Here For The Right Reasons:
Capturing TV Viewer’s Hearts for Hilton Head Island
We know, we know… we live in a digital age. But, for brands, being featured on TV is still a pretty big deal. You’ve heard the benefits: You get access to huge audiences — some of the largest possible. And, you get to connect with people using the most emotive medium — video.
As a digital agency, we think digital-first. That said, we understand and support our client’s need for mass media when the situation calls for it. So, you can imagine how excited we were when we learned that Hilton Head Island — a refined vacation destination along the South Carolina Coast, and a VERB client — was to be featured in an episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette.
When it comes to our clients, we’re always “here for the right reasons.” We knew this was a big opportunity for Hilton Head Island to make a splash among The Bachelorette viewers. When Hilton Head Island asked us, “Will you accept this challenge?”, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. With a short turnaround time, we had to set a plan in place quickly to ensure that Hilton Head Island saw huge ROI for their feature on ABC’s most dramatic season yet.
Step 1: Build Excitement
The Bachelorette “journey” started the week leading up to the airing of the episode. This week was critical for us. It was an opportunity to get on #BachelorNation’s radar before the show aired, and to let our social media community know to tune in. Our message was simple: Hilton Head Island is a refined, romantic — and now TV-worthy — vacation destination.
The moment it was announced that Hilton Head Island was going to be featured, we got to work publishing our own original social media and blog content, as well as amplifying ABC’s and Rachel Lindsay’s, the Show’s Bachelorette for season 13, and Hilton Head Island-related posts.
Step 2: Cover It Live
With our audience aware and tuning in, our attention turned to monitoring the #BachelorNation conversation in real-time. Both the Hilton Head Island and VERB social teams were on Hilton Head Island for a viewing party, using a variety of social monitoring tools to live tweet and engage in conversations, paying special attention to Hilton Head Island’s partners, viewers highlighting the beauty of Hilton Head Island, and accounts with large followings. That night we engaged with writers from Mashable, a host from Entertainment Tonight, and other local personalities.
We took full advantage of sharing all of the great feelings around Hilton Head Island. In order to ensure that our social audience got a good mix, we also shared pre-planned posts highlighting icons and popular tourist spots around the Island throughout the episode.
Step 3: Extend Engagement
The next morning, after the final rose of the night, it was time to kick into post-show mode and continue to capitalize on the great promotion we were receiving. We shared Instagram stories highlighting featured locations in the episode. We also set up Snapchat filters on these locations.
We also dedicated Hilton Head’s next eNewsletter to encourage recipients to “Vacation like the Bachelorette.” This was a chance to encourage visitation by highlighting vacation packages from the resorts and locations featured in the episode.
A PR moment may seem like a drop in the bucket, but it can result in big results if you play your cards right. The key is to have a strategy in place to ensure all of your marketing channels work together in bringing the moment to life. What could have just lived on TV turned into something much bigger for Hilton Head Island, and we’re proud to have worked with them in driving measurable results from this activation, including 19 million viewers, increases in website traffic and online conversions.
“Working with VERB on this campaign really brought all of our channels harmoniously together. Each channel worked off-of, and in parallel with, one another to really tell the story our visitors experience upon arrival: when you visit Hilton Head Island, you can’t help but fall in love with the destination.” — Lindsy Bentz, Digital Marketing Manager, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Visitor & Convention Bureau
The lesson from all of this? Have a plan. Understand that the appearance, moment, or announcement is probably only ⅓ of the activity that really needs to be done and seize the opportunity to make it even bigger. If you’re having trouble seeing all of the moving pieces or don’t feel equipped to monitor the conversation in real-time, we can help.
VERB Interactive is a leader in digital marketing, specializing in solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Find out more at www.verbinteractive.com.
