“Don’t try to reach everyone. Pick a focused audience,” Carroll encouraged. Fáilte Ireland, with the help of locals, planned small-scale events to appeal to a variety of specifically targeted audiences under the umbrella theme of The Gathering. Lighthouse keepers, rugby players and Tolkien enthusiasts all had their own events to attend, and Fáilte Ireland invested marketing resources into connecting potential visitors with their appropriate niches. Highlights of the presentation are highlighted here in our blog: http://www.sometourism.com/somet14eu-using-niches-market-70-million/

1. Ac#va#ng
Communi#es
Orla
Carroll
Fáilte
Ireland
9th
April
2014

3. The
Backdrop…..2012
Irish
pension
fund
returns
fell
in
May
2012
Irish
emigra8on
at
highest
point
since
Famine
-­‐-­‐
3,000
leaving
per
month
Eurostat
figures
show
Ireland
had
fiBh
highest
unemployment
rate
in
EU

4. The
Big
Idea
• The
Gathering
Ireland
2013
was
ini5ated
by
Fáilte
Ireland
in
response
to
the
declining
fortunes
of
the
tourism
industry
in
the
Republic
of
Ireland
since
2007.
• Ireland’s
global
diaspora
popula5on
is
es5mated
to
be
in
excess
of
70
million
people.
• The
Gathering
was
designed
to
mo5vate
members
of
that
diaspora,
as
well
as
those
with
an
affinity
for
Ireland,
to
come
to
Ireland
to
celebrate
the
best
of
Irish
culture,
arts,
sports,
music
and
heritage.
• Its
ul5mate
aim
was
to
increasing
overseas
visitors
and
tourism
revenue,
thereby
provide
addi5onal
employment
in
the
tourism
industry.

5. An
opportunity
for
people
at
home
and
abroad
to
get
involved
in
a
na#onal
movement
Providing
a
plaHorm
for
Ireland
to
connect
with
the
people
around
the
world.

6. The
Ask
People
in
Ireland
• Organise
special
gatherings
for
friends,
family,
and
connec5ons
around
the
world
• Invite
them
to
Ireland
to
be
part
of
it.
People
Overseas
• Respond
to
the
invita5ons
to
come
to
Ireland
• Visit
Ireland
in
2013
and
experience
it
like
never
before

7. Ac#vi#es
Calendar…
Local
Gatherings
Fes#vals
Big
Headline
Events

8. Spreading
the
Message
Content
Genera#on
&
capture
ar#cles
Social
Media
Roots
Tourism
/
Ancestry
Na#onal
Radio
&
Press
Promo#ons
&
PR
Overseas
Publicity
Digital
Marke#ng

9. Social
Media
Strategy
The
primary
objec5ve
of
the
Gathering
Ireland’s
social
media
strategy
was
to
build
an
online
community
both
for
the
project
itself
but
also
for
key
gathering
events.

10. Desired
Outcomes
q Create
online
plaLorms
for
Gathering
organisers
to
share
informa5on
about
their
events
with
the
public.
q Provide
engaging
online
spaces
for
visitors
to
find
out
about
gatherings
happening
around
Ireland.
q Communicate
gathering
stories
through
online
conversa5on,
user-­‐generated
and
created
content
in
order
to
extend
the
reach
of
the
Gathering
Ireland
message.
q Deliver
an
interna5onal
audience
to
the
top
Gatherings
taking
place
in
Ireland
through
the
provision
of
micro-­‐targeted
social
media
campaigns.
q Build
and
engage
an
online
diaspora
community.

11. Delivering
a
High
Impact
Social
Media
Strategy
1. Content
Marke5ng
2. Micro-­‐targe5ng
on
Facebook
&
TwiTer
3. Go
where
your
audience
is
4. Maximise
Reach
5. Be
Nimble
6. Invest

12. Domes#c
Content
Marke#ng
&
The
Gathering
PlaHorms

13. Why?
Amplify
marcomms
message
-­‐
create/
invite/aTend
Support
project
statement
-­‐
”year-­‐
long
celebra5on
of
all
things
Irish”

14. Who?
Target
broad
Irish
audience

15. How?
Blog,
video
&
imagery
defined
by
interest
Comms
Re
quest
Forms
Editorial
Planning
• Yearly
planning
• Quarterly
forecas5ng
• Weekly
editorial
mee5ngs

17. Where?
Primary Focus
Secondary Focus
Tertiary Focus

18. What
worked?

19. What
worked?

20. What
didn’t
work?

21. Top
3
Tips
1. Invest
in
quality
imagery.
2. Content
that
uses
current
and
quirky
themes
performs
beTer.
3. Es5mate
10-­‐15%
of
fans
see
content
organically,
dedicated
social
media
budget
required
to
reach
wider
audience.

