Expressions of Interest for February Content
Our full year working content calendar can be viewed here. Expressions of interest are open for the following blogs. Blogs are free for Primary members and $99 per inclusion for Secondary members.
- What’s On February – The guide receives over 2,000 hits per month, is promoted on our social channels and included in our monthly consumer email marketing with 30,000+ subscribers. For consideration, your event must be submitted and published on margaretriver.com no later than the 15th of each month to appear in the following month.
We will be refreshing the following evergreen articles, which are available for EOI’s.
- Brilliant Bakeries in the Margaret River Region
- Incredible Outdoor Dining Spots
- How To Celebrate Valentine’s Day in the Margaret River Region
- Sustainable Accommodation Options
- Where to Find the Best Takeaways
- Cooking Classes in the Margaret River Region
EOI’s must include a brief pitch explaining why your business suits the brief and a high-quality image. Send your EOI to [email protected] by the 20th of the month
MRBTA Marketing & Visitor Servicing Channels
Margaretriver.com
December saw a 17% decline in website visitors compared to the previous year with 85K visitors compared to 101K in 2020. This can be attributed to a number of contributing factors:
- 2020 was a particularly strong year as a result of pent-up demand following COVID lockdowns and travel restrictions. 2021 website users are up 4% compared to 2019 levels.
- Interstate website traffic is down significantly likely due to the current state of the pandemic.
- Organic traffic typically drops following a new site launch. We expect this to recover over the next few months as Google re-evaluates and updates its trust and score of Margaretriver.com
- The site saw a significant decline in users (40%) during the bushfires and this took a few days to recover.
The homepage received a 75% increase in traffic compared to the previous year. Other popular pages included ‘Things to Do’ ‘Events & What’s On’ ‘Festival of Busselton’ ‘Accommodation’ ‘Eat & Drink’ & ‘Wineries’.
The most popular blog content included A Guide To Dog-Friendly Touring, What’s On December, Festival of Busselton and 8 Secret Swimming Spots, Family Friendly Wineries, 11 Best Breakfasts, Family Friendly Dunsborough & Family Friendly Busselton.
Member pages received 79,565 page views in December.
New Blog Stories
40 members were featured across 5 new and refreshed blogs curated by MRBTA in December.
Visitation to blog stories increased by 8% MoM in December with 40K page views on par with 2020.
- The Call of the Sea: A Guide to Sailing and Boating in the Margaret River Region
- Craft Froths & Good Nosh: Busselton’s Culinary Renaissance
- Local Favourites: Ishara Scott
- The Festival of Busselton: Get Ready for Family Fun
- What’s Happening in January
Social Media
November saw a bounce back in the numbers, due in part to a viral whale photo by Dylan Dehaas reaching 75k people on Facebook. Expectation around the WA border announcement is also likely to have contributed to increased engagement with our content, as people in the eastern states start to think about planning and booking travel.
- Instagram: Followers grew by 599. Reach and impressions were both up 78% and 53% respectively.
- Facebook: Gained 145 new followers. Engagement increased by 64% and impressions were up 37% Month on Month.
- Most followers on our platforms are Perth-based and female, between 25-44 years of age.
Reach is the number of people who may have seen your content, while impressions are the total number of times your content was displayed to people.
The social media team recently completed four member photo shoots with nature-based tour operator; coasteering with Margaret River Adventure Co, Margaret River Mountain Bike Tours, orchid spotting with Margaret River Exposed Tours and Contos with Cape to Cape Explorer Tours. There will be more shoots like this in the new year, you can register your interest with [email protected]
Monthly EDMs
Monthly newsletters to consumers and media have maintained high engagement. The industry benchmark for Travel & Leisure is an open rate of 18%.
Moving forward reporting of click rates will be calculated differently in line with updates in privacy policies and as Campaign Monitor (our email platform) refines their metrics to be as accurate as possible. While previously the click rate was determined by the number of emails clicked divided by the number of emails opened (Click To Open Rate), it will now be the number of emails clicked divided by the number of emails sent (minus bounces).
You can read more about reporting of open and click rates here.
- Consumer NewsletterSent to 27,217 subscribers. 37.6% open rate and 3.5% click rate (CR). There were 1,314 sessions to the website from this EDM, with the most popular link being 11 Things To Do In Yallingup.
*CR= Click Rate
The most popular stories this month were:
- 11 Things to Do in Yallingup
- The Margaret River Region Summer Bucket List
- Ocean View Dining in the Margaret River Region
- All the Fabulous Food Trucks
- 12 Essential Summer Stays
Hot tip: Consider sharing these stories to your email database.
- What’s On in December Sent to 464 subscribers. 41.3% open rate, and 9.5% click rate. There were 106 sessions to the website from this EDM.
Media Coverage
Unsurprisingly the bushfire news dominated coverage of the region across December. Below is a snapshot of other stories published over this month.
A snapshot of media coverage featuring the Margaret River Region across December included:
- Twin tastings reveal WA’s great cabernets
- Festival Fun at the Busselton Carnival – The West
- Margaret River Lands four contestants in Young Gun of Wine Awards – The West
- Are these the 10 best surf beaches in Australia? – the Australian
- Margaret River experiences make the ideal Christmas present for food and wine connoisseurs – The West
- Past vineyards and beaches, Ngilgi Cave reveals Margaret River’s underground secrets – The West
Event Support
The MRBTA annually supports over 30 major events to drive off-peak visitation to our region.
Marketing Resources
- 2020/21 domestic market profiles: These have been recently updated and published by Tourism WA, and reveal insights into our interstate and intrastate visitor behaviour.
- Summer Image Library: Members can access our Spring / Summer image library and share inspirational visuals of the Margaret River Region. Please always credit the photographers when using images.
- How to Leverage Your Events: MRBTA regularly supports major events in the region and 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.
- Rediscover Videos: The regional Rediscover compilation video shares inspirational messaging for a domestic and intrastate market. Members are welcome to share the video across their channels.