East Perry County Cultural Alliance
Andrea Gils, Ebony Jackson and Tim Randell
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 3 S.W.O.T. Analysis 4 Target Audiences 5 Objectives, Strategies and Tactics 6 Recommendations - Logo 7 - Billboard 8 - Print Ad 10 - Brochure 11 - Geocaching 12 - Digital Footprint: Google AdWords 13 - Facebook 18 - Media Reach 19 - Website 20 - Further Recommendations 24 Survey 25 Timeline 26 Budget 27 Evaluation 28 Our Team 29
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Executive Summary For the East Perry County Cultural Alliance we have proposed to launch a campaign that is aimed to increase brand awareness of the East Perry County Cultural Alliance and tourism in the East Perry County (EPC). To achieve this goal, we have designed a multi-pronged campaign encompassing branding, media relations (traditional and digital media), a rebranded website, and social media. We have identified two main target audiences: Day Trippers and History Buffs. Day Trippers encompasses wine-enthusiasts, Geocachers (outdoor treasure-hunt enthusiasts) and retirees of all ages. History Buffs are those who have a tie or special interest in Lutheran history and/or German heritage. To excite Day Trippers and History Buffs about the different activities they can do in East Perry County we propose to reinforce EPCCA’s messages with visibility and active participation on online media. To achieve this, we branded EPCCA with a logo that represents both the German and Lutheran heritage and a slogan that suggest multiple things to do in EPC: “Experience. Explore. Enjoy.,” with the terms referring to the culture, the history and the ambience, respectively. The proposed slogan would be reflected on the brochures that would be placed in nearby hotels, the website, advertisement designs and billboards. Each verb encompasses activities that someone interested in history would like to do or someone who is interested in special events, food and wine-tasting. To expand the media reach we propose pitching story ideas to different newspapers about the rebranding and events to be held. We also suggest contacting multiple websites which appear in a high ranking in Google searches and which Day Trippers are most likely to consult for organization prior to the day of the trip. To increase the online visibility we have also proposed the use of Google AdWords campaigns that would enable eastperrycomo.org to show up in the results of specific search terms that people Google. These Google Ads would show on the top or right reel of the search results as a promoted (paid) link. To assess the success of the digital campaign we recommend looking at the website’s traffic, Facebook Insights and the report that Google generates automatically for each Google AdWords campaign. In addition, we recommend business owners to give surveys to visitors once they are in a local business. This would provide us not only with demographic data about the tourists but also with information about how we would be reaching to our target audiences. This would be vital to determine the effectiveness of the billboard, newspaper ads and brochures. The reach of the billboard and newspapers is determined by circulation and the brochures by their pickup rates. Last but not least, the overall campaign would be evaluated by benchmarking the annual spending and amount of tourists EPC welcomes within one year (before and after the campaign is launched).
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SWOT Analysis
S
W
Rich History: Lutheran & German
Location
Close-knit community
Lack of prominent signage
Welcoming locals
Limited number of daily attractions
Established audience for East Perry Community Fair
Reduced media coverage Limited lodging
Community that wants EPC to grow
Grow digital presence Host frequent events Attract German and Lutheran history buffs Increased presence in third party media outlets
O
Nearby cities with high and established tourism Multiple competing wineries in the region Lack of cooperation among business-owners
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Target Audiences
1 - Day Trippers - Wine enthusiasts - Geocachers - Retirees Ages: Vary - Single, couples and families - Most likely to plan a trip by researching online
2 - History Buffs - Religious - Lutherans - German tourists - German descendents - Geocachers Age: 30 + - Most likely to feel a connection with EPC - Posses genuine interest in exploring the community
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Objectives, Strategies, Tactics
PR Objective 1 To excite Day Trippers and History Buffs about the different activities they can do in East Perry County by suggesting them one-day and weekend activities of their interest during different times in the year. Marketing Objective 1 To increase tourism spending by 10% within one year. Strategy 1: - To reinforce East Perry County Cultural Alliance’s key messages through increased visibility and repetition. Tactics: - Present a consistent slogan and logo that represents the heritage and culture of East Perry County. - Create collateral materials which contain different types of activity suggestions for the different types of Day Trippers. - Create a landing page website that matches the brand and invites visitors to explore the page with visual storytelling. - Pitch story ideas for events to multiple media outlets (websites and newspapers). - Expand the reach with selected. Strategy 2: To partner with local businesses to gather demographic data and build relationships with tourists. Tactics: - Create a simple survey to gather demographic data. - Request local businesses to invite customers to share their experience by filling out the survey. - Request local businesses to communicate the times, dates and places of events that they will hold.
