MARKETING
Cooperative Marketing Program:
The Walton County Tourism Department is committed to supporting local tourist-facing businesses by offering two variations of cooperative advertising. Cooperative advertising is a cost-effective way to help extend partners' marketing message alongside the South Walton brand.
The annual program sales closed on Friday, May 26, and 77 percent of opportunities for FY2024 were purchased by partners, including many categories selling at 100 percent or above. In categories that sold over 100 percent, we are adjusting media plans to accommodate the additional partner interest. These placements will begin running Sunday, Oct. 1.
As part of our commitment to supporting our partners, the Supplemental Co-Op program is made available all year. By going to coop.visitsouthwalton.com, tourist-facing businesses can purchase one-month flights on digital channels starting at $200. These flights begin five weeks after purchase and are perfect to obtain digital impressions, awareness and bookings quickly.
Book>Direct Accommodations Search Engine:
The Walton County Tourism Department has partnered with Book>Direct to provide accommodation partners with the ability to display real-time rates and availability on visitsouthwalton.com. We especially would like all bed tax collectors to review their rental property listing(s) to ensure we have the most current details in our database.
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 Walton County accommodations partner, please contact Lisa Foster, industry relations specialist, at Lisa@WCFLTourism.com or (850) 333-2728.
June Website Stats Users & Page Views:
- There were 269,600 pageviews and 182,971 unique users on the website in June.
- Users who visited the site in June were mostly female (56%), between the ages 35-54 (45.3%), and new visitors (87.5%).
- The traffic coming to the website in June mostly came from Organic Search & Social, which combined to account for 55.2% off all traffic coming to the site.
Devices:
- Mobile devices were the primary driver of traffic to the website, making up 76.5% of total sessions. Desktops continued to account for the most engagement in average session duration (1:11), the highest number of pages per session (1.8), and the lowest bounce rate (67.4%).
Geography:
- Top Metros: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Nashville
- In June, users from Texas, Georgia, and Illinois were responsible for the most sessions.
Most viewed pages:
- The most viewed pages on the site in June were the Beach Safety page, the Home page, the Beach and Bay Access page and the Miramar Beach neighborhood page.
- Of the top 10 most viewed pages, the Beach Safety page (4:22) and the Beach and Bay Access page (2:17) had the longest average time on page.
Online Visitor Guide Data:
- Travel Guide pageviews were slightly down in June, compared to the 16.3% increase they saw in May. While Average Time on Page (-2.6%) was down, Guide Clicks saw a 2.6% increase.
- Overall, Bounce Rate was at 67%, which is above the targeted 60% goal.
- In June, there were a total of 233 Visitor Guide requests, which is 11 less than there were in May.
Social in Walton County:
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 Stats:
- Total Followers – 330,130
- Total Monthly Reach – 2,246,625
- Total Monthly Engagements – 47,566
- Total Monthly Post Reactions – 42,790
- Total Monthly Link Clicks – 259
Visit South Walton:
- Top Performing Post HERE.
- Content: “Good views in #GulfPlace 🌅#SundaySunset”
- Impressions: 223,320
Walton County Tourism:
- Top Performing Post HERE.
- Content: “Happy #SocialMediaDay! We love working with our local partners to promote what's going on at their businesses to our visitors 📲 Interested in a feature? Reach out to Marketing Specialist Rebekah Paul at Rebekah@WCFLTourism.com ✉️”
-
Impressions: 433
Twitter - Visit South Walton
- Total Followers – 18,035
- Total Monthly Impressions – 130,483
- Total Monthly Engagements – 4,751
- Total Monthly Retweets – 443
- Total Monthly Mentions – 144
- Top Tweet HERE.
- Content: “might just spend the rest of our days in #Miramar 💭📸: jmeucci on Insta”
- Engagement Rate: 6.31%
Instagram - Visit South Walton
- Followers – 56,066
- Post Impressions – 287,391
- Total Monthly Engagement – 23,328
- Total Monthly Organic Reach – 352,012
- Top Performing Post HERE.
- Content: “Spotted: Squirt in #SouthWalton 😉🐢Happy #WorldSeaTurtleDay! 📸: @dr_lindsay”
- Reach: 30,052
LinkedIn Stats:
- Followers – 1,411
- Post Reactions – 217
Visit South Walton:
- Top Performing Post HERE.
- Content: “The meeting space of our dreams 💭 Plan your next group meeting in paradise and discover creativity beyond the boardroom: Visit South Walton | Meetings + Conferences 📸: @30aglow on Instagram #meetings #eventprofs #meetingprofs #meetingplanners #eventplanning”
- Reactions: 31
Walton County Tourism:
- Top Performing Post HERE.
- Content: “From our Co-op Advertising program 👉 to business and accommodation listings, Walton County Tourism offers multiple partner programs to help grow and promote local businesses! 🤝Discover how: Partner Programs”
- Reactions: 11
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' 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 beach safety materials to share with your guests or customers, please contact Lisa Foster, industry relations specialist, at Lisa@WCFLTourism.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 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.
| CONTACT US |
     Visit South Walton 25777 US Hwy 331 S | Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459 VisitSouthWalton.com | (850) 267-1216 |