OPPORTUNITIES
Winter Deals
Have your business included on our Deals & Special Offers Page. Simply submit your deal to [email protected].
Your deal must include the following:
- Heading: 8 – 10 words
- Description: Up to 50 words
- Link: direct link to deal booking page
What type of deal could be most effective?
Research indicates that some deals are more effective than others. Consider the following:
- Percentage off
- Price point
- Save amount
- Free
- More for less
You are welcome to develop an appealing deal with another member business. For example, a combined accommodation and activity offer.
Expressions of Interest for August 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 August: The guide receives around 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:
- Itinerary: A Mountain Bikers Long Weekend
- The Winter Walking Trails Guide
We will be refreshing the following evergreen articles, which are available for EOI’s.
- Augusta’s Best Kept Secrets
- The Ultimate Wellness Weekend
- The Top 10 Things to Do in the Spring School Holidays
- Go Beyond The Cellar Door
MRBTA Marketing & Visitor Servicing Channels
Margaretriver.com
Redevelopment Update
One of the key objectives of the margaretriver.com redevelopment was to improve overall site performance (decrease page load times etc) in order to meet Google’s Core Web Vitals to be able to maintain and hopefully improve our search performance (where the majority of our web traffic comes from) and the overall user experience. The site has now acheived a 99% performance score which is well above industry averages.
The site is also starting to see some really positive engagement results, especially on mobile, with the bounce rate metric (how many people land on a page then immediately leave) on some key landing pages dropping by as much as 25%. In other words, since the improvements, it looks like people on phones are getting less frustrated with page load times and staying longer on the website.
May Insights
May saw over 114,000 visitors to margaretriver.com, which is a 28% decrease on the previous month but a seasonal trend that we see each year following the Easter and school holidays in April.
There was a decrease in member page views, with 88,000 compared to 114,000 in April, which can also be attributed to the holidays and increased visitation in April.
Singapore traffic continues to climb month on month, with a 9.8% increase in May compared to April. It is great to see this important market returning to pre-covid website traffic levels. The Expedia campaign that is currently running in Singapore is seeing higher than average engagement and conversion.
Top 5 pages in May (excluding the Home page) were:
Top 5 blog posts in May were:
- Which Cave Is Best For Me
- Family Friendly Wineries
- 10 Best Farm Stays
- The Dog Friendly Guide
- Winter Walks in Yallingup & Dunsborough
May Blog Stories
79 members were featured across 14 new and refreshed blogs curated by MRBTA in May.
In total there were 50,819 blog story page views. Website visitors spent an average time of 2:25 minutes on the page.
NEW
Under The Radar Experiences | The Margaret River Region
Wine Worship: Howard Park’s Wine Chapel | The Margaret River Region
What’s On in May | The Margaret River Region
MAGAZINE
Photo Essay: Main Break | The Margaret River Region
Nautical Curiosities From The Tip Of The Cape | The Margaret River Region
Sip Your Way Around Small Scale Wineries | The Margaret River Region
REFRESHED
Treasure Trail: Antiques & Vintage Shopping | The Margaret River Region
Rural Retreat Accommodation | The Margaret River Region
8 Family-Friendly Wineries To Visit | The Margaret River Region
Great Vegetarian Dining | The Margaret River Region
48 Hours in Cowaramup & Gracetown | The Margaret River Region
7 Off The Beaten Track Wineries | The Margaret River Region
Which Cave Is Best For Me? | The Margaret River Region
3 Day Family Holiday in Busselton | The Margaret River Region
Social Media
Overall, it was a good month for the social channels, further boosted by the Drive Your Story competition which delivered positive engagement and a jump in followers to the Instagram page.
Facebook had a strong month, with impressions up 52% and engagement up 44% overall. This was boosted by a post featuring Busselton Jetty which was extremely popular and resulted in around 80 new followers.
On Instagram, impressions are up by 32% which is the 3rd highest result since last July. We have been testing interactive Stories and new branded templates promoting the upcoming events, along with a Reel from Cape Naturaliste.
The best performing posts all consisted of stunning photos capturing the natural environment, in particular the coast. The heralding of the return of the whales was a highlight, along with an aerial shot of Main Break on the eve of the Margaret River Pro finals.
Instagram: Gained 700 new followers. Impressions and reach were up 32% and 22% respectively.
What we learnt: Original content and Reels continue to dominate people’s feeds as Instagram looks to compete with Tik Tok and encourage pages to create short videos. The average engagement rate across instagram is down 44% since 2019. Here is an interesting article about ways to improve your Instagram engagement.
- Facebook: Gained 300 new followers. Engagement and impressions were both up MoM at 16.3% and 51.7%.
What we learnt: While Facebook is also pivoting towards more of a video / Reel-heavy feed, it is also delivering positive engagement with our followers as people comment on their experiences in the region and share the posts.
- 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.
May Consumer Newsletter Sent to 45,263 subscribers. 29.15% open rate and 2.56% click rate (CR).
There were 1,790 sessions to the website from this EDM.
*CR= Click Rate
The most popular stories this month were:
- Off The Beaten Track Wineries
- Sip Your Way Around Small Scale Wineries
- Great Vegetarian Dining
- Rural Retreat Accommodation
- Under The Radar Experiences
Hot tip: Consider sharing these stories to your email database.
- What’s On in May Sent to 427 subscribers. 48.34% open rate, and 17.54% click rate. There were 152 sessions to the website from this EDM.
Media Coverage
A snapshot of media coverage featuring the Margaret River Region across May & June included:
- Australian Traveller – Five Greatest Margaret River Trails + Print Coverage (MRBTA paid partnership as part of the Interstate Drive Trails Project)
- Australian Traveller – The Central Coast and Margaret River Become Certified Eco Destinations
- Australian Traveller – Eco-Conscious Experiences in Margaret River
- Qantas – 20 Incredible Experiences to have in Margaret River
- CNA Luxury – Where to Eat and Drink in Australia’s Wine Regions
- Perth is Ok – 15 Hidden South West Escapes to Fire Your Inspiration this Winter (ASW paid partnership)
Event Support
The MRBTA annually supports over 30 major events to drive off-peak visitation to our region.
In May we supported the Margaret River Ultra Marathon, along with the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival.
Event Partnership Feedback – Readers & Writers Festival
“It is very rare that an event receives such a high level of support and you have gone above and beyond to help us. The marketing and promotional support you / MRBTA have given us this year has given us a strong presence and the ability to reach new audiences, which is vital for the festival.”
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.