Creation of a self-guided and themed trail map to encourage wider use of local shops and offers. Promotion: included in ‘About Thetford’ magazine, small ads to promote the trail and online news. A total of five trails, from December 2024 – December 2025.
Background
Thetford Treasure Trails is a digital trail project covering Thetford town centre. It started at Christmas 2024 with ‘Follow That Star’ and features four more trails in 2025.
The project is designed to encourage more footfall into the town centre and raise the profile of local retailers and businesses with the local and wider community. Each trail is themed, with some linked to seasonal celebrations such as Christmas and Easter.
How it works? Once a QR code is scanned a participant is entered into a competition to win a £25 ‘Thetford shopping voucher’. They need to scan all the QR codes on each trail. The rewards are designed to get participants using the local businesses and include offers such as discounts off food and even a free haircut at a local barber.
Initially, before committing to an application, research was undertaken in the town centre with local retailers and businesses. From initial conversations, it was clear that there was interest in a trail project, and at least twenty companies and organisations were identified as partners for the project. It was decided to include some of the heritage-linked organisations in the town centre, such as Ancient House Museum to give the trails a good mix of locations and help the venue engage with the wider community.
Once the project was approved, a list of twenty locations for the first trail was drawn up, and a route was created, taking in the main footfall areas including the marketplace, King Street and Riverside Walk. The trail was promoted using a multi-media marketing initiative, making use of our long-established print magazine as well as our social media channels and website. A short, engaging video introduced the trails on social media platforms with a clear call to action. They had 12,000 views across reels and other social media posts that included Love Your Market Town brand identity.
The ‘Follow That Star’ trail was featured in the December and January editions of About Thetford magazine, with a map that could be used alongside a phone or tablet. The ‘Follow That Star’ trail started on 7 December, off the back of the town’s Christmas Lights On celebrations and ran across the Christmas holidays until 7 January.
The second trail, Egg-Cellent Easter, was at the beginning of April and the third trail, ‘Back In Time’ will run from the end of July until the end of August to cover the school summer holidays. ‘Ghost of Thetford Past’ will run from 6 October until early November, and the final trail, ‘Santa’s Lost Presents’ will run throughout December 2025. Each trail will have its own unique marketing package that is both print and digital to maximise engagement and encourage uptake.
Outcomes will be submitted once all trails are done.