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 street businesses to use free Google Business Profile listings for hours, contact details, 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 through short videos. Businesses can post them on their own social channels or group pages. Focus on engaging content.
• Promote businesses and events on the Brisbane app. It's a one-stop destination for things to see and do.
• Use the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse to promote precinct events.

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 resources : Access to recycling resources to improve the 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. You can also join the Queensland Government's Mentoring for Growth program.
• Attend free business events to build skills, learn from experts, connect locally, and explore Council’s free support services.
• Check the Queensland Government Grants Finder and the Australian Government grants system for potential business grants.

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.
• Adding greenery can brighten your storefront. Planter boxes or hanging baskets add 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. This keeps passers-by interested and eager to see what's next.
• Provide a water bowl and a spot to tether dogs. These simple steps attract dog-loving customers to your precinct.
• Use seasonal décor to celebrate the holidays (but make sure it’s taken down in a timely manner).
• Encourage businesses to implement tips and ideas from our Shops that shine - Guide to visual merchandising.

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.