November saw WA transition into a safe and sensible controlled border arrangement, based on the latest public health advice. With these changes, it will be important for members to begin to shift focus to a domestic market and remain vigilant with their covid-safe action plans.
The positives are that Western Australia is as far as many states can travel without going international, so visitors can truly feel as if they can get away from it all by travelling further and staying longer. More challenging, is that not all visitors are aware of the products on offer in our region and the state, so it is important to have an ‘education’ lens over any communications you might have going out, and ensure that you are informing the domestic audience of your product and not assuming that they know.
With border restrictions looking more likely to ease between Western Australia and Victoria, and a demand for travel returning, we will continue to keep members updated with announcements for the Melbourne to Busselton Jetstar route.
Please see below for the November Marketing Snapshot, as well as opportunities and insights to take part in.
Got any Questions? Contact: Sophie Mathewson, Acting Marketing & Communications Manager | [email protected]
Marketing Snapshot Overview
Destination Development
The Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference is taking place this week at the Margaret River HEART from December 1st – 3rd. The MRBTA welcome the Shire of Augusta Margaret River’s efforts towards securing ECO destination certification and are very fortunate to be able to work with progressive stakeholders throughout the process.
Insights & Opportunities
- Aussie Specialist Program: Marketing Opportunities are available for Australian Tourism Suppliers to get involved with the Aussie Specialist Program with Tourism Australia. You can provide a simple, short and sharp training video (can be filmed on phone) to be loaded to the platform, sharing your latest news and key selling points for agents to use. Keep it less than five minutes. Details in this link (scroll to bottom).
- Instagram Guides: Instagram have launched their new Guides Feature. Guides will be great for travel businesses to harness as they focus on sharing places and products. See here for how to get acquainted with Guides quick smart by checking out these four steps.
- New Google Ranking Changes: Changes to how Google will be ranking websites will come into effect as of May 2021. Google will be ranking websites higher that not only load quickly and are mobile friendly, but those that also have a good user experience.
Please see these useful links to stay competitive in this space:
– Timing for bringing page experience to Google Search
– Google Core Web Vitals for WordPress: Everything You Need to Know
Media
Excellent National and Intrastate Media Coverage featured the Margaret River Region across November:
- The Australian Newspaper – The Good Oil featured Olio Bello and Cowaramup
- Luxury Escapes featured a Margaret River Region package in consumer newsletter that highlighted Cape Lodge, Ngilgi Cave and Voyager Estate.
- New Busselton Brewery Shelter featured in Sydney Morning Herald: New Microbrewery on famous foreshore to reel in WA’s summer tourists
- Australian Traveller Magazine featured The Margaret River Region in their Reclaim Summer Campaign in two pieces of content: The Best Summer Family Holidays in Australia, and The Best Coastal Summer Holidays in Australia
- RAC – Ultimate Guide to Yallingup
- Tourism WA are taking the ‘Wander Out Yonder in WA’ campaign to the east coast. As part of this, weather presenter Liz Creasy took a road-trip around WA over two weeks in November. MRBTA assisted with securing Lake Cave for the live weather cross on Channel Nine on Thursday November 19th.
- New Hilton Garden Inn (coming to Busselton) featured in the Travel Weekly News consumer newsletter.
- QANTAS Insider – Have You Been to Australia’s Most Beautiful Beaches? (Busselton Foreshore number 2 and Hamelin Bay number 6)
Expressions of Interest for January Content
December blogs can be registered with the marketing team by Monday December 7th.
Blogs scheduled are:
- Top Ten Things to Do in the Summer School Holidays
- The Best Family Friendly Things to Do in Augusta
- What’s On: January
- The Margaret River Region Major Events worth Planning your 2021 Trip Around
- X Underrated Foodie Surprises
Blog inclusions are $99 for secondary members and remain FOC for primary members from Jan 2021. You can also buy-into the 3 Day Family Holiday in Augusta for $199. Register by Monday December 7th.
Contact Acting Marketing & Communications Manager, [email protected] with your EOI
Paid Advertising
Please get in touch with the membership team for paid opportunities such as web ads, TV advertising in the Visitor’s Centres, or a top listing on margaretriver.com. Email: [email protected]
November Content
New Blogs
64 members featured across six blogs curated by the MRBTA in November.
