REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
FOR
Social Media Marketer
General Information
The City of Bessemer, Downtown Development Authority is requesting proposals from Social
Media Marketers to assist us in releasing four videos advertising our town.
The Be Bessemer organization, in a partnership with local community organizations including
the City of Bessemer and Downtown Development Authority is looking to build off the
successful “Be Bessemer” city branding campaign which was launched in 2017.
This campaign brands the City of Bessemer and the surrounding areas as an affordable lifestyle
community where one can find adventure and leisure along with a healthy lifestyle. Our
message is to inform prospective residents that in the Bessemer area they can feel free to be
themselves and they have the permission to “Be You.” The campaign will run in congruence
with other nearby municipal marketing efforts including the “Find Your North” campaign in the
City of Ironwood, “Recreation Destination” in Wakefield, and marketing efforts by the Western
UP Convention and Visitors Bureau to create a similar lifestyle community message for the area
as a whole.
To build upon the successful launch of our campaign, which we uniquely crafted with a series of
“Be” messages allowing residents, visitors, and anyone passing through to imagine themselves
doing different things within the city, we will launch a marketing effort to attract new people to
the area to live, work, and open a business in Bessemer. To meet this goal, the city will craft a
multi-faceted marketing campaign that targets certain groups of people that may be interested in
working or starting a business in our unique community.
The core of our marketing efforts lies in producing a series of four short videos which tell the
stories of individuals who live and work or own a business in Bessemer. These short videos will
run a length of between one to two minutes, perfect for sharing online and on social media. Each
video will include a casual interview highlighting a key person’s success story along with
cutaway footage of the person’s work or business and leisure and adventure activities which led
this person to wanting to choose the City of Bessemer for their home. This will allow potential
new residents to make a personal connection to the city and envision themselves making the step
towards living and working in Bessemer.
The marketing campaign will be highly pushed through our recently designed website and
through a number of social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The
City currently has a well followed Facebook presence which we will continue to use because of
the large reach of Facebook. The City will also run an Instagram account which will perfectly
highlight this campaign based on a lifestyle community due to the visual element of this
service. As this campaign is made to target those looking to work or open businesses in the area,
we will also create a presence on LinkedIn, which will reach potential job seekers. Organic
reach through social media will be a powerful draw but we will also use funds to market through
online advertising on the above social networks and through Google AdWords.
This campaign is intended to target mainly the millennial generation. Research shows millenials
tend to value a lifestyle and experiences over other factors in their living and career decisions.
Among this group, we are looking to geographically target people in nearby midwest cities who
may be looking to “escape” the city and those in western mountain areas where the cost of living
has recently skyrocketed and may be looking for the opportunity of an area that offers a similar
lifestyle with a much lower cost of living.
The firm should be experienced in gathering social media analytics reports and present social
media metrics to staff in an effort to better understand Bessemer’s community needs, improve
communication and understand areas of improvement. The City would like to increase all its
social media audience over time and expand its attraction efforts for new residents and
businesses. The firm shall be proactive in their efforts to contact, work, guide, and receive
approval from the appointed City staff (s) when appropriate and suggest effective ways to reach
our targeted audiences.
Information About the Request
One (1) copy of the proposal should be emailed to Charly Loper with the subject line reading
“Proposals for Social Media Marketer – City of Bessemer” and will be accepted at:
Charly.Loper@bessemermi.org
Proposals will be accepted through August 5th, 2019 at 11:00 AM CST. Submitted proposals
will be opened at this time, proposals received after the deadline will not be considered.
Questions about the City or this proposal should be directed to:
Charly Loper, City Manager at charly.loper@bessemermi.org or 906-663-4311
The Downtown Development Authority reserves the right to reject any and all proposals
submitted. The Downtown Development Authority will make the final selection of the social
media marketing based on evaluation of all responses, qualifications, thoroughness and pricing.
It is anticipated a selection will be made at the regularly scheduled DDA Meeting in August
(August 8th, 2019 at 4:00 pm, in the DDA Room). Proposers will be notified shortly thereafter.
Mandatory Qualifications of the Proposer
The proposer should be well versed in social media marketing and furnish a list of clients.
Nature of Services Rendered
The City of Bessemer received grant funding to develop 4 videos highlighting Bessemer’s assets
to attract people from western and midwestern large cities to move to Bessemer. We are looking
to utilize social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google, Linked-In) to push
these videos to millennials in these areas. We have a $2,000 budget for the advertisements.
The Project will last from 8/19/19 until 12/31/19. Two of the videos will be available on 8/19/19
and two on 12/13/19.
Request for Proposal Response
The bid should provide a profile of the company and specific profiles of the individual(s)
assigned to the City’s account.
The proposal must contain, at a minimum, the following information:
1) Work Plan
a) Explanation of methodology: scope and level of work performed.
2) Pricing Information
The proposal should include all pricing information relative to performing the Social Media
Marketing. The total all-inclusive maximum price to be bid is to contain all direct and indirect
costs including out of pocket expenses. The bid may be broken out into the following areas:
i) Inclusive fee for pushing the videos to the western and midwestern cities
ii) Hourly fees for services that may be retained above and beyond those services
outlined in this RFP. Indicate hourly fees by staff classification. Note the quantity, if
any, of follow-up consultation that will be included in the package bid or billed at an
hourly rate to the City.
Proposer Warranties
The proposer will warrant that it will not delegate or subcontract its responsibilities under
agreement without prior written permission of the Downtown Development Authority.
Additionally, the proposer will warrant that all information provided by it in connection with this
proposal is true and accurate to the best of its knowledge.
In the event that final work done by the successful bidder are not acceptable to Downtown
Development Authority, the successful bidder shall, at its own expense, take the necessary steps
to correct the marketing efforts to be acceptable to the Downtown Development Authority
906-663-4311