DIGITAL MARKETING
In 2019, digital marketing will continue to play an integral role in the organization’s overall marketing strategy. Targeted digital marketing is an essential part of the overall media plan in 2019, with approximately 40% of the plan dedicated to digital media initiatives.
Through our digital partners we are able to target engaging content and advertising based on demographics, geographics and psychographics. Content marketing, native advertising and the connected home are important trends addressed in the 2019 media plan.
These types of digital media, social media, content marketing and email marketing offer Visit GPS direct means to attract new potential visitors with intent to travel, as well as nurture existing audiences to encourage visitation. To increase the overall effectiveness of the digital marketing strategy, Visit GPS will target the following areas of focus in 2019.
Website
In February 2018, Visit GPS transitioned its website hosting and development to Simpleview, a digital marketing vendor that specializes in the tourism industry. With the launch of the new website, Visit GPS has been able to improve user experience and engagement while also increasing overall organic visitation. In 2019, we will continue to focus on further enhancing the user experience to increase engagement and ultimately increase visitation to Greater Palm Springs. We will shift our focus from paid traffic to engagement and user experience. Our goals for the year are as follows:
| Sessions | 2,700,000 |
| Pageviews | 6,000,000 |
| Session Duration | 2:30 |
| Pages/Session | 2.22 |
| Bounce Rate | 29% |
| Engaged Users | 33% |
| Highly Engaged Users | 6% |
In addition to utilizing dynamic, persona-based user-specific content to deliver a personalized site experience, Visit GPS is also contracting for the following site enhancements.
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Search Engine Optimization
After nearly doubling the website’s year-over-year organic traffic in 2018, Visit GPS will continue to identify opportunities to reach potential visitors through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In 2019, the SEO strategy will continue to target keyword phrases, events and listings with opportunities to attract additional website visitation. The strategy will focus on optimizing new and/or existing pages and building multi-page content silos to increase page rankings, enhance user experience and increase site engagement.
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Conversion Rate Optimization
In 2019, the CVB will continue to optimize its website for user experience and conversions (such as e-newsletter sign-ups, visitor guide requests or increased page visits) through its Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) contract with Simpleview. Through ongoing A/B testing, the CRO contract will continue to analyze user behavior and optimize the Visit GPS website to increase overall engagement.
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Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
To continue to increase visibility and attract new users to the website, Visit GPS will continue to partner with Simpleview for pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on Google and Bing. These high-visibility, high-funnel ad placements not only drive awareness for Visit GPS, but have also proven to attract highly engaged users to the Visit GPS website.
With robust campaign data available in both Google and Bing’s advertising platforms, as well as the additional insights offered by Simpleview’s paid media strategists, Visit GPS is able to ensure PPC campaigns are optimized in real-time to target highly engaged users in the most cost-efficient way possible.
In 2019, Visit GPS will continue to optimize its campaigns to target domestic and select international audiences based on a number of factors, including destination keywords and user location (geo-targeting).
Campaigns will be targeted to the three major geographic markets (drive, fly and international), and regular optimization efforts will ensure visitors with an intent to travel are being driven back to the Visit GPS website to plan and book a trip. In addition to these prospecting campaigns, remarketing campaigns will be utilized to re-engage past site visitors, keeping the destination top of mind as these potential visitors plan their trip.
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Accessibility
Because the CVB believes it is crucial that every website user is able to access content, the CVB is partnering with AudioEye to remove access barriers for individuals of varying abilities. As an experienced vendor in automated web accessibility, AudioEye will ensure the CVB website becomes fully compliant in 2019.
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Website Advertising
As the official destination website for Greater Palm Springs, the Visit GPS website attracts an estimated 3 million sessions annually, offering free exposure for local hotels, attractions, restaurants and more. Through a new partnership with Destination Travel Network (DTN), Visit GPS partners are now able to further leverage the Visit GPS' audience with online advertising opportunities. DTN offers a variety of ad units on the Visit GPS website, each designed to look like a native website placement rather than an advertisement. This will allow partners to accrue additional exposure to potential visitors without disrupting the website’s overall user experience.
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Booking Engine
The Visit GPS website maintains a steady flow of traffic from potential visitors who come to the website to find travel inspiration and information. In order to convert these website visitors into destination visitors, Visit GPS is partnering with aRes to offer hotel, air and select attraction booking directly on the Visit GPS website. Users can book online or through a dedicated Visit GPS call center, managed by aRes. Visit GPS online booking widget includes all area hotels.
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Content Marketing
In 2019, Visit GPS will continue to create engaging and unique content to inspire travel to Greater Palm Springs. Through strategic content creation, Visit GPS' content marketing strategy will continue to increase the destination’s digital reach, improve overall brand awareness and encourage visitation. The 2019 content calendar will include editorial around signature events, keyword opportunities and travel trends.
Moving forward, Visit GPS will also continue to establish long-term relationships with micro influencers, who act as brand ambassadors while creating original content for Visit GPS. Through these partnerships, Visit GPS is also able to leverage the influencer’s social media channels, exposing Greater Palm Springs to new audiences on Facebook and Instagram.
Visit GPS will also continue to focus on content distribution in 2019. Owned content will be distributed through email marketing, social media, native advertising and paid digital media collaborations to increase destination awareness.
Email Marketing
Email marketing will remain a pillar of the digital marketing strategy in 2019 for Visit GPS. Moving forward, Visit GPS' email marketing strategy will embrace a more data-driven and personalized approach as its email distribution lists continue to grow.
In November 2018, Visit GPS partnered with Act-On, a marketing automation platform that provides robust data and reporting for email marketing campaigns. Through Act-on, Visit GPS will not only continue to send regular email newsletters but also be able to personalize the user journey through lead tracking and scoring.
In 2019, Visit GPS will begin to leverage this data to conduct personalized email campaigns tailored to a user’s interests and behavior. This will include list segmentation and trigger (or follow-up) emails based on user behavior.
Digital Marketing Measurement
Visit GPS recently partnered with Adara, a travel data co-op, to measure the effectiveness of the website and digital campaigns on hotel and air bookings. Adara uses a 60-day tracking pixel to determine if users who visited the Visit GPS website or saw a Visit GPS ad ultimately booked a hotel stay or airfare. This data allows Visit GPS to better understand the effectiveness of the overall digital marketing strategy and its impact on actual revenue generated.
Adara’s reporting platform also offers deep traveler insights, including data points such as length of stay, origin markets, ADR and booking windows across all pixeled channels. In 2019, Visit GPS will monitor and review this data to optimize digital campaigns and the Visit GPS website throughout the year.
