Tourism marketing used to be about glossy print ads and billboards lining the road to the destination. And if the budget’s big enough a TV spot. Like most industries, the disruption caused by mobile devices and social media has cleared the way for new opportunities.
The McCurtain County Tourism Authority knows they have a world-class destination on their hands. We know if we can get people to visit once, the beautiful landscape, amazing people and incredible cabin experience will get them to return. We just needed to get our audience’s attention – and show them what they can expect from a trip to McCurtain County.
A Million Reasons to Visit McCurtain County
The campaign needed to be authentic, free-spirited and unafraid to make you crack a smile. There are tons of reasons for people to visit McCurtain County. We wanted to show some of them off and encourage people to Get Here Already.
Our Million Reasons to Visit McCurtain County spot lived on social media, YouTube and OTT.
When your audience is in Dallas, you gotta go big.
Most visitors come from Dallas, so it only made sense to go big. We worked with Outfront Media to find the perfect, colossal, impactful wallscape in downtown Dallas. Did we mention the piece won a gold Addy award?
The perfect cabin is just a few clicks away.
With most advertising being digital or social, the campaign focused on driving traffic to the website, where users can browse activities, events, and, most of all, check cabin availability. The search filters through thousands of properties to connect with you with a cabin that really hits the spot.
All Over Instagram and Facebook
People sink hours into social media – connecting with others, showing off experiences and getting inspired.
We prioritized Facebook and Instagram to zero in on our audience and provide a steady stream of content throughout the year. Through our video-based Reasons campaign and the curation user-generated content, we showed real people enjoying their McCurtain County experience.
Pinterest is the place for vacation inspiration.
While Facebook and Instagram consume much of people’s screentime, these are platforms for connecting with others. Inspiration is the purpose of Pinterest: wedding planning, recipes and DIY projects. But it’s also a prime platform for planning your next vacation. We elevated McCurtain County’s Pinterest presence through strong visuals and video – which resulted in a nice bump in web traffic.
Pivoting for the pandemic
In March of 2020, the novel coronavirus was spreading throughout the country and Oklahoma was one of the many states affected. While the statewide social distancing guidelines were in place, we proactively pivoted the campaign’s messaging to avoid coming off as insensitive or worse – dismissive. While people were sheltered in place, dreaming of a return to normal, we saw a significant increase in website traffic.
Impact
The new campaign for McCurtain County has been a resounding success. We’ve seen increases in our KPIs across all media. But most importantly, more people have chosen McCurtain County as their vacation destination.
Maybe they’ll even spot a Bigfoot or two.
