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Marketing Update August 2016
Advertising: Last chance to book autumn advertising campaign
PR: Excellent feature in Cyclist Magazine
Website & Digital: Twelve new blogs added to our website
Travel Trade: Christmas adverts to feature in the trade press
Publications: Last chance to book advertising space in 2017 Visitor Guide and Map
Photo Competition: Now accepting photos for August
Marketing Services: Can we help you with leaflet production, photography, social media or travel trade activity?
Advertising
Autumn Campaign
This year's Autumn Campaign, due to launch in September, will target the UK short-break market, raising awareness of Wiltshire as an ideal destination. The campaign will focus on driving people to visit the website and results will be measured with specific key performance indicators.
Campaign objectives are to attract more staying visitors, increase their dwell time and build awareness of the high quality and wide offering of our products. Using information from our Destination Management Plan we will be targeting Mature Mainstreams and Experience Seekers within a two-hour drive time of Wiltshire.
Campaign activity will include lead generation; an e-newsletter to over 70,000 names; a dedicated landing page on visitwiltshire.co.uk; a social media campaign including Facebook carousel adverts; digital display advertising; channels via VisitEngland and VisitBritain; pre-roll advertising; themed blogs; integrated Facebook video and an Instagram Competition.
Full details can be found here
Contact Jenny to book - the closing date is Tuesday 16 August.
PR
Press Releases
An information press release on Melksham has been issue to media - this is the first of a series of town press releases we are writing to feature in our new 2017 press pack.
Editorial
Winter editorial has been supplied to South West Trains' Commuter Magazine, to appear later this year.
Filming
On 30/31 July VisitWiltshire welcomed Rick Steve Europe and his film crew to the county on an itinerary featuring Stonehenge and Avebury. They work on one of the most popular travel TV series in the USA - www.ricksteves.com
Press Coverage
We received an excellent feature in Cyclist Magazine from a fam visit in July 2015.
Excellent coverage has also been received in the press, as well as on the radio and online, about our new drone video.
Press Visits
Two Spanish journalists visited Wiltshire on 19 and 20 July. Their itinerary included Salisbury Cathedral and other Close attractions, Stonehenge and Avebury and they stayed at Rollestone Manor.
On 27 and 28 July a journalist from The Sun's Fabulous Magazine visited Wiltshire, staying at The Farm Camp and spending a day at Longleat.
As always, a big thank you to the partners involved for their help.
Radio
Activity has included:
A radio interview with BBC Wiltshire on Accessible Tourism
An interview with Spire FM on Salisbury being accepted onto the Heritage City group
An interview with BBC Wiltshire on Brexit
An interview with BBC Wiltshire about Wiltshire from the air
Website and Digital
Social Media
Social media is a great way of optimising and driving traffic to your website, as well as engaging with visitors. VisitWiltshire uses Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus, You Tube and LinkedIn.
Gold partners are able to feature their Twitter and Facebook feeds on their own entries – please contact Emma for more details.
Twitter
• We currently have 18,422 followers
• Our reach for July totalled 388k
• Top tweets have included one about walking our footpaths with over 32.6k impressions and one of the Manor House Hotel (retweeted by VisitEngland) with 6.8k impressions
Facebook
• We currently have 11,250 likes
• Top posts have included one on Salisbury Plain Safaris’ tours to Imber with a reach of 8k and one of Great Chalfield Manor with a reach of just under 5k
• A link to our drone video has been posted on South West England’s Facebook page
Instagram
• We currently have 4,028 followers
• SnapWidget is now set up so our Instagram posts can be seen on both the Wiltshire and Salisbury websites
• Top posts have included Westbury White Horse and Great Chalfield Manor
VisitWiltshire Website
We received over 96,300 unique visits to our website during July
Top referrers for July included: Twitter.co.uk, visitsouthwest.co.uk, facebook.com, wiltshire.gov.uk,
Top content pages (excluding the main Home page) included: What's On, Things to Do, Events, Walking, Festivals
Top product pages included: Bowood House & Gardens, Avebury, Chippenham, Longleat, Stourhead
VisitSalisbury Website
We received over 23,700 unique visitors to the Salisbury site during July (this figure is included in the 96,300 unique visits above)
Top referrers for July included: visitsouthwest.co.uk, magnacarta800th.com, twitter.com, lastminute.com
Top content pages (excluding the main Home page) included: What's On, Things to Do, Food & Drink, Shopping, Accommodation
Top product pages included: Salisbury Charter Market, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury Park & Ride, Salisbury Vintage Market, Salisbury Christmas Market
Blogs
The following blogs have been added to our website since the last marketing update:
Places to Stay with Views of Salisbury Cathedral
Horse Holidays and School Holiday Fun
Ten Reasons to Visit Wiltshire in September
An Outdoor Adventure with Circus Skills at Marlborough College Summer School
New 'Reflection' Exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral
15 Great Ideas for What to Do this August Bank Holiday in Wiltshire
Quirky Places to Stay in Wiltshire
Great Chalfield Manor - a Tranquil Spot in Rural Wiltshire
Blooming Melksham - a Colourful Visit
A Beginners' Cookery Course at Farm Cookery School
Exploring the Avebury World Heritage Site
Visiting an Archaeological Dig with Wiltshire Museum
Apps
All our partners have an entry on the Wiltshire App, giving visitors and potential visitors an additional platform to find your business. The apps can be downloaded for FREE as follows:
Wiltshire: Apple and Google Play
Salisbury: Apple and Google Play
As at the end of July the Apps had received over 15,000 views between them.
