Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Missouri summer season. Here’s what’s going on:

The research team reports some grand news for the MDT website, VisitMO.com: For FY2015 web visits totaled 2.3 million, a 29 percent increase over FY14. Further, visits to VisitMO.com continue to climb with a 2015 year-to-date total already over 1.5 million, a 25 percent increase over the same January- July timeframe last year. Due in part to strong integrated campaigns in expansion markets, FY15 responses to advertising totaled 3,014,183, a 21 percent increase over FY14.

Smith Travel reports that RevPar is up 6.9 percent, ADR +4.3 percent, Demand +3.2 percent and occupancy +2.6 percent for Missouri lodging CY15 through June.

The Division continues to support Brand USA and

Last Monitor, we talked about content planning and how it helps you use your platforms to their full potential. This month, we will expand on this idea and how it

applies to social media, as well as how to generate quality content that will engage

your audience.

Engaging social media content is key – it’s just not enough to have a page, you have to work to build and

The Quarterly Newsletter of the Missouri Division of Tourism

The Travel VanH&L Partners

The perfect landing page can make all the difference in how an online marketing campaign performs.

Utilizing paid search platforms, including Google Adwords

and Bing Ads, social advertisements on Facebook and Twitter and in-stream ads on Pandora, all provide targeted means of getting

your intended audience to your website. But what happens when they get there?

After paying for an ad click, the last thing you want is to lose a potential customer over a sub-par experience on your website. If a visitor isn’t pleased with their online experience, chances are, they won’t give your experience a chance offline either.

Here are some tips to help you develop the perfect landing page to

engage your paid visitors.

1. Mobile matters. Make the mobile experience great.

In March, mobile-only users surpassed PC-only users in web browsing, and smartphones reached 80 percent population penetration. In 2014, 54 percent of consumers shopped on a mobile device, with 47 percent of those shoppers purchasing in store, and 35 percent

Director’s Message

SteadyRainDigital Clarity

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August 2015

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Sail Away at the 2015 Governor’s Conference on TourismJoin the tourism armada and head to port Lake of the Ozarks for two days of jam-packed educational sessions and waves of fun networking opportunities at the 2015 Missouri Governor’s Conference on Tourism!

This year’s conference features:

• General sessions presenting timely topics related to the tourism industry

• Breakout sessions where you can focus on specific areas of interest • Exhibitors showcasing a variety of products to help your business grow • The Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism Award Banquet • The 5th Annual Missouri Golf Day • Musical entertainment featuring the Liverpool Legends

Registration is open for the 47th

annual conference at the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks this October 13-15. Register before Sept. 18 and save.

Come early or stay late and play at The Lodge of Four Seasons, this year’s conference hotel.

Dan Lennon

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purchasing directly on their mobile devices.

If you’re targeting mobile, provide a better experience with a responsive landing page that is easy to scroll and click on a smart phone.

2. Create a landing page that will help you reach your campaign goals.

If you’re targeting a consumer who is interested in attending a show in Branson, you need to send them to a page detailing your show schedule along with a link to buy tickets now. Searchers looking for boat rentals at the Lake of the Ozarks need to be sent to a boat rental page with a form to reserve a boat, not to your marina’s home page.

What do you want consumers to

accomplish after clicking your ad? Help them out by putting them closer to the intended goal.

3. Write landing page copy relevant to your ad.

Your landing page should contain the same keywords used in your ad text and ad groups. This helps the quality scores of the keywords supporting your ads, enhancing your ad rank, placing your ads in a higher position and potentially decreasing the cost-per-click associated with those higher positions.

4. Use trust signals, testimonials and reviews.

These three items help reassure visitors. Trust signals such as awards and association membership logos show a potential consumer you are a credible, trustworthy business. For

hotels, restaurants and other tourist attractions, reviews are a great way to help consumers picture themselves enjoying your amenities just as others have before them.

5. Use an eye-catching design that can be read quickly and easily.

You don’t need to barrage visitors with text on a landing page. Use colors, photos and a to-the-point headline and a few short paragraphs to get your message across. Be sure to include a conversion point on the page, whether that be a quick form, buy now button or share button.

