March- December 2020
Supporting Oxford
Prepared by: Lindsay Wilson
Community Futures Oxford
About Supporting Oxford
In March 2020, businesses began choosing to close in an
effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Shortly after, non-essential
businesses were mandated to close to the public. To serve their customers
and remain viable, many businesses quickly adapted by offering delivery,
curbside pick-up and online ordering. This was a new (and fast!) pivot for
both businesses and consumers. In an effort to better connect consumers
with the new ways businesses were operating, Supporting Oxford
was launched as a simple listing of businesses in Oxford County. Listings
included information about how the businesses were adapting to serve
their customers. On March 17, the website launched in less than 24-hours
with support from Community Futures Oxford, Tourism Oxford, Rural
Oxford EDC and The Social Factory.
The listings were initially limited to businesses with a physical location
closed to the public and/or operated within tourism, food service,
hospitality, retail, or service-based offering gift certificates. As the
holidays arrived, the listing also included online stores based in Oxford
County. There are currently more than 300 consumer-facing businesses
listed on the website.
Website Statistics
Total page views to date: 67,405
Months with the most traffic:
May 2020 18,791
Nov. 2020 11,107
Top Sources and Devices
Facebook: 22,653
Mobile: 19,119
Most popular content
- Homepage (originally hosted the entire directory): 17, 366 page views
- Online Shopping/ Gifts: 7,929 page views
- Oxford Shopping Channel: 7,100 page views
The business listings are sorted into categories followed by location.
Social Media Ad Campaign Results
Between March- December, a total of 46 paid ad campaigns ran on
Supporting Oxford, Tourism Oxford and/or Oxford Fresh. Each campaign
targeted ‘supporting local’ and with an ad spend of $6488.14, the
campaigns achieved more than 1 million impressions.
Popular Campaigns
What are impressions?
Ad impressions are the total number of times the
ad appeared on someone’s screen (for example, in
their Facebook newsfeed). A simple comparison is
the number of times a commercial is played while
a consumer watches television.
Oxford Shopping Channel
This campaign focused on content that educated consumers
about where to shop locally for the holidays. This campaign
was on the market from November 9 – December 24, 2020.
The Oxford Shopping Channel was a unique take on both encouraging
local spending as well as helping local consumers find what was local to
them both in small, independent businesses and online shops. Using a series
of over 40 videos, the campaign featured more than 39 businesses with
the support of 12 collaborative partners including:
Rural Oxford Economic Development
Tourism Oxford
Community Futures Oxford
Future Oxford Legacy Fund
Tillsonburg BIA
Ingersoll BIA
Woodstock BIA
Thamesford Business Association
Tavistock Chamber of Commerce
Norwich BIA
The Social Factory
Puffin Media
Video Performance
Featuring rural and urban downtowns across the county
- 3 rural and 3 urban locations featuring 20 main street businesses
- Businesses selected based on a set of criteria (mainly strong online presence)
- 67,500 people reached across all videos
Ad campaign statistics
How the people reached saw the Oxford Shopping Channel videos in their feed:
59% The video appeared organically in their news feed
49% They saw the video because one of their friends shared it
87% People who saw the videos did not already follow Supporting Oxford
What the businesses are saying
Testimonials from small businesses
“Supporting Oxford has created so much exposure for small businesses in a time when exposure is worth its weight in gold. From the quick turnaround on the website to the social media engagement and the Support Oxford Shopping Channel, this program has done nothing short of be a beaming light for small businesses through the darkest of times.
In a time when the world was falling apart, Supporting Oxford brought us closer together. Through the quick turn around of the website, the social media engagement and the Oxford Shopping Channel, this program helped carry small businesses through an incredibly turbulent time.
The Oxford ShoppingChannel was a unique, and fabulous way to have my brand break through the white noise of the Holiday Season. It was professional and extremely safe. It also allowed me the opportunity for some networking – which quite frankly, was non-existent in 2020. Thanks for helping to grow my small biz, and the other businesses in our community.”
-Erica Marchand, Bear & Fox Apparel
“As a small business wading through the unprecedented year we have had, we have been so fortunate to receive support and assistance from various organizations in the community. The promotional tools and material aimed at supporting local businesses during this past year have been so helpful to our business in 2020. We have noticed through our analytics the increase in traffic to our website from promotional websites aimed to support locals and are so grateful for the assistance that has been openly provided. We were also supported with video interviews and promotional footage which was so helpful during the holiday season to ensure that we were able to reach new audiences and bring back returning ones as well. This was the first time our business has done video footage including recorded interviews and it was such a great positive learning experience for us. We have learned a great deal from the support provided over the past year and will continue to use it to help grow our business into the years ahead.”
-Lindsay Rennie, Betty’s Marketplace
Thank you to our partners
Supporting Oxford and the coordinated campaigns that followed became a
large project that was only possible because our partners leveraged their
strength to make it successful.
Working Group and Financial Contributions
Tourism Oxford
Rural Oxford Economic Development
Community Futures Oxford
Financial Contributions
Ingersoll BIA
Woodstock BIA
Tavistock Chamber of Commerce
Norwich BIA
Thamesford Business Association
Tillsonburg BIA
Oxford Connections
Future Oxford Legacy Fund
Special Thank You To Our Technical Experts
The Social Factory- branding and web development
Puffin Media- video production
