3 quarter marketing report - mrpcmembers.com

3RD QUARTER MARKETING REPORT

July-September, 2017

Mississippi River Parkway Commission

3rd Quarter Marketing Report


2

MEETINGS

Annual Meeting September 19-21

• Meeting prep and facilitation

o Conducted multiple teleconferences and

communications with IA-MRPC

o Confirmed speakers, meals, transportation, room

logistics, etc.

o Prepared awards accordingly

• Delegates and Interpretive Center Registration

o Set pricing

o Created registration form and agenda (hard copy

and electronically)

o Pulled contact info and created enewsletter and

mailing list for interpretive centers

o Printed and mail form out to members

o Emailed registration information

o Collected payments o Sent invoices o Followed up with all interpretive centers with display

• Enewsletters

o Sent enewsletters to remind members meeting registration, hotel

reservations and other news (see enewsletters section)

• Updated mrpcmembers.com

o Created page for online registration

o Posts on Stay Updated section:

▪ 8/4 Interpretive Center Registration Form for MRPC Annual Meeting Now Available!

▪ 8/23 MRPC-MRC fact sheet

▪ 8/24 Put the Drive the Great River Road Month Toolkit to Work

▪ 9/15 Save the Date for 2018 Semi-Annual Meeting

▪ CMP Materials Collection – Online Form Now Available

o Converted completed nomination forms to pdfs and uploaded for access

o Updated member contact information

o Uploaded materials under resources, meeting minutes and agendas




3

Conference calls

• 7/14 Board meeting

• 8/17 Marketing meeting

E-NEWSLETTERS

Tourism Results

• Average open rate: 25.6% (industry average: 20.7%)

• Average click rate: 7.1% (industry average: 2.2%)

Tourism Enewsletters

Bike the Great River Road e-newsletter [7/24]

• Subject line: Win $250 for a Great River Road biking getaway!

• Promoted: Biking the GRR giveaway

• Open rate: 26.2%

• Click rate: 5.4%

Tourism Bike the Great River Road e-newsletter [9/1]

• Subject line: Drive the Great River Road: Win $500 for your road

trip

• Promoted: Drive the Great River Road month and giveaway

• Open rate: 25.3%

• Click rate: 8.7%

17,044

17,441

17,751

16,600 16,800 17,000 17,200 17,400 17,600 17,800 18,000

Jul 1 Aug 1 Sept 1

Tourism Subscribers




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Members Results

• Average open rate: 29.9%

• Average click rate: 5.6%

Members Enewsletters

• 7/24 – LAST CHANCE: Win $250 for a Great River Road biking getaway!

• 8/8 – MRPC Annual Meeting registration reminder | Promotional

updates

• 8/14 – Mississippi River Parkway Commission Extends Invitation to

Interpretive Centers

• 8/31 – LAST CHANCE: Early-bird pricing ends tomorrow for MRPC

Annual Meeting

• 9/1 – Drive the Great River Road: Win $500 for your road trip

ADMIN

Fulfillments

• Near 2,500 requests in 2nd quarter

o Totaling near 6,500 maps sent so far this year as of 9/30/2017.

Includes online requests, phone requests and bulk orders

requested by interpretive centers and other businesses.

• Mailing materials: print envelopes and letters

• Corresponded to emails, followed up phone calls/voice messages,

research

Financial

• Collect, file and organize cash and check donations, meeting

registration and dues

• Monthly check reconciliation

• Pay related expenses

• Review fund statements and include in reconciliations




5

FACEBOOK

Facebook fans New Facebook fans Facebook updates

31,666 2,665 72

Top posts

• 9/1/2017– [“Welcome to Drive the Great River Road Month! To celebrate, we’re giving away $500 for you to spend on your next Great River Road trip! Enter today!”]

o Drove traffic to sweepstakes entry page o Included photo of giveaway logo o 43,534 people reached, 841 reactions, 47 comments, 118 shares, 1,543 post clicks o 8,352 people reached organically; 35,182 people via paid ad

• 7/17/2017– [“The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel takes a look at the Wisconsin Great River Road in their latest travelogue.”]

o Drove traffic to jsonline article, “The Great River Road is perfect for a great Wisconsin road trip.”

o Included photo of Great River Road and river o 18,501 people reached, 627 reactions, 96 comments, 175 shares, 1,085 post clicks o 18,501 people reached organically; 0 people via paid ad

• 9/1/2017– [“Looking for reasons to celebrate Drive the Great River Road Month? Here are four (among many, to be sure.”]

