National State Tourism Directors Mercury Awards > Community Building

The "Place I Belong WV" Campaign

About This Entry:

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel industry we all knew so well was thrown a curveball. How to adapt when vacations are cancelled, flights are grounded and the world seemingly stops? It became clear very quickly that the West Virginia Department of Tourism needed to rally behind our partners and provide a unified message addressing post-pandemic concerns. The solution became a multi-week media effort involving small and local businesses across the state.

The #PlaceIBelongWV content and social strategy celebrated our state and promoted West Virginia as the perfect destination for when the time is right to travel. Our goals were simple:

1. Support DMOs and CVBs throughout COVID-19 through weekly social content & curated toolkits.
Support small businesses through scavenger hunts and challenges, like purchasing “to go” meals from local restaurants.

2. Inspire and support viewers during challenging times by creating video content to keep people dreaming of their next trip to West Virginia.

3. Create a social media movement to inspire future travel in West Virginia using state, DMO and CVB social media.

Knowing that resources were limited for most businesses early in the pandemic, we created weekly toolkits to make it easier for West Virginia organizations to participate. The themed toolkits were filled with helpful resources that state organizations or businesses could use as a way to complement their own marketing strategy. The goal was to flood social media with vacation ideas from West Virginia to inspire future travel while also communicating the weekly changes to COVID-19 travel guidelines and adjusting the message accordingly. Additionally, we created some examples of social posts to offer guidance as well as two newsletter examples for different types of email lists.

This social strategy relied on the participation of our partners. From CVBs to hoteliers and restaurant owners, the goal was to spread the message that West Virginia is where we all belong. In turn, this highlighted the resiliency of our statewide small businesses.

Campaign Strategy:

The overarching tactic that guided the achievement of our objectives revolved around weekly toolkits which each had their own theme, social media prompts and sample copy to help partners participate easily. Each theme focused on unique aspects of West Virginia:


Week 1 - Love for West Virginia
Week 2 - The Great Outdoors
Week 3 - Family-Friendly Activities
Week 4 - History
Week 5 - State Parks and Public Lands
Week 6 - Appalachian Cuisine

Below are a few highlights from the member toolkits:

Kick-Off Video
In the early stages of the pandemic, we unveiled a new inspirational video on its social media channels. The goal of this video was to help uplift viewers and encourage them to keep dreaming of their next visit to the Mountain State.

The Shape of West Virginia
As one of the first prompts of the campaign, we asked our followers to find unique ways to create the shape of the state of West Virginia. With stay-at-home orders in effect at the time, followers were challenged to find items that were either lying around their home or in their backyards to create the state - and submissions included everything from pine cones to wine bottle corks. This activity allowed the public, CVBs and business owners to participate. We then collected the best submissions and created a fun video to highlight their efforts.

Chef Videos
West Virginia prides itself on its delicious Appalachian cuisine that draws inspiration and ingredients from the natural beauty of the state. We sent out a request to local chefs to submit a video of their favorite West Virginia delicacy, and after receiving submissions from across the state, we highlighted a number of them through social media videos.

Coloring Contest
To supplement our social strategy, we created a number of beautiful coloring sheets — which proved to be the perfect activity for families who were stuck inside due to the pandemic. We asked our followers to submit photos of their finished coloring sheets and shared a video of some of the best submissions received.

Results:

The campaign was a resounding success. We were not only able to provide assistance to partners with reduced staff, but