Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
To Billings, Montana, the best people in the world are outsiders. People who embrace pure, unencumbered Montana in all its forms. Rock walls. Mighty rivers. Mountains stretching into big, blue skies.
According to GetYourGuide, 90% of travelers want to experience a destination “like a local.” Millennials crave an authentic destination. Billings remains true to the unique nature and culture of Montana. The brand itself reflects this: Let's Forge Our Own Path, the likes the world has never seen.
But it’s also the people who go against the grain and believe that normal just isn’t good enough. People who crave boldness and authenticity, rather than settling for the same old. Billings was built on that outsider spirit. That despite appearances and naysayers, no climb was too steep. No trail was too rocky. No burger was too juicy. On the idea that staying true to our roots is more important than fitting in with everyone and everything else. That’s what is great about Billings. We’ve been authentic Montana since 1882. With that insight, the Outsiders campaign was launched with the following goals:
• Increase awareness for Billings as an ideal spring/summer travel destination for an authentic Montana experience and drive visitation
• Encourage visitors to explore beyond outdoor adventures, including cultural sites, attractions and culinary options throughout Billings’ downtown
In downtown Billings, the rich heritage is proudly displayed at cultural sites downtown and beyond. The modern cuisine at some of the finer James Beard Award nominated establishments tastes of the meat-and-potatoes influences of the city’s past. There are acres of wide-open land – trails, steep rock cliffs and rolling prairies – which are distinctly Montana. Even the world-renowned Rand’s Hats with its showpiece cowboy hats calls Billings home.
The Outsiders campaign encouraged visitors to explore without limits. Maybe that makes us the outsiders, that’s just fine with us.
Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)
Increased Visitation: Hotel occupancy data revealed that the campaign was successful in driving visitation to Billings throughout the campaign period.
Visitation to Billings increased over the same period from the previous year based on the following:
• Occupancy for the month of July was up 5.3%
• Average daily revenue for hotels increased 6.5%
• Revenue per available hotel room increased 4.1%
Increased Awareness: Success is measured by paid media performance, web traffic, and website engagement and conversion.
Paid media performance:
• 16,884,449 Impressions
• 166,812 Clicks
Web traffic (versus the same period last year):
• Total traffic increased by 26.01%
• Engagement rate increased by 164.28%
• First time visitors increased by 24.8%
Engagement and conversion:
• Generated 37 non-page view conversions at a $1,756 CPA
• Drove 11,236 page view conversions, at an average cost of $11.9 per page view:
• 6,472 campaign landing page views
• 4,764 event page views
Return on Investment: How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?
More than 2.6 million people visit Billings annually, spending $621 million every year. Tourism supports more than 10,000 jobs locally in the Billings’ area. As visitation to Billings increased over the same period from the previous year based on occupancy, ADR and RevPar percentage increases, Billings can anticipate that spending to increase at retailers, restaurants and bars, gas stations, and lodging businesses, to name a few. Non-resident travel supports nearly 67,000 jobs in Montana and lowers the tax burden on every Montana household an average of $866/year.
Entry Title
Visit Billings - Outsiders
Division
Advertising - Brand Campaign