o Drove traffic to “Four reasons to travel the Great River Road” blog o Included photo of scenic overlook o 8,630 people reached, 290 reactions, 15 comments, 77 shares, 483 post clicks o 8,630 people reached organically; 0 people via paid ad

• 7/7/2017– [“Photo Friday: The unique Blackhawk Bridge spans the Mississippi River between Lansing, Iowa, and just south of De Soto, Wisconsin.”]

o Included photo of bridge at night o 7,043 people reached, 268 reactions, 13 comments, 40 shares, 235 post clicks o 7,043 people reached organically; 0 people via paid ad

29,001

29,85430,427

31,666

Jul 1 Aug 1 Sept 1 Oct 1

Facebook Fan Growth




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Advertising

Page likes

• Drove traffic to Great River Road Facebook page

• 27,734 impressions

• 1,873 clicks

• 6.75% click-through rate

• Added 1,125 fans

Engaged fans (those who are liking, commenting and sharing)

• 69% women (60% of which are ages 45+), 31% men (27% of which are ages 45+)

• Top engaged cities (in order): Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, Cedar Rapids

Takeaways

• Audience continues to skew older, but is very engaged and excited about the content.

• Fall travel is immensely popular with the audience.




7

SNAP CHAT

Labor Day Weekend Filter Report by State

Minnesota (9/2 9:00am – 9/3 7:00pm)

Location: Itasca State Park, Mississippi River crossing

• Swipes: 103

• Uses: 6

• Use rate: 5.8%

• Views from uses: 89

Wisconsin (9/2 8:00am – 9/3 7:00pm)

Location: Grandad Bluff, Lacrosse

• Swipes: 199

• Uses: 3

• Use rate: 1.5%

• View from uses: 237




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Illinois (9/2 8:00am – 9/3 8:00pm)

Location: Villa Katherine

• Swipes: 0

• Uses: 0

• Use rate: 0

Iowa (9/2 8:00am – 9/3 8:00pm)

Location: Effigy Mounds Visitor Center

• Swipes: 12

• Uses: 2

• Use rate: 16.7%

• View from uses: 121




9

Kentucky (9/2 9:00am – 9/3 5:00pm;

9/2 10:00am – 9/3 7:00pm)

Location: Columbus-Belmont State Park

• Swipes: 6

• Uses: 0

• Use rate: 0%

• Views: 4

Arkansas (9/2 8:00am – 9/3 9:00pm)

Location: Arkansas Welcome Center on Lake Chicot in Lake Village

• Swipes: 0

• Uses: 0

• Use rate: 0




10

Tennessee (9/2 10am – 5pm; 9/3 10am – 5pm)

Location: Discovery Center

• Swipes: 34

• Uses: 9

• Use rate: 26%

• Views: 1,200

Mississippi (9/2 9:00am-5:00pm)

Location: Delta Blues Museum

• Swipes: 6

• Uses: 0

• Use rate: 0%




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Louisiana (9/2 9:00am-5:00pm; 9/3 9:00am-6:00pm

Location: Oak Alley

• Swipes: 93

• Uses: 4

• Use rate: 4.3%

• Views: 146

Summary

• On the Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we placed Snapchat filters at various locations on

the Great River Road as specified by the state representatives. The Snapchat filters promoted Drive the

Great River Road month.

• There are three ways to evaluate a Snapchat filter. Swipes indicate how many people saw the filter

option. Uses indicate how many of those people that swiped by the filter chose to use it. The use rate

is uses/swipes. Views are the people who received a snapchat filter from a user using the snapchat

filter

• As a whole, these filters didn’t perform very well. Some performed better than others, and some didn’t

get any uses at all.

• The strongest placement was at the Tennessee Discovery Center. Not only were the views strong, but

the use rate was strong as well. A higher use rate means that the filter is appropriate for the place or

event. Other strong placements include Effigy Mounds State Park, Grandad’s Bluff (thought use rate

was very low), and the Headwaters Crossing.

• In the future, Snapchat on-demand filters should be used primarily at events. We should attempt to

submit a community geofilter for the Great River Road, as Snapchat permits national landmarks to

have community (or free) filters. The only downside to these filters is that Snapchat doesn’t collect any

stats on them.




