Is Grow Eau Claire's Video Hub a Smart Move for Your B2C Brand?

As a local B2C business owner, you’re always looking for smart, affordable ways to connect with more customers. You want to be seen, heard, and discovered by the very people who walk past your storefront or scroll through their phones right here in our amazing city.

In this overview, we’ll show why the Grow Eau Claire Video Hub offers exceptional value for B2C businesses — combining powerful marketing reach with a hyper local focus and a budget-friendly structure built to last.

What Grow Eau Claire Is

Grow Eau Claire is a truly local initiative designed to shine a spotlight on the businesses and people who make Eau Claire special. Built in partnership with the City of Eau Claire Economic Development Division, it gives our community something new: a city-hosted video hub where local businesses can tell their story and advertise directly to the audiences who live, work, and move here.

The hub—located at video.eauclairedevelopment.com—offers businesses a powerful, trustworthy home for their video content, boosting visibility and SEO while keeping all traffic local.

To help establish the platform, the City received four professionally produced videos for free, covering quality of life, community development, commerce, and a welcoming introduction to Eau Claire. These videos help the City promote Eau Claire for talent recruitment, business attraction, and community engagement.

And for local businesses, Grow Eau Claire provides affordable and long-term advertising opportunities on the platform—placing their video, story, and brand in front of thousands of local viewers and new families exploring the area.

Grow Eau Claire brings the City and business community together under one mission: help Eau Claire grow—and help Eau Claire businesses get seen.

Not Your Old Program: Why Grow Eau Claire is Different (and Better!)

Let’s start fresh. Grow Eau Claire is a locally developed initiative designed specifically to promote Eau Claire businesses. Unlike previous marketing programs that may have contacted area businesses in the past, Grow Eau Claire focuses on providing long-term visibility and driving engagement directly to your business.

Grow Eau Claire extends your marketing efforts in several ways:

• Local Focus, Local Benefit: Your videos and business profiles are now hosted on a subdomain of the City of Eau Claire's Economic Development website (video.eauclairedevelopment.com). This is a game-changer! All traffic stays local, and the incredible SEO benefit of being linked to a high-authority government site goes directly to your business.

• Amplified Marketing & Cross-Promotion: This is where Grow Eau Claire truly shines. Your presence isn't static. The initiative is actively promoted by BOTH the City of Eau Claire AND the Grow Eau Claire marketing partners. This means consistent cross-promotion on their social media platforms whenever new videos or stories are posted. We're talking about a unified effort to get your business seen by local residents and those considering a move to our vibrant community.

Beyond a Directory: What Your Business Actually Gets

Grow Eau Claire offers clear, tiered benefits designed to meet different business needs and budgets. Even at the base level, you're getting serious value:

• Year-Round Exposure: Your business gets a prominent spot on the City of Eau Claire’s Economic Development website through April 2028. That's long-term, consistent visibility.

• Branded Profile Page: This is your dedicated digital storefront, featuring your business description, photos or video, website and social media links, contact info, and location details. It’s an extension of your own online presence.

• Enhanced SEO & Visibility: This is huge for any B2C business. Being linked from a high-domain-authority government site significantly boosts your own website's search engine ranking, driving more relevant, organic traffic directly to you.

• Cross-Marketing Support: Beyond the hub itself, you benefit from the city's and Grow Eau Claire partners' social media reach.

For Small Business Sponsors, you get even more:

• Additional logo placement on more video hub pages.

• The option to add your own video (up to 60 seconds) – perfect for showcasing your products, services, or team!

• The chance to support the community by referring a non-profit for a free listing through the "We Care Program."

Enterprise-level sponsors enjoy the full suite of marketing power, including:

• A custom promotional video (up to 90 seconds) that you own and can use anywhere!

• Custom YouTube Video SEO for your video.

• Rotation in the "Featured Video" section, giving you prime real estate.

• Optimized social media posts crafted for your business on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

• Design and content writing for an email campaign to promote your video.

• Monthly reports on clicks and impressions, helping you track your engagement and understand your ROI.

Value Comparison: Grow Eau Claire vs. Other Marketing Avenues

One of the most compelling aspects of Grow Eau Claire is its cost-effectiveness, especially when compared to other marketing channels.

Advertising Option	Annual Cost	Visual Appeal	Targeting	Frequency & Reach
Grow Eau Claire Portal	$665 - $1.3K	High	Highly Specific	Long-term Visibility
Local Digital Ads	$6K -$12K	Moderate	Medium	Weekly/monthly rotations
Radio Spots	$6K - $24K	None (Audio)	Broad (local)	Frequent
TV Spots	$12K - $36K	High	Medium	Campaign-dependent
Digital Marketing	$6K - $84K	Variable	Highly specific	Adjustable

As you can see, Grow Eau Claire offers a large-scale, full-service marketing campaign feel at a fraction of the cost of combining various vendors for a similar impact. It's designed for sustained exposure to both local residents and families moving to the area over several years. It's also the only place to find videos for local businesses, all in one place – a true community resource.

The Honest Look: What to Consider (and Why It Still Works)

While the benefits are clear, savvy business owners will always ask, "What about my specific customers?"

• Will My Customers Find Me There? Yes, because Grow Eau Claire isn't just a static hub. The active cross-promotion by the city and partners on social media and other channels ensures your content reaches the local audience you care about. Think of the hub as the high-quality home for your video, and the marketing partners as the engine driving traffic to it.

• Why Not Just Social Media? You should be on social media! But Grow Eau Claire offers something different: professional production, a permanent high-SEO home, and a coordinated marketing effort from powerful local entities. It's a foundational piece of your digital strategy that complements, rather than replaces, your social media efforts. Plus, Enterprise clients get ready-made social posts and email content – making your social media work easier!

• Transparency and Trust: Grow Eau Claire understands the need for data. With monthly reports for Enterprise clients (and more detailed reports planned), you'll gain insights into your clicks and impressions, allowing you to track the hub's impact.

The Verdict: A Budget-Friendly Powerhouse for Local B2C

Grow Eau Claire isn't just another advertising option; it's an investment in your business's long-term digital presence and local visibility. For B2C businesses in Eau Claire, it offers:

• Unmatched SEO benefits from a trusted government site.

• Professional video content you can leverage everywhere.

• Aggressive, sustained cross-promotion from multiple community partners.

• Exceptional value compared to other high-impact marketing channels.

If you're looking for a budget-friendly way to get your business seen by local residents, stand out online, and benefit from a powerful community-backed initiative, Grow Eau Claire is definitely worth exploring. It's designed to help your business grow right here in Eau Claire.