C-Street City Market Case Study

C-Street City Market is a beloved, small community farmers market located in Springfield, Missouri’s historic Commercial Street district. The Market serves as a local hub for small businesses, artisans, and agricultural producers, connecting the community with local food access, cultural events, and neighborhood revitalization efforts.

By the end of 2021, the C-Street City Market’s social media presence had plateaued. Facebook remained active but heavily reliant on organic posts, while Instagram was underutilized and failing to reach younger audiences. As a small organization, with a new non-profit status, the C-Street City Market also lacked a structured approach to content planning and social promotion.

The goal was to revitalize the C-Street City Market’s online presence post-COVID, grow audience engagement, and highlight vendors and events through a unified social media strategy—all with limited organizational budget and volunteer resources.

Amanda, Principal Consultant & Strategist of ACL Digital Marketing, volunteered to lead the Market’s social media and digital marketing initiatives. The approach centered around six strategic objectives:

1. Drive Market Awareness through consistent event and seasonal promotion.
2. Increase Instagram Presence by leveraging platform-specific content and trends.
3. Highlight Market Vendors through storytelling and photography.
4. Support Large Community Events such as CultureFest, Small Business Saturday, and the Children’s Business Fair.
5. Reach New, Younger Audiences through social media marketing.
6. Experiment with New Content including Reels, stories, polls, and infographics.

Amanda introduced structured content planning, improved photography and design consistency, and developed a vendor spotlight series that became a community favorite.

 Within one year (January–December 2022):

• Instagram followers increased 13.9% year-over-year, with engagement up more than 1,300%.
• Facebook followers grew 9.5% year-over-year, growing a community base of more than 9,400 local followers at the end of 2022.
• Reels with trending audio achieved over 26,000 combined views, expanding the C-Street City Market’s reach to younger demographics.
• Top-performing posts were Vendor Spotlights and event announcements, showcasing the value of community storytelling.
• Organic content accounted for 99% of posts, demonstrating high engagement without heavy ad spend.

The revitalized social media program significantly improved the C-Street City Market’s visibility, vendor engagement, and community participation. Attendance at events such as CultureFest and Market Opening Day increased, and the C-Street City Market’s online identity became a recognizable voice for local food, artisans, commerce, and neighborhood connection.

• Social Media Strategy & Management
• Content Creation & Copywriting
• Brand Messaging & Visual Consistency
• Vendor Marketing Support
• Event Promotion & Paid Media Consultation
• Web Support, Page Creation & Updates
• Analytics & Annual Performance Reporting