If you’re still sending visitors to your home page or a page that doesn’t properly address the needs of your potential customers, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity. A perfect campaign isn’t so perfect without a great landing page.

Digital Clarity Continued

Do you have a news item that you would like for us to include next Monitor? Send details and contact info to: Mary.Oberreither@ded.mo.gov

Aug. 13-23, 2015Missouri State FairSedalia, Mo.

Aug. 20, 2015MTC Missouri State Fair Tradeshow EventSedalia, Mo.

Aug. 23-25, 2015ESTOPortland, Ore.

Sept. 9-10, 2015HSMAI’s MEET NationalWashington, D.C.

Sept. 16, 2015MTC Educational WorkshopTBD Sept. 27-29, 2015Small Market Meetings ConferenceLittle Rock, Ark.

Oct. 13-15, 2015Governor’s Conference on TourismLake Ozark, Mo.

Oct. 22-25, 2015Citizen Jane Film FestColumbia, Mo.

Oct. 23-25, 2015Boomers in Groups Travel ConferenceGreen Bay, Wis.

Oct. 26-28, 2015TTRA Marketing Outlook ForumPhiladelphia, Pa.

Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2015Travel South International ShowcaseCharlotte, N.C.

Jan. 9-12, 2016ABA MarketplaceLouisville, Ky.

Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2016Travel ExchangeAtlanta, Ga.

Coming Events

Don’t miss your chance to Show Off at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia Aug. 13-23! Where else can you fill up on so many tasty treats (including tempting fried delights), enjoy live entertainment, experience the thrills, chills and spills of sprint car racing, truck and tractor pulls, rodeos, carnival rides and so much more — all in one spot? The Missouri State Fair, that’s where! Remember, Show-Offs Welcome!

Head to Sedalia to “Show Off” at the MO State Fair

Interested in free eLearningU digital marketing webinars? Click here for more info.

Ongoing Education

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maintain an image through the use of copy, video, photos and more. Plan Ahead

We have already talked about the importance of creating an execution schedule for your content plan across all platforms, but it is also important to create a second, more detailed schedule for your social media efforts.

Creating a separate weekly calendar for each of your social platforms helps you better plan your posts and fills in any gaps that may exist. Use this calendar to not just plan your posts, but to write copy for them as well. Consider including necessary links and photos. This allows you to create and edit posts over time instead of coming up with everything on the spot, which often leads to mistakes.

Everyone Loves Visuals

There is a reason why social sharing sites such as Instagram and Pinterest are so popular, and why Twitter and Facebook have evolved over time to be more image-focused. Visuals work. A powerful visual, whether it is a video, photo or infographic, draws your audience in and makes them want to learn more.

Users sift through thousands of posts each day, making it more important than ever to grab their attention and make them want to learn more about your brand and your story. This is even more important in the travel industry – your audience wants to see your destination, not just read about it.

Targeted Ads – Why They Work

While organic content is phenomenal, you should consider adding paid social advertising to your strategy. Even if you only have a small budget, spend a little on your most important content, such as an

exciting and unique event or new attraction. Using paid advertising will help boost and gain more exposure for your best content.

Paid ads also allow you to target your selected audience. You can select anything from demographics, such as age and gender, to geographic location. This will ensure you are reaching the people who may be interested in your brand, which will increase followers.

Cross-Platform Promotion

Another way to expand your audience is to promote your content across multiple social media platforms. Consider sharing your Instagram posts and YouTube links to both Facebook and Twitter. Remember, everyone loves visuals, and sharing this visual content across platforms is a great way to increase engagement.

Blog articles are a prime example of content you should link to from your other social media platforms. Directing your Facebook and Twitter audiences to your blog will help increase readership, especially if you already have a strong social following on those platforms.

Love the Hashtag

Hashtags are growing in popularity, and for good reason. They help build awareness and increase followers. The key is selecting the best hashtag for your brand, and using it in a way that starts a conver-sation.

There are many ways to select a hashtag – and you may end up with more than one for different campaigns. To start, we suggest creating one to use at all times — one that represents your brand and encourages other users to add their own posts. This hashtag should be different from your handle and should promote your destination in a fun, positive light.

