Tourism editorial calendar
Continued to plan tourism marketing activations according to an editorial calendar, with each month devoted to a specific editorial emphasis driven by key messaging-defining destination themelines, plus destination pillars (themes; e.g., arts, culinary, live music etc.) consistently being touched on through content throughout the year.
Destination 2028
After participating throughout 2017-2018 in local planning efforts for Wake County’s first-ever Destination Strategic Plan (DSP), managed the DSP’s public conclusion and implementation kickoff via the Aug. 2018 GRCVB Annual Meeting. Launched a new, permanent site section housing the plan documentation and Destination 2028 implementation progress at visitRaleigh.com/2028. Worked with DSP consultant JLL by Nov. 2018 to finalize all marketing implications for the DSP’s implementation. Acted on several implications to begin with fiscal year 2019-2020 including preparing with the Information Technology Department to upgrade the Bureau’s Arrivalist platform and agreeing to a strategic alliance with People-First Tourism, Inc., for new experience development and fulfillment support.
Social media marketing
Through consistent social media marketing activity on platforms in accordance with yearlong strategies, the CVB accomplished the following in 2018-2019:
- Facebook (@visitRaleigh)
- Reached 68,657 Likes; 8.7-percent increase since previous fiscal year
- 561,996 total audience engagements
- Twitter (@visitRaleigh)
- Reached 64,800 followers; 3.3-percent increase
- 59,816 engagements
- Instagram (@visitRaleigh)
- 28,750 followers; 37.6-percent increase
- 99,865 engagements
Destination videos
Extended the award-winning video strategy highlighting passionate locals and sharing Raleigh, N.C., through their eyes. Continued producing videos in an "interview" style (example here), plus began producing more people-focused, vignette-style videos to be distributed and promoted in the 2019-2020 fiscal year showcasing visitor interest points beyond that of the passionate mind's own (example here). Produced several videos highlighting the destination overall, which sparked incredible engagement on social media platforms (example here). Collected destination b-roll footage at 23 points of interest throughout the fiscal year.
Destination advertising
With the Bureau’s 2018-2019 advertising and marketing communications agency of record (MSA Marketing, Inc., now transitioning to the name Avenir Bold), deployed a robust, yearlong ad plan with leisure visitor, local/visiting-friends-and-relatives, meeting group and sports event-planning markets, resulting in 12,410,270 new brand impressions and in customer conversions including 5,152 tracked arrivals by individual travelers (out of a total of 12,616 arrivals during the fiscal year). Began a refresh of the ad creative look-and-feel for all vertical markets, to be deployed in late 2019.
Official visitors guides
Renewed 2018-2019 relationship with Compass Media as custom publisher to carry out advertising sales, production, printing and shipping for the new Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh, Cary and Wake County. Printed 145,000 Visitors Guides in May 2019, for yearlong distribution in conjunction with the CVB’s Convention Services Department, and offered the new guide digitally at raleighvisitorsguide.com.
Convention sales and services support
Honored with Gold in the N.C. Travel Industry Association’s (NCTIA’s) Tourism Marketing Achievement Awards for the 2018-2019 tradeshow theme “Originally Raleigh” and new approach to tradeshows and potential client introductions based on the destination brand promise and built around four subthemes—food, drinks, style and indulgences. Added a new position, group marketing manager, to the Marketing and Communications Department in May 2019 to better support the content and direct marketing needs of these two departments as well as of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.
Community engagement strategies
Continued to plan and publish new Tourism Talk blog posts weekly in 2018-2019, one tactic under new community engagement strategies for the Bureau, which began to be deployed in July 2017 and which won a Platinum Award in the NCTIA’s 2018 awards program. Along with the Administration, Marketing and Communications and Public Relations and International Tourism Departments, updated the strategies further for 2019 and 2020, defining target audiences/talking points specific to the new years (see 2019-2020 Business Plan). Created a community engagement resource kit at visitRaleigh.com/tourismmatters as well as commissioned a new, yearlong research project with North Carolina State University to determine target audiences’ current perceptions of the important role/impacts of tourism in Raleigh/Wake County as well their perceptions of the Bureau and willingness to engage as advocates for the CVB’s mission.