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Marketing Update 14 April 2015
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Promoting Your Business: Fam Passports & Special Offer Vouchers now available
Advertising: New campaign coming soon
PR: A bumper month for VisitWiltshire
Website and Digital: Unique visits for 2015 so far up +68% on last year
Travel Trade: Spring fam visit receives great feedback
Photography: New online photo library now available
Promoting Your Business
Familiarisation Passport 2015
VisitWiltshire’s 2015 Familiarisation Passport has now been sent out to all partners. The Passport gives VisitWiltshire partners and their staff the opportunity to visit attractions and other businesses around the county free of charge, with potential savings of over £670. By knowing at first-hand what is available locally, we can all work together to help our visitors make the most of their stay.
Initially all partners have received one copy each. We do have a small number of spare copies, so if you would like an extra one please email Jenny.
Online Special Offer Vouchers 2015
A pdf of VisitWiltshire’s Special Offer Vouchers is now live on the website and can be found here. A total of 28 vouchers is available – with over a million unique visits to our website annually this is a great promotional opportunity for participating businesses – thank you to all those who are taking part.
Advertising
2015 Campaigns
The following campaigns are planned for 2015 / 2016:
Late spring campaign, May/June 2015: Press Pause, It’s time for Wiltshire
Targeting the UK short-break escape market, positioning Wiltshire as an ideal destination that will help put back what the rest of the week has taken out. Whether pressing pause is going out for a bike ride, relaxing in a spa, enjoying a Michelin starred dining experience or visiting one of our many attractions, events and festivals. Further details of the campaign and how you can take part will be sent out to partners shortly.
Autumn campaign, October 2015: Made of England
Celebrates all of the timeless pleasures associated with England and available in Wiltshire. Highlighting Wiltshire as a perfect short break destination, ideal for romantic getaways showcasing the range of quality food and drink offerings. Also emphasising the range of independent accommodation, shops, food and drink, history and heritage, events, arts, culture and festivals, activities, days out and evening entertainment.
New Year city campaign, January 2016
All elements will position Salisbury as a perfect short break destination, highlighting heritage, emphasising the range of independent accommodation, shops and food and drink, history and heritage, events, arts, culture and festivals, activities, days out and evening entertainment.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Paid search is used to capture quality leads and deliver traffic to the VisitWiltshire website. Activity is divided into two campaigns: Accommodation and Things to Do.
The Accommodation paid search campaign yielded a large amount of high quality traffic during March. The 'Pet Friendly' and 'Holiday Cottages' ad groups were notably popular during the lead up to the Easter holiday period. This core holiday-booking period also witnessed more purposeful searches being made, and this was reflected by website visitor quality with Time on Site, Pages per Visit and Conversion Rates increasing by a significant amount. For Things to Do the quality of campaign visitors increased over the Easter booking period.
App Extensions
Paid search ads within the Accommodation and Things to Do campaigns that are served to individuals on Apple or Android devices have the opportunity to direct traffic to the appropriate version of the VisitWiltshire mobile app.
App Extensions generated 419 click-throughs to the iOS and Android app store pages during March 2015.
Online Display Advertising
Display activity uses contextual and behavioural targeting to raise awareness of Wiltshire’s USPs among core audiences and influence their future search and booking habits.
Click-through-rate in March increased once again to an extremely high 5.78%, highlighting that the campaign has been able to harness the power of new targeting opportunities to reach core audiences effectively.
In-App Advertising
In-App advertising specifically targets users of mobile phones and tablet computers from within ad-supported iOS and Android applications. VisitWiltshire’s In-App ads directly promote downloads of our applications for iOS and Android devices.
In-App ads drove a total of 1,745 users to the iOS and Android versions of the VisitWiltshire App during March.
Pre-Roll
The #TimeforWiltshire Pre-roll campaign received 8,018 views during March, at a high view rate of 11.65%. This is indicative of an impactful campaign that is being well received by the individuals who the video ad is targeted at.
Engagement Video Ads
Google's Engagement Ad format allows video ad content to be embedded within a standard ad unit on websites available across the display network. Rather than achieving clicks, individuals who are served an Engagement Ad are given the opportunity to activate the static Engagement Ad and begin viewing the embedded video. The introduction of Engagement Ads has proven to be a very effective complement to Pre-roll video advertising. Engagement Ads were served over 100,000 times during March and activated (effectively a view) 3,782 times.
Personalised Partner Marketing
If you are interested in working with us on a bespoke marketing campaign, please contact Fiona.
PR
PR-wise, March was a bumper month for VisitWiltshire as we achieved an AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent) of £163,000 and a Reach of almost 13 million. This takes our AVE so far this year to £238,098 and our Reach to 19,171,521.
Press Coverage - Print
Salisbury Journal re Conference & Exhibition: On 26 March the Salisbury Journal featured a quarter page write up on our Time for Wiltshire Tourism Conference and Exhibition.
Salisbury Life: The March edition of Salisbury Life devoted a quarter page to our recent Salisbury Campaign.
Your Valley News: The March edition of Your Valley News included an article linking to our Timeless themes.
