2021 Workshop Recordings and Downloads!
To view our recorded classes click the + icons below next to each session name to reveal the video recordings and download the slide decks. All attendees should have received the passcode for watching recordings via email. If you have questions please reach out to sarah@jbmediagroupllc.com.
Day 1
MONDAY, NOV. 15TH
9:15 am Presentation
TOURISM AND LOCAL MARKETING TRENDS
Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
In the fast-paced, ever-changing world of tourism marketing it sometimes seems impossible to keep up with all the trends. We’ll kick off our 2021 event with an update on the digital marketing trends you need to be watching. Whether you work in marketing for the TDA of a city, you are the marketing department of one for a rural region, or you are a small business owner, find out the best strategies, tools, and efforts to put your time, energy, and financial resources into this coming year.
10:30 am Concurrent Breakout Sessions
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR A CHANGED WORLD
Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
Successful social media has always focused on telling stories people can relate to and that are relevant to their lives. Creating emotional connections to your audiences can take time but generates loyalty and engagement in the long run. Find out how all of the changes happening around the world are impacting social media strategy and how you can make sure your investment in social relationships produces the results you need to grow your customer and visitor base.
Google Ads 101 – Getting the Most Out of Search Advertising
IMPORTANT NOTE: During our event, we had one session where the Internet was not functioning properly and it caused issues with our recording. We apologize for the issues with this recorded content about Google Ads, but hopefully, there are still some great best practices you can take away. If you have questions feel free to email Sarah at sarah@jbmediagroupllc.com.
David Gwaltney of JB Media Group
Join us for a presentation to learn how to efficiently run tourism and local marketing campaigns on Google Ads. We will cover targeting strategies, best practices for conversion tracking, local and tourism industry benchmarks, and keyword strategies. The team at JB Media Group has been managing Google Ad campaigns for tourism organizations, events, and local businesses since its founding in 2010. If you’re considering or currently utilizing Google Ads for your marketing strategy, you don’t want to miss out on these tips and tricks.
UPDATING YOUR MARKETING PLAN
Chris Cavanaugh of Magellan Strategy Group
It may be considered old school, but a good marketing plan is still essential in a new school world. We’ll discuss the process for creating or updating your marketing plan. This class will identify the most desirable components of a comprehensive marketing plan, look at the best ways of delivering the plan, discuss how marketing plans are evolving, and delve into examples of good marketing plans. You’ll learn about best practices, and even a few examples of common mistakes and what not to do.
1:15 pm Concurrent Breakout Sessions
YOUR GUIDE TO ETHICAL & PURPOSE-DRIVEN MARKETING
DOWNLOAD JUSTIN’S PRESENTATION
Justin Belleme of JB Media Institute
As technology evolves, the line that separates ethical from unethical digital marketing practices moves. To avoid embarrassing and costly mistakes, all businesses, especially purpose-driven businesses, need an ethical marketing policy and strategy. But what does it really mean to be an “ethical” marketer today? In this presentation, Justin Belleme will share an overview of the key topics and best practices to ethical, purpose-driven marketing, especially as it relates to local and tourism marketing.
PRIVACY MATTERS: NEW STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING
Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
Everyone has heard about the new iOS changes in 2021 and the battle between Facebook’s historical need to track user behavior and iPhone’s new commitment to their customer’s privacy, but do you know what these changes really mean and how they may be affecting you? Discover how to level up your advertising strategies so you can collect the data you need while still respecting your customers and visitors. Also explore why these issues are so important and the ethical issues you may need to be aware of going forward.
TOP 10 DIY DESIGN MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
SIGN UP TO DOWNLOAD JOHN’S PRESENTATION
Led by John Hornsby of Hornsby Creative and Connection Kits
Sometimes you don’t have the budget to hire a professional designer for every project. But you can invest in learning to up your own DIY design skills. A strategy first approach to well executed design principles is proven to drive more engagement and conversions. In this workshop John will share the top DIY design mistakes he’s seen over the past 25 years in experience design and how to avoid them. We’ll touch on some of the free and low cost DIY design solutions out there and more importantly how best to use them to get results. We’ll explore real world examples of the best and the worst destination and experience designs. Be prepared to walk away empowered to better position your destination with effective design.
2:45 pm Concurrent Breakout Sessions
THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL MARKETING TRACKING & REPORTING
Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
Data is something all marketers need to succeed, and tracking and reporting tools are the key to quantifying our success. In 2021 though we are seeing big changes in the world of data and in the public understanding of privacy and security. Learn more about tracking and reporting strategies and systems that can be beneficial for tourism-based organizations and companies. Understand where we are now and where we are headed in the future.
BUDGETING FOR DIGITAL ADVERTISING: COST-EFFECTIVE WAYS TO INCREASE REACH & WEBSITE TRAFFIC
DOWNLOAD JUSTIN’S PRESENTATION
Justin Belleme of JB Media Institute
Not all social media and digital advertising products are created equal. Each social media and digital advertising platform has strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately each platform delivers different costs per click, impressions, and engagement rates. During this session, Justin will explore a variety of strategies and approaches including: average cost per click and engagement rates, platforms and strategies to deliver the highest quality traffic for various tourism business goals, and how to evaluate and prioritize digital advertising options when working within a budget that needs to deliver a positive return on investment.
