Katie Jarvis is the marketing and PR manager of Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn. In fact, they’re already planning their first great escape. This crisis will not last forever, and travelers will hit the road again. To best position our brands for success as the phases of this crisis transition one to the next, we must prepare. In our latest eBook We Will Travel Again, we discuss how travel marketers can adapt to the current situation in a way that will set them up for success later. If there is another shutdown, Discovery Park of America plans to allot all efforts back to engaging with their audience online and through social media even more. Additionally, they shared videos about how the park was planning to keep all employees and guests safe as they were welcomed back to the museum and heritage park. The team also communicated in the messaging that Discovery Park would be closed for deep cleaning on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The updated messaging reflected a safe and touch-free experience when purchasing online tickets. Staying encouraged, hopeful and aware of public concerns should take the main focus when starting to promote the destination again.Īs soon as Jarvis and team received an official reopening date, they started back with paid advertising. And, we plan on keeping it that way.” Phase 2: Beginning Againĭuring this phase, we advise DMOs/attractions to showcase what they’re doing differently to keep visitors safe. “Since we shifted our social content to highlight more educational concepts, we now share about 70% educational content pieces and 30% event-focused content pieces. “As a museum, we are here to serve the public as a premier museum and educational institution,” said Jarvis. This helped them realize the new focus was exactly how they wanted to position themselves as an organization. “With patience, perseverance and energy, we were able to virtually continue our mission of inspiring children and adults to see beyond, even if that meant doing so virtually.”īecause of event cancellations, Discovery Park switched focus, specifically in their social media strategy, from promoting events to promoting educational content. “After brainstorming on how to take advantage of this shift in advertising, it was easy to change our message from inviting people to the park to inviting people to join the conversation online,” said Jarvis. Plus, the social media team took the audience behind-the-scenes at Discovery Park while followers joined in on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Jarvis and team found new ways to engage with their audience, such as offering virtual tours where fellow coworkers shared fun facts about different galleries. We turned to our social media platforms to share new content, including ‘ArtiFACTS of the Day,’ a video series called, ‘Moments of Discovery,’ ‘#WildlifeWednesdays’ and other fun and engaging content pieces,” said Marketing and PR Manager Katie Jarvis. “We then came together as a team to quickly brainstorm about how to keep that connection with our audience while they were at home. That being said, once they made the decision to close, they pressed pause on paid advertising. Their goal was on the safety and welfare of their community, guests and staff. On March 17, Discovery Park of America closed because of the threat brought on by the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak. Phase 1: Stop, Listen, Proceed with Caution Located in Union City, Tenn., Discovery Park of America is a 100,000-square-foot museum and 50-acre heritage park featuring exhibits and activities on local history, nature, military, history, art, science and more. Our client Discovery Park of America shares their plan of action once the pandemic began. With no one traveling and attractions being forced to close, travel destinations were faced with the difficult decision to either pivot their strategy or halt marketing spend all together. It’s no secret that COVID-19 brought numerous challenges to the travel and tourism industry.
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