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Germantown officials review pilot social-media video and weigh funding, branding and staffing
Summary
Park and Rec communications coordinator Brenton Shimp showed a 37-second AppleWorks Winery social-media test video and urged the commission to decide a campaign name, goals, platforms and funding source; staff recommended joint oversight with tourism and a plan of 5–10 videos before launch.
Brenton Shimp, communications coordinator for Germantown Park and Recreation, presented a 37-second social-media test video for AppleWorks Winery and urged the Economic Development Commission on Nov. 11 to define clear goals and a content plan before launching a village marketing campaign.
"That is the short social media video concept that we're looking at here," Shimp said after showing the clip and advised most campaign clips should average 15 to 30 seconds. He recommended preparing a base of five to 10 videos and a posting schedule before publishing to maximize reach.
Shimp framed several decisions the commission must make before proceeding: whether the project should be branded as a tourism or economic development effort; whether content will be organic posts or paid ads; which social platforms to prioritize (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube); and whether the village should host a dedicated campaign page on the Germantown website or drive traffic there from social posts. "If you're directing them just to a page on the village website, that might actually be a good way to get started," he said.
On funding and staffing, Shimp said Park and Rec has run limited paid advertising for Music at the Pavilion in past years — roughly $600 in social-media spend and about $1,000 in total marketing in some seasons — and that a successful, sustained campaign requires either staff time or external help. He suggested a joint project between economic development and tourism so both groups could contribute to costs and promotion.
Commissioners discussed outsourcing versus building an in-house presence. Shimp noted contractor or influencer models can buy immediate reach but risk promoting an outside audience: "Personally, I would rather you go down a path that you want to go down rather than piggybacking on someone else's audience that may live in Port Washington," he said, recommending local-first audience-building to retain followers.
Members also asked about performance metrics. Shimp said Facebook allows post click tracking and link analytics; Instagram has more limited link metrics and often requires directing users to a dedicated website page. He recommended a branded project page on the village site — modeled on examples such as Explore Menomonee Falls — to aggregate links and resources the campaign would promote.
The commission asked staff to circulate the test video to all commissioners for review and agreed to return the item at the next meeting after defining target audiences and campaign goals.
Votes and procedural notes: the commission approved the meeting minutes and later voted to dissolve subcommittees as part of the meeting's procedural business (motions recorded and declared passed by the chair).
