Overview

The Town of Wakefield has a proud history and a bold vision for the future, as outlined in its Comprehensive Plan (2025). The current website does not effectively communicate that vision or serve as a modern hub for residents, businesses, and visitors.

This proposal outlines a fresh website — produced with the Brandiscover™ story framework — and designed to:

Improve communication with residents (Goal G: Administration).
Promote economic development and tourism (Goal B: Economic Development).
Highlight community assets (Wakefield Foundation, Virginia Diner, Airport, 4-H Center, etc.).
Provide easy access to public information (council minutes, town services, events, utilities).
Build pride in Wakefield’s image, curb appeal, and small-town culture.

The Brandiscover™ Framework

The Audience

Residents want easy access to town services, news, utilities, and events.
Business Owners & Investors want to see opportunities, incentives, and properties.
Visitors & Tourists want reasons to stop, explore, and spend money.

The Challenge

Wakefield’s current website is outdated, difficult to navigate, has broken links, and does not reflect the town’s charm, history, or opportunities.

The Brandiscover™ Roadmap

Clarify Identity – Develop clear, unified messaging that positions Wakefield as a welcoming, opportunity-rich community.
Connect With Audiences – Build site navigation that serves Residents, Businesses, and Visitors equally.
Communicate Clearly – Use plain language, photos, and videos to tell Wakefield’s story.
Capture Engagement – Strong calls-to-action: pay bills, sign up for alerts, invest, or visit.
Celebrate Wins – Highlight progress, community events, and economic growth.

The Transformation

From an underwhelming, hard-to-use website to a vibrant, welcoming digital front door that inspires pride, attracts visitors, and encourages investment.

Website Features

Modern Homepage with video/photo hero section
Audience-Specific Pages: Residents | Businesses | Visitors
Events Calendar & News Feed
Online Forms & Payments: utilities, permits, registrations
Council & Administration Hub: minutes, agendas, contacts
Economic Development Section: properties, incentives, success stories
Tourism/History Section: Business successes, Peanut heritage, Wakefield Foundation, nearby attractions, etc.
Emergency Alerts system
ADA-Compliant, Mobile-Responsive, SEO-Optimized

Timeline

Phase Deliverables = about 1 week: Timeline Discovery (Brandiscover™) Town identity, goals, messaging map
Design Homepage & key page mockups = 1-2 weeks
Development Full site build, integrations (calendar, payments, forms) = 2-3 weeks
Review & Revisions, ADA & mobile testing = about 1 week
Launch Final migration, testing, go-live = about 1 week
Total Timeline = 6-8 weeks (or less… depending on quick turnaround feedback from the Town).

Pricing

Brandiscover™ Workshop & Messaging Map
Custom Design & Development *Including Economic Development Micro-Site add-on
Content Migration & SEO Optimization
Launch Support
Annual Hosting and Maintenance
Ongoing monthly updates

Total Investment for a 12-month commitment: $1,800/month

*To be renewed annually based upon the needs and the marketing budget of the Town

Addendum

A simple website redesign would certainly update Wakefield’s online presence, but this project is about more than aesthetics. It’s about creating a digital front door that tells the town’s story, attracts investment, and keeps residents connected.

By adding the following marketing items, Wakefield will:

Strengthen Economic Development — Professional imagery and video highlight available properties, thriving businesses, and the charm of small-town living — showing investors and new residents why Wakefield is worth choosing.
Elevate Tourism Marketing — Compelling photos and drone footage turn drive-through visitors into stop-and-stay guests. Visual storytelling creates shareable content for social media, tourism campaigns, and regional promotions.
Unify Town Messaging — With Brandiscover™ messaging at the core, Wakefield gains a consistent brand voice across the website, social posts, and print collateral. This consistency builds trust, pride, and recognition.
Ensure Long-Term Success — Hosting, maintenance, and content updates mean the website won’t fade into obsolescence. Instead, it will grow with the town, reflecting new projects, events, and progress year after year.

In short, Wakefield deserves more than just a modern website. By choosing these add-ons, the Town gains the tools to inspire pride locally, attract visitors regionally, and compete economically across Virginia.

Photography & Video Package | $3,500

To bring Wakefield’s story to life, we will produce a set of professional visual assets that can be used across the new website, social media, and future print collateral. This package includes:

Still Photography: High-resolution images of town landmarks, businesses, community, and natural landscapes.
Drone Photography & Video: Aerial perspectives of Wakefield’s downtown, neighborhoods, airport, Airfield Conference Center and surrounding farmlands.
B-roll Video: Footage highlighting Wakefield’s people, places, and events, perfect for the website and social media reels.
Multi-Use Rights: All imagery will be delivered in both print-ready and web-optimized formats, giving the Town an evergreen library of assets for tourism campaigns, marketing, and ongoing community storytelling.

Email Marketing Campaign | $900/month

In addition to the new website, an email campaign strategy (sent out every 6-8 weeks will help Wakefield consistently reach residents, businesses, and visitors with timely updates and engaging content.

What’s Included:

Database Integration: Use any existing email lists the Town currently has (utility customers, event attendees, community groups).
List Growth Tools: Capture new subscribers through website sign-up forms, social media promotions, and event registrations.
Branded Email Templates: Professionally designed, mobile-friendly templates that match the new website and town identity.
Automated Campaigns: Welcome messages for new subscribers, monthly newsletters, and special alerts for events or emergencies.
Content Calendar: Topics drawn from town council updates, events, economic development news, and tourism highlights.
Performance Tracking: Open rates, click-throughs, and engagement metrics so the town can measure impact.

Benefits to Wakefield:

Keeps residents informed about town services, meetings, and events.
Helps businesses and investors see ongoing opportunities.
Provides visitors and tourists with reasons to come (and come back).
Builds a valuable long-term communication channel that Wakefield owns — independent of social media algorithms.

Outcome: Over time, the email database becomes one of the Town’s most powerful tools for communication, community building, and economic growth.

Social Media Marketing | $1,500/month

To maximize the impact of the new website, Wakefield should extend its digital presence across social media channels. This package builds upon the town’s existing Facebook page and expands reach with Instagram and LinkedIn.