To encourage your visitors to download and use the apps it would be great if you could include details of how to do this on all your communications - eg websites, confirmation emails etc.
Both Apps have been refreshed, featuring a slightly different look, and both now offer geo-fencing notifications - if you would like more information on this, please email Emma.
Videos
Stunning new aerial film capturing the beautiful county of Wiltshire was launched last month on www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/videos
For the first time visitors to Wiltshire are able to get a bird’s eye view of the county’s breathtaking countryside and iconic views, including the World Heritage Site of Stonehenge and Avebury.
We have received some really excellent national PR coverage from this video, including on the BBC website and Facebook page; some of the local press coverage can be seen here
The new film entitled ‘What view did you wake up to this morning?’ is the first of a three part series which incorporates Wiltshire’s Timeless branding and aligns with VisitBritain’s Countryside is GREAT campaign. It is available across YouTube and social media. Since it launched on Wednesday 13 July the new video has received over 160k views, with an estimated reach of over 650k people.
Please share on social channels and add to your own website to help showcase our wonderful county (if you are unsure of how to do this, just email Emma ).
Together the three Timeless videos have received over 113k views to date. Do take a look at them all here and please feel free to add a link to them into any communications with your guests.
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.
E-Newsletters
The following e-newsletter has been sent out to consumers since the last marketing update:
Get hands on with history in Wiltshire; Win a family getaway
The VisitWiltshire database now stands at over 70.6k 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 £110. Contact Fiona for more information
Keep us in the Loop
We are always looking for fresh, new, inspiring content, so please keep us up to date with all your news. Please email Emma with the details.
Travel Trade
Advertising
A full page Christmas advertisement has been booked in the July/August editions of Group Travel Organiser, Group Travel World and Coach Tours UK.
Editorial
Christmas editorial has been issued individually to select trade media contacts, as well as to more general trade media contacts including VisitBritain and VisitEngland.
Fam Visits
Planning is underway for a familiarisation visit for group travel organisers, coach/tour operators and trade press, to take place from 2-4 October and include a 'one to one meeting and exhibition' at Marlborough College. The draft itinerary can be seen here.
Travel Trade Strategy
The 2017 trade strategy has now been finalised in conjunction with the Travel Trade Group for action later this year and next. If you require a copy please contact Florence.
Travel Trade Package
VisitWiltshire has a Travel Trade Package for those interested in targeting the groups/travel trade market. Three levels of participation are available – please contact Florence for further details.
Publications
Advertising in our 2017 Visitor Guide and Visitor Map
The booking deadline for display advertising and/or standard entries in our 2017 Visitor Guide and Visitor Map has been extended to Friday 12 August. You can advertise in one… or the other… or even both, thereby reaching more people and increasing your brand awareness. Details can be found on the Marketing Opportunities leaflet. As both publications are filling up fast we recommend you apply as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment - just email Jenny with details of what you would like and she will reserve the space for you.
2017 Events
Two of our 2017 printed publications – the Time for Wiltshire Visitor Guide and the Group Visits & Travel Trade Guide – will feature an events calendar. In order to generate breadth and depth of events across the whole of the county, we would like to invite attraction and town partners to submit up to 6 events for possible inclusion in it. (Whilst we will do our best to include something from everyone, as space is limited we reserve the right to feature those events that are of most interest to visitors to Wiltshire.) Ideally we need both the name of the event and the exact 2017 date(s) please, but if this is not possible we can accept the name of the event and the month in which it takes place. The deadline for submission of events is Wednesday 31 August - please email details to Jenny.
Core Publications 2016
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Our three main publications for 2016 – the Time for Wiltshire Visitor Guide, Time for Wiltshire Visitor Map and Group Visits & Travel Trade Guide – are available to download from the VisitWiltshire website here. If you would like to receive a hard copy, please email Jenny with details of which one(s) you would like.
If you would like to order bulk supplies of our 2016 Visitor Guide and/or Visitor Map, please contact the following company who will be able to deliver them to you – there is no charge for this service as the distribution is paid for by VisitWiltshire:
Take One Media: Dominic.Tancock@takeonemedia.co.uk
Photo Competition
We continue to receive some excellent PR coverage for our 2016 Photo Competition – details can be seen here, here , here and here This year each entrant can send in up to five images per calendar month and we have been very impressed by the high standard of entries received so far. If you or your guests would like to enter, we are now accepting entries for August – full details can be found on the competitions page of our website.
Marketing Services
Do you need any help with marketing services - such as leaflet production, photography, social media or travel trade activity? If so, please contact Fiona for more information.
to add an item to your Itinerary basket.