Prizes Galore Magazine: The March edition included a feature on Wiltshire under the title 10,000 Years in the Making.
Choice Magazine: St Giles Church at Imber was included in their April days out feature.
Press Coverage - Online
Coverage of VisitWiltshire winning the English Tourism Social Media Index featured on a wide range of websites, including: Travel Weekly, Gazette & Herald, Wiltshire Times, BFBS Radio, Business Cornwall and netimperative.com.
Additional online coverage generated by VisitWiltshire and appearing during March included:
Express Online: Journey to the Heart of Magna Carta
Choice Magazine: Wiltshire's Winning Ways
Blogger Coralie Grassin: Teatime in Wonderland - a perfect weekend in Wiltshire
Eviivo: Time for Wiltshire Tourism Conference
Express Online: Top ten things to do with children in the Easter holidays in Wiltshire
VisitWiltshire Hosted Press Visits
Visits for members of the press arranged by VisitWiltshire include:
Brazilian Press Trip
A two-day pan-Wiltshire press trip for three daily and regional newspaper journalists from Brazil took place on 26 and 27 March. During a very busy itinerary they visited Lacock, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Swindon, Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral & Magna Carta. They stayed at the Legacy Rose & Crown Hotel and enjoyed meals at the White Hart in Ford, The Chapter House, Leonardo's and Charter 1227. Thank you also to Mad Max Tours and Salisbury & District Value Cars for helping out with the tours and with transport.
French Blogger
French blogger Coralie Grassin returned to Wiltshire on 29 and 30 March, staying at the Red Lion in Cricklade and visiting Marlborough, Hackpen White Horse, Avebury Stone Circle, Malmesbury, Lacock, Castle Combe, Cherhill White Horse and Calne.
Travellingmum.com / US travel website
Silvana Clark visited Salisbury, Lacock and Avebury.
Swedish Daily Newspaper
Swedish journalist Ellinor Skagegard will be visiting Wiltshire at the start of May.
VIP Press Visit
VisitWiltshire is working on a VIP press visit themed around our Wiltshire two-day Magna Carta trail. The visit will take place later this year.
Press Releases
Press releases issued to the media recently include:
VisitWiltshire wins English Tourism Social Media Index
Top ten things to do with the children this Easter holiday, including our Easter holiday blog (see below) and links to Easter breaks special offers.
Website and Digital
Blogs
VisitWiltshire's latest blogs are:
Cricklade and the Snakeshead Fritillary
Top places to spot bluebells in Wiltshire
Puddings and Tarts
A lunch stop near the Stones
Wings of Africa
Top ten things to do with the children this Easter
Spring into Stourhead
Apps
Our apps continue to perform well. To date, our Wiltshire App has received 5,678 downloads. All our partners have an entry on this, giving visitors and potential visitors an additional platform to find your business. The App can be downloaded for FREE from Apple and Google Play.
The Visit Salisbury App can also be downloaded for FREE from Apple and Google Play. To date it has received 5,795 downloads.
Download figures for both the Wiltshire and Salisbury Apps include downloads via tablets.
If you would like more information please email Emma.
Videos
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Our Time for Wiltshire video has now had 1,495 views - if you haven't already done so, do take a look here.
The teaser video (used on pre roll) has received just under 14,000 views - it can be seen here.
Work on two further videos, which will also link in with our new brand positioning and thematic campaigns, is almost complete – watch this space for further details.
One of the benefits of being a Gold Partner is the opportunity to include a video on your own entry on the VisitWiltshire website. If you haven't already done so and you have a video you would like to add, please email Emma with the YouTube URL.
www.visitwiltshire.co.uk
Unique visits to our website during March 2015 were up +32% on the same month last year. Cumulatively for 2015 so far unique visits are up +68% on the same time last year.
Work on refreshing the design and functionality of our website is progressing well and the updated site is expected to go live later on this summer.
We are working in partnership with Salisbury BID to develop visitsalisbury.co.uk as a channel site using the VisitWiltshire domain. It is hoped that this model can be used by other towns to develop further channel sites, improving quality and reducing duplication.
Top referrers for March were: Twitter, VisitSouthWest, Facebook, VisitEngland and UKWow.
Top content pages for March (excluding the main Home page) were: Salisbury Home, What's On, Things to Do, What's On Easter, and Towns and Villages.
Top 5 product pages for March were: Longleat, Salisbury Charter Market, Salisbury Cathedral, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet and Amesbury.
E-Newsletters
The following e-newsletters have been sent out to consumers in the last month:
Special Offers, May Bank Holiday and More
Discover Wiltshire this April
We also ran a competition in conjuction with National Express and GoSkydive to win a skydive.
The VisitWiltshire database now stands at 48,000 names... and everyone who has signed up is interested in Wiltshire! If you would like your business to feature in one of our regular e-newsletters we can include you for just £100. Contact Fiona for more information.
Social Media
Social media is a great way of optimising and driving traffic to your website. VisitWiltshire use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus, You Tube and LinkedIn. If you would like to know more about what we do or how you can join in, please email Emma.
