2016 Sales & Marketing Plan - Amazon S3...sales and marketing plan. 2015 was a tremendous year for...

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2016 Sales & Marketing Plan

Transcript of 2016 Sales & Marketing Plan - Amazon S3...sales and marketing plan. 2015 was a tremendous year for...

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2016 Sales & Marketing Plan

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 2

Small town heart. Big city soul.

Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau (D.B.A. Explore Gwinnett), is Gwinnett

County’s official tourism organization and is dedicated to strengthening

Gwinnett County’s economy by marketing the county as a destination for

conventions, sporting events, meetings and leisure travel through sales,

marketing and promotion. The GCVB Board of Directors oversees the

management and marketing of Infinite Energy Center.

The mission of the Gwinnett Sports Commission (GSC) is to foster economic

development through coordinating and developing Gwinnett’s role as a leading

site for sports events involving youth, collegiate, amateur and professional

organizations.

our mission

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

Welcome to Explore Gwinnett

and the Gwinnett Sports

Commission’s 2016 integrated

sales and marketing plan. 2015

was a tremendous year for

our hospitality industry, with

Gwinnett recording its strongest

ever hotel occupancies and

rates.However, in the words of

Edmund Burke, “you can never

plan the future by the past.” Thus,

we start anew in 2016, a year

that promises to be a year full of

opportunity, development and challenges.

Looking forward, we’re proud to present a plan that has

been thoughtfully researched and assembled, with the

goal of gaining an even greater marketing voice, driving

new visitors to our destination and facilities, and driving

the tourism economic engine to create economic value

for Gwinnett County. A new, responsive, socially savvy

website, integrated marketing campaigns, strong social

media focus and a diverse sales effort are just a few of the

innovations planned for 2016.

We can’t wait to get started!

Lisa Anders, Executive Director

Explore Gwinnett

While sports have always been

a favorite pastime for most of

us, the business of sports goes

well beyond the activity on the

court or on the field. The noise

in the arena is so exciting but it

is often the noise that most of us

never hear, behind the scenes,

that allows us to continue to

enjoy the wonderful sports

opportunities we have; all right

here in our back yard.

The Gwinnett Sports Commission is always positioning

itself to promote Gwinnett as a premier sports destination

for all types of sporting events. Whether it is traditional,

extreme, or a trending sport, we have the facilities and

knowledge that allows us to put on the very best events

possible.

With the many options, on all levels of sports that we have

available, Gwinnett stands out as a place where the word

“PLAY” has real meaing in the “live, work and play” mantra

that we all strive for.

Go Gwinnett!

Stan L. Hall, Executive Director

Gwinnett Sports Commission

Lisa Anders Stan L. Hall

Lisa AndersExecutive Director

Explore Gwinnett

Stan L. HallExecutive Director

Gwinnett Sports Commission

leadership

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 4

Small town heart. Big city soul.

tourism in georgia

5Tourism is Georgia’s

5th largest industry

Tourism represents

$57.1 Billionin economic impact

Over $3 billion in taxes generated

= 10,000 jobs

= $2 billion

= $100 million

#5

supported by tourism 425,000 jobs

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 5

Small town heart. Big city soul.

tourism in gwinnettGwinnett’s hospitality industry had its strongest year ever in 2015.

Without tourism,each resident would

have to pay an additional

$249.50in taxes to make up for lost tax revenue

11,892 jobsdirectly related to tourism

$1.20 billionin visitor expenditures

$44.4 millionin state tax revenue generated

from tourism

$34.5 millionin local tax revenue generated

from tourism

TAXES

Tourism is leading the rise in the economic index in Gwinnett

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 6

Small town heart. Big city soul.

1500 HOURS30

54,500 3,25035% 22%

Gwinnett Tourism

Awareness sessions

GTAP offered programs

in conjunction with 40

community partners

Explore Gwinnett Ambassadors

clocked in over 1,500 volunteer

hours in the community.

72.3%2015 highest reported hotel occupancy

in the county’s history!