- 10 of the Best Farm Stays
- Augusta’s Sublime Seafood Scene
- What’s On in November
- 11 Best Breakfasts (repurposed)
- Local Favourites – Lara McCall Burnside Organic Farm
- What’s On in December
Visitation to blog stories on margaretriver.com are up 39% (23k pageviews this month compared to 16k for the same period last year). 10 of the Best Farm Stays is trending, reaching over 1,200 page views this month.
Members are encouraged to share new content with their own audiences via:
- social media
- a link on your booking confirmations
- your electronic newsletters
Taking Story Submissions for Autumn & Winter Content
We are now working on the six month content plan for March to September. If you will be launching new product or experiences at this time, or feel you have a great seasonal story to share, please contact the marketing team with your idea.
Contact [email protected] with your content pitch!
Monthly EDMs
Monthly newsletters to consumers and media have maintained high engagement in October. The industry benchmark for Travel & Leisure is an open rate of 15.7%.
- Consumer Newsletter Sent to over 30k subscribers. 28% open rate and 18% click-through rate.
- We will send out a Media Newsletter and What’s On blaster in December
We love knowing about new things! We regularly pitch angles to media so keep us informed of any new products or developments in your business.
Web and Social Stats
Website
November has again indicated a levelling off of traffic to margaretriver.com, with sessions marginally increasing by 4% to 91k. Recent consumer travel sentiment data from Tourism Australia also indicates that consumer demand for travel is stabilising.
The events calendar has seen a spike in visitation this month. As we head into the peak holiday season it will continue to trend as a top 10 landing page. You can leverage your upcoming event to visitors by loading it onto margaretriver.com. You can submit your event online here.
Restaurants & Cafes continue to trend as a top 10 landing page, it is up 54% in visitation this month. There is a strong desire for consumers to research and visit your establishments. We encourage you to review your business listing on margaretriver.com and login to your MRBTA member console to ensure your listing is up to date, including trading hours.
Visitation from Perth Audiences is up 30% in comparison to 2019, and contributes to 75% of all website visitation in November.
Social Media
- Instagram reach up 32%, 415k (the total number of people who saw content)
- Facebook reach up 60%, 214k (the number of people who saw any content from our page)
- The majority of followers on our platforms are Perth based, women between 25 – 45 years of age
The most engaging content this month was Hamelin Bay, Yallingup, Canal Rocks, Meelup & Busselton Jetty.
Image Galleries
We encourage members to access our summer image collection here and continue to share inspirational visuals of The Margaret River Region.
The regional Rediscover compilation also shares inspirational messaging for a domestic and intrastate market.
Please always credit the photographers when using images.
Photos: Elise Taylor, Russell Ord, Jinna Yang
Event Support
The MRBTA annually supports over 30 major events to drive off-peak visitation to our region. Events we supported in November include:
- NAIDOC Week – MRBTA supported NAIDOC week by promoting events happening across the region, and sharing posts across our social media channels, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. A homepage banner featured in the lead-up to the event.
- WA Leavers 2020 – MRBTA worked to support members with Essential Information Packs for accommodation providers and transport operators. A homepage banner featured on margaretriver.com
- WAGFG Southern Weekender – MRBTA worked with event organisers and promoted via our media contacts, featured event listing – online, consumer edm and online editorial inclusion.
A guide to promoting your events
The MRBTA regularly support major events in the region however we have noticed a growing demand from members hosting smaller events wanting to gain leverage and build their audience. In response to this, we have put together a guide with useful tips on promoting your event. See here.
Major events confirmed in 2021
A number of major events and festivals have confirmed their dates for 2021. You can view a full list here.
What’s Coming Up?
- Brand launch: Our brand evolution has been happening behind the scenes and will give the region’s towns further identification and individualised branding. We look forward to being able to share some details with you all prior to Christmas.
- Website launch: The marketing team are busily working behind the scenes on a new look website which will launch alongside the branding work.
- New TV Screen Ads: TV screen ads in the Busselton, Dunsborough, and Margaret River Visitor’s Centres and Augusta Digital hubs will be refreshed in December. Please contact membership if you wish to purchase a TV screen ad. Contact: [email protected]