By McCall Reeder
Intern
As the Wrightsville Beach Marketing Advisory Committee continues to evaluate its marketing strategy for the fall and 2017, consultants urged the members to consider creating campaigns that can be targeted to reach both in-state and out-of-state tourists.
During a Tuesday, April 19 meeting of the committee, Leah Knepper, with Raleigh-based marketing firm French West Vaughan, said research shows Wrightsville Beach would be better marketed as a stand-alone destination for in-state residents, but for out-of-state families, Wrightsville Beach will be packaged with activities and destinations in Wilmington as well.
“We need to make sure that our target aligns with our markets,” Knepper stated.
Steve Kelly, the lead media planner for Raleigh-based Clean Design, said what was working for Wrightsville Beach is continued investment in print ads during key periods as well as in the new digital world that includes paid search, paid video and social media.
“We’re just looking at what worked and incorporating it accordingly for next year,” Kelly said.
As social media and digital video continue to be on the rise in effectiveness for tourism tactics, Kelly proposed an increased focus on content creation for such outlets, meaning a higher investment in certain outlets like TripAdvisor.
With the investment, Wrightsville Beach would be able to control what content would be advertised on TripAdvisor. Otherwise, the content would be completely out of Wrightsville Beach’s control.
Another big spend for marketing would be for paid searches, like ads while people search on Google, where Kelly described that field as “you pay to play.”
Kelly also described the target markets for tourism in each season. During the spring and summer months, ads need to be geared toward families going on vacation while off of school and in the fall, more couples either with no children or fully grown children would be the target.
As for social media, Knepper mentioned a higher focus on user-generated content.
Last season, the Wrightsville Beach blog launched a campaign known as #myWBadventure. By using the hashtag, the advertisers are better able to find and benefit from what users on Instagram are doing and seeing in the area, Knepper explained.
Shawn Braden, executive vice president of marketing for the Wilmington and Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau and also the liaison for the committee, agreed with Knepper on this point.
“We want to use hashtags to perpetuate the brand,” Braden stated.