Record-Breaking Hotel Occupancy

2015 highlights

total room nights

booked

increase in wedding bookings

increase in international

bookings

room nightsBooked by

Passion Conference

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 7

Small town heart. Big city soul.

The mission of the four-person Explore Gwinnett sales staff is to attract

overnight group stays to Gwinnett County’s hotels and facilities, including

the Infinite Energy Center complex. The sales and marketing departments

work closely to create not only group stay options, but to enhance Gwinnett’s

overall destination appeal to groups across all markets.

In 2016, the focus will continue on maintaining the strong niche markets

including faith-based and sports, while concentrating on increasing market

share in the international (typically corporate and association groups) market.

For 2016, the group sales goal is three-fold: generating new group business for

Gwinnett, supporting and growing returning groups and servicing the groups

to enhance the group visitor experience.

sales department

2015 Definite RoomNights by Market:

Sports

25%

Faith-Based

42%Weddings

10%

Corporate

6%Reunion

8%

Tour & Travel

4%Association

5%

2016 group sales market goal: 40,000 room nights

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

faith-based OBJECTIVE: Leverage Gwinnett County’s reputation and

accolades as one of the Southeast’s “Most Ministry Minded

Cities” to generate new, ongoing mid-to-large meetings/

conventions. Our additional focus will be on reviving

bookings of faith-based groups that have met in Gwinnett

previously and not re-booked.

STRATEGIES: • Revive and Rebook Masters Conference using Meetings

Grant Incentives

• Attend at least 2 Existing Faith Conferences with

expectations of bringing that event to Gwinnett

• Host 2 Faith FAM trips during Orange and Catalyst for

prospective Faith Planners

• Utilize Meetings Grant and Sales Meeting Grant to incent

new meetings to hotels, Infinite Energy Center and other

facilities

OBJECTIVE: Develop new partnerships with

international faith-based facilities and new developments

to draw in a new range of meetings.

STRATEGIES: • Co-host promotional

seminar on attracting

people and events to

Gwinnett with John

Maxwell and Equipp

Institutes

• Identify Korean

Presbyterian and Baptist

Church events for co-

ops with EG

• Concentrate on using

new Korean-American

Society of Atlanta conference center as a destination

• Continue to enhance positive relationship with the BAPS

Mandir for new events

international

Gwinnett County has been recognized as the Southeast’s

most diverse county, with many of the new corporate

relocations moving from overseas. The addition of a

full-time, Mandarin-fluent sales manager with strong

connections across multiple international markets will

drive this growing market in 2016.

OBJECTIVE: Build awareness of Gwinnett County as

Atlanta’s most diverse meeting destination.

STRATEGIES: • Develop stronger partnerships and specific itineraries

in conjuction with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors

Bureau

• Identify and meet with five (5) Asian inbound tour

operators

• Attend three (3) international tradeshows or conferences

• Partner with the Korean and Chinese community centers

to book 4 new hotel meetings

OBJECTIVE: Showcase Gwinnett’s international food

offerings to help draw new meetings/events to Gwinnett

County

STRATEGIES: • Host two (2) Familiarization tours with international tour

operators

• Continue to partner with the GDeCD China Tourism

Office for China operator FAMS

• Create a ‘dine-around’ plan in conjunction with the

marketing department for new hotel groups

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 9

Small town heart. Big city soul.

wedding market Gwinnett has more than 40 special events facilities,

ranging from simple to four-star. In 2015, our strategies

of creating partnerships with key receptive facilities,

aggressive marketing, and an enhanced partnership

with Proof of the Pudding paid off. The wedding market

showed a 35% increase in bookings, showing the largest

single market increase.

OBJECTIVE: to have our wedding market specialist

become known as the regional specialist for both

domestic and international weddings and will continue

to create and enhance strong partnerships with receptive

event facilities.

