“Wish you were here.”
If you’ve ever thought that about a family member, colleague or friend – a new effort for the holiday season will help you connect them with reasons to consider a move to Sioux Falls.
“We want to encourage our community to talk to people in their lives who maybe have left Sioux Falls and might be looking to return about all the reasons to consider coming back,” said Leah Friese, director of marketing and digital media for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
“The holiday season is a great time to reconnect, so we want to help keep Sioux Falls top of mind as you’re hosting holiday guests and spending time with family and friends in the coming months.”
The Sioux Falls Development Foundation, as part of Forward Sioux Falls, worked with Lawrence & Schiller to develop a multifaceted marketing campaign around the theme “Wish you were here.”
It combines print, digital and social media advertising with an opportunity for the community to send ready-to-go postcards to family and friends.
“It’s very easy to fill those out and send them to people you might want to consider coming back to Sioux Falls,” said Sara Tvedt, associate account executive at L&S.
“There’s so many great opportunities here, and it’s such a good place to grow a family, so we want to help spread the word.”
Themes of the campaign promote “the quality of life you’ll experience here, the business environment and the value in living close to family in a place that’s safe and affordable,” Friese said.
Annie Mello has seen that firsthand. The Sioux Falls business owner was born here but spent the majority of her childhood in California.
She visited Sioux Falls during the summers to see her grandparents – her grandfather actually worked for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation – and she interned at Dakota News Now while considering a sports broadcasting career.
But California called for her first jobs out of college, until she and her husband, Chris, decided they were ready for something different in 2008.
“I was working four jobs, we were living in a 600-square-foot apartment, and there was no opportunity to look at putting a down payment on a home, plus everything took so much time and effort,” she said. “I just couldn’t see myself going at this pace and starting a family.”
They took their background in personal training and opened a gym in Sioux Falls that was so successful they sold it sooner than they anticipated. After a brief return to California, they realized what they were missing.
“We had a good thing going in Sioux Falls, so we came back and opened a different model for a gym,” Mello said.
They recently partnered to open SISU Fit in the heart of downtown redevelopment at Cherapa Place.
“I’ll bring people downtown, and they’ll be like: ‘I had no idea. You don’t feel like you’re in the city,’ so it’s about bringing awareness that Sioux Falls is growing,” she said.
“There’s a lot of opportunity. It feels like that urban lifestyle here where you can go one place, get groceries, get in a workout and have a fun meal. You’re in a big city, but yet it’s still simple. Everything is simple.”
Her 6-year-old boys also are thriving here.
“Even though we don’t have family here anymore, the people are wonderful, and we’ve gained an entire community through our gym,” Mello said.
“We had such a great experience with education, from day care when they were small now through kindergarten. People are so kind and welcoming here.”
As an extra incentive to share the Sioux Falls story, all those who connect to the “Wish you were here” campaign can win a $1,000 gift card good at various retailers and dining establishments in downtown Sioux Falls.
“We’re really highlighting downtown throughout this campaign too,” Tvedt said. “Our imagery shows folks enjoying downtown dining, shopping and entertainment, and we think people who have moved away from Sioux Falls will love seeing how our downtown has continued to get even better.”
The campaign is centered around the website siouxfalls.com/giveaway where you’ll find content about Sioux Falls, including resources about moving, schools, housing and cost of living.
“And there are elements that are designed to tug at your heartstrings,” Friese added. “We want to remind people: ‘I can raise my child in a safe city here.’”
That’s something Mello has felt firsthand too.
“I was raised in LA by a single mom in a one-bedroom apartment a majority of my life, so I’ve always craved for my kids to be able to have a backyard, be on soccer teams and be able to come home for dinner without being stuck in traffic for two hours like we were,” she said.
“It’s such a wonderful place where kids can be kids. We’re committed here. We’re solid. We’re not going back.”
To enter the $1,000 DTSF gift card giveaway, click here. You also can share the link with friends and family for their chance to win too.