See how our custom strategies benefited beloved local businesses. 

Case Study #1: The La Mesa Veterans Club

The Problem: Traditional community organizations often struggle to connect with younger demographics using old-school marketing. They needed a way to humanize the post, highlight their events, and drive hall rentals to a brand-new audience. 

• Considering that the Veterans Club is such a social place with a positive culture, I thought it was crucial to show that culture to the world. 

• Another factor that can't be ignored is how the Veterans Club is such a major part of the community in La Mesa, as they host many events each year. 

• The third substantial concern is their ballroom, which seats 200+ people and serves as one of their main amenities. 

Ultimately, I wanted to focus on those three factors: 

1. Culture

2. Community

3. Conversions on their ballroom. 

The Situation: Since they already had websites with another company, blogs, photos, and an active social media presence on some platforms, I had to consider what channels I could work with. 

One hole in their social media was TikTok. I decided to look into whether this could be beneficial for them, and in my research, discovered the following facts: 

• 40% of TikTok's base is 25 to 34 years old, making it their most prevalent demographic. 

• 63% of people across all demographics say that they've discovered new products and services on TikTok. 

• 67% of GenZ uses TikTok as a search engine to find product reviews, restaurant recommendations, travel ideas, and how-to guides.

At this point I was convinced. TikTok might be the channel that can reach a new demographic for the La Mesa Veterans Club. 

Taking Action: Talking to the Commander of the Veterans Club, I explained that I want to create a TikTok account for them. Like many people, they weren't super familiar with the platform, but they were open to the idea. 

I created their TikTok account on my phone while at the Veterans Club. The right people were there to validate the account and to decide who should have access to it. 

To start the account off right, I took 15 video clips of their primary amenity, the banquet hall. Then I proceeded to create two TikToks focusing on various aspects of it, including the fully stocked bar that comes with a bartender, the large capacity, and the modest price that is less than many other banquet halls throughout San Diego.

In the weeks that followed, I created other TikToks for them, including one for their Flag Day Parade preparations. This included preparing a line of Humvees for the La Mesa Flag Day Parade, and actually riding in the parade. 

Other TikTok posts showed off the dining area, bar, and recreation area of the Veterans Club. Video is the perfect medium for showing these amenities, because the interior is steeped in culture, including various signs, statues, and impressive features. 

It wasn't long before each of these TikToks was reaching hundreds of people, and interested veterans were interacting with the account. Given the medium, it was reasonable to say that many of these veterans were part of that younger group that the Commander wanted to attract in the first place. 

Ongoing Results: While this is an ongoing effort -- I still take videos of events when I drop by to meet friends -- the results have already been positive. On a recent visit, the Commander told me that the new TikTok account has definitely been bringing in new people, and that there had been an increase in new memberships since we started.