STRATEGIES: • Partner with 4 venues to Join Explore Gwinnett at bridal

shows

• Seek cross marketing opportunities with venues such as

guest blogging, vendor spotlight, and providing wedding

postcards to be displayed at venues

• Attend 2 wedding education seminars

• Work with 3 Special Event facilities to become their

exclusive housing bureau for them

• Attract more ethnic wedding groups, booking 2 by year

end

reunion marketOBJECTIVE: Gwinnett has a strong reputation for the

family reunion planner, in part due to our excellent Parks

and Recreation facilities. New developments across metro

Atlanta may draw interest to other areas, so our primary

objective will be to create stronger partnerships with

Atlanta-based attractions, while still keeping Gwinnett as

the top overnight destination for the reunions.

STRATEGIES: • Host 2 reunion workshops at new locations that will

attract more reunion planners

• Create new, personalized reunion planner guide

• Plan first ever Reunion Planner FAM tour throughout

Gwinnett/Atlanta

• Increase overall attendance for reunion workshop over

2015 by 10%

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

association/corporateOBJECTIVE: To grow the state association and corporate

markets for the Infinite Energy Center-based meetings by

utilizing the new Embassy Suites as a headquarters hotel;

to utilize our international staff/expertise to generate

new international business and to leverage our marketing

assets to showcase Gwinnett.

STRATEGIES: • Attend 2-3 Georgia State Association Conventions to

solicit hosting their meetings in Gwinnett

• Attend National Asian-American Association conference

in effort to build on our relationships with the Asian-

American Associations across the US

• Use the Meetings Grant to as an incentive to book 2 new

association conferences

• Entertain four new Georgia State Association planners at

Gwinnett events

• Work with marketing and convention services to

enhance the destination appeal for groups including

nightlife options, group discounts, transportation

support, etc.

OBJECTIVE: Develop stronger local and regional

awareness of Explore Gwinnett Services, and Gwinnett

County offerings for corporate meetings, events and

banquets.

STRATEGIES: • Work with Partnership Gwinnett to educate the

new Corporations in Gwinnett on the benefits of EG

partnerships, book 2 new hotel meetings

• Host 2 Corporate FAM Events

• Present the benefits and service Explore Gwinnett offers

to 10 corporate meeting planners

• Entertain 10 new prospective corporate meeting

planners at Gwinnett events, such as Mitsubishi Electric

Classic or high-profile Arena events

tour and travelOBJECTIVE: To develop and incorporate of Gwinnett-

based opportunities to tie into local and regional tour

packages.

STRATEGIES: • Create three (3) new tour itineraries for motor coach

groups

• Visit or conference call with four (4) regional

destinations to provide insight on what packages have

been successful in penetrating the group tour market

• Work with regional partners in Georgia (Atlanta, Macon,

Savannah, etc.) to become part of an overall “hub and

spoke” tour package

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

convention services OBJECTIVE: To provide value-added services to meeting

planners, hotels and the Convention Center to generate

positive awareness, and enhance the client experience,

while here. also leads community engagement efforts

through community partnerships, ambassadors and local

event participation.

STRATEGIES: • Quarterly visits to full-service hotels to educate

hoteliers/increase number of groups using convention/

meeting services assistance

• Host a welcome and/or information group for a

mimimum 12 groups

• Further develop convention services offerings by

researching other CVB’s best practices

• Oversee post-event surveys of planners; goal of

receiving 75% response rate

• Increase number of active ambassadors to 20

• Increase the number of ambassador opportunities

offered by 15% (from 65-75)

CITY NAME OF CONVENTION CENTER EXHIBIT SPACE # ROOMS IN CC PROXIMITY

Gwinnett County, GA Infinite Energy Center 50,000 sf 700 rooms

Athens, GA The Classic Center 104,500 sf 1,500 rooms walking distance

Cobb County, GA Cobb Galleria Centre 144,000 sf 800 rooms connected

College Park, GA GA International Convention Center 150,000 sf 9,000 rooms with 2 miles

Chattanooga, TN Chattanooga Convention Center 100,000 sf 2,000 rooms within walking distance

Birmingham, AL Birmingham Convention Center 220,000 sf 770 rooms attached

Alpharetta, GA* Alpharetta Conference Center 65,000 sf 1,500 rooms within 3 miles

COMPETITIVE AND COMPARABLE DESTINATIONS:

*Coming soon

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 12

Small town heart. Big city soul.