Twitter
• We are now at 14,130 followers
• We have seen a big increase in the use of #timeforwiltshire following the Conference
• The eclipse proved popular, with lots of photos being shared
Facebook
• We now have 7,345 likes
• Popular posts in the last month have included Peregrine falcons laying eggs at Salisbury Cathedral which was seen by just under 3.5k people; a photo of Pewsey Vale with 68 likes and 17 shares; a post about Bradford on Avon being listed as the number one place to live which was seen by over 30k people and had 525 likes and lots of nice comments; a photo of Corsham High Street when Poldark was being filmed which was seen by over 4k people; and a link to the Classic FM competition with Rose & Crown and the Bid, seen by over 1k
• Our latest competition to win a foodie break to the Chiseldon House Hotel was added to the National Express Facebook page
Instagram
• We now have 847 followers
• Again, more use of #timeforwiltshire on Instagram from our partners
• Popular posts recently have included Hackpen White Horse with 62 likes; Iford Manor with 58 likes; and a post of Cricklade
Keep us in the Loop
To help with optimisation we are always looking for fresh, new, inspiring content – please keep us up to date with what is happening so we can add it to the News section. Also, if you have any offers or promotional ideas that you would like promoted we can add them onto our Offers section. Please email Emma with the details.
Travel Trade
Press Coverage
The following coverage was received in trade publications' March editions:
The Pass: A feature on Time for Wiltshire - summer planning.
Travel GBI: An article on VisitWiltshire and Magna Carta.
Destination UK: A feature on the new Magna Carta Trail.
Coach Monthly: A listing for VisitWiltshire under its Best of Britain and Ireland exhibition coverage.
Exhibitions and Shows
March Marketplace
On 17 March VisitWiltshire attended this travel trade masterclass event run by VisitEngland and ETOA (the European Tour Operators Association) where meetings took place with major operators. Topics discussed included developing product, itineraries, what operators look for from destinations and more.
Familiarisation Visits
Quartier Libre
On 20 March VisitWiltshire hosted an 11-strong sales team from French tour operator Quartier Libre, who visited Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral & Magna Carta and The Cathedral Hotel for lunch.
Time for Wiltshire Spring Familiarisation Visit
From 22-24 March VisitWiltshire hosted 12 delegates from 10 organisations, on a two and a half day pan-Wiltshire itinerary. Key themes include Magna Carta and Capability Brown.
Some very positive feedback has been received via the post-event questionnaires we sent out. Out of the 8 forms returned, 3 said they expect to bring groups of day visitors, and 6 said they expect to bring groups of staying visitors to Wiltshire as a direct result of the VisitWiltshire trip. When asked whether the itinerary lived up to their expectations – 75% (6) ranked it 10 out of 10 (with the other two rating it 9 and 8). In total this already equates to an additional 3,000 visitors to Wiltshire as a direct result of our familiarisation visit (1,300 day visitors, 1,700 staying visitors). Based on average spend figures taken from our latest economic impact report this gives an estimated total direct visitor spend in Wiltshire of over £342,000 in 2015/2016. The longer-term economic impact of the trip will be significantly greater than this, so thanks again for all our partners support.
US Tour Operators
On 26 March VisitWiltshire hosted a group of 9 US tour operators who visited Lucknam Park, Stourhead, Old Wardour Castle, the Beckford Arms and Salisbury Cathedral & Magna Carta.
Antipodean Fam Visit
We are working on an October itinerary for a group of 92 visitors from New Zealand and are currently looking for a high end lunch venue somewhere in the north of the county - if you think you might be able to help, please contact Florence.
VisitWiltshire Travel Trade Package
Earlier this year VisitWiltshire launched a new Travel Trade Package for those interested in the groups/travel trade market. Three levels of participation are available - for further details please contact our Travel Trade Manager Florence Wallace: Florence
Photography
Photo Library
Over the last few weeks we have been developing a new online photographic library. Numerous photos are already available, with more being added on a weekly basis – if you would like a selection to use on your website or in your brochures please email Jenny with your requirements.
As well as supplying photos to our own partners we are regularly contacted by representatives of the consumer and trade press, plus tour operators, group travel organisers etc looking to source images for use in articles and itineraries. This could be a great promotional opportunity for you - if you would like to make photos of your own business available to them via our photo library please email Jenny for further details.
2015 Photo Competition
This year VisitWiltshire will be teaming up with the Salisbury Journal on a Photo Competition aimed at encouraging photographers across the county to capture the essence of life in the region, the people and the landscape. Watch this space for further details…
Photo Shoot
Over the last few weeks our two intrepid photographers have been out and about with their cameras around the county and our latest photo shoot is now nearing completion. The images they have been taking tie in with VisitWiltshire’s new branding - including our four Timeless themes: Timeless Wonders, Timeless Places, Timeless Pleasures and Timeless Nature - and they will, of course, be uploaded to our photo library (see above).
We are always looking for new images to use in our printed publications and on our website - if you have any lovely seasonal photos you would be happy for us to use, please email them to Jenny.
to add an item to your Itinerary basket.