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Triangle Marketing Group Says Ad Campaign a SuccessWednesday, October 27, 2010 The Triangle’s marketing group announced results for the 2010 marketing campaign, and metrics show an increase in intent to visit, website visits and other key measures of success. The Williamsburg Area Destination Marketing Committee (WADMC) is made up of leaders from the three local governments and tourist industry representatives. The group uses the $2 per room, per night tax to fund marketing for the Triangle as a region, meant to complement the marketing done by various destinations. Over the past several years as lodging taxes have decreased due to fewer visitors, WADMC has had to do more with less. Television, radio and print advertising WADMC buys directs visitors to the destination website VIsitWilliamsburg.com, and WADMC tracks various metrics to measure the success of its annual marketing strategy.This year, WADMC reports that ‘intent to visit’, a key metric the group tracks that is measured through surveys, rose to 36 percent, 16 percent over 2009 and higher than the 34 percent achieved in 2007 and 2008. The destination’s website visitation increased 12 percent to an average of 3,825 per day. Ad recall held at 51 percent, higher than both Myrtle Beach, SC, and Virginia Beach and also higher than state campaigns for Pennsylvania and Virginia. Williamsburg is second only to Orlando, Fla., in ad recall. Overall attribute scores for the destination improved over last year, with increased ratings for attributes such as “a place with lots of entertainment,” “a good value for the money,” “has all sorts of recreational opportunities for kids and adults,” and “a place to learn and discover new things.” “These results are all the more impressive when you consider that ad spending actually was 25 percent lower in 2010 than 2009,” said WADMC Chair John Reilly. “The increases point to the positive effect of our new creative introduced this year, and the efficiency of the campaign media buy.” WADMC’s 2010 campaign included three 15-second television commercials created for New York and Philadelphia, which began running in March, and Raleigh-Durham and Washington, D.C., which began in April. Television advertising in these markets ended in August. Online advertising extended the frequency and geographic reach of the campaign to high-visitation states in the East and Midwest, California and Texas, with display advertising running from early March through the end of August and search advertising extending through the end of December.
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Comments
As a layman, I am unsure what the benefit of "intent to visit" actually is. Can somebody explain it in layman's terms? And compare and contrast it with actual paid visitors? Can WY Daily do this or is there a WADMC person who can?
Thanks!
All the folks who have challenged the WADMC measurements really do make sense. I suspect those that don't are from that generation that gets "gold stars" regardless of their performance to help their esteem. Welcome to the real world - intent doesn't pay the bills.
The results are can only be measured by actual roomnights and revenue. "When" do they "intend to visit?" This year, next year, next millenium? Honestly, WADMC should be embarrassed in reporting that this is impressive. You can not spend less and make more. I would be curious to know if there is a trend in people simply being willing to fill out online surveys; not to mention a billion other factors.
The fact that intent to visit is up is great news. If it went the other way the naysayers would be the first to complain. The number of bookings were up this year and it looks like Christmas Town will be even bigger this year. Let's work together, stop the division and set a goal we can all be proud of.
What a dopey metric. Can somebody explain why people's intent to visit is at all meaningful?!?