Sheffield Business Improvement District (BID) has launched a new consumer growth strategy, appointing the local multi-award-winning agency The SEO Works to lead a targeted digital campaign aimed at driving more visitors into the city centre.
The not-for-profit, business-led organisation, which is funded by a levy on qualifying city centre businesses, has just been re-elected for a third term. This new term will run from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031, with a renewed focus on measurable outcomes including boosting footfall, enhancing safety, and supporting the city centre’s competitiveness. Since 2015, Sheffield BID has invested over £7 million in improvements, leveraging a further £1 million in match funding for major events, enhanced cleaning, and strategic marketing.
A Hyper-Local Digital Partnership
To accelerate its growth ambitions, the BID turned within its own network of levy payers, selecting Sheffield-based The SEO Works as its digital partner. Diane Jarvis, CEO at Sheffield BID, said the agency’s local insight was key. “As a major city centre employer with a team that reflects the very audiences we’re trying to reach, they bring valuable insight into how people use and experience the city,” she stated. Alex Hill, Sales Director at The SEO Works, which also has offices in London, Leeds, and Manchester, said the agency was “honoured to have been chosen to lead the strategy” for an initiative that would benefit multiple businesses across Sheffield.
Targeting City Centre Audiences with Meta Ads
The core of the new strategy is a paid Meta Ads campaign, which The SEO Works advised would be the most impactful direction. The campaign will utilise the highly granular targeting tools within Meta’s advertising suite, a common approach for driving physical foot traffic. This includes hyper-local radius targeting—often within a 3-5 km area—to reach relevant audiences based on their location, alongside tactics like retargeting users who show initial interest.
The ads will feature user-generated video content designed to capture attention in social feeds and generate excitement about events and activities in Sheffield. A key objective is to convert this engagement into a sustained relationship by encouraging users to sign up for a weekly bulletin, ensuring they are notified of upcoming events. This approach aligns with broader best practices for local Meta campaigns, which emphasise compelling creative content and providing clear value to build trust and prompt action.
This digital push comes as Sheffield City Council pursues ambitious plans to create a more thriving and liveable city centre, with developments aimed at fostering housing-led growth and improving connectivity. A robust visitor economy is central to this vision; in 2022 alone, over 15 million visitors contributed an estimated £1.35 billion to the local economy and supported over 13,000 jobs. Recent footfall data has been encouraging, with city centre pedestrian movements in May 2022 recorded at 305,512, showing recovery to pre-pandemic levels.
Looking ahead, The SEO Works plans to expand the geographic reach of the campaign into surrounding counties such as Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, aiming to attract visitors from further afield. The partnership underscores the role of Business Improvement Districts across the UK, of which there are over 350, in convening local resources to stimulate economic activity and enhance their commercial areas.
