BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
1. OVERVIEW AND INFORMATION
A. Introduction & Background of Campaign & Event
The Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival held the 36th annual event May 31st through June 2, 2019. Originally created to encourage business and homeowner relocation to the area, the event today is guided by its mission statement: “to enhance the charitable, cultural, educational and economic developments of the region.”
The Festival has been heralded by the local community for branding Temecula’s Wine Country before there was a Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 1983, the community had six wineries, and 5,000 residents. Today, the Temecula Valley has more than 40 wineries, and is surrounded by additional wine-making regions in San Diego County and edges of Southwest Riverside County. The Temecula Valley has over 200,000 residents, 1,700 rooms, and hundreds of vacation rental properties. This does not include Pechanga Resort & Casino’s 1,090 rooms. The 2018 tourism financial impact was $1 billion in spending. Charged by the sponsors and stakeholders with promoting and driving economic stimulus to the area, the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival draws up to 40,000 spectators annually, filling hotels and increasing awareness of the destination.
This is done by exhibiting and highlighting the community’s finest assets as a wine region and tourist destination. The event provides beautiful dawn hot air balloon launches, magical evening balloon glows, world renowned musical entertainment, premium wine tasting, food pairing and chef demonstrations, nature’s bounty in one of two-multispecies reserves in the valley, plus family activities and camping.
In 2019 the Festival board added a satellite Wi-Fi net to provide bandwidth to guests and allow streaming videos. Located in a regional park outside of the city of Temecula, the rural area has poor infrastructure for Wi-Fi and cell phone communications. This network was critical to the messaging and reach success of the social media campaign.
The Festival’s social media campaign supports the Festival’s mission statement and goals by sharing information about the community’s tourism assets of hot air balloons, fine wines and great entertainment. Located on the border of San Diego and Riverside Counties, the Festival has an enormous media pool to reach, with three large and diverse demographic market areas. These areas include the Los Angeles/Orange County Market, Riverside/San Bernardino Market and the San Diego Market. Major media offices are 40 minutes to 2 hours from the Festival site.
The social media relations campaign is an integrated marketing approach that includes strategic messaging, digital advertising, earned media sharing, sponsored promotions and advertising with our broadcast, print and digital partners, and sharing with and about our stakeholders.
B. Purpose/Objective of the media relations campaign
The social media campaign is a critical component to the overall public relations and marketing campaign of the 2019 Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival. It included Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. The Festival’s 2019 theme was “Toast the Glow” in reference to the evening hot air balloon glows. A special graphic and color scheme was designed for social media posts referencing the “glow” and other event aspects. This graphic was adapted for various required formats and venues at the event.
1. The primary goal is to support the sales and marketing objectives by increasing awareness of the event and its stakeholders through dominant quality messaging. This included:
- Regular messaging on Festival offerings, entertainment and various ticket options.
- Calendar and Countdown notices.
- Social/digital media advertising.
- Promotional messaging from partners, stakeholders and performers.
- Retargeting, geo-fencing, and lifestyle targeting.
2. Secondarily, the goal was to inspire user-generated content and engagement with all messaging, while generating excitement and information sharing with ticketholders and followers. This included:
- Contest for tickets
- Polls
- Partnership with key influencers
- Wi-Fi net at Festival for video shares
- Selfie posts
3. Finally, we committed to doubling the Instagram following, and increasing Twitter and Facebook followers and likes.
Stakeholders Involved in the Campaign:
- Southern California Toyota Dealers Association, Temecula Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau “Visit Temecula Valley”, Bimbo Bakeries, USA, Riverside County Parks, Pechanga Resort & Casino, I Heart Radio, Balloonists, Temecula Wineries, Anheuser Busch, and IAS Communications.
- Media partners involved: Groupon, iHeart Los Angeles, K-Frog Stations, NBC-San Diego, Pandora, Press-Enterprise.
Attendance profiles and demographics from previous Festivals has been maintained since 2001. This historical data, along with 2018 surveys of attendees, provides the Festival with clearly defined marketing targets. This is matched with available media outlets with corresponding audience demographics, psychographics and interests.
Media Targeted for campaign and exclusives covered 3 Southern California DMAs: San Diego County, Riverside/San Bernardino Counties (Inland Empire) and Los Angeles/Orange County.
