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Glacier Country’s Winter Wonderland: Campaign Report
Marketing Glacier Country Is in Season
After a successful fall season, the Glacier Country Tourism staff has switched gears from promoting autumn’s radiance and moved into promoting our most adventurous and unique season: winter. Our winter campaign launched on October 1 and ran through December 31. The digital advanced targeting campaign delivered more than 16 million impressions with a click through rate (CTR) of .15%, 1.5 times the average .10% CTR. In November, Glacier Country Tourism redesigned and launched our consumer blog. A link to the blog has been added to the top navigation bar of glaciermt.com, increasing reader awareness and access. The consumer and B2B blogs have grown tremendously, more than doubling their readership. If you haven’t already, subscribe to our blogs at blog.glaciermt.com and b2b.glaciermt.com. Glacier Country Tourism also launched a new weddings microsite, weddings.glaciermt.com. Designed to promote Western Montana as a destination wedding location, it highlights our venues, services, guest lodging and more. For advertising opportunities, please contact our partnership specialist, Crystal, at crystal@windfallstudio.com.
Our B2B media campaigns for FY 2020 have begun and include cooperative efforts from our Whitefish, Kalispell and Missoula CVB partners. Print ad and social media placements targeting the meeting and convention markets are in Meetings Today and Smart Meetings—look for us in the January issues. For the first time, we’ve also secured a print ad with digital marketing in Leisure Group Travel, targeting the group travel market.
In other news, the Glacier Country Tourism team is wrapping up the 2020 – 2021 Glacier Country Travel Guide, and the new travel guide cover has just been selected! The travel guide will be released in April 2020. We’ve also wrapped up the FY 2019 Annual Report. View it at partners.glaciermt.com/marketing, or if you’d like a print copy, call Kristi at 406.532.3234.
Lastly, we are accepting applications for the Glacier Country Tourism Cooperative Marketing Grant. Tourism-related nonprofits interested in developing or expanding a marketing project can apply on Sumbittable at glaciercountrytourism.submittable.com/submit. The grant-funding pool for FY 2020 is $40,000, and up to $5,000 can be granted per project. Funds are granted for qualifying projects on a first-come, first-served basis.
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86%
of all nonresident visitors were repeat visitors to Montana in 2018.
(Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research, ITRR) |
43%
of all 2018/2019 Montana ski area visits were from nonresident skiers and snowboarders.
(ITRR)
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In 2018, more than
$3 million
of nonresident visitor spending in the region was on items at farmers markets.
(ITRR)
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Mark Your Calendar
Board Meetings |
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MAR
10 |
March 10, 2020
noon – 3 p.m.
Missoula |
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MAY
12 |
May 12, 2020
noon – 3 p.m.
The Canyon,
West Glacier Area |
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OCT
8 |
Oct 8, 2020
noon – 3 p.m.
Bitterroot (TBD) |
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Our board meetings are open to the public, and we welcome attendance. Board training is from noon – 12:50 p.m., and the business meeting starts at 1 p.m.
To learn more, please call the Glacier Country Tourism office at 800.956.6537 or 406.532.3234. Or drop us a note at glaciercountry@glaciermt.com.
MILESTONES FY 2020
through December 2019
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Tablet-Friendly Guide Visits
36,140 |
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Call Center Inquiries
(phone, email, live chat and travel guide distribution)
71,301 |
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Website Visits
745,387 |
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Social Media Engagement
743,750 |
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Paid Media Impressions
24,566,326 |
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Earned Media Ad Value
(Jan. 2019 through Dec. 2019)
$2,718,101 |
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Need travel guides? Call Kristi McNeal, Glacier Country Tourism's office manager, at 406.532.3234.
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Public Relations and
Tourism Sales Update
 This quarter our Public Relations and Earned Media Manager, Lucy Guthrie Beighle, continued to promote Glacier Country as a destination through her work with journalists, bloggers and influencers. In November, Lucy headed to LA with partners from Kalispell, Missoula and Whitefish to meet with eight traditional journalists and digital influencers. The trip was in part to promote the new direct flight on American Airlines between LAX and MSO, which begins in March 2020, and the accessibility of Western Montana, both in getting here and once you’re on the ground. The one-on-one meetings were very successful, and we expect many future media visits from our efforts. Lucy also went to the IMM (International Media Marketplace) conference in January, where she met with 25 journalists. The event has proven to be very fruitful over the years with approximately $658,509 of earned media value resulting from media visits.
Our Tourism Sales Manager, Debbie Picard, has been busy this past quarter working with Glacier Country Tourism partners and assisting with marketing education workshops. In October, Glacier Country Tourism held a Tourism Summit in Missoula highlighting different marketing tracts to help tourism partners. Debbie’s tract focused on working with group and international tour operators and attracting meetings and conventions to the region. Also in October, Debbie assisted Discover Kalispell in hosting a Travel Trade Workshop focusing on the international market and working with international inbound tour operators for Kalispell and surrounding hotels and attractions. In December she attended NTA Travel Exchange (National Tour Association) promoting the region to the group tour/motorcoach market. After each show, Debbie’s trade show leads are available on the Partner Center for follow-up by Glacier Country Tourism partners.
For more information about our PR and earned media or tourism sales departments, email Lucy or Debbie at lucy@glaciermt.com
or debbie@glaciermt.com.
Reserve One of Our Final Spots
With winter underway, we’re looking ahead to spring and summer. We still have a few warm season cooperatives and premium ad positions available for partners. Keep in mind that more than 1.6 million unique visitors a year use glaciermt.com to assist in planning their vacations.
Visit our new Partner Center at partners.glaciermt.com.
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partners.glaciermt.com
Disclaimer
© 2020 Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of any material must be with the consent of the Glacier Country Regional Tourism Commission. Produced with Accommodations Tax Funds.
Glacier Country Tourism is operated by a Board of Directors (made up of two members from each county in Glacier Country: Flathead, Glacier, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli and Sanders, up to eight at-large representatives and up to six ex-officio) and the executive director. The board operates under strict rules and regulations set by the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) and the Montana legislature. The Glacier Country Tourism marketing plan and projects are approved by the board and then submitted to the TAC for final approval.
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