22. Key
Learning's
Building
social
func5ons
into
website
DNA
is
crucial.
Facebook
reported
that
The
Gathering
Ireland
generated
three
5mes
more
shareable
content
on
the
website
than
industry
compe5tors.
Photo
albums
ocen
perform
beTer
than
any
other
pieces
of
content.
The
FlightFest
album
had
CTR
of
12.28%
and
had
a
CPC
of
only
€0.02.
Sponsored
Stories
adver5sements
work
well
to
augment
viral
buzz
by
giving
greater
visibility
to
content
that
has
already
been
liked,
commented
on
or
shared
by
a
user's
Facebook
friends.
This
worked
well
for
quirky
content
e.g.
Joe
Dolan
Bachelor
Fes5val.

23. Key
Learning's
Have
a
Community
Manager
in
place
to
support
the
crea5on
of
content
by
wri5ng
copy
and
managing
paid
promo5ons
(where
relevant)
as
well
as
working
closely
with
media
buyers
to
implement,
con5nually
assess
and
op5mise
campaigns
on
Facebook,
TwiTer
and
YouTube.
A
dedicated
social
media
budget
in
place
to
promote
video,
blogs
and
photo
content.
Establishment
of
a
content
calendar
from
the
outset
which
should
be
reviewed
regularly.
Weekly
editorial
mee5ngs
are
also
required
to
chart
5melines
and
revise
plans
as
needed.
Sharing
of
content
with
partners
/
stakeholders
to
maximise
social
reach.

24. Ireland.com
PlaHorms
Reaching
out
to
new
audiences

25. Ireland.com
–
Core
Web
PlaHorm
• 25
versions
in
7
languages
• 13
million
web
visits
annually

26. Reaching
Out
to
New
Audiences
Ireland.com
• 30
pieces
of
Capture
Content
focused
on
The
Gathering
were
created,
translated
into
5
EU
languages
and
published
on
Ireland.com
• These
were
shared
through
the
exis5ng
channels
(Facebook
&
TwiTer)
but
also
to
new
audiences
through
paid
seeding

27. Paid
Content
Seeding
PlaHorms

28. Use
of
Social
Objects

29. Results
• Content
Marke5ng
delivered
500k
web
visits
to
Ireland.com
• Average
CPC
of
€0.32
compared
to
€1.39
for
tradi5onal
Online
Display
Adver5sing
• 93%
of
visits
from
Content
Marke5ng
were
new
visits
compared
to
overall
average
of
75%
• The
5ghter
the
link
between
the
social
object
and
Ireland,
the
beTer
the
conversions

30. Learnings
1. Focus
on
capturing
consumer
aTen5on
by
appealing
to
their
interests
2. Content
Marke5ng
needs
to
be
integrated
with
other
channels
and
campaign
ac5vi5es
for
maximum
impact
3. Op5misa5on
towards
conversion
is
key
to
the
success

31. Micro-­‐targe#ng

32. Objec#ves
• Target
“Passion
Points”
rela5ve
to
the
Top
100
Gatherings
• Drive
relevant
audiences
to
Fes5vals/Gathering
owned
Facebook
Page
• Convert
traffic
to
an
engaged
audience
by
delivering
new
fans
à
growing
interna5onal
Facebook
following
• Develop
a
database
of
high
poten5al
interna5onal
visitors
for
2013
with
the
ul5mate
goal
of
conver5ng
to
actual
visitors
in
2013
• Create
a
sustainable
overseas
database
that
gatherings/fes5vals
can
target
over
future
years
and
s5mulate
to
visit
Ireland
-­‐
contribu5ng
to
the
Gathering
legacy

33. Campaign
Process
• Fes5val
input
–
briefing
• Targe5ng
–
market,
passion
points,
themed
clusters
• Ensuring
Facebook
pages
were
fit-­‐for-­‐purpose
–
interna5onal
audience
• Ad
format,
copy
and
crea5ve
• Monitoring
and
op5mising
campaigns
–
“Cap
and
Flag”