SAMPLE TOAST THE GLOW GRAPHIC:
C. Social Media Platforms Used:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TVBWF/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tvbwf/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TemeculaVBWine
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TemeculaBalloonWine
Please see supporting documents for screen prints – following this page.
D. Social Advertising Used
We utilized Facebook/Instagram/Instant Messenger – and Audience Network with TVBWF channels for direct purchase advertising.
Media partners who also utilized social media advertising included KFrog Radio Stations, NBC-San Diego, Groupon and iHeart radio advertising utilized Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival Advertisements:
Facebook – Top performing boost post ad/video from Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine:
Groupon:
Groupon distributed advertising through their social media targeted platform and Living Social
Reach/Impressions – 4,200,000
Ad value equivalent – $25,386
K-Frog Facebook Post
Impressions 78,530
CTR 3.47% Total Clicks 1,875
iHeart Los Angeles Social Media Ads and Posts
679,866 Impressions
793 Clicks, .12% Click thru
NBC – San Diego Social Media
Transitional and take down ad on blog/website
Video online, blog/website/social media including invitation to like Festival social media, and multiple posts on twitter.
▪ 514,722 Impressions, plus 15 new Facebook Likes for Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival
▪ 61 new Twitter followers for Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival
▪ 153 new Instagram followers for Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival
Link to video ad:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nz0se7ommekzuac/TVBWF_15%20nbc%20san%20diego%20digital.mp4?dl=0
E. Target Audience for Social Media Campaign
• 25-54-year-olds
• Concertgoers
• Food & Wine Lovers
• Familiarity with Temecula Valley
• Photographers
• Income level of $75,000 or higher
• Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside and San Diego Counties of California
• Fans of our headliners: 3 Doors Down, Soul Asylum, A Thousand Horses, Chase Bryant, Big & Rich, and Russell Dickerson
• Fans of Coachella Festival
• Fans of Stagecoach Festival
• Rock Music Fans
• Country Music Fans
• Alternative Rock/Alternative music fans
F. Editorial Calendar and Timeline
SEPTEMBER- OCTOBER
Messages on recent awards
Messages on 2019 dates
Messages posts sharing press coverage
Messages posts & emails announcing vendor applications and Festival’s confirmed dates.
NOVEMBER
Black Friday promotion on Messages
Ticket Sales and Exclusive Experiences promoted
DECEMBER
Holiday Gift Giving on Messages and email.
JANUARY
Final discounted ticket month Messages.
Entertainment announcements if available
Campsite sales date promoted
Barrel race promotions
FEBRUARY
Campsite sales and barrel race promotions Messages
Entertainment announcements if available
New events or venues at the Festival
Souvenir Poster Design Winner Announced to Messages
Vendor and Volunteer sign up in emails and Messages
MARCH
Campsite final push email, Messages press release
Barrel race final push for entries, email, Messages, press release
Concert focused PSAs and announcements to radio/broadcast/entertainment writers
Vendor and volunteer Messages information
Messages balloon flights promoted
APRIL
Premium ticket push for Cabana Club, Food & Wine Pairing, Reserved Wine/Messages
Barrel race final promotion
Weekend contest “Find me at a winery” Messages campaign.
MAY
Digital media ads begin
Continued push for individual concert reserved tickets
Continued push for food, wine and reserved wine ticket sales
Hot air balloon flight promoted
Countdown Messages posts and videos
Posts from media days and opening day May 31st
JUNE
Posts from Festival, Meet & Greets, Balloons, Wine & Concerts
Thank posts after the event
Return to the Temecula Valley
G. Examples of hashtags, contests, polls and quizzes used.
Hashtags – Instagram
#tvbwf2019
#tvbwf
#temecula
#temeculavalley
#temeculawinecountry
#winecountry
#wine
#californiawine
#hotairballoon
#balloonist
#balloonandwine
#tvbwf2019
#drinktemecula
#toasttheglow
CONTESTS/POLLS Ad released for contest giveaway – VIP weekend
Ad targeted Los Angeles beach area winners.
Guess the Winery Contest for Tickets – Winners posted on social media their guess.
First correct answer got a pair of tickets
H. Additional Media Exposure received from Campaign
• Social media generated 51,062,609 impressions and generated $465,040 in ad value equivalent.
• 1,524,129 of the social media’s 51,062,609 impressions occurred during the Festival.
• Facebook – audience grew from 30,179 to 32,587 an 8% increase, engagement increased 150%, clicks to website grew by 700% over previous year’s campaign.