Gwinnett Sports Commission was founded in 2003 and serves as Gwinnett

County’s official sports marketing organization. In 2015, the GSC worked with

several partners to bring in new and unique sporting events to the county,

including the Yong-In Presidential Cup (Tae Kwon Do), a state gymnastics

meet, cycling events, and more.

GSC continues to work closely with local sports venues such as the Infinite

Energy Center, Suwanee Sports Academy, Gwinnett County Parks and

Recreation, EPIC Tennis Center and Gwinnett County Public Schools.

2016 promises to be an exciting year for the Gwinnett Sports Commission

with a new title sponsor for the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, several large youth

tournaments already confirmed and the addition of the Georgia Swarm.

With a new title sponsor, the Mitsubishi Electric Classic is sure to exceed last

year’s boost in economic impact, with even more hotel room night generation,

local and national media impressions and positive affect on local businesses.

gwinnett sports commission (gsc)

15,000+

51

ROOM NIGHTS BOOKEDFOR SPORTS

SPORTING EVENTSASSISTED BY GSC

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

Perfect GameNike Memorial

Day ClassicNorcross Generation

Adidas Cup

Atlanta Legacy Softball Showcase

Greater Gwinnett Championship

Adidas Girls National Championship

Yong-InPresidential Cup

Adidas Invitational

room nights

room nights

room nights

room nights

room nights

room nights

room nights

room nights

3762

515

765

500+

604

486

569

333

GOALS: • To identify and finalize four foundational/cornerstone

events that the GSC will build around

• To implement plans and design process for a Gwinnett

County Parks and Recreation Department facility,

that would cater events specific to regional/national

tournaments and travel sports categories

• To increase brand exposure for the Gwinnett Sports

Commission, in turn creating more business for the

county

LARGEST NEW SPORTING EVENTS IN 2015:

gwinnett sports commission (gsc)

30% increase in followers 50% increase in followers 28% increase in followers

95% of our clients are uninsured.83% are at or below poverty line67% are homeless47% female

100% ARE CARED FOR

For 30 years, Mercy Care has played a critical role in Atlanta’s healthcare safety net as a medical home for the poor and marginalized.

THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HEALING

Visit us at mercyatlanta.org Mercy Care, Atlanta@mercyatlanta

95% of our clients are uninsured.83% are at or below poverty line67% are homeless47% female

100% ARE CARED FOR

For 30 years, Mercy Care has played a critical role in Atlanta’s healthcare safety net as a medical home for the poor and marginalized.

THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HEALING

Visit us at mercyatlanta.org Mercy Care, Atlanta@mercyatlanta

Yong-InPresidential

Cup

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

marketing communications

korean dining initiativeOBJECTIVE: In 2016, we will continue to brand

Gwinnett’s Asian dining scene as Seoul of the South. In

2015, we generated great media coverage in USA Today,

national & local websites and other publications for our

Asian dining district for Duluth and Suwanee’s restaurants.

STRATEGIES: • Complete Asian dining focused tour for the media and

front desk staff

• Complete general Asian Dining Guide as resource for

Gwinnett Place hotels

• Obtain at least one additional Asian restaurant for

Gwinnett Restaurant Week

• Cover Seoul of the South in the 2nd edition of Explore

Gwinnett Magazine

• Add Seoul of the South blog to the new website with

bi-weekly written and amateur video pieces on local

restaurants, spas, events or trends

websiteOBJECTIVE: In first quarter 2016, our new website will

be launched. We will strategize, with Paramore, ways to

monitor and increase visitation, increase usability and

maintain fresh content and ideas.

