MARKETING
Visit South Walton Honored with Bronze Flagler Award:
Visit South Walton was honored as the recipient of a Bronze Flagler Award during the annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, held Sept. 8-10 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla.
The Flagler Awards are an annual, statewide competition recognizing outstanding Florida tourism marketing. The program was created by Visit Florida to honor individuals and organizations that help position Florida as a travel destination.
Visit South Walton won Bronze in the Mixed Media category for its Virtual Beach Vibes campaign, which aimed to showcase the South Walton experience to visitors from the comfort of their homes, while still keeping the destination top of mind for future travel. The campaign provided a message of togetherness, strength, and hope during uncertain times while sharing live concerts from local musicians, yoga sessions, neighborhood tours, and recipes from local chefs.
CLICK HERE to read the press release.
Book>Direct Accommodations Search Engine:
Visit South Walton has partnered with Book>Direct to provide accommodation partners with the ability to display real-time rates and availability on visitsouthwalton.com. If you would like to add or update a rental property listing, please email Lisa@visitsouthwalton.com.
To view the Book>Direct user interface and its functionality, please visit the STAY page of our website. If you need more information about Book>Direct or signing up as a South Walton partner, contact Lisa Foster, industry relations specialist, at Lisa@visitsouthwalton.com or (850) 333-2728.
August Website Stats:
- Users & Page Views:
- This month there were a total of 282,626 page views and 154,922,719 unique users on the website.
- Users who visited the site in August were mostly female (60%), between the ages 25-34 (21%), and new visitors (86%). Both new and returning visitors saw an increase of more than 30% compared to July.
- The number of sessions on the website increased in August (34%), as did the number of unique users.
- Most of the traffic to the website in August came from paid search (35%), organic search (20%), and direct (16.5%).
- Devices:
- Consistent with previous months, mobile devices were the primary driver of traffic to the website, making up 77% of total sessions. While mobile devices brought in the most sessions, desktops continued to account for the most engagement in average session duration (1:31), the highest number of pages per session (2.1), and the lowest bounce rate (60%).
- Geography:
- Top Cities: Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Nashville, and Mobile-Pensacola.
- In August, users from Texas, Georgia, and Florida were responsible for the most sessions.
- Most viewed pages:
- The most viewed pages on the site in August were the Home page, the Miramar Beach neighborhood page, and the Beach Safety page.
- Of the top 10 most viewed pages, the Beach Safety page (3:00) and the Beach and Bay Access page (2:10) had the longest average time on page.
- Online Visitor Guide Data:
- Travel Guide page views saw a decrease in August, but the bounce rate improved by 23.5%, bringing the bounce rate below the 60% goal.
- In August, there were a total of 261 Visitor Guide requests.
Social in South Walton:
Through our targeted approach, we are able to share the destination’s story and network to specifically targeted markets, while providing informational and inspirational content to motivate future visitation.
Check out some of the highlights from our channels:
- Facebook:
- Total Followers: 324,115
- Total Monthly Impressions: 7,884,767
- Total Monthly Reach: 1,966,393
- Top Performing Post: "Wish You Were Here"
- Impressions: 31,350
- Twitter:
- Total Followers: 16,947 (+147)
- Total Monthly Impressions: 114,644
- Profile Visits: 5,944
- Content Shares/Mentions: 200
- Instagram:
- Followers: 49,702 (+202)
- Total Monthly Organic Impressions: 310,030
- Total Monthly Engagement: 20,529
- Total Monthly Organic Reach: 296,436
- Top Performing Post: "World Photo Day"
- Reach: 12,725
Tik Tok: While we continue to grow our followers, we have the ability to share everything the destination has to offer, including state parks, business spotlights and inspirational beach content.
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- Followers: 899 (+117)
- Video Views: 13.7k
- Video Shares: 95
- Top Performing Post: "Think you know your s/o?"
- 2,450 views
- 130 likes
- 9 comments
- 19 shares
Don’t forget to tag us (#SouthWalton and @SouthWalton) in all social media posts! Not only does this improve engagement, but also allows our social team to stay connected to you and your business's news.
Beach Safety Toolkit and Promotional Items:
The safety of South Walton's beachgoers is a priority. In addition to funding the South Walton Fire District's beach lifeguards, the TDC shares beach safety information in a variety of ways, including beach flags at our beach access points, printed materials (like our beach guides and maps, specialty travel guides/magazines, coasters at local restaurants and beach flag magnets and window clings), beach condition text messages, radio ads, and in-person interactions with beachgoers through our Beach Ambassador and Volunteer Beach Ambassador programs.
We've also created a Beach Safety Toolkit page on our website, where partners and local businesses can download a variety of useful information related to beach safety, or schedule a delivery or pickup of promo items.
If you'd like any printed materials to share with your guests, please contact Lisa Foster, industry relations specialist, at Lisa@visitsouthwalton.com or (850) 333-2728. We'd be more than happy to deliver these items to you or arrange for you to pick them up at the Visitor Center, which is open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- For current beach conditions and flag updates, text "FLAG" to 31279*
- *South Walton Beach Conditions: Message and Data Rates May Apply. Periodic Messaging. For help, text HELP, text STOP to end.
Print Publications:
Visit South Walton is proud to offer a family of publications including VISIT, STAY, PERFECT, FOREVER, EXPLORE and SAVOR. CLICK HERE to see online versions of each guide.
- VISIT is a revamped version of our Visitor Guide, complete with features on the South Walton culinary scene, lifestyle, events and outdoor exploration.
- STAY showcases our diverse collection of accommodations, in addition to annual events and the different ways you can "stay" in South Walton.
- PERFECT celebrates the businesses and events that were honored as our 2021 Perfect in South Walton Award winners.
- FOREVER is your guide to weddings in South Walton. Learn about the variety of venues available and all of the ways you can create lasting memories on your big day.
- EXPLORE is exactly what you need to get out and discover South Walton's abundance of natural beauty, outdoor activities, live music and dynamic arts and culture scenes.
- SAVOR is our spotlight on all things culinary in South Walton, from waterfront and fine dining to coastal casual eats and full restaurant listings.
We'd love for you to share these free guides with your guests. Please contact Industry Relations Specialist Lisa Foster at Lisa@visitsouthwalton.com or (850) 333-2728 to place an order and make arrangements for either pick up at the Visitor Center or delivery to your office or vacation rental.
| CONTACT US |
     Visit South Walton 25777 US Hwy 331 S | Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459 VisitSouthWalton.com | (850) 267-1216 |