Try this simple thought experiment. If you could only choose one, would you rather have: 1,000,000 followers who are connected to your tourism destination or 10,000 followers who talk about you every week? Think about it this way: your most engaged visitors and residents are your best marketers. They have the experiences that turn into stories […]
Content Marketing and Campaigns
Perpetual advocacy: See how Campbell River guides visitors through 6 stages of the customer journey
As you read this, people are boarding planes, trains, or taxicabs to visit your destination. Why are they travelling? How did they plan the trip? What experiences await them? How will they relive the adventure? What stories will they tell, good or bad, and to whom? These questions describe the customer journey. Your destination marketing […]
90% engagement? Passionate kiteboarders show what’s truly possible in winter Bermuda campaign
There are nice vacations, and then there are life-altering trips that you can’t resist because they activate your greatest passions. This story is about the latter. This is also a story about marketing dollars well spent. In 2018, a group of destination marketers and professional kiteboarders joined forces to give a specific group of people […]
Why you can’t depend on viral stories to achieve your DMO’s goals
500,000 people saw this viral dolphin story on Facebook, but did it help the DMOs? Let’s be honest. Some days, we marketers look to the sky for that perfect lightning strike of media attention that gets everyone talking about the place we love – the kind of sizzling story that spreads virally online and delights […]
3 content marketing trends to take your DMO into 2019
Don’t worry, this isn’t another list of New Year’s resolutions. But times are changing. Since our business is 100% focused on tourism destinations, it’s our job to stay on top of the most effective ways to build engaging advocacy and positive word of mouth. Our elite squad of content marketers gathered to reflect on some […]
Why the hero-hub-hygiene content marketing strategy still wins for DMOs
Every organization needs an easily understood content strategy to act as a roadmap for always-on activity and broader content goals. In 2014, YouTube and Google put forth the hero-hub-hygiene (H-H-H) strategy to help digital marketers get the greatest impact from their efforts. It allows teams to diversify content to build audience loyalty and longevity, rather […]
Why emoji are a 🎁 for your DMO’s content marketing
Jing Ge is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Anthropology Department and Co-Chair of the Tourism Studies Working Group at University of California, Berkeley. She received her Ph.D. in marketing and communication from the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland, Australia and has close to 10 years of online communication industry experience. Her […]
Engagement benchmarks: How does your destination compare?
You’ve just received your DMO’s quarterly marketing report. Flipping through the deck, you see that your social media channels are showing strong numbers. 70,000 more engagements here, 8,000 more followers there – growth is happening across the board. It seems like good news. Then at a meeting, someone asks, “What do these engagement numbers really […]
Sparking genuine word-of-mouth promotion is always a best practice
“If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they’d punch you in the face.” – Hugh MacLeod Hugh’s warning is not only good for your health, it’s relevant for any destination that talks to visitors online using platforms like Facebook. Use social media the way it was designed – to talk to […]
8 retro tourism brochures reveal 7 lessons and new roles for destination marketing
For decades, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) were among the few essential sources of vital, up-to-date tourism advice. When information was scarce, destinations sought to educate, inspire, and help visitors plan trips through brochures, maps and visitor services. Today, information is abundant. Visitors use the mobile Internet to learn what they need, when they need it. […]
How Visit Flanders affects lives through social media, inspiring people to visit Flanders Fields
Your destination’s most passionate advocates care deeply about the place where they visit or live. Often, this passion goes beyond a destination’s bucket list experience; the destination’s very identity (as described by its Place DNA™) can become deeply meaningful. Flanders Fields is a place where family heritage and world history converge. The region of Flanders […]
2 content marketing principles that transcend algorithms and boost word of mouth
BREAKING: Posts beginning with the letter Q will now rank highest in Facebook’s News Feed. Marketers using L, S and T will pay higher ad rates to gain reach. In response, big brands are developing a 27th letter to beat the new algorithm. Full story at 11. Not really. But recent (real) changes to Facebook’s […]
8 tips for a brilliant DMO website and our Hall of Fame
We’re way beyond tourism brochures. Today’s digital marketing ecosystem continues to expand, providing visitors with the inspiration and information they need through endless platforms and channels. In an era saturated with social media, how can destination marketing organizations (DMOs) find the right role for their website? Let’s talk to an expert. Self-professed “website geek” Katie […]
Earned vs. paid media: Should DMOs pay to promote third-party content?
Imagine it’s Wednesday afternoon, and you’re at the office. The New York Times has just published an article featuring one of the newest and most popular restaurants in your destination. The story makes the restaurant look good, it makes the chef look good, and it makes the chocolate mousse look even better. Though it’s a […]
Help travellers choose your destination with eye-popping visual content
Step out of your destination marketing shoes and into those of a traveller. Have you ever paused to think about how difficult it is to choose where to visit next? With so many beautiful destination photos and videos filling our feeds everyday, narrowing down the list to one location can seem impossible. How will you […]
Is your messaging obsolete? This is the art of niche content marketing
Now, more than ever, there is a destination and a vacation to suit every kind of traveller. Your dream holiday is likely to be different than that of the person next to you. You’re unique, after all. This idea continues to drive the diversification of travel experiences everywhere, and destinations need to adapt as they […]
Is your destination Instagram-worthy?
