MARKETING DOWNTOWN Marketing the District To communicate the thriving environment within Wichita’s urban district, the Downtown Wichita organization employs a communications team to work in partnership with the public and private sector to develop and implement strategies to creatively communicate the vision outlined in Project Downtown as well as progress on development initiatives. The internal staff manages the Downtown Wichita’s district branding and communications. From print materials to managing an influential digital presence, the communications team creates content for and engages on foundational platforms to share messages tailored to key downtown audiences: developers, residents, visitors, businesses and employees. In 2017, there were a total of 204,864 visitors to www.downtownwichita.org. The top three pages visited were the interactive map, parking information and the events calendar. Social media channels grew steadily throughout the year, including a 25% increase on Facebook, a 33% increase on Instagram, and a 9.3% increase on Twitter. Strategic promotional items were produced in 2017 to further market Downtown including coasters and stickers distributed by district restaurants, bars and food trucks, and fun socks were given away to showcase Downtown Wichita pride. 3 9 D O W N T O W N