Community Relations Tips
Pat Kappes of Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau
Working in tourism doesn’t just mean attracting visitors. It also means building strong long term relationships with local businesses and the people who live in your region. Join Pat Kappes from Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau to learn how to connect, engage, and serve your community.
Day 2
Tuesday, Nov. 16th
9:00 am Concurrent Breakout Sessions
GIVEAWAYS ARE STILL THE FASTEST WAY TO GROW YOUR EMAIL LIST!
DOWNLOAD JUSTIN’S PRESENTATION
Justin Belleme of JB Media Institute
Organically growing an email list can be a very slow process, especially for businesses and organizations that rely primarily on simple email newsletter signup forms to capture new subscribers. During Justin’s 18 years of experience in travel and tourism marketing, he’s discovered that nothing has performed better than a well-executed travel giveaway or sweepstakes for building an email list quickly. Even after all the newest platforms and post-COVID strategies have been tested, this tried and true strategy is still the winner. Join this session to learn how to cost effectively grow your email list.
LOCAL SEO AND THE POWER OF MARKETING YOUR PHYSICAL LOCATION
Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
Local SEO is a specific strategy brick and mortar businesses can capitalize on in order to get more exposure in search engines. Learn some of the best digital tools out there for promoting a physical location and best practices for increasing visibility and engagement.
BRANDING OR REBRANDING FOR THE NEW TOURISM ECONOMY
To watch Chris’s YouTube videos from this presentation, click the links below:
Virginia is for Lovers Ad: https://youtu.be/hnE2gcvwH-w
Las Vegas What Happens Here Only Happens Here Ad: https://youtu.be/2YgKGy7YbaE
Las Vegas Pandemic Ad: https://youtu.be/yJviZ4-WgsY
Iceland Icelandverse Video: https://youtu.be/yJviZ4-WgsY
Southwest Airlines Wedding Season Ad: https://youtu.be/PIN4zpEtMhU
Cabarrus County, NC Ad: https://youtu.be/lv3bS9pY-2o
Lexington, KY Neigh Neigh Ad: https://youtu.be/bBwu1Jfg0BQ
Chris Cavanaugh of Magellan Strategy
The digital age, and more recently the COVID19 pandemic, have changed the execution of brand development and management, but the principles of strong foundational branding stay the same. This session will look at how to develop, maintain, revisit, and grow your brand using both traditional and digital media to establish a message that resonates.
10:30 am Presentations
STRATEGY BRAINSTORM: MARKETING MANAGERS UNITE
Did you miss the strategy brainstorming session? Click to download and use Justin’s brainstorming worksheet to generate new ideas and create an actionable outline of your next campaign.
Justin Belleme and Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
In this session, Justin leads participants in an exercise and discussion about how to create an idea and put together the beginnings of a strategic plan to take their ideas into action. Sarah will join to provide additional support and feedback. This is a fun way to get to know other attendees and leave with an actionable plan for promoting an event, creating new content, or designing a new campaign. Get support from experts and share ideas with your peers.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AS EFFECTIVE MARKETING
Chris Cavanaugh of Magellan Strategy Group
While not traditionally considered a component of tourism marketing, product development is an increasingly important part of destination management and marketing. The ability to choreograph the visitor experience through investments in capital projects, festivals and events, and numerous other initiatives can help shape the destination brand, enhance visitor satisfaction and spending, and improve quality of life for residents. We’ll also look at how COVID has affected the need for product development and its potential funding.
HOW TO TAKE EYE-CATCHING PHOTOS ON YOUR PHONE
David Huff of Huff Creative
There’s an old adage in photography that says “The best camera is the one you have with you” This is more true now than ever since we all have a camera on our phone and most of us, myself included, never leave home without it! It is also true that more of us know much more about photography than was the case 10 years ago. With the advent of cameras on our phones and the rise of a social media landscape for sharing our pictures, most of us have become pretty good amateur photographers.
Do you want to up your game and master the potential of your phone’s camera? If so, this workshop is for you. Here’s what we will cover:
- Discovering the hidden secrets of your phone’s camera
- “Is it okay to shoot into the sun?” and other commonly asked questions
- Tips for better composition and storytelling
- Having fun with light
- Adding special effects
- Going beyond in-camera software for better editing options
- Accessories for improving our phone’s picture-taking performance
Bring your phone, and make sure that it is charged because we will be taking and sharing pictures in this session.
1:30 pm Concurrent Breakout Sessions
TIK TOK MARKETING FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute
Tik Tok exploded on the scene in 2016, but in 2020 it exploded beyond what anyone could have imagined. As the platform expanded to include more than just young audiences and creators, Tik Tok soon became beloved by people across the world as a place of refuge, laughter, and activism while people were in lock down. Discover the value Tik Tok can have for your region, business or organization. Learn best practices for getting started and see some examples of some of the best Tik Tok creatives currently traveling and telling stories.
ACCESSIBILITY BASICS FOR TOURISM MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS
DOWNLOAD HEATHER’S PRESENTATION
Heather Neff of Equivalent Design
Learn how to make your website and marketing materials to be more inclusive and accessible. Having accessible content is not only legally required it also expands your market reach by over 25%. We will go over the legal requirements for your website to meet ADA compliance, and how to consider disabled users when designing printed and online collateral.
I loved the Tracking and Reporting Class with Sarah… she dove in and showed you realtime how Google Analytics worked and what you should be looking for.
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