• Instagram – audience grew from 1,944 to 3,584, an 84% increase in followers and engagement grew by 160%.
• Twitter – audience growth from 2,535 in 2018 to 2,792, a 10% increase with clicks to website links growing over 650%.
• Email subscriber base grew by 1,981 organically, plus 587 in opt-ins from partners. Total growth 2,568 – 11.2%.
I. Estimate of revenue/and or attendance Increase:
• Income increased by 11.1% in 2019 over 2018. Attendance increased by 20%.
• Reserved seating and premium wine ticket sales Increased by 14.2%
J. Analytics Overview:
Below are the statistics for the 2019 Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival Social Audience:
Facebook from Jan. 1 to June 5, 2019:
79% Female, 21% Male, 14% are 25-34 years-old, 24% are 35-44 and 22% are age 45-54 –
the Festival’s primary age target. 25.6% are from the Riverside County area, 9% are from the San
Diego County area and 12.6% are from the Los Angeles area.
Engagement 23,000, 18,000 reactions, 3,100 comments, 1,500 shares.
Impressions January 1-June 5, = 12,796,325
Paid impressions = 425,476
Instagram from Jan 1 to June 5, 2019
6,700 Impressions
11,00 Engagement – 9,400 Likes, 1,300 Comments
44% Female, 56% Male, 32% are 25-34 years-old, 17% 35-44, 9% 45-54
Twitter from Jan. 1 to June 5, 2019
60,127 Impressions, 109 mentions, 1168 engagements
Full demographics for Twitter were not available.
K. What Makes the Social Media Campaign unique and creative?
What makes this campaign unique is it is managed, strategized and executed by two part-time individuals and is leveraged with all media partners to engage their audience and platforms, performers and their millions of followers and sponsors, thereby providing us with a team of social media experts.
What makes it creative is the manner in which we conduct contests both on our own and through media to grow our followers, database and fans. We spend no more than $300 on our own social media advertising.
We test with posts, photos and images to test the audience for its reaction and utilize these results to maximize results during our final four months.
This was also the very first year the social media team could stream and post from the Festival site as we added a Satellite Wi-Fi network. It was also the first year the majority of our audience could find hot spots to post, share and communicate.
L. Overall Effectiveness:
First and foremost, we supported sales and marketing and the Festival income and attendance grew in 2019.
• Income increased by 11.1% in 2019 over 2018. Attendance increased by 20%.
• Reserved seating and premium wine ticket sales Increased by 14.2%
Our secondary goal was to grow our audience and increase the engagement and user content.
• Facebook – audience grew from 30,179 to 32,587 an 8% increase, engagement increased 150%, clicks to website grew by 700% over previous year’s campaign.
• Instagram – audience grew from 1,944 to 3,584, an 84% increase in followers and engagement grew by 160%.
• Twitter – audience growth from 2,535 in 2018 to 2,792, a 10% increase with clicks to website links growing over 650%.
• Email subscriber base grew by 1,981 organically, plus 587 in opt-ins from partners. Total growth 2,568 – 11.2%.
• Social media generated 50,375,698 impressions and generated $465,040 in ad value equivalent.
• 1,524,129 of the social media’s 50,375,698 impressions occurred during the Festival.
Supporting Documents
Top Producing Posts
Jenga Game provided a perfect venue for video sharing.
What did you do to update or change and where these changes effective?
We split duties, with one individual creating content and graphics while the other posted on various formats, adjusting for the communication styles of each platform.
We added a Satellite Wi-Fi net at the festival to allow us to post and stream concert videos and activities. We added yard games and areas for guests to “Play” while enjoying the Festival.
We partnered with sponsors who created selfie stations at the Festival, and others who provided Wi-Fi hotspots for areas where the net did not cover and times when bandwidth was at a premium. This included a special ride share lounge.
Challenges and Obstacles, Did You Foresee or Encounter:
The biggest challenge was “Will it Work?” The satellite Wi-Fi net was critical to our guest experience and important to encouraging return and future visits.
The Festival has engaged other companies to create better signal strength and Wi-Fi access in the past. Most are not equipped for the sudden volume in a rural area. A new company took the challenge and we had back up plans for failure. From the social media campaign, we had ability to go offsite to post immediately after taking videos as well as the ability to find dedicated hot spots for staff that allowed us to upload from the Festival grounds.