STRATEGIES: • Maximize the use of “The Latest” blog on

ExploreGwinnett.org to aid in SEO, increase return

website visitors, provide additional social media content

and recommendations to visitors by adding 2 blog posts

per week

• Incorporate new website features for Phase 2. Options

include “Ask Button” feature, video content, use of user

generated content from social media

• Maximize features of Localist calendar of events

including encouraging users to share via Facebook,

RSVP for events and sign up for accounts

• Highlight trending events on social media to drive traffic

to calendar

• Incorporate #exploregwinnett into the hashtag field of

event listings to further the hashtags reach on social

media

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 15

Small town heart. Big city soul.

marketing communicationsexplore gwinnett magazine & overall marketing /collateral brandingOBJECTIVE: Our magazine debuted in 2015 with

substantial advertising participation and numerous

positive comments. In 2016, the second edition will be

published. We are also working with digital marketing

agency Paramore to get all EG collateral to be more

consistent, uniform and streamlined.

STRATEGIES: • Create thorough distribution plan to include local

events, prominent businesses, hotels and regional

visitors centers

• Regularly review and compare competitors magazines

and collateral to be sure that Explore Gwinnett’s look

remains comparable in quality and messaging

• Continue to share interesting “stories” from the

magazine on social media throughout the year and

encourage people to request a magazine

• Strongly encourage people who are featured to share

the magazine on their social media feeds, websites and

e-newsletters

• Regularly check-in with advertisers and cities to

replenish their magazines

• Share the magazine via GTEP classes

• Work on gaining at least 3 new strategic distribution

partners such as Gwinnett Technical College, Gwinnett

Parks and Recreation, or Georgia Gwinnett College

• Create an advertising calendar that can be used by EG

Marketing Department and Paramore to create ads, and

profile sheets in a more efficient manner

public relationsOBJECTIVE: In 2016, the addition of a full-time

marketing communications professional with an

extensive background in public relations will be key to our

enhanced and improved PR efforts

STRATEGIES: • Regular media outreach to travel bloggers including

offering exclusive travel packages and discounts

• Attend PRSA Travel and Tourism Conference to obtain

new ideas on what travel media is seeking in destinations

• Regular press releases in relation to EG

accomplishments and news

• Create a regularly updated photo bank that media can

use via third party service

• Continue to seek out awards that EG staff and the

organization can be nominated for (GACVB Awards,

Marketing Awards, etc.)

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

arts & entertainmentWe offer robust event marketing for our arts, culture and

entertainment options throughout the year. We serve

as the “Camera Ready” contact for the Georgia film and

entertainment industry, and in 2016 we are planning an

arts-themed, monthly arts marketing event for the first

time. Having an appealing mix of arts and entertainment is

a key ingredient of a more desirable destination.

OBJECTIVE: Increase Gwinnett’s presence in the film &

TV industry, enhance Gwinnett’s strong reputation as a

“Camera Ready” community and partner with studios to

enhance our efforts

STRATEGIES: • Increase the number of images uploaded to Georgia’s

Reel Scout database by 50% or more.

• Complete additional drone video shooting to assist in

marketing Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation facilities

to the industry

• Complete quarterly updates to the Eagle Rock Studios

and OFS’ “Vendor Handbooks”

• Integrate the full “Gwinnett Film” microsite to the

exploregwinnett.org website; including links for permits,

access to Reel Scout, and imagery from various filming

• Continue to do regular speaking engagements on the

value and impact of the film industry to Georgia

• Work across our various partnerships to improve

communications and resources for our production

partners and location managers

OBJECTIVE: Increase our arts marketing efforts to assist

in destination marketing; choosing specific, targeted ef-

forts that support our city partners, as well as assist us in

drawing in new visitors

STRATEGIES: • Create “Artober Gwinnett” this fall, creating a month-

long celebration of the arts that will incorporate

existing programming, develop new arts activities (i.e.