34. John
Ford
Ireland
Results
Spend
€3,000
Clicks
9,491
@
€0.32
Interna5onal
7,239
@
€0.41
Likes
(fans)

35. Hook
Lighthouse
–
Gathering
of
Lighthouse
Keepers
Results
Spend
€2,000
Clicks
7,511
@
€0.27
Interna5onal
6,470
@
€0.31
Likes
(fans)

36. Riverdance
the
Gathering
Results
Spend
€2,000
Clicks
9,812
@€0.20
Interna5onal
Likes
(fans)
6,601
@
€0.30

37. 4,071
new
fans
2,315
new
fans
3,665
new
fans
1,860
new
fans
4,982
new
fans
1,883
new
fans
2,986
new
fans
5,311
new
fans
6,619
new
fans
3,610
new
fans

38. Others
didn’t
work
so
well
–
why?

39. 96
Campaigns
Complete
900m
+
Impressions
238,000+
interna#onal
fans

40. Key
Learning’s
1. Campaigns
that
capitalised
on
annual
events
(e.g.
Valen5ne’s
Day)
and
news
events
(Obama
visit)
performed
beTer.
2. As
a
news
outlet,
TwiTer
goes
stale
quickly.
Crea5ve
must
be
changed
daily.
3. Awareness
of
breaking
news
is
crucial
e.g.
Boston
marathon.
4. Don’t
try
to
reach
everyone
–
pick
a
focused
audience
5.
Invest
5me
ensuring
plaLorms
are
fit-­‐for-­‐purpose
6.
Underlying
goal
is
conversion
–
need
to
work
with
partners
who
are
commercially
savvy
&
have
the
ability
to
convert
the
rich
database
to
actual
visitors
7. Cryp5c
content
received
higher
CTR
e.g.
“Look
who’s
been
announced
for
@nyedublin…”
with
an
image
of
The
Strypes
had
a
CTR
of
8.89%
and
a
CPC
of
€0.17

41. Twiher
targe#ng
1. By
TwiTer
handles
e.g.
@OfficialCorkGAA,
@iloveredfm
2. By
interest
e.g.
Sports,
Travel
3. Keywords
e.g.
Cork,
#uptherebels

42. Other
Cri#cal
Elements

43. Go
where
your
audience
is
• Keep
up
to
date
on
emerging
trends
and
plaLorms
and
embrace
when
relevant
to
your
target
audience
e.g.
the
emergence
of
Vine
and
Instagram
video
were
useful
to
the
Gathering
for
live
reportage
at
key
events.

44. Niche
Interest
PlaHorms
Legacy:
Reaching
over
100,000
diaspora
every
day

45. Be
Nimble
• Maximise
on
opportuni5es
(planned
and
ad
hoc)
as
they
arise
–
5mely
engagement
is
crucial
e.g.
Tom
Cruise,
Riverdance,
SPD
• Plan
to
be
nimble

46. Impacts
&
Legacy

47. Social
&
Community
Impacts
• The
Gathering
encouraged
the
development
of
events
that
otherwise
would
not
have
been
organized.
• It
enhanced
skills,
capabili5es
and
organiza5onal
structures
of
many
exis5ng
events.
• 96%
of
event
organisers
believed
their
event
to
be
a
success
• The
Gathering
encouraged
self-­‐reliance
and
capacity
building
among
many
communi5es
and
encouraged
them
to
focus
on
tourism.
• 53%
said
that
the
Gathering
has
helped
‘create
a
vision
for
their
area
that
wasn’t
there
before’
• 47%
of
community
respondents
think
there
will
be
a
long
term
posi5ve
impact

48. Social
&
Community
Impacts
• 27%
of
community
respondents
aTended
a
Gathering
event
and
15%
had
friends
or
family
visi5ng
as
a
result
of
the
Gathering.
• 73%
of
community
respondents
believed
that
the
Gathering
made
the
community
more
aware
of
the
importance
of
tourism.
• 8%
of
event
organizers
were
from
the
tourism
sector.
• The
Gathering
‘gave
ordinary
people
a
plaLorm
to
do
extraordinary
things’.
• The
Gathering
resulted
in
a
‘pride
of
place’
and
‘self-­‐belief’.
• There
was
a
strong
family
emphasis
to
the
Gathering:
‘it
was
families
who
really
benefited...
it
brought
them
together’

50. Thank
You!
Orla
Carroll
Head
of
Digital
-­‐
Fáilte
Ireland
@carroll_orla