Tourism Marketing Overview: April-June 2016



The Cape Cod Chamber works 12 months a year to promote Cape Cod as the destination of choice for travelers!  We are launching this quarterly e-newsletter to give you an update on our marketing strategies and tactics, and their results.  This report covers April through June, and shows a strong response to our advertising and promotions, with especially strong results from our search remarketing!





Wendy K. Northcross, CEO  
Results from Spring Ad Campaign

Our spring destination ad campaign - featuring an active adventure travel theme with the tagline "Cape Cod Has It" - included targeted search remarketing, Facebook and TripAdvisor campaigns; banner ads on Boston.com; billboards on I-93 in Boston and I-84 in Hartford; and a print ad in the Boston Globe Magazine Summer Travel Issue.

  • Facebook ads in the Boston, CT and NY markets: 10,831 total interactions, 9,200 unique website clicks, 125,539 impressions
  • Facebook ads in the Chicago and Washington DC markets: 4,418 total interactions, 3,524 unique website clicks and 51,522 impressions
  • TripAdvisor campaign: 4,762 clicks and 2.28 million impressions
  • Search remarketing: 5,905 clicks and 1,204,080 impressions.
  • Boston.com / BostonGlobe.com: 2,070 clicks and 752,849 impressions
Website Traffic 
From April-June 2016, there were 294,204 unique visits and 1,079,757 page views on CapeCodChamber.org. Visits were up 39% over traffic from April-June 2015. 



Our search engine ranking/presence remains powerful. In over 2,400 of the most common keyword searches for Cape Cod, CapeCodChamber.org ranks in the top 10 results.  From April-June, there were 175,719 organic sessions, a 36% increase over April-June 2015. Average time on the site was 2:39 and bounce rate was 28%. 



We continue to aggressively drive traffic to the travel website with SEO marketing, PPC programs, Facebook ads, weekly blog posts, social media campaigns and search remarketing.



Summer Stats: In July 2016, unique visits on CapeCodChamber.org were up 28% over July 2015, and page views were up 25%.


Social Media / Blog Activity
Our weekly travel blogs received 24,333 unique views from April-June.  The most viewed blogs for the quarter included 10 Lunches with a View, Cape Cod In Bloom (Hydrangea Fest), Top Kayaking Spots and Spoil Your Mom on Cape Cod.



PR Outreach

The Cape Cod Chamber retains the services of Bill DeSousa-Mauk of Hyannis-based DeMa PR to help publicize Cape Cod as a high-value, year round destination. Here are some highlights of their work on our behalf between April 1-June 30, 2016:

  • Assisted 28+ travel writers for such publications as USA Today, The Boston Globe, Endless Vacation, Yankee Magazine, The Telegraph (UK), Parents, AAA Northeast, Golf Travelers Monthly and Travel & Leisure
  • Provided access to the Chamber's online image library (password: capecod) and sent images to 155+ publications
  • Added more than 2,700 images to the Cape Cod Chamber's image archive
Click here to read the full report of April-June PR activity.

International Marketing Update 
From April-June 2016, we hosted eight international FAM tours from countries including the UK, Switzerland, Canada, France, New Zealand and Australia.



Cape Cod was also represented on a Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT) Canadian Sales Mission in April 2016, at the Discover New England Summit in April 2016, and at IPW 2016 in New Orleans in June.
 
Click here for the full report of April-June international marketing activity. 
Group Tour, Meetings & Sports Marketing 
VP of Sales Patti Lloyd was busy this spring promoting Cape Cod as a group tour, meeting and sporting destination!  Highlights of her work include representing Cape Cod at Springtime in the Park, the Greater Boston Concierges Show, and the NESCVB Hartford Event; and helping bring such sporting events here as the New England Soccer Classic, Spike U Volleyball (pictured above) and the first ever MMA Cage Fighting Event at HYCC. We also continue to host websites promoting meetings and weddings, and a landing page promoting group tours.



Click here for the full report of April-June group tour, M&I and sports marketing activity.  
"Doug," the Cape's beloved hard-shelled mollusk, went on record at the June 20th Quahog Day to predict a whopping 100 beach days on the horizon for the Cape.  Quahog Day - conceived by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce in 2009 - has come to symbolize a rite of passage into the summer season for many. More importantly, the quirky annual event garners us some fantastic pre-summer media coverage from regional news outlets! This year's Quahog Day PR campaign - handled by Regan Communications - resulted in 70+ mentions in print/online/social media/broadcast outlets on Cape Cod and beyond, including a fantastic live broadcast by this year's emcee - NECN Meteorologist Pete Bouchard.

Like us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterView on InstagramView our videos on YouTubeFind us on Pinterest



Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce | 5 Patti Page Way | Centerville | MA | 02632