“What up Doe?”

Metro Detroit CVB  launched the first season of “Eats in The D,” a new YouTube food series of five- to seven-minute episodes, presented by a native Detroiter.

Professionally shot in kitchens and at tables around town, produced by Visit Detroit and filmed/edited by creative Octane Design out of suburban Royal Oak, the video series starts out with pizza, sports bars, and date nights.

The Travel Vertical caught up with Stan Smith, Integrated Marketing Manager at Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Q: How did you decide food is the tourism driver for out of town visitors as well as locals?

A: We regularly review the top content topics from our blog, website and social channels and have seen dining consistently rank well with our audience (out of town and locals).  Also, Detroit’s restaurant scene is hot guaranteeing that we would have plenty of options for upcoming shows. Our objective is to increase awareness of one of Detroit’s advantages for travelers – our restaurant scene.

Q: How do you calculate ROI?

A: We focus on the number of video views versus the promotional budget.  We are currently promoting the show on Facebook

Q: Do featured restaurants contribute financially?

A: No, the restaurants do not pay for a spot in the show. However, we do give preference to DMCVB members.

Q: Are the shorter or longer clips getting better view numbers?

A; We started with the goal of creating a show that could be quickly watched while someone is considering a lunch or dinner option. We also believed that a 5-7 minute show was easier to watch via a mobile device.

At the moment, the longer clips (7+ minutes) are getting more views than the shorter ones (5 minutes).
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Go to Visit Detroit for the first three episodes of Eats in The D season one and see the trailer here.