Weekly stories curated exclusively for digital tourism marketers
How many is too many? Condé Nast Traveler zeroed in on these 15 destinations looking at restrictions on arrivals, as they simply cannot handle the visitor traffic.
One of them is in the USA. See this list of delicately balanced destinations here.
In a second installment of “Post with the Most (Organic) Shares,” we present another winner from eTourism Summit entries — this time, a photograph rather than a video.
Identifying the Shareability Factor
In last week’s issue of The Travel Vertical, (Beyond Likes; 10/31/16) we explored how Visit Fort Collins tapped into strong local pride to attain 15 percent shareability for their destination.
This week, we examine emotion as the trigger behind why 7.2 percent shared this stunning Super Bowl 50 image that really connects with people, courtesy of the Santa Clara Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Emotion is a Foundation of Storytelling
At World Travel Market this week, a Facebook travel vertical executive told attendees that the challenge for many DMOs is differentiation. WTM News quotes global marketing solutions team member Neasa Costin, “An image of a beautiful beach will do the job for you but if you take away the logo you would not be able to distinguish one brand from another.” Costin added that Facebook is working to help destinations and travel companies change that by maximizing emotional resonance.
Even when an adorable baby giraffe isn’t born at the zoo, or the Blue Angels aren’t soaring overhead at a major national event, if you find the authentic, human, emotional aspect of your story, you’ll have a key to organic reach.
Claiming to be “Forever Summer,” sunny Orange County, Calif. is targeting San Francisco with a first-ever integrated marketing campaign that connects Orange County Visitors Association (OCVA) with local partners Visit Anaheim, Visit Huntington Beach, Visit Newport Beach, Destination Irvine, Visit Laguna Beach, Travel Costa Mesa and South Coast Plaza, and Visit Dana Point (a new addition to the DMO world.)
Politics Aside
We’re chuffed to be there for an upcoming “guerilla marketing stunt” (details were not disclosed…we tried!) covered by teams of videographers in San Francisco’s Union Square on Dec. 6, 2016. But as digital tourism nerds, we’re even more excited to find out how eight contiguous destinations put politics aside to pool resources to the tune of $310,000 for the five-week push as OMGOC.
DMO Envy
The Travel Vertical talked to Kelly Miller, OCVA Chair and President & CEO at Surf City USA – Visit Huntington Beach and Doug McClain, Sr. VP & Chief Marketing Officer at Visit Newport Beach to find out more about this latest effort plus the two decades of cooperation as “one of the nation’s most looked at regional partnerships.” With joint marketing and public relations representation in Mexico, China, Japan, India, and the Middle East, the coalition has had extensive interest from other DMOs wanting to get the recipe.
Pegging 2015 Orange County visitor numbers at 47 million — “more than San Francisco, Los Angeles or Las Vegas” — Miller and McClain claim the partners have learned how to “play well together in the sandbox.” Furthermore, they point out, “We each know who we are, we each know our brand, we each know our customers.”
Why SF? Why Now?
The consortium studied length of stay, spend, and lift, as well as the drive market. Turns out that Northern California is the low hanging fruit for Southern California destinations. Sometimes foggy San Francisco plus Northern California accounts for nearly 10 percent of Orange County’s visitation. November and December represent valley dates for all the OMGOC partners. Since Anaheim, for example, has no need to promote January, the campaign won’t do so.
How Does it Work?
The DMO partnership built a program offering different levels of digital exposure and benefits scaled to each partner’s financial contribution ranging from $75k to $25k to $5k. The highest level includes the activation event as well as digital audio promotion with Pandora. Mid-level includes re-targeting opportunities and the lower level offers native content on third-party sites. Interactive digital banner units carry OMGOC and destination branding, as seen here:
Measurement
OMGOC will be measuring what they call “the big three”:
using all analytic tools: social media, Google analytics, PR trackers. They’ll be working with Adara to determine which are the most effective creative approaches for guest arrivals and to build a track to see booking windows. With H2R Market Research they’ll also be fielding an advertising effectiveness study with a sample audience to track incremental travel.
According to Miller and McClain, “The goal is to stay in this market year after year to even better manage the digital campaign.” They add, “It’s not about the next quarter, it’s about the next quarter century.”
*** Check out three 30-sec. OMGOC video (watch OMG light up in orange, followed by GO, followed by OC). Running now through Dec. 10, 2016, the forward-thinking campaign is created by San Diego-based Greenhaus, a marketing and advertising agency.
“How DMOs Use Digital Marketing To Woo Meeting Planners” was delivered to a passionate audience at October’s eTourism Summit, recognizing the need for DMOs to create innovative digital content and targeted campaigns for meeting planners. We featured several of the best: Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Denver, Fort Worth, Park City.
If you missed Day One/Track Three due to the lure of compelling presentations elsewhere, or didn’t attend #eTS16, we’re re-capping Rapid City’s “The Amazing Rush” Case Study. The presentation by Stacie Granum, Director of Marketing at Visit Rapid City and Mya Surrency, Co-founder of Digital Edge, is summarized with results.
Find out how it worked here.
Getting your arms around L.A. is the objective. Could you give directions from Rodeo Drive to Dodger Stadium to Union Station, or do you find getting around sprawling Los Angeles pretty tricky? It’s critical stuff for meeting planners.
At October’s IMEX America, The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board launched a first-ever virtual discover tour on their dedicated Meet L.A. website, designed to immerse meeting planners in the ins and outs of 50 of the city’s venues: L.A. Convention Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Getty, Warner Brothers Studio, Peterson Automotive Museum, Universal Studios, and many more.
View the MeetLA.com cool tool, including aerial views, in partnership with Xplorit, seen here.
