Expressions of Interest for July Content
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 July: 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.
The following new articles are available for EOI’s:
- The Margaret River Region Winter Bucket list
We will be refreshing the following evergreen articles, which are available for EOI’s.
- The Guide to Mountain Biking Trails
- The Guide to Galleries of the MRR
- Secret Cellar Doors
- Family Friendly Things to Do in Dunsborough
- Delicious Degustations to Indulge In
- The Best Breakfasts in the MRR
- Itinerary: Small Family Winery Trail
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 first week of the month prior.
Our full year working content calendar can be viewed here.
MRBTA Marketing & Visitor Servicing Channels
Margaretriver.com
April saw over 108,000 visitors to margaretriver.com which is a 38% increase on the previous month and a similar number to April 2021.
Member pages received 111,000 views, a significant increase of 30% on the previous month. The Margaret River Pro event page was the 2nd most visited page on the website (after the home page) and was a big driver of sessions to the site.
It’s positive to see website traffic from Singapore is continuing to grow, with a 40% increase in April compared to March.
Interstate traffic also saw an increase, with Melbourne and Sydney traffic up 31% and 26% respectively.
Top 5 pages in April (excluding the Home page) were:
Top 5 blog posts in April were:
April Blog Stories
- 108 members were featured across 14 new and refreshed blogs curated by MRBTA in April. There was an increase in blog story views compared to March, up 44% from 42,955 to 62,238. Website visitors spent an average time of 2:29 minutes on the page.
NEW
- What’s On in April in Margaret River | The Margaret River Region
- 10 Of The Best Romantic Experiences | The Margaret River Region
- 12 New Autumn Experiences | The Margaret River Region
- Local Favourites: Willow & Gene Hardy | The Margaret River Region
- 8 Cosy Places To Stay With A Fireplace | The Margaret River Region
REFRESHED
- How to Experience the Margaret River Pro | The Margaret River Region
- School Holiday Inspo: Underground Caves | The Margaret River Region
- Explore: Bustling Busselton | The Margaret River Region
- The Dog Friendly Touring Guide | The Margaret River Region
- 6 of the Best Cafés with Playgrounds | The Margaret River Region
- Cabernet For a Day | The Margaret River Region
Social Media
Facebook stats are experiencing the usual seasonal variation, and still seem relatively healthy. Instagram Reach is following a downward trend being widely reported across industries including other notable tourism accounts.
Star content was a sunset scene at Busselton Jetty, a drone pic at Castle Rock, plus other coastal highlights.
Instagram: Gained 400 new followers. Impressions and reach were down -16% and -27%
- What we learnt: Instagram is prioritising original content, and is experimenting with full height photos to create a better user experience with the image taking up more of the mobile screen. Other big tourism accounts are also reporting further drops in Reach, and many are sharing more Reels (e.g. @Sydney 2/3 posts are Reels, often simple 1-shot videos)
Facebook: Gained 157 new followers. Engagement and impressions were both down MoM at 27% and 23%.
- What we learnt: Reels are getting prime position on Facebook, and we’re seeing content by creators we don’t follow ~ an opportunity for greater Reach, but not necessarily with our ideal audience nor an opportunity to grow the accounts.
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.
Monthly EDMs
Monthly newsletters to consumers and media have maintained high engagement. The industry benchmark for Travel & Leisure is an open rate of 20.2%.
You can read more about reporting of open and click rates here.
April Consumer Newsletter Sent to 45,473 subscribers. 28.14% open rate and 2.34% click rate (CR).
There were 1,533 sessions to the website from this EDM, with the most popular link being Colourful and Quirky Cafes, closely followed by New Autumn Experiences.
The most popular stories this month were:
- Colourful and Quirky Cafes
- New Autumn Experiences
- 6 Days on the Cape to Cape Track
- Secrets of the Regions LIAs
Hot tip: Consider sharing these stories to your email database.
- What’s On in April Sent to 434 subscribers. 52.66% open rate, and 18.94% click rate. There were 179 sessions to the website from this EDM.
Media Coverage
A snapshot of media coverage featuring the Margaret River Region across March included:
- Australian Traveller – Australia’s Top 10 Luxury Destinations
- Thetravel.com – Your complete guide to hiking one of Western Australia’s most scenic trails: Cape to Cape
Event Support
The MRBTA annually supports over 30 major events to drive off-peak visitation to our region.
In March the Marketing and Visitor Servicing Team supported the Margaret River Pro, Out of the Woods Festival and Festival of Triathlon.
Out of the Woods Report Summary: There were 8016 tickets sold over the weekend. Of these tickets 15% (1134) tickets were sold within the South West, the rest came from both intrastate & interstate. That’s a total of 6,882 visitors to the region. As it was a long weekend most accommodation required a minimum of 3 night’s stay(total 24,048 nights) therefore it can be extrapolated that the event generated a total of $10.12m in patron expenditure
Marketing Resources
Margaret River Region Snapshot: A three-page document in presentation format that can be used for media and trade. The summary includes a regional map overview, top 10 natural attractions, town anchor points, signature experiences and iconic drive trails.
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.
Autumn / Winter Image Library: Members can access our Autumn / Winter 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.