During the months May – July, Goldfields Tourism rolled out a major brand campaign in South Australia and southern NSW including Canberra.  Designed to increase awareness of the region in these important interstate markets the campaign has now concluded and the Goldfields Committee is delighted with the results.

The campaign involved print and radio advertising and a significant online component.  Whilst print and radio are hard to measure in regard to results, online is much easier to measure and shows that the Goldfields resonated well in our target markets, particularly Adelaide.

The campaign used a combination of online environments to ensure a good interception rate with consumers:

• General news sites to help build awareness (smh.com.au and adelaidenow.com (the online news site for the Adelaide Advertiser)
• Tailored specific niche sites suited to the target audience such as lifestyle pages on smh.com.au and adelaidenow.com
• Online advertorials on both sites detailing the experiences on offer in the region.
• Electronic direct mails (eDMs) to capture a database to allow the Goldfields to communicate regularly with interested consumers

Contact with consumers via these online sites is delivered via what the industry call “impressions”.  An example of an impression is when you are see a pop-up or a banner an on an online site that you are viewing.  When a consumer reacts to that impression it is called an interaction.  Our campaign delivered an interaction rate of 3.56%, and whilst this number may appear small, online industry averages rate this style of marketing as been very successful if the interaction rate is between 2 -3%, so we did very well. 
In addition, our impressions on the news page of adelaidenow.com delivered an interaction rate of 7.56%, which is outstanding.

When we view interactions by state - as a percentage, based on interactions to impressions delivered,

• Adelaide delivered a 6% interaction rate
• NSW delivered a 1% interaction rate

Adelaide consumers are definitely interested in the Goldfields.

From the other activity, the eDMs delivered us a database of 2,372 names.  We are in the process of developing an electronic newsletter (eNews) that will be used to send regular updates to these interested consumers.  The eNews will promote the best of the region, including events and operator special packages and offers.

A key driver for visitors to the region is events, and in the Goldfields we have a great range of events to attract visitors, including special international traveling exhibitions, food and wine events, niche cultural events, sporting events and everything in-between. 

Tourism Victorian’s website, visitvictoria.com.au, which is the host for the Goldfields consumer website, www.visitgoldfields.com.au is the key source of information for visitors looking to holiday in and around Victoria.  But did you know you can list your events on visitvictoria.com.au at no cost at all?  This is a great way to promote your event to the many many consumers that go to visitvictoria.com every day. 

Listings are self-authoring, therefore you are responsible for setting it up yourself, but this also means you can be sure the information is accurate and up-to-date.  If you have limited online experience, don’t let this put you off, Tourism Victoria have an online help desk to guide you through the process and are available Monday to Friday from 9am – 5pm.

For more information and to list your event, go to http://my.visitvictoria.com . 

With Daylesford just commencing a major brand campaign in interstate markets it is a great opportunity for the Goldfields region to maximise opportunities to leverage off the activity for one of our neighbouring regions.

The Daylesford campaign will deliver significant marketing activity over the next couple of months and it is expected to generate a good deal of visitation to the visitvictoria.com website and interest in the region and surrounds.  Chatting with local operators, many note they often benefit from Daylesford visitors be it the visitors are looking for accommodation options away from the main Daylesford hub and/or looking for other things to do in the area.  As such, the Goldfields brand sub-committee will be looking at any options and opportunities to maximise on this significant marketing activity.

Goldfields own marketing activity

The Goldfields Tourism brand sub-committee is also working on developing the next round of activity to continue to market our region.

Given the success of the recent campaign to get the Goldfields region into consumers’ minds we do not want wait too long before the next burst of activity and so loose momentum.  We are working on developing a campaign that will best get the Goldfields name into our target markets and work on converting that increased awareness in the region to bookings for operators via a range of activities.

• Engaging a public relations (PR) consultant to assist us to deliver the Goldfields message.
• Developing an electronic newsletter (eNews) which will be distributed to our newly gained database
• Developing a marketing schedule to work in conjunction with the PR campaign.
• Maximising other opportunities such as marketing activity via Tourism Victoria’s own product campaigns in food and wine, nature, winter masterpieces.

The brand sub-committee will be developing a prospectus of activities which should be available by the end of October.

If you would like to find out more about any of the above activities, including how you can be involved, or register on a database to receive updates on marketing opportunities please contact Goldfields Tourism Project Manager, Jo Pincus at see1@vic.australis.com.au

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