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Recommendations: Logo
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Billboard Location:
Within 5-10 miles North of Exit 135 (St. Genevive & South St. Louis) Within 5-10 miles South of Exit 105 (Cape Girardeau & Sikeston)
Available Billboards with Drury Southwest #1 - ID: 128-SB Location: Bottom Northbound Face - Cape Girardeau, Mo. Size: 12’x40’ Route: I-55. Mile-marker: 95.1 Daily Effective Circulation: 22,066 #2 - ID: 204-NB Location: Bottom Southbound Face - Perryville, Mo. Size: 12’x40’ Route: I-55 Mile Marker: 133.5 Daily Effective Circulation: 15, 615 MORE INFORMATION: http://www.dswsigns.com/ (573) 334 3114
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Billboard Design
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Print Advertisement
We suggest placing a generic 1/8 page-size advertisement every two weeks during the months in which tourism is at its highest in East Perry County. Suggested newspapers for placement: - Southeast Missourian (Cape Girardeau) - Sunday Black/White 398.40 - Republic-Monitor (Perryville)- 134.25 Daily - St. Genevive Gerland (St. Genevieve) - Weekly ads We also suggest placing a specific-event ad every week for four weeks before the event takes place.
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Brochure
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Geocaching
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Digital Footprint Organic Searches - SEO Recommendations - - -
Use keywords in website pages and body of the text. Update frequently. Frequent posting on social media will also help with your organic search ranking results.
Paid Searches - SERP Recommendations We recommend bidding for ad spots on search engine results page (SERP). When a user searches a term, there are two types of results: organic search results (unpaid) and paid links. Our long-term goal would be to improve the position of the search results without paying for a ranking but for an initial phase, we recommend using paid ads for specific search terms that users will Google. The prices of these ads are not fixed but bided for. EPCCA would pay Google for each link clicked rather than per impression. Pay-per-click (PPC) bidding means that a bid for a specific keyword would be placed, according to your budget, and the one with highest bid wins the first rank on the paid links. The price of the lowest bid is used as baseline and prices increase in fixed ratios as the ranks increase. Google has the option to pay cost-per-thousand (CPM) but the ad may be shown a million times and have only one person click it. Therefore, we recommend using PPC because we suggest focusing on a very narrow audience which will show conversion, i.e. spend a day in East Perry County, and not simply research information about it. The position in which an ad is placed among the paid links (#1, #2, #3, etc.) will depend on the bidding process. We can use matching options with keywords to control which searches will trigger the specific ad. There are different types of keywords that could be used: broad match, broad match modifier, phrase match and exact match. Since the targeting audiences are very specific, we recommend bidding keywords for phrase matches because it would allow the ad to show only for searches that include the exact phrase or close variations to that exact phrase. Our keywords would be less likely to show ads to customers searching for terms that aren’t related to our product or service. Another viable option is to use broad match modifier keywords which would allow the ad to show for searches that include the modified term or close variations (excluding synonyms) in any order. The content of each paid link would depend on the suggested keyword because we recommend personalizing each ad and re-directing link to target each specific audience: day trippers, Lutherans, Germans and Missouri history buffs in general.
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Google AdWords
Explore East Perry County www.eastperrycomo.org
Experience the culture, explore German and Lutheran heritage and enjoy the outdoors.
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Keywords - Short-tail Short-tail keywords (4 words or less) search results: Term: “Wine Trails Southeast Missouri” • •
Mississippi River Hills Wine Trail shows in #1 (organic result). There are paid results on the bottom of the page – one with Hermann winery.
Recommendation: Paid keyword with link to Experience page in EPCCA website.
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Keywords - Long-tail Long-tail keywords (5 words or more) search results:
TERM: “German history in Southeast Missouri”
• •
Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum’s Conference shows up in #5. There are few ads on the right reel but no ads on the top.
Recommendation: Paid keyword with link to Explore [the history] page in EPCCA.
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More Long-tail Keywords
TERM: “German settlers in Southeast Missouri”
- -
Page Missouri Wine County shows #3 but users need to visit two more pages before getting to Hemman and Tower Rock profile pages. There are paid ads on the right reel but no ads on top.
Recommendation: Paid keyword with link to landing page or Explore [the history] page in EPCCA.
TERM: “Lutheran settlers in Southeast Missouri”
• • •
There are no search results relating to any of the businesses in East Perry County. There is however, an organic search result in #2 spot for Lutheran Church-Synod. There are no paid ads.
Recommendation: Paid keyword with link to Explore [the history] page in EPCCA.
TERM: “Day trip in Perry County Missouri”
• - •
There are organic search results for perrycountymo.us which has a “historical places” tab. Other top links include Perry County Middle School, perryvillemo.com and a link to zilow. There are paid ads on the right reel.
Recommendation: Paid keyword with link to EPCCA’s landing page.
TERM: “Things to do in Perry County Missouri”
• •
There are organic search results for perrycountymo.us, greatriverroad.com, and East Perry Community Fair Facebook page. There are paid ads on the bottom but no ads on top nor on the right reel.
Recommendations: Paid keyword with link to EPCCA’s landing page.
TERM: “East Perry County Fair 2014”
• There are organic search results for mofairs.org, perryvillemo.com/events, and East Perry Community Fair Facebook page. • There are NO paid ads.
