What is Choose Humboldt?
The "Choose Humboldt" campaign is a strategic initiative designed to boost local shopping during the 2023 holiday season in Humboldt County. With economic indicators suggesting a challenging landscape for local businesses, this campaign becomes essential in fortifying our community's economic health.
The campaign was founded in 2020 in partnership with Humboldt’s Chambers of Commerce, Business Improvement Districts, Economic Development Non-Profits,
City of Eureka and Main Street Programs of Humboldt County promote a County-wide “buy local” campaign during the holiday shopping season of 2020 at the begining stages of the COVID19 global pandemic, an event that would forever change our economy.
Economic Context
National retail organizations predict a modest increase in overall holiday spending. However, local businesses face stiff competition from e-commerce giants and big-box retailers.
Consumer spending trends indicate a cautious approach due to economic uncertainties, potentially impacting smaller, local businesses more severely.
According to the Small Business Economic Impact Study by American Express, for every dollar spent at a small business, approximately 67 cents stays within the local community.
A survey by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance found that small businesses in cities with active "buy local" campaigns experienced markedly higher revenue growth compared to those in areas without such campaigns.
Business Participation
Campaign Overview
Local Radio Ads: Tailored advertisements promoting local shopping benefits.
Local Print Publications: Full-page & Half-page ads and articles featuring local businesses.
Buying Guides Collaboration: Jointly produced guides with chambers and organizations, emphasizing local shopping options.
Social Media Campaign: Utilizing #choosehumboldt to amplify local business visibility. Full activity dedication to the campaign on all of Humboldt Made’s owned channels, totalling over 115,000 followers. Collaborations with other accounts throughout the shopping season.
Collaborative Support: Enhancing chamber of commerce and mainstreet organization programs with additional resources, advisory support, and materials as needed.
In-person visits to local businesses: promoting the campaign, gathering special dates and promotion details for individual businesses, and gather social media content for promotions.
Giveaways and contests: promotion and collaborative support with existing giveaways and contests by local businesses.
Distribution of “Choose Humboldt” window-clings.
Throughout this campaign over the months of November, December and into January as we welcome in the New Year - Humboldt Made will be telling the colorful stories of our local small businesses and maker community.
One of the most sustainable outlets to making long lasting consumer connections is through real stories directly from the people behind the brands.
As we launch this campaign, we will be consolidating these local stories, along with each businesses in-store promotions, events, sales opportunities and information about the business or product to bolster brand awareness that will be shared on our owned platforms as well as in local media publications, radio, press releases and radio/TV pitches.
Record a 30-60 second audio or video clip on your phone that can be used on social media, or audio extracted for other types of posts.
Share with us all seasonal activations including in-store events, sales, promotions, contests, etc. Make sure to include date, times and places. The more details the better!
Use the #ChooseHumboldt hashtag on all of your social media posts, and make sure to tag @HumboldtMade - this helps us track and reshare everything you post online, and also helps consumers follow the progress of the the campaign.
Proudly display a Choose Humboldt window cling in your storefront window or doorway - if you dont have one yet, let us know and we will hand deliver it to you!
Ready to Get Involved?
Send us a message today with any questions,
We cant wait to jump in and support you and your business!