The Travel VanContinued

To all my tourism friends and colleagues, I bid you a fond and heartfelt farewell. As many of you know, I lost my wife to ALS last November. It is time for me to move on from that loss.

As of July 31, I have retired from my position at the Missouri Division of Tourism. I am undertaking a complete change in my lifestyle. On August 6, I departed Missouri, heading east in my new 34’ RV travel trailer. Max (the seven pound dog sometimes known as “that damn dog”) and I have become full-time RVers. We will work our way down the east coast from Maine, ending in Florida for November-January, thence onward to south Texas for February and March. In the spring we will push onward to the Pacific Northwest, with a destination of Yachats, Oregon, where, as per her wishes, I will scatter Dorothy’s ashes along the seashore. After that ... well ...

I hasten to say I will miss you, one and all. Thanks for the memories. I toast your good health. See you on the road.

Scotty

A Message from Scott McCullough

Travel South USA international marketing programs. Over the last two years, MDT has partnered with 16 Missouri tourism industry participants in subsidized, cooperative campaigns to drive international visitation to Missouri through native language content creation (hosted destination videos and multilingual articles) on DiscoverAmerica.com. Missouri spreads in the BUSA Discovery Guide and integrated media projects in Canada and the UK. In 2015-2016, additional projects will include culinary and ESPN sports campaigns, as well as Missouri participation in promotions associated with the Kansas City Chiefs-Detroit Lions game to be played in London in October to coincide with World Travel Mart. Please contact us to discuss how your destination might benefit from partnership in BUSA and TSUSA programs.

We are beginning to get a little traction in the international market after many years of budget restrictions -- the total number of international visitors to Missouri for CY14 was over 399,000 visitors (+7.5 percent vs. CY13) with total estimat-ed expenditures of $309,057,481 (aggregated data from VisaVue). The top 5 countries of origin were Canada, Mexico, UK, China and Japan -- Chinese guests led top 5 visitor countries in per trip/person expenditures at $1,710.

The marketing team is working on launching the first integrated fall campaign that MDT has been able to support in six years, continuing video shoots for the spring 2016 advertising campaign, finalizing preparations for the SYTA conference in Branson in August, planning a Mississippi River Country regional fall FAM tour with Kentucky and Tennessee in October and working on MO travel industry participation at the Travel South USA international showcase in Charlotte in December.

The communications team is continuing work on listings, charts, photos and editorial for the 2016 Missouri Travel Guide, making final edits to the Missouri Life Motorcycle Guide to Missouri project, working on e-blast and social content and video production, and focusing social media efforts on outdoors. Interns have been traveling to various parts of Missouri to gather photo and video content and to write blog posts.

Two major spring media tours are complete and we’re starting to see some results. We anticipate more coverage over the next 10-12 months as a result of the May and June media tours. Additionally, we assisted with stories here and here that recently appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

We look forward to seeing you at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in October at the Lodge of Four Seasons.

Director’s Message Continued

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The Missouri tourism industry has two new members.

Megan Rogers and Laura Pummill have joined the staff of the Missouri Division of Tourism’s Jefferson City office.

Rogers is the new Promote Missouri Fund Program (co-op program) manager. She comes to MDT from the Missouri Division of

Workforce Development which, like MDT, is an agency in the Department of Economic Development. In her previous post, Rogers served as the work opportunity tax credit coordinator and more recently as the national emergency grant coordinator.

Pummill joins MDT’s accounting team and will assist office staff on a

variety of internal accounting processes. She has been employed by Wal-Mart as a department manager, customer service associate, and most recently as a claims associate.

Rogers and Pummill joined MDT full-time on Monday, Aug. 3.

You may reach Rogers at Megan.Rogers@ded.mo.gov, and Pummill at Laura.Pummill@ded.mo.gov.

Please join us in welcoming them to the tourism team!

MDT Adds Two New Members to Staff

Megan Rogers Laura Pummill

The CenStates Travel & Tourism Research Association’s (TTRA) conference, set September 15-17 in Branson, Missouri, will bring in some of the foremost specialists in

marketing research and insights. Attendees will learn how to successfully execute their destination marketing and management as well as the latest

in measuring content, digital, print, ROI, big data and more. Click here to learn more.

CenStates TTRA Coming to Branson September 15-17