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PINTEREST

Summary

• Added pins to Biking the Great River Road and Drive the Great River Road boards

• Highlighted routes and interpretive centers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota

PR/PUBLICITY

• Monthly radio interviews by Susanne on AM1230 KWNO in Winona, Minnesota (July – scenic overlooks, August – late summer activities, September – Drive the Great River Road Month/Sweepstakes)

• Wrote blog post for Terri McCullough’s news article

• Wrote/distributed press release at launch and conclusion of Bike the Great River Road Giveaway o Sent to 429 contacts o Picked up by Clinton Herald, Republican Eagle, + various social media accounts

• Wrote/distributed press release at launch of Drive the Great River Road Month Sweepstakes o Sent to 429 contacts o Picked up by Helena Daily World, Voice of Muscatine, River Valley Leader, The Evening Times,

Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, Mill City Times, Iowa Business Daily, MN Great River Road, Delta Blues Museum, etc.

• Provided media support and photos for numerous requests

• Conducted conversations with author Steve Watkins about his plan to walk the length of the Great

River Road for his next book – emailed communication to determine responsibilities and promotional

opportunities:

o August 11: Initial conversations/emails exchanged

o August 23: Lyn, Susanne and the MRPC PR team held a conference call with Steve to talk about

his plans for the trip and how we can work together

WEBSITE POSTS

Researched and wrote the following:

• A Mississippi River musical adventure

• Where to watch the solar eclipse on the Great River Road

• Four reasons to travel the Great River Road




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PROMOTION

Bike the Great River Road Giveaway

Summary

The Bike the Great River Road Sweepstakes is a simple

sweepstakes tied to an increased effort to promote biking as a

recreational activity along the Great River Road.

To enter, fans will have to like the Great River Road Facebook

page, provide basic contact information (name, e-mail address,

zip) and tell us where they heard about the giveaway.

Run dates

• 6/12/2017-7/28/2017

Goals

• To promote biking options (trails, events, races, etc.)

along the Great River Road

• To increase interaction and fan numbers on the Great

River Road’s social media channels

• Gain 1,500 entries (1,141 entries received in 2016)

Prizes offered

• A $250 prepaid credit card




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• A men’s/women’s Great River Road jacket from the Great

River Road online shop ($75)

• A copy of the Great River Road 10-state map

Total entries

• 1,419

Means of advertising

• Social media posts

• Social media advertising

• E-newsletters

• Press releases

• Digital toolkit for states

How did you hear about the sweepstakes? (in order of

response)

• Great River Road Facebook page

• E-newsletter

• Facebook ad

• Other

The winner was

• Susan Appler, Norwalk, IA

Facebook Growth

Contest start Contest end Growth percentage

28,614 29,793 4.1%




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E-newsletter Growth


17,665 17,888 1.26%

Takeaways

• Promotion came very close to meeting its goal of 1,500 and outperformed 2016 by 24%.

• Given the niche focus of this promotion, it was very well received.

• Facebook page was the top referrer of entries, proving the strength and engagement of its audience.

17,665

17,888

6/12/2017 7/28/2017

E-newsletter Subscribers




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Drive the Great River Road Month Sweepstakes

Summary

The 2017 Drive the Great River Road Sweepstakes will launch September 1 and be tied into the ongoing

promotion of September as Drive the Great River Road Month.

Run dates

• 9/1/2017-9/30/2017

Goals

• To continue the promotion of September as Drive the Great River Road Month

• To publicize the Interpretive Centers as places to visit along the Great River Road

• To increase fan numbers and interaction on the Great River Road social media channels

• Entries: 2,000 (1,799 entries received in 2016)




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Prizes offered

• $500 prepaid gift card

Total entries

• 2,737

Means of advertising

• Social media posts

• Social media advertising

• E-newsletters

• Press releases

• Digital toolkit for states

How did you hear about the sweepstakes? (in order of

response)

• Great River Road Facebook page

• E-newsletter

• Facebook ad

• Other

The winner was

• John Hall, Bondville, IL

Facebook Growth


30,427 31,666




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E-newsletter Growth


17,743 19,210 8.3%

Takeaways

• This was the most successful Drive the Great River Road Giveaway yet, besting 2016’s entries by almost a thousand, and exceeding the goal by 37%.

• Facebook was again the top referrer of entries to the giveaway – audience remains strongly engaged.

