The Business

The Atrium is a flexible office and meeting space located in St. Thomas, Ontario.  Professionals, entrepreneurs, and students can use access shared workspaces, private offices, and meeting rooms without having to make a long-term commitment to a lease. Elle Crevits, The Atrium’s current owner, purchased the business in September 2022 with the hope of rebuilding the community in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Challenge

The Atrium’s previous owners had struggled to keep their in-person business afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in the wake of the lockdowns and ever-changing restrictions and regulations, managing the business remained difficult. When the previous owners of The Atrium decided they wanted to sell, Crevits jumped at the opportunity to take over. As life returned to a new normal, Crevits said it was a struggle to market The Atrium in the right way. “It’s hard to show that, yes, we’re being safe, but we’re still building community. I think there’s a lot of […] fear [of] promoting the business in the wrong way,” she says.

One thing Crevits is certain of is that when people walk through the doors of her business they are always wowed. “A co-working space has to be stunning,” she says and The Atrium certainly is. With its beautiful living wall, greenhouse roof, and modern design, the space is a showstopper. The challenge, Crevits shares, is that not enough people know about it. She was eager to change that.

The Solution

Crevits already knew all about Digital Main Street’s Digital Transformation Grant (DTG) Program before she even purchased the business. The DTG initiative provides brick-and-mortar small businesses with a digital assessment, online training, and a $2,500 grant to implement their Digital Transformation Plan (DTP). “I bought the business, and I applied for the program the next week,” says Crevits.

With the grant funds received, Crevits began to work on a social media campaign featuring her existing community members. She hired a local photographer and invited her member base to participate in an on-site photoshoot. The photographer captured headshots of current members and photos of the space.

Next, Crevits hired a social media manager to design and deploy a campaign on Instagram using the photography from the photoshoot. The campaign featured social posts of each of the community members and their businesses. The goal was to build word-of-mouth referrals for the business and get the community so excited about the space that they would begin promoting it to their own circles.

Key Deliverables

  • Applied for and received a Digital Main Street DTG grant in September 2022
  • Hired and briefed local photographer for community photoshoot
  • Held photoshoot with Atrium community members
  • Edited photography post-production
  • Hired social media manager to create and deploy campaign

The Impact

The social media campaign was a success. Crevits says that sharing profiles of current community members allowed her to reach their networks and start getting the word out about The Atrium very quickly.

  • Improved engagement and reach on social. Since the social media posts featured members of the community, it encouraged them to reshare the posts and allowed The Atrium to reach new eyes online.
  • Community building. The photoshoot provided an opportunity for members to reconnect with one another and it was an important community-building moment for the business. “It was beautiful [and] led to more conversations about what events we want, and how we [continue to] build community and support each other,” says Crevits.
  • Increased leads. At first, Crevits says she wasn’t sure that her efforts on social media were translating directly to sales. But, more recently, after a month of posting less consistently, Crevits noticed a dip in new business. As a result, she is motivated to return to a more regular posting schedule.

Next Steps

Crevits uncovered some important marketing insights while implementing The Atrium’s DTP. She says she is now more aware of both the power and the limitations of social media. As a result, she is focused on building out a more robust marketing funnel that includes different platforms and strategies.

Specifically, the business is now working to convert social media followers into email subscribers. By leveraging email marketing, Crevits is hoping to get people through the door for a free day at The Atrium so they can experience first-hand all that the space and the community it holds have to offer.

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