GROUP SALES
Meeting Planner Events & Attendance
| DATE | EVENT NAME | NUMBER OF ATTENDEES |
|---|---|---|
| October 29 | Annapolis/Alexandria Luncheon | 37 |
| November 6-7 | BWI/Arundel Mills Meeting Planner FAM | 6 |
| December 12-13 | Midnight Madness Meeting Planner Event | 7 |
Group Assists
Prospect Meetings/Calls/Site Visits
| DATE | PROSPECT | TYPE |
|---|---|---|
| 10/9 | Naval Academy Recruiters Association | Site Visit |
| 10/13 - 10/16 | YMRC | Conference |
| 10/21 | Cathy Martin | Site Visit |
| 11/11 - 11/14 | TEAMS 19 | Conference |
| 12/9 | The Clipper Race | Call |
| 12/20 | Smart Electric Power Alliance | Site Visit |
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA & INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Media Assisted:
- 7 Press Trips
- 27 Journalists Hosted
- 15 Media Assists
Generated Media Coverage
| COVERAGE | PUBLICATION | PARTNERS FEATURED |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic | Money Inc. | 1 |
| Domestic | Maryland Insights | n/a |
| International | Travel Week | 4 |
| International | Money Sense | 3 |
| Domestic | A Daily Dose of Mom | 12 |
| Domestic | MATPRA | n/a |
| International | Zoomer | 0 |
| International | Le Progrés | n/a |
| Domestic | WNAV Radio (8 broadcasts) | 89 |
Owned Communications:
Annapolis Discovered
| FY20 Q1 | FY20 Q2 | Quarterly Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles Produced | 34 | 55 | +61% |
| Number of Partners Featured | 68 | 163 | +140% |
SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY
Social Media Community for Visit Annapolis, Weddings In Annapolis, and Annapolis Discovered.
| YTD FY 19 | YTD FY 20 | YOY GROWTH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99,864 | 114,267 | +14.4% | |
| 19,274 | 21,165 | +9.8% | |
| 10,847 | 11,254 | +3.75% | |
| 4,400 | 11,900 | +170% | |
| All Sites | 134,385 | 158,586 | +18% |
PARTNERSHIPS
To learn about how to take advantage of marketing opportunities with Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County on our collection of websites and in our Visitors Center, please contact Christine McNichols at (410)-280-0445 ext. 311 or at cmcnichols@visitannapolis.org
| YTD FY 19 | YTD FY 20 | YOY GROWTH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Sales | $18,050 | $35,597 | +49% |
VISITOR SERVICES
Hosted 7 familiarization (FAM) tours, featuring 8 partners. If you’re a partner interested in participating in FAM tours, which ultimately help Visitors Center volunteers share the county’s offerings with visitors, please contact Tatiana Wells at (410)-280-0445 ext. 307 or at twells@visitannapolis.org
| YTD FY 19 | YTD FY 20 | YOY GROWTH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor Count | 91,759 | 113,331 | +24% |
| Brochure Fulfillment | 19,176 | 23,673 | +23% |
ADVERTISING & PROMOTION
The second quarter of FY20 continued our approach to media placement strategy and increased digital advertising. Second quarter saw ads placed in a general fall campaign in publications like Garden & Gun, Edible DC, Southern Living, Coastal Living, and Preservation Magazine. While the print campaign was being planned and executed, we continued to promote the county and our brands through digital advertising including; display, search, video, and social advertising, social community management, and email campaigns.
The Military Bowl was a focus of attention in Q2. Separate campaigns were built out in Google and Facebook to highly target the demographics most likely to visit Annapolis for the game. Philly and users with interests in Temple Football were targeted in Google and Facebook respectively, while the state of North Carolina and those interested in UNC football were targeted in their own campaign within Google and Facebook. Segmenting the campaigns allowed us to target the exact users most likely to visit. In total, the campaigns drove 32,588 users to VisitAnnapolis.org and generated 2,564,964 impressions.
Website Traffic:
| WEBSITE | YTD FY 19 | YTD FY 20 | YOY GROWTH |
|---|---|---|---|
| VisitAnnapolis.org | 407,884 | 366,713 | -10% |
| ExperienceBWI.com | 260,414* | 205,475 | -21% |
| WeddingsinAnnapolis.com | 33,731 | 96,098 | 185% |
| AnnapolisDiscovered.com | 47,416 | 117,038 | 147% |
| All Websites | 749,445 | 785,324 | 5% |
*total based on HotelsatBWI.com traffic
The Hotels at BWI was rebranded and launched as Experience BWI with a new site in August. With the launch of the new site, digital advertising spend was greatly reduced in August and September (compared to the previous year), and will be allocated to Q3 and Q4. This was a conscious decision as we were launching a brand new site and wanted to give partners time to update their listings, deals, and events.
Digital ad spend was ramped up going into Q2, with a digital campaign to promote the new site, its offerings, and the BWI Region as a whole. Advertising was placed in both Google and Facebook to promote the area as a destination for weekend getaways with Friends and family, as well as a campaign focused on “extending your stay.” The extend your stay concept centered around the convenience of the area’s hotels and their location in relation to the airport.
Ads were placed to draw travelers in to stay the night before their flight to make for a stress-free and fun stay before and easy trip to the airport in the morning. Since the launch of the Google and Facebook ads (October 2019) the campaigns have driven a total of 97,073 users to ExperienceBWI.com and have garnered 7,741,050 impressions. These campaigns will continue to run throughout FY20.
