LAKE PLACID — There are big changes coming this year in how Essex County is marketed to visitors.
More social media and web-based advertising and fewer ads in magazines, TV and newspapers are the theme driving the county's 2012 marketing effort.
That's because people's travel plans have shifted to the electronic media, said Kimberly Rielly, director of communications for the Lake Placid-based Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism.
It is the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, known as ROOST, that contracts with Essex County for about $1.3 million in annual occupancy-tax revenue that's used to market the area to visitors.
"Most of my communications efforts include content development for the websites: blogs, online news releases and descriptive page content," Rielly said.
"I tweet all the time. We develop content, blogs, then distribute that through social networks. The objective is to have people book (lodging) and come here."
She said, "Distribution of that content (is) via social networking mechanisms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and we continue to delve into popular mechanisms like Google+ and Pinterest, as well as direct promotional emails to our visitor database."
All that is intended to result in visitors booking rooms and coming to Essex County.
HIGH RETURN
A study by Sustainable Tourism says hiking was the number one draw for the region in 2010, followed by canoeing, fishing and skiing.
And the people who come are looking for a good deal, said Sustainable Tourism Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Carol Joannette.
"The economy for the last few years has been deal specific. Part of our challenge is education of local businesses to think that way and develop local packages. They don't have to reduce their room rates, but develop an all-inclusive package.
"It makes them (visitors) feel like they're getting value for the dollars they're spending."
The county seems to be getting value for its occupancy-tax dollars: Sustainable Tourism statistics show a 65-to-1 return on spending for 2010.
The organization spent the $1.3 million from the county on advertising that brought in $89 million in tourism revenue.
That's based on 60,684 direct leads, assuming about 83 percent of those resulted in visits, average daily spending of $431 and an average stay of 4.1 nights.
"Much of the focus of our marketing initiatives will be to promote the hotel packages available on our site," the marketing report says. "We will also continue to promote online booking but recognize that (since) travelers are likely to search 17.4 sites before making a travel decision, the most we can hope is to help them with their travel planning."
MARKETING CHANGES
The web pages were modified at the end of 2011 so they show the lodging location first, with the lowest package price.
That's part of their marketing changes for this year, Joannette said.
"We're focusing more on specific programs the first two weeks of every month. We focus on a specific activity someone can engage in."
She said that has started on their main website, lakeplacid.com.
"We'll talk about dogsled rides, tubing, skating, things other than skiing. We allocate the Facebook pages, the tweets to it, to create energy around this one subject."
Rielly said she's also writing about it.
"The topic would be included in the blogs. It would include those key words. We can track the success on our website."
Web pages are designed to be more area specific, Rielly said.
For instance, the Wilmington and Whiteface Mountain area is a fly-fishing mecca, so "that content would be beefed up for them. That's their bailiwick."
GUIDE BOOK
Hikes are on all of the group's websites, but each is specific to that region, Joannette said.
"If you were going to stay in Schoon Lake, what hikes would you take? If you stay in Lake Placid, you won't go to hike in Schroon Lake, so only those hikes are displayed. If anyone searches for a specific hike, they'll find the region they're looking for."
Any TV or magazine advertising Sustainable Tourism does now is through the Adirondack Regional Tourism Council, which uses I Love New York matching funds to promote the Adirondacks as a region. Sustainable Tourism also publishes a 160-page Essex County guidebook that is distributed throughout the Northeast.
The plan says all the websites — lakeplacid.com, whitefaceregion.com, schroonlakeregion.com and lakechamplainregion.com — operated by Sustainable Tourism are being redesigned with new copy.
"As all marketing programs for 2011 were web based, the websites continued to be the focus of our efforts," according to the plan.
The changeover to Internet-based marketing is working, Joannette said.
"We're really positive about the work we've done. The head of tourism for Montreal indicated they've gone completely electronic. More and more resources are being focused on web and social media."
Email Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com
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