buskers, street performers). This will allow us to broadly

market all of our city/county events and create new

partnerships

• Continue to support major arts organizations (i.e. Aurora

Theatre) through partnership agreements that allow us

to enhance our nightlife / entertainment opportunities

for our visitors

• Fully utilize all of “Localist,” our robust events calendar

to help us market arts events socially and through better

SEO. We will be incorporating a Paramore-developed

campaign to make local users more aware of our events

calendar, which is the most comprehensive available

• Support our arts events/organizations through

appropriate Public Relations opportunities, including

Cision Media lists, blog posts and more

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

social media & digital marketing2016 will be our first year of having a full-time digital

marketing agency, Paramore, as our partner in our

marketing efforts. The overall goals for our digital

marketing campaign are to increase website visitation

(trackable) and increase leads to our sales team. We also

plan to increase social media followers on Facebook to

20,000 followers (33% increase), on Instagram to 3,000

(50% increase), on Twitter to 2,700

(an increase of 500 followers).

• Use the new social media

aggregator to engage with more

social media users than ever

before. This will directly impact

our number of followers.

• Increase our social media

advertising efforts to include

Facebook, Instragram and Twitter

• Work with Paramore to create

contest campaigns across social media

platforms and our new website.

• Create a small desirable “prize with our logo” for

people whose photos we repost

• Social media features in our magazine will drive traffic to

our platforms

• The new social media aggregator will help our hashtag

grow exponentially. We will use this to engage with

more social media users and ultimately gain more

followers.

e-newsletterIn 2016 we will maximize the reach of

our e-newsletter through

• Aggressively increasing users to

6,500 (currently we have just over 5000 in the general

list) by requiring e-newsletter sign up for some contests,

making content better quality and by learning new

tactics at Marketing United (Emma e-Newsletter

conference)

other new items for 2016• Expand our marketing efforts with Country Living

Fair (annual festival which attracts largest number of

overnight visitors) to include overnight packages to

increase visitation

• Create a short official “welcome” video for Gwinnett

and let event organizers use it to promote their meeting

once Gwinnett is chosen as a destination

• Create a short general destination video for our sales

team to share during presentations

15,000 followers 4,900 followers 1,500 followers

95% of our clients are uninsured.83% are at or below poverty line67% are homeless47% female

100% ARE CARED FOR

For 30 years, Mercy Care has played a critical role in Atlanta’s healthcare safety net as a medical home for the poor and marginalized.

THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HEALING

Visit us at mercyatlanta.org Mercy Care, Atlanta@mercyatlanta

95% of our clients are uninsured.83% are at or below poverty line67% are homeless47% female

100% ARE CARED FOR

For 30 years, Mercy Care has played a critical role in Atlanta’s healthcare safety net as a medical home for the poor and marginalized.

THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HEALING

Visit us at mercyatlanta.org Mercy Care, Atlanta@mercyatlanta

Numbers as of 2/2016

2016 GOALS

20,000followers

6,000followers

3,000followers

Increase to Increase to Increase to

95% of our clients are uninsured.83% are at or below poverty line67% are homeless47% female

100% ARE CARED FOR

For 30 years, Mercy Care has played a critical role in Atlanta’s healthcare safety net as a medical home for the poor and marginalized.

THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HEALING

Visit us at mercyatlanta.org Mercy Care, Atlanta@mercyatlanta

95% of our clients are uninsured.83% are at or below poverty line67% are homeless47% female

100% ARE CARED FOR

For 30 years, Mercy Care has played a critical role in Atlanta’s healthcare safety net as a medical home for the poor and marginalized.

THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HEALING

Visit us at mercyatlanta.org Mercy Care, Atlanta@mercyatlanta

Increase e-newsletter followers to

6,500

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

OBJECTIVE: To attract industry staff and professionals

to attend the six-part certification program. The classes

include:

• Four two-hour sessions of classroom training on

Gwinnett’s attractions, shopping, sports, special

event facilities, historic downtowns, history, government,

parks and recreation

• A two-hour backstage tour of the Infinite Energy

Center; including the arena, convention center and

performing arts center

• All day familiarization tour of Gwinnett County

• Upon completion of the classroom training, Infinite

Energy Center tour and the familiarization tour; program

participants will receive certification as a GCTS –

“Gwinnett Certified Tourism Specialist.”

gwinnett tourism education program

OBJECTIVE: Expand our reach—create satellite

education seminars.

