marketing press kit that includes a media pitch and three social media posts to promote the Depot Museum
- audit and update current Fort Sedgwick Facebook page to align with platform best practices and enable the best visitor research experience
- refresh current digital placements to promote the three museums, including Google Business Profile (GBP), Tripadvisor, townofjulesburg.com and colorado.com
FSHS achieved the following results with its Restart Industry Associations Mentor:
- media press kit for publications and local businesses to help promote the opening of the Depot Museum at Julesburg
- FSHS Facebook page updates that includes name, hours, and description
- 2022 content calendar and posted updates to Facebook and GBP profiles
- claimed and updated GBP and Tripadvisor profiles for three museums:
- four digital stories to be featured in Google searches, on FSHS’s Facebook page, townofjulesburg.com, and colorado.com
- landing page photo and copy updates for the museum page on townofjulesburg.com
- logo designed for FSHS digital profiles
- digital payment and donation recommendations for the museums
- magazine advertisement for the Colorado Life magazines
About Restart Industry Associations Program
The Restart Industry Associations Program supports Colorado tourism industry associations to drive faster recovery as they emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Awarded industry associations receive 75 hours of free consulting and $10,000 in direct marketing support from the Colorado Tourism Office. This program was made possible by a CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.