17,743

19,210

9/1/2017 9/30/2017

E-newsletter Subscribers




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WEBSITE

www.experiencemississippiriver.com2017-07-01 to 2017-09-30

Total sessions 64,948

Unique users 53,921

New users 81.10%

Returning users 18.90%

Pages viewed per session 2.2

Time spent per page visited 0:58

Avg. session duration 2:07

Top 10 most visited pages pageviews avg. time on page

homepage 14,481 1:29

/the-great-river-road-the-best-drive-in-america/ 14,460 1:31

/river-attractions/ 13,855 2:30

/interactive-tools/order-a-free-great-river-road-10-state-map/ 8,697 2:05

/mrpc/drive-the-grr-month-sweepstakes-2017/ 7,173 1:11

/itineraries/ 4,852 1:14

/states/wisconsin/ 4,518 2:06

/interactive-tools/fun-facts/ 4,319 3:57

/states/iowa/ 3,901 2:10

/states/minnesota/ 3,882 2:16

Top 10 Referring Sites sessions avg. session duration

facebook.com 5,170 1:05

secure.pilchbarnet.com 1,306 2:40

drivethegreatriverroad.com 874 1:31

thrillist.com 266 1:05

justfreestuff.com 164 2:00

pinterest.com 152 0:57

complimentarycrap.com 116 1:57

thrillist-com.cdn.ampproject.org 107 0:44

duckduckgo.com 104 3:12

instagram.com 104 0:05




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Top 10 Metro Areas sessions avg. session duration

Chicago IL 7,426 1:58

Minneapolis-St. Paul MN 6,372 2:23

St. Louis MO 2,669 1:47

Madison WI 2,433 2:16

Milwaukee WI 2,119 2:52

Des Moines-Ames IA 1,389 2:15

La Crosse-Eau Claire WI 1,360 1:58

Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City & Dubuque IA 1,337 1:57

Davenport IA-Rock Island-Moline IL 1,230 1:48

Atlanta GA 1,173 2:02

Top 5 Channels % sessions avg. session duration

Organic Search 58.80% 2:17

Direct 16.90% 2:38

Referral 8.90% 2:02

Social 8.40% 1:05

Email 4.60% 1:10

User demographicsage % sessions avg. session duration

55-64 24.90% 2:16

45-54 18.80% 1:58

65+ 17.90% 2:39

35-44 16% 1:39

25-34 14.30% 1:44

18-24 8.20% 1:38

gender % sessions avg. session duration

female 55.60% 1:60

male 44.40% 2:05

Device usage % sessions avg. session duration

Mobile + Tablet 58.60% 2:06

Desktop 41.40% 2:35




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Takeaways

Compared to last year, the website’s 3rd quarter stats dropped slightly. The sessions went down by 2%, the

users went down by 1.4% and the pageviews went down by 7.4%. Out of the total sessions 81% of them were

new visitors. Overall the site had close to 65,000 sessions.

There was a significant spike in traffic to the site on Sep 1, when nearly 4,000 people visited the site. 81% of

these visitors were new to the site. The number one landing page on this day was the Drive the Great River

Road Month Sweepstakes, which got 2,371 pageviews. A reason for this traffic spike was the newsletter that

blasted the same day. It had around 4,400 opens and 1,500 clicks.

The majority of the site’s sessions (59%) this quarter came from organic search. 83% of the users that came

from search engines were new to the site. The top landing page for organic search was /the-great-river-road-

the-best-drive-in-america/ followed by the homepage and /river-attractions/.

Facebook was at the top of the referrers list once again. It contributed to 5,170 of the sites overall referrals

and 81% of these were new users. The number one page it referred people to was the Drive the Great River

Road promotion.

The Drive the Great River Road Sweepstakes that began Sep 1st performed well. It was responsible for 10,785

pageviews this quarter.

Ongoing web checks & maintenance

• Monthly website checks

o Tested and updated links as necessary o Checked copy and photos, ensured content was current o Removed expired packages

• Flipped social media and website content to fall on 8/31/2017

• New interpretive centers o Wrote copy for each o Updated on interpretive center page

• Wrote privacy policy copy for app




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MOBILE APP

Total downloads to date: 12,129

• iOS

o # of downloads in Q3 quarter: 3,846

o # of downloads to date: 8,640

• Android

o # of downloads in Q3 quarter: 740

o # of downloads to date: 3,489

New version:

• New app with updated/accurate route now live

• Contacted states/researched who to contact at state DOT for files

• Collected shape files from states. Reviewed, tested many drafts and submitted to Apple and Android

app stores

• Updated app information on Apple and Android app pages

• Thanks to all who helped test the app and provided feedback

3 quarter marketing report - mrpcmembers.com

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