This presentation will focus on the importance of content in digital marketing. It will particularly discuss the importance of developing themes in line with the brand story places are trying to tell, the centrality of innovation, consistency across communications, delivering across multiple channels and developing conversations and buzz in the short term that help support the longer term and associated strategy.

1. Destination Marketing
A content marketing story?
Jon Munro | Visit Wales
Source | Flickr | kitskel

2. @ flyjon
First, of all a little bit about me
Fashion and Online Retail
So, a little bit about me
Plant Hire
Destination Marketing Charity and More …

3. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
The Visit Wales Story
Destination marketing is a content led business …
How can we deliver better integrated marketing?
How does content strategy help join things up?
How can you make things happen?
The big opportunity for destinations …

4. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
More than a content marketing story!

5. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
A content
led business

6. Change
One quarter of US
18-34 year olds use
mobile and tablets
when booking air
tickets You know this stuff!
Source : Amadeus (2011)
Mobile
Social
71% of travellers 82% prefer consumer
use search as part reviews over a hotel’s
of the planning description of itself
and booking
Search
Source : Forrester (2006)
process
Source : Google (2010)

7. People of the screen
The “and” economy
Conversation culture over information culture
Convergent lifestyles and hyper collaboration
Learning to live within the earned media space
Source | Flickr | DeusXFlorida Reference | www.mediafuturist.com

8. Enter the Tourist Board
Land of contrasts
Something for everyone
Fun for all the family
Whatever you’re looking for
Inspirational scenery
Coastal splendour
Majestic mountains
Best-kept secret
Why not?
A unique blend

9. Content is all we have and have ever had!

10. The content a brand creates is everything
A world where
the content a
brand creates is
everything

11. Targets, Objectives and Strategy
Influencing £150 million in additional value
Big focus is improving reputation
Awareness, consideration and advocacy
“Those people who have not yet considered Wales”

12. Destinations have embraced social

13. Brilliant ideas are so important!

14. But social comes with challenges
Trust
Control
Scale

15. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
How can we deliver better
integrated marketing?

16. Thinking beyond paid media
Source | iCrossing| Slideshare

17. Develop themes and tell a story

18. We watch search like a hawk
Source | Visit Wales | Tracked search terms and volume (Log10)

19. Identify where the opportunities lie
Source: PIRE , Google Adwords , iCrossing competitive framework – Data May 2010

20. Little presence either directly or indirectly

21. Useful and engaging content on our site

22. Getting our engaged users involved

23. Develop creative and credible content

24. Reach out, place content and widgets

25. Find suitable partners and engage them

26. Maintain momentum

27. Improving search visibility
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
Romantic Break
Section Live 5
0
Positions 1-1:
Widget creation Long Tail Analysis
and placements and Optimisation Positions 2-5:
started Adjustments
Positions 6-10:

28. Increasing share of relevant traffic
2500 500
450
2000 400
350
Search Interest
1500 300
Visits
Romantic Break
250 Related Organic
Traffic
1000 200
150
Google UK Search
500 100 Term Interest for
'Romantic Breaks'
50
0 0

29. Comparing brand and non brand traffic
35,000 70,000
30,000 60,000
25,000 50,000
Non Brand Visits
Brand Visits
20,000 40,000
Non Brand
15,000 30,000
Brand
10,000 20,000
5,000 10,000
0 0

30. Rinse and Repeat
“Useful, engaging and sharable (sometimes community
created) content placed in the environments where
people were already discussing holidays and breaks.
Linked back to pages on the Visit Wales website –
providing more in depth information but also
supporting natural search visibility”

31. So, what about paid media?
Targeted
engagement Awareness
Advocacy
Scale
The Big Idea
Crowd sourcing Creative
Content development and paid media
Community development amplification

33. Activity on facebook
Piers is on TV
VOD / Online / FB Ads FB Ads
Piers invite goes live
Piers trip
Radio/ DOOH

34. So what happened?
70%+ saw the campaign
196 video invites
19,000 facebook followers
128,000 requested views of content
11,500 subscribers, 37,000 brochures
100k got
34m UK Adults Reached involved
Contribution to over £100 million of
additional visitor spend during 2011

35. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
So, where are we?
Using paid media in a different way
Scaling our efforts across owned and earned
Taking a longer term view to planning

36. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
How does content strategy
help join things up?

37. The ubiquitous marketing funnel
Source | Forrester (2007)

38. Complexity and off site engagement
Source | Forrester (2007)

39. Source | Flickr | Discover Carmarthenshire
Right content
Right person
Right device
Right time
Right action

40. Strategy
Social
SEO
PPC
PR
UX
Data
Content
Adapted | Brilliant Noise (2012)

41. Objectives for content
Useful
Engaging Digital Business
Findable Outputs Outcomes
Sharable
Authority
Credibility

42. What about brand purpose?
Strategy
Substance
Symbolic Actions
Adapted | Simon Anholt (2012)

43. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
How can you make
things happen?

44. Five things we learnt along the way
Develop themes in line with the brand
1 story you are trying to tell. It will help you
innovate, deliver more than the sum of
the parts and support consistency across
your communications.

45. Five things we learnt along the way
Deliver those themes across multiple
2 channels. Develop conversations and buzz
in the short term that help support the
longer term and associated strategy.
Search visibility is a good example.
Use paid media to amplify your efforts …

46. Five things we learnt along the way
Leverage existing content assets and
3 repurpose the assets you develop for
delivery across multiple channels.
Create once. Publish everywhere. COPE!

47. Five things we learnt along the way
Commit budget with clear objectives
4 behind it. Think findable, sharable,
engaging but above all useful. Leave a bit
aside for experimentation. Continue to
test and learn. Take calculated risks.

48. Five things we learnt along the way
Success in digital is often about the sum
5 total of many small parts. It requires a
close working relationship between your
internal team, agency teams and anyone
else you work with.
Create an environment for that to work!

49. Organisational Change
Not just channels. It’s people, agencies and organisations
In fact it’s more than that. Mindset change!
Source | Flickr | UggBoyUggGirl How do we drive change?

50. Become more content “mature”
From To
Understanding Superficial Deep
Communication Monologue Dialogue
Budgeting Channel-led Conversation-led
Marketing Campaigns Programmes
Organisation Product-centric Customer-centric
Results Random Sustainable
Source | ariad.ca

51. Source | Flickr | lucyparry1
What’s the big opportunity
for destinations?

53. Piloting an approach on Flickr

54. #sharewales

55. A platform for
curating and
distributing
great
destination
content

56. But one where we invest in adding content value

57. And built on a data driven content specification
But one where we invest in adding content
value

58. Final thought
“Collaboration is increasingly becoming the
business model of the future. Whilst not
impossible, it is going to become increasingly
difficult to achieve things on your own. The
smartest stuff is often proudly found elsewhere”
Gerd Leonhard, Media Futurist
Share it. Embrace it. Add to it. Make it better

59. Destination Marketing
A content marketing story?
Thanks J
Contact | jon.munro@wales.gsi.gov.uk
Call | 0300 061 6124
Connect | http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmunro
Follow | @flyjon | www.slideshare.net/flyjon Source | Flickr | kitskel