Breathitt County Small Business
Digital Marketing Case Studies: EPG
Exploration into integrating
traditional and online marketing
Peter H. Hackbert
Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program
Berea College, Berea KY
Jackson Kiwanis Club
November 20, 2012

Small Rural Appalachian Community
Economic Development (CED)
Traditional ED Strategy / Tool Direct, Short-term
• Industrial development Economic
• Business retention / expansion Outcomes
• Workforce development • jobs
• Tourism • firms
Economic Development • prosperity
• wealth
Approaches
Alternative ED Strategy / Tool
• Entrepreneurship 1. Recruit firms from the outside
• Downtown development 2. Strengthen/expand existing firms
• Arts / Creative economy 3. Promote development of new firms
• Cluster-based development Other
• Residential development
Outcomes
• social
• civic
• environmental
CD Capacity Building Strategy /
Tool
Indirect, Long-term
• Transportation
• Broadband / Internet / Social Media
• ED finance
• Philanthropy
• Strategic planning
• Leadership development
• Organizational development

EPG Small Rural Appalachian Community
Economic Development Model
Traditional ED Strategy / Tool Direct, Short-term
Economic
• Tourism
Outcomes
• jobs
Economic Development • firms
Approaches
e
Alternative ED Strategy / Tool 1. Strengthen/expand
• Entrepreneurship economy
existing firms
• Cluster-based development
• Local Living Economies 2. Promote new firms Other
• Residential development Outcomes
• social / civic
CD Capacity Building Strategy / • environmental
Tool
Indirect, Long-term
• Transportation
• Broadband / Internet /
Social Media

23M Small Businesses in the USA
• 90 percent of the businesses in the Commonwealth
have fewer than 50 employees.
• In 2008, small businesses totaled 339,747 .
• 69,175 were employers, and they accounted for 49.2%
of private-sector jobs in the state.
• Small firms (less than 500 employees or no employees)
made up 96.7% of the state’s employers.

EPG Service Area 2010 County Business
Patterns – Total Establishments
Madison 1,559
Breathitt 211
Lee 98
Leslie 113
Letcher 702
Knott 189
Owsley 44
Perry 702
Wolf 84

“Uneven Ground”
UK Professor of
History: Ronald Eller
www.google.com/images

…growing popularity of ecotourism and
heritage tourism…contained the potential for
building an alternative economy, one that
promised greater monetary returns for local
residents, the preservation of rural traditions,
and the protection of sensitive natural
resources.
- Ronald D. Eller, Uneven Ground, The University of
Kentucky Press, 2008: 256.

Key Question
Can Social Media be a tool to
develop an alternative economy in
Appalachian communities?

Case 1
They asked us to expand the
traditional definition of tourism.

Berea, Kentucky -
500 Cultural Assets

Case 2
They asked us to find out how
travelers navigate the region?

Case 3
They asked us how much travelers
spend and on what?

Research Team

Total Expenditures for the 4,000
Out-of-Towners Knott County Trail
Riders
Items Expenditures
Entrance fees $19,492
Food and Beverage 162,435
Retail Shops 207,916
Private Auto and Other Expenses 259,896
Total $649,740

Case 4
They asked us what can we do to
keep them here longer?

Along come
cell phones

Cultural Heritage Cell Phone Tour

Case 5
They told us

Small Rural Town Program
Rural Populations
1,602
357
175
1,764
747
1,081

We traveled and we interviewed
small business owners.

Small Business Using Social Media in
North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Soap Shed

Case 6
We listened

….”achieving Certification as an Entrepreneurial
County, recognized the commitment to
encourage and support entrepreneurship while
improving the business climate for existing
companies. ."

Peer to Peer KRADD Workshops

Case 7
Online Advertising for small
businesses

Average Time Spent: 5.4
Hours/Month
38.1%
32.5%
30.1%
21.4%
18.1%
16.5%
12.8%
11.2%
10.2%
9.1%
Europe N. America Asia-Pacific Latin America Mid East-Africa
Share of visitors Share of minutes
The Social Media Data Stacks
30

The Facebook User: 5 More
Hours on Site per month
Facebook 7:46
AOL Media 2:53
Yahoo 2:12
Google 1:48
MSN/Windows Live/Bing 1:44
YouTube 1:41
Wikipedia 1:18
Apple 1:06
Microsoft 0:45
Amazon 0:31
Source: HubSpot (2011) The Social Media Data Stacks
31

Case 8
Social Media in the KRADD

We observed and we listened to
the KRADD business owners,
attraction and destination
operators

They use
Facebook

Google Search Website

Case 7
Summer 2011 - We organized 7
KRADD Social Media Workshops

We designed Digital Yellow Pages
Workshops
• Digital Yellow Pages = Review sites, search engines and social
media
– Ex.: Facebook, Google places, Yelp, Trip Advisor

We designed Company (not
personal) Facebook pages

Case Study: The Courthouse Cafe

Summer 2012 - We researched
Kentucky Tourism

Kentucky Visitor Profile Study
Daniel Boone Country Region
September 2010 – August 2011 Visitors
Prepared for:
The Commonwealth of Kentucky
Department of Travel and Tourism
Prepared by:

3rd largest industry in Kentucky,
Tourism is the
providing $3.3 billion in salaries annually
This is despite only 34% of first-time Kentucky
visitors actually recalling seeing any advertisements or
promotions for Kentucky prior to their visit.

The tourism and travel industry contributed
nearly $11.7 billion to Kentucky’s economy
in 2011.—an increase of 3.0 percent
In the Daniel Boone Region, where the KRADD is
located, there was a 1.6% increase

Key Facts
Visitors come to Daniel Boone Country Region
•It is peaceful/relaxing (81%),
• It is a safe destination (74%),
• There is plenty to see and do (72%),
• It is a good value for the money (71%)
• The clean unspoiled environment (72%)

The Daniel Boone Country Visitor
Average Income : $68,560
Average Age: 50.8
Average Travel Group Size: 3
69% short pleasure trip
53% use internet
Recommend their visit to others: 96%

Imagine
How would you spend 36 hours in
the KRADD region?

"The traveler/tourist persona
profile gives you a chance to truly
empathize with target market
segments, stepping out of the role
as someone who wants to promote
a product and see, through your
travelers' eyes…”
Peter H. Hackbert

36 Hours in the
KRADD Region

Online consumer recommendations are
the second most trusted source of brand
advertising, second only to
“recommendations from people I know” in
a global 2012 study of 28,000 consumers in
56 countries
Source: Nielson, “Consumer Trust in Online, Social and Mobile advertising Grows, 2012

34 Personas

1. Traveler and Tourist Personas

Meet the Weston’s

Lifestyle

Limitations

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