Visit Baton Rouge
Challenge
Shining a Brighter Light on a Vibrant Culture
In an effort to reach a younger generation of travelers, Visit Baton Rouge (VBR) needed innovative ways to reach them through marketing and social media efforts. VBR also needed a tool to measure and share their success with the board.
The tourism industry is fast-paced, and VBR's staff needs to be in the know not only about happenings in Baton Rouge, but any coverage that could affect someone?s decision to visit. In 2016 Baton Rouge experienced difficult times with multiple officer-involved shootings and major flooding that destroyed part of the historic city. While locals gained a sense of unity and hope as they rallied to rebuild, VBR needed to know when a global publication or influencer portrayed Baton Rouge as an unsafe travel destination. They used Meltwater to monitor unfavorable articles and conversations outside state lines and identify opportunities to engage with influencers to reshape the Baton Rouge narrative.
"What's nice about Meltwater is I can use it at my desk or on the go. News is everywhere, so the more I know about what's going on in and what's being said about our city, the better. Meltwater helps me stay informed and proactive."
Christy Chachere, Communications Specialist, Visit Baton Rouge
Solution
New Tools to Reach a New Audience
When breaking news occurs, the Visit Baton Rouge team uses Meltwater social and traditional monitoring to take action. Regardless of where they are, the team relies on the mobile app to stay ahead of the latest story.
Leveraging Meltwater's expansive global monitoring capabilities, VBR discovered that attractions across Baton Rouge were often mentioned in major international publications. Given the city's French roots, VBR was able to turn unexpected coverage in France into a golden opportunity for connecting with a new audience of travel enthusiasts.
Meltwater Engage allows VBR to proactively insert Baton Rouge into trending social conversations and nurture a new generation of travelers. After each engagement, VBRuses the analytics dashboard to gauge the success of its media strategy and to share these ROI figures with their partners, board, and CEO.
"Our CEO expects our plan of attack almost instantaneously, as breaking news is still happening," says Karron Alford, VBR's Director of Marketing. "Having all the facts right at my fingertips and being able quantify coverage as it happens is crucial." Since taking a data-driven approach to influencer engagement, VBR reported a 30% increase in YoY media coverage, and have set their sights on breaking that record again next year.
"Meltwater helps us understand our reach and assess the effect a negative article could have on our visitors. Receiving real-time alerts allows us to stay in front of potentially damaging stories, tell our story and reshape the conversation."
Karron Alford, Director of Marketing & Information Technology, Visit Baton Rouge
Summary
Meltwater Helps Visit Baton Rouge
Assess the effectiveness of their PR efforts
"Our marketing budgets are small, and we have to make sure we use every dollar wisely. Meltwater provides the statistics we need to show what our efforts are doing— if we're reaching the right people, and whether the media portrays us in the best light possible."
— Karron Alford, Director of Marketing & Information Technology
Engage on all social media channels from a single stream
"We use Meltwater Engage to see what influencers are saying about Visit Baton Rouge across all social platforms from a single sign on. Having the ability to schedule, post and engage on all of our social media properties while on the go has been a game changer."
— Christy Chachere, Public Relations
Monitor and influence public sentiment
"In 2016 the great flood hit Baton Rouge and we had national media attention for two months straight. Through Meltwater we were able to see who was talking about us, their sentiment, and if coverage was scaring people away from visiting. Being able to see sentiment was crucial for us to shape the conversation in a positive light."
— Christy Chachere, Public Relations