Recommendation: Work on SEO. No need for paid searches.
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Facebook Event Page
We recommend having a Facebook cover for each major event, including the East Perry Community Fair. To generate interest and share the experience with visitors, any Facebook Cover should contain human figures and the date and time of the event.
Sept. 19 & 20
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Media Reach
To expand media reach, we have compiled a list of information centers and websites which we believe would serve as additional media outlets to increase awareness, generate repetition of the brand and inform our target audiences. - visitmo.com - www.perryvillemo.com - The Mississippi River Trail - Convention Visitors Bureau - Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve, Sikeston, Perryville and Farmington. - Chambers of Commerce - Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve, Sikeston, Perryville and Farmington. - International Center - Southeast Missouri State University - Hotels within a 50 mile radius of the East Perry County - German American Chambers of Commerce (GACCs) - The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
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Website: Home Page
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Website: Events
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Website: Explore
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Website: Gallery
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Further Recommendations Fruhling Fest
- Similar to Oktober Fest. - Showcase the German cultural heritage with typical dishes, local craft beer, music and dancing. - To take place during Spring (end of April - mid-May) - Seek sponsorships with German companies: Volkswagen, Aldi’s (food), STIHL, Lumber companies in EPC.
Goodies
- Wineries could have wine glasses with the logo and other types of souveniers promoting the brand.
Historic Home Tours
- History buffs could enjoy a morning or early-afternoon tour of local homes which have kept their original infrastructure.
Geocaching photo contest
- Organize a “Geocacher of the Month” contest where users submit photos of their findings or of clues (but they can’t give away the exact location) and the one with most Likes on Facebook wins a discount or gift card for a local shop.
Press Releases with every event
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Survey: Branding
Age range (please circle): 12-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 or older 1 - How did you hear about East Perry County? 2 - When you hear or read the words “East Perry County” what words or images come to mind? 3 - What is your favorite thing to do here? 4 - Which is/are your favorite event(s) in East Perry County? 5 - Is there a particular type of event you wish we had in East Perry County? 6 - Have you had a chance to look at our Facebook page? If you haven’t, it’s East Perry County Cultural Alliance. 7 - Did you enjoy your visit? Feel free to expand. 8 - Additional Comments:
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Timeline
GENERAL TIMELINE Billboard Ad (g) Newspaper Ad Brochure Website Facebook Geocaching
MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
EVENT-SPECIFIC TIMELINE 4 weeks before 3 weeks before
2 weeks before
1 week before
Billboard Ad (e) X Newspaper Ad (e) X X X X Facebook cover (e) X X X X Facebook posts (e) X X X X
When an event-specific ad is placed in newspapers, there is no need for a generic ad. REFERENCES:
(g) = generic (e) = event-specific
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Budget DETAIL
PRICE UNIT QUANTITY
TOTAL
March Billboard $ 1250 / month 2 for 4 weeks $ 1,250.00 Brochure $ 0.88 300 $ 264.00 Print Advertising - 1/8 Page Ad Arrow $ 220.00 / week Twice / Month $440.00 Southeast Missourian $ 398.40 / Sunday Once / Month $398.40 Republic Monitor $ 134.25 / day Once / Month $134.25 Ste. Genevieve Herald $ 102 / week Twice / Month $204.00 Google Adwords TBD TBD TBD Intern/student-run firm $7.35/hour 3 hours/week $ 90 / month Total Monthly Budget - March $2,780.65
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Evaluation The success of this campaign would be assessed in multiple ways. Firstly, we would benchmark attendance rates and tourism spending within a year after the campaign has been launched. To gather feedback from the tourists, we propose creating a survey print and online as well as on-site logbook signing. The online survey would be used as a constant assessment tool for events, social media performance and brand perceptions. It would allow us to know where the tourists are coming from and how they are learning about East Perry County. The effectiveness of the Facebook posts and visuals would be assessed by looking at Facebook Insights. Facebook provides the metrics for total likes, overall engagement, posts with the most engagement, etc. The effectiveness of the billboards and newspaper ads would be assessed by the percentage increase in tourism, by the survey and online logbook, and the brochures would be assessed by pickup rates and mentions on the survey. The digital advertising (Google AdWord campaigns) would be assessed automatically by Google, which would generate a report on each keyword. The report provides with conversion rates, among other metrics. Added to this, a successful Google AdWords campaign would reflect an increase in tourism as well as daily website traffic.
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Our Team
Andrea Gils, 23, is a senior at Southeast Missouri State University who is double majoring in public relations and journalism. She has experience in event planning, design, writing, persuasion and public speaking.
Tim Randell, 23, is a senior at Southeast Missouri State University who is majoring in public relations and minoring in marketing management. He is experienced in sponsorships, strategic marketing and event planning.
Ebony Jackson, 23, is a senior at Southeast Missouri State University who is majoring in public relations. She has experience in non-profit, research and event planning.
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