Your visitors are increasingly turning to social media to see what your destination has to offer. The Internet offers hundreds of listicles about the world’s most Instagrammable destinations; the most popular beaches and spectacular monuments are on display in vibrant, perfectly filtered photos, thanks to the professional and amateur Instagrammers who have fuelled this trend for the […]
Will Facebook City Guides make trip planning easier?
Facebook is an increasingly popular tool for travel recommendations, and the recent launch of its City Guides service is a natural next step. The new feature gathers travel-related content from across the social network and organizes custom recommendations in one place. Users can choose from a list of cities around the world, find suggested things […]
Calgary spurs visitor and influencer stories in national campaign by positioning the city as the Basecamp to Adventure
In Calgary, you can enjoy the world-famous Calgary Stampede, a vibrant music scene, and sled down the popular luge and bobsleigh tracks, part of the legacy of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Canada’s third-largest city has plenty to offer, but what truly sets it apart from other Canadian urban destinations? Proximity and ease of access […]
Enter the Content Cave to help your stories connect
Content marketing is as old as storytelling; in other words, it’s ancient. Storytelling mediums have evolved from cave paintings, to printed books, to Snapchat stories, to virtual reality, but the human need for compelling stories (i.e. content) remains constant. The content cave continues to inspire us today, because stories are at the core of […]
An insider look at how to work with influencers
The traditional role of the travel journalist is changing faster than your PR agency can get an influencer on a plane. As destinations transition to digital-first marketing, influencer trips are becoming ever more common. Your DMO is likely already working with influencers, even if you don’t yet realize it. But influencers are quite different than […]
Win your destination’s content marketing battle: Webinar recording and highlights
“Content marketing isn’t convincing people that they need what you have. Content marketing is informing the right people that you have what they need.” Looking for better results from your content marketing? Marketing Manager John Freeman gave a webinar presentation outlining strategies and tactics that your destination can use right away to connect the right […]
How Holland builds and executes its social media strategy: Tips for destinations of any size
Ever wonder how other destinations do it? During Destination Think!’s 2015 Social Media Tourism Symposium in Amsterdam, Tessa Dirks from NBTC Holland Marketing outlined her day-to-day challenges and triumphs as the organization’s international Social Media Manager. From having limited budget to working with a team of international ambassadors and reporting on the value of her […]
4 tips for building a fluid and dynamic media strategy
Not too long ago, marketers would typically set their annual media strategy in stone. They could research, plan and then execute their ideas (through radio or print advertising, for example) with minimal change throughout the year. Today’s, it’s dangerous to design a strategy that will remain the same 11 months from now. Modern media strategies […]
Iconosquare’s advanced media search: Game changer for Instagram curation and engagement?
Did you know that more than 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram every day? That can make searching for content from your destination akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. Luckily, Iconosquare has responded to the needs and wants of content experts everywhere with its advanced media search tool. While still […]
Facebook travel recommendations: What your DMO needs to know
In October 2016, Facebook launched a new recommendations feature to help users get a little more help from their friends. Facebook friends have been asking one another to recommend restaurants, activities, and travel on the site for quite some time, which is all part of the great shift toward consumer engagement that today’s most savvy […]
Learn about San Francisco Travel’s always-on approach to content marketing
It can be easy for any organization to become siloed and lose sight of its goals. Dan Rosenbaum, Senior Manager of Content and Social Media Marketing, faced exactly this challenge with his team at San Francisco Travel (SFT) in 2013. At that time, the team’s primary objective was to drive traffic to the SFT website, […]
3 ways to use social media to successfully connect with potential visitors
Conversations and content shared on social media can play a crucial role in inspiring would-be visitors to finally book a trip, especially to an aspirational destination from their bucket list. Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) knows exactly how this works, as a destination that continues to build consumer-led, experience-focused campaigns. Kylie Smith, TEQ’s Marketing Manager […]
4 ways Chinese DMOs use Weibo to humanize their brands
Dr. Jing Ge, PhD, is a research scientist at the Laboratory for Intelligent Systems in Tourism, U.S. She has studied Chinese DMOs and how they use social media to engage travellers using humour and a playful, creative language. Her 2016 dissertation, “The use of humour for customer engagement on Chinese social media – a rhetorical […]
Lessons from a digital and social-oriented organization
What can we learn from a destination marketing organization (DMO) that was able to start afresh? Formed in 2014, VisitBrabant had the rare opportunity to reorganize and redefine its role as a DMO. Under the leadership of General Director Heleen Huisjes, VisitBrabant made a remarkably clear-cut choice for digital marketing, with social at the heart of their […]
Does your destination overvalue and overspend on its content production?
Storytelling used to be simple. Not long ago, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) were the primary source of destination promotion, but as a Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) study (including more than 327 DMOs) has reported, the top-down, broadcasting approach to storytelling is shifting toward consumer engagement. Today’s storytelling and content distribution is fragmented. DMOs face […]
5 “YUGE” destination marketing lessons from the 2016 U.S. presidential election
The U.S. presidential election is the world’s biggest marketing campaign, and this year, candidates have collected and spent well over US $1 billion so far. What can destination leaders learn by observing the spectacle? This extraordinary campaign season has offered plenty of lessons to the destination marketing industry. 1. Don’t rely solely on visitor surveys. Given […]