STRATEGIES:• Partnering with our hotels, facilities and parks and

recreation department to hold seminars/classes in

outlying areas to provide better accessibility and

opportunity for partners and attendees

• Create new partnerships with other non-profits to

enhance attendance for larger attendance, and more

prominent speakers

• Evolve our programming - Partnering with Gwinnett

Technical College to offer a condensed version of

the Gwinnett Tourism Awareness Program (similar

to “Glance Gwinnett”) in order to allow these time-

strapped hospitality students to attend GTAP, providing

assistance for networking and workforce development

• Starting an Explore Gwinnett Health Series – research

shows that healthier employees with a reasonable

work-life balance are more productive and efficient.

2016 programs will literally “explore” Gwinnett by taking

classes on a walking tour, as well as healthy workplace

habit seminars, work-life balance, and others

GTAP By the Numbers 2015 2016

Graduates 28 30

Sessions 30 35

Attendances 700 800

Community Partners 40 45

The Gwinnett Tourism Education Program (GTEP) is Explore Gwinnett’s award-winning hospitality education and

awareness program. The program is led by a full-time Tourism Education Director, whose role is to educate our

tourism and hospitality staff on everything that Gwinnett offers, creating “local experts” on the frontline of our hotels

and attractions. This type of knowledgeable, friendly and experienced staff has been shown to resonate with visitors,

creating a memorable experience and increasing the return visitor.

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2016E x p l o r E G w i n n E t t. o r G | G w i n n E t t S p o r t S C o m m i S S i o n . C o m 19

Small town heart. Big city soul.

Richard TuckerChairman

Arlington Capital, LLC

Marcy AdamsVice-President

OperationsCrestline Hotels

Jace BrooksVice Chairman

District I CommissionerGwinnett County Board

of Commissioners

Bert Nasuti Secretary

Thompson O’Brien, Kemp& Nasuti, P.C.

BOARD MEMBERS

OFFICERS

Tommy HughesHughes Properties

Kevin HillGeneral Manager

Residence Inn Sugarloaf

Tom Martin CEO,

Gwinnett Community Bank

Dr. Daniel KaufmanCEO/President,

Gwinnett Chamber

David KohlaschGeneral Manager, Sonesta AtlantaGwinnett Place

Dr. Mark NewtonGwinnett Tech, Hospitality,

Restaurant and Tourism Program Director

Col. Art RillingEmeritus

Laura GramsAssistant Vice-President,

Leadership and Organizational Development

HCA Healthcare

Beth Hilscher City Council &

Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Suwanee

Lynette HowardDistrict II Commissioner, Gwinnett County Board

of Commissioners

Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau

board of directors

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Small town heart. Big city soul.

Maurice OdomsWedding/Reunion

Marketing SpecialistExplore Gwinnett

Lisa AndersExecutive Director

Explore Gwinnett

Stan L. HallExecutive Director

Gwinnett Sports Commission

Ross PowellDirector of Group Sales

Explore Gwinnett

Cricket Elliott-LeeperEducation Director

Explore Gwinnett

Leigh Hooten Sales Manager

Gwinnett Sports Commission

Leah StevensConvention Services

ManagerExplore Gwinnett

Victoria J. HawkinsMarketing Communications Director

Explore Gwinnett

Sondra Thomas-MooreOperations Manager

Explore Gwinnett

Preston WilliamsChief Executive Officer

Explore GwinnettInfinite Energy Center

Bianca AdamsMarketing CoordinatorGwinnett Sports Commission

Sarah ParkInternational Marketing

CoordinatorGwinnett Sports Commission

Explore Gwinnett

Anne ChenInternational/Association

Market SpecialistExplore Gwinnett

Jessica WhittingslowMarketing

Communications ManagerExplore Gwinnett

staffGwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau