Enhancing your retail precinct

It's important to have a clear understanding of your precinct’s brand. This will be the foundation of your promotional materials and activities. 

Your marketing should communicate your unique offering through creative storytelling.

Tips for promoting your precinct

• Form a local business group so businesses with shared interests can work collectively to promote the precinct. Use the 'Importance of collaboration' toolkit module for help with how to do this.
• Reach out to schools, community groups and parent groups to highlight reasons to visit the precinct.
• Find out how to develop a marketing plan to help your precinct stand out. Use the 'Promoting your precinct' toolkit module for help with this.
• Encourage businesses in the street to use the free Google Business Profile listings to provide opening hours, contact information, website and social media links and photos. The ‘offers’ functionality can also be used for promotions or coupon codes.
• Seek promotion through publications such as:
  • The Urban List
  • The Weekend Edition
  • Broadsheet
  • Must Do Brisbane
  • Style Magazine
  • Concrete Playground

• Engage a digital provider to enhance an existing digital presence or build a new one.
• Encourage the ‘Support local’ experience through a shop local campaign, which could include letterbox drop to surrounding communities.
• Promote the precinct through local Facebook community pages.
• Share stories: Make short videos that businesses can use on their own social channels or on business group social channels, focusing on:
  • celebrating longstanding businesses in the precinct
  • highlighting destination businesses that have potential to bring new customers to the area
  • sharing the business story of any local business that creates positive social impact
• Promote businesses and events on the Brisbane app that provides a one-stop destination for things to see and do in Brisbane.

Access support to enhance the quality, performance and distinctiveness of businesses in your precinct.

Where to find support

• Emergency preparedness for business: Find information on developing risk mitigation and business continuity plans.
• Business recycling consultations: Access free consultation to improve way the business manages waste and resources.
• Graffiti management for small business: Get advice and assistance from graffiti liaison officers, including individual graffiti assessment on your property.
• Connect with mentors at the Brisbane Business Hub or through the Queensland Government Mentoring for Growth program.
• Attend free business events to build new skills, learn from industry experts, connect with local businesses and discover the suite of free Council support services on offer.
• Check the Queensland Government Grants Finder and the Australian Government grants system to see if there are any grants that may be suitable for your business.

Updating or refreshing the look of an area can help to re-energise your precinct and draw customers back to explore.

Tips for refreshing your precinct

• Organise a 'sign squad' to encourage or arrange removal of signs that no longer serve existing businesses.
• Decorate vacant tenancies or construction hoarding to improve streetscapes and amenity.
• Run a Clean Up event.
• Arrange for an artist to decorate any unpainted traffic signal boxes through the Artforce Brisbane program.
• Putting some greenery, such as planter boxes or hanging baskets, out the front of businesses can provide a splash of colour and improve street appeal.
• Adding a welcome mat is a small, affordable change that makes customers feel invited.
• Encourage businesses to change window displays regularly to keep passers-by interested in the store and eager to see what will be displayed next.
• Supply a bowl of water and somewhere to tether a dog are great ways to invite dog-loving customers to the precinct.
• Use seasonal décor to celebrate the holidays (but make sure it’s taken down in a timely manner).

Facilitating events and activities can create more to see and do in your precinct.

Ideas for activations

• Activate vacant premises with pop-up shops or art decals.
• Incorporate an installation to attract new customers and provide Instagram-ready moments. This can prompt customers to share photos of the installation, contributing to promotion for the business.
• Events are good ways to engage with the local community and new customers. Find out how to organise a precinct event.
• Work with other businesses for collaboration activities, for example shopping trails and progressive dinners. 
• Business associations can apply for precinct promotion and activation sponsorship to support activation events (3-month lead time required).
• Engage with schools and/or community groups to display artwork or perform in the precinct.