MARKETING
Marketing Director Honored with CDME Credential:
The Walton County Tourism Department's Director of Marketing Kelli Carter recently earned her Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) credential during the Destinations International Annual Convention in Toronto, Canada.
This credential is the tourism industry’s highest individual educational achievement. The CDME program prepares senior executives to thrive in a constantly changing environment. The program's focus is on vision, leadership, productivity, and implementing business strategies.
“CDME has been an accomplishment in the making for quite a while. Although I may have personally attended the classes and completed the assignments; it takes an entire village," Carter said. "This would not be possible without my family and my work family. Both have been instrumental in keeping me on task and providing the encouragement and support to succeed.”
Co-op Program:
Once again as an extension of the very successful annual co-op program, the Walton County Tourism Department is offering the opportunity to purchase digital paid media programs throughout the year. Partners, both Bed Tax Collectors and Non-Bed Tax Collectors can select one-month flights on Facebook/Instagram, TripAdvisor, or Programmatic Display, and three-month flights on Hulu. Meetings-eligible partners will be able to select one-month flights on Programmatic Display, Dedicated Emails, and LinkedIn.
Campaigns will begin 5 weeks after the purchase date. This offers partners the opportunity to anticipate a need for additional promotion and purchase it, providing more flexibility. As with the annual program, the Walton County Tourism Department covers at least half the cost of each placement.
This program will be available through the online signup system used for the annual program. Within this system, partners can see all opportunities to purchase as-needed and upload the needed assets with ease. This turn-key solution provides a one-stop shop for digital media purchases.
Please visit https://coop.visitsouthwalton.com/ to sign up or sign in, explore the opportunities and purchase today!
Walton County Mural Project:
The Tourist Development Council recently approved the creation of a Walton County Mural Project. This project will showcase Walton County as a destination for the arts through creative placemaking. Public Art drives tourism, stimulates the economy, and injects a sense of place and community. Creating a series of murals and public art will contribute to the beauty and culture of Walton County as well as the economic vibrancy.
These efforts will enrich our aesthetics and environment by introducing cultural tourism through public art that is easily accessible and interactive for locals and visitors to enjoy. Through the development of these displays, we will promote self-guided tours and social media sharing through hashtags, QR codes, or interactive apps. However, the benefits exceed social media presence. This program will instill a sense of civic pride, safety, boost economic growth, inspire investment in the community and so many more benefits.
For more information about the program, contact Kelli Carter, director of marketing, at Kelli@visitsouthwalton.com or call (850) 267-1216.
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.
Year-to-date, the Book>Direct portion of the website has received more than 35,000 visits. With Google ads, VRBO ads, and promotion on social media, more potential visitors are being funneled to book directly with our accommodations partners. Yearly visits to the Book>Direct page on VisitSouthWalton.com have increased by 231%.
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.
July Website Stats:
- Users & Page Views:
- There were a total of 190,798 page views and 100,677 unique users on the website in July.
- Users who visited the site were mostly female (58.9%), between the ages of 35-54 (45.6%), and new visitors (86.3%).
- Traffic to the website was primarily dominated by Organic Search and Social, which combined accounted for 53.8% of all traffic coming to the site.
- Devices:
- Consistent with previous months, mobile devices were the primary driver of traffic to the website, making up 74.7% of total sessions. While mobile devices brought in the most sessions, desktops continued to account for the most engagement in average session duration (1:34), the highest number of pages per session (2.1), and the lowest bounce rate (59.2%).
- Geography:
- Top Cities/Metros: Chicago, New York City, Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and Houston.
- In July, users from Illinois, Texas, and New York were responsible for most sessions.
- Most viewed pages:
- The most viewed pages on the site in July, after the home page, were the Beach Safety page, the Miramar Beach neighborhood page, and the Beach and Bay Access locations page.
- Of the top 10 most viewed pages, the Beach Safety page (4:05) and the Beach and Bay Access locations page (3:28) had the longest average time on page.
- Online Visitor Guide Data:
- Travel Guide page views decreased in July.
- There were a total of 234 Visitor Guide requests in June.
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 March highlights from our channels:
- Facebook:
- Total Followers: 326,747
- Total Monthly Reach: 2,578,047
- Total Monthly Engagements: 13,524
- Total Monthly Post Reactions: 12,129
- Total Monthly Link Clicks: 813
- Top Performing Post: Don't Call, Don't Text (chair in the water)
- Impressions: 62,121
- Twitter:
- Total Followers: 17,797
- Total Monthly Impressions: 66,087
- Total Monthly Engagements: 2,231
- Total Monthly Retweets: 75
- Total Monthly Mentions: 93
- Top Tweet: Wave Video
- Engagement Rate: 3.44%
- Instagram:
- Followers: 53,440
- Post Impressions: 282,397
- Total Monthly Engagement: 22,081
- Total Monthly Organic Reach: 266,922
- Top Performing Post: It's giving... perfect beach weekend
- Reach: 28,016
- LinkedIn:
- Followers: 1,064
- Post Reactions: 295
- Top Performing Post: Chair in the Water
Don’t forget to tag us (#SouthWalton and @SouthWalton) in all social media posts! Not only does this improve engagement, but it 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 Walton County Tourism Department shares beach safety information in a variety of ways, including beach flags and signs at our beach access points, printed materials (like our beach guides and maps, specialty travel guides/magazines, coasters at local restaurants, beach flag magnets and window clings), beach condition text messages, social media posts, and radio ads.
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 or customers, please contact Lisa Foster, industry relations specialist, at Lisa@visitsouthwalton.com or (850) 333-2728. We can make arrangements for you to pick them up at the Visitor Center, which is open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 5:30 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, 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.
- PERFECT celebrates the businesses and events that were honored as our 2022 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.
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