The Challenge
SligoTourism.ie is responsible for promoting the County of Sligo to national and international markets. As the home-place of Bua, it’s an exciting project to work on. We’re inspired as much by the mountains, lakes and beaches as we are by the people, the culture and the myth and legend that surrounds us.
Our brief on behalf of Sligo Tourism LTD was to deliver a stand-out digital marketing and PR campaign to raise the profile of County Sligo at a national and international level. Nestled on the Northwesterly edge of Ireland and overlooking Ireland’s roaring Wild Atlantic Way, Sligo is also home to Bua Marketing so this new relationship was a perfect pairing.
The Solution
Bua Marketing delivered a cohesive communication strategy for Sligo Tourism; sourcing and managing best in class creative marketing specialists, coordinating the delivery of the marketing strategy and delivering memorable creative assets which in turn attracted new audiences and awareness of the Sligo Tourism brand proposition.
Initially, Bua Marketing developed a Marketing Strategy and creative concept around ‘Sligo Stories’ focused on two target audiences; Great Escapers (Adventurers) and Connected Families (Young Families). The idea being that visitors to Sligo could create their own new stories and share via social media using the hashtag #SligoStories, visiting Sligo during off-peak times of the year, when there are still ample adventures and experiences available
The campaign was extended in Summer 2020 to include a post-lockdown campaign focusing on the message that #SligoIsOpen for tourism.
The Impact
Here are some highlights from the impact of our work:
- Increased website traffic (113% growth year on year for a comparable period)
- Increased social media reach (total social media reach of > 2m people)
- Increased press mentions for Sligo Tourism and related activities
- Email Marketing Open Rate of 58% (Avg Industry Open Rate: 24%)
- Stories by the National Geographic, The Evening Standard, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, The Irish Sun, The RTE Guide.
This campaign won a Bronze Medal at the Irish Social Media Awards 2020.
Videos:
- Great Escapers Adventure Video: > 112,000 views
- Pre-Teen Families Video (launched Jan 2020) >122,000 views
Sligo Is Open Campaign Summer 2020 Launched July 2020 >100,000 views 