Hill City chamber gets marketing grant

The Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce has secured a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Marketing Assistance Program Grant.

The grant is administered by the South Dakota Department of Tourism and is funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed to aid recovery during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Oct. 14 of this year the South Dakota Department of Tourism announced that Gov. Kristi Noem and the South Dakota Legislature were making CARES Act funding available for DMO marketing assistance to DMOs like the Hill City Chamber,” said Janet Wetovick-Bily, executive director of the Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce. “In a special legislative session, $5 million was allocated to DMOs to assist them with COVID-related marketing expenses from March 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020. The Chamber secured $45,000.00 in marketing funding assistance.”

The deadline for expending these funds is Dec. 30 for service performed in the timeframe of March to Dec. 30.

The DMO Marketing Assistance Program dollars are from the federal CARES Act passed to assist states with their recovery efforts during the COVID pandemic, Wetovick-Bily said, and the funds do have some restrictions as directed by provisions of the CARES Act. The funds are to be used for sales and marketing initiatives and associated expenses for the resumption of tourism activities and efforts to communicate public safety to visitors.

“Efforts that include, but are not limited to, advertising, public relations, direct sales, content development and associated production and administrative costs directly related to these efforts. Wetovick-Bily said.

Further, the funds are to be used for COVID-related services, marketing and products needed and used between March 1 and Dec. 30 only, she added.

“Thanks to the amazing and dedicated efforts of our friends at SD Tourism, Black Hills and Badlands Tourism Association and the many voices of our tourism industry partners and DMOs like us who advocated for assistance, we had been awaiting word of this funding outcome for our industry,” Wetovick-Bily said. “As soon as it was announced on Oct. 14, the chamber was contacted and encouraged to apply and we set the wheels of application in motion.”

In order to receive the grant, the chamber needed to follow all the rigorous application guidelines, which included determining eligibility and providing extensive, exacting detailed registration with supporting documentation.

Once approved and going forward, the chamber must follow tracking and reporting guidelines. 

“As a recipient of this funding, at the chamber we are extraordinarily grateful to have had this opportunity to promote safe travel and to showcase Hill City,” Wetovick-Bily said. “And for this opportunity which allows us to work with our local partners Brian Rupert, Evergreen Media, Black Hills and Badlands Tourism Association and South Dakota Magazine.”

Hill City’s comprehensive plan with these partners includes strategies aligned with the intent of the grant and proper messaging, she said, and features (but is not limited to) targeted digital tourism advertising and targeted digital event campaigns, video production, other local advertising, enhanced presence on multiple websites, blogs, eblasts, rotating digital ads, community stories, presence on a travel planner page, development of visithillcitysd.com landing pages, targeted social media campaigns aimed at holiday shopping, visits, vacationing and vacation planning and lead generation.

Strategies are enfolded in a several-tiered approach that covers the larger multi-state regional efforts of South Dakota Tourism and Black Hills Badlands in premium markets and local efforts aimed toward cities within a day’s drive as well as those who live within 50 miles or an hour’s drive of the Black Hills for visiting and shopping, Wetovick-Bily said.

“Overall, this funding was a great boost to the chamber's efforts in promoting Hill City’s events and amenities and messaging for future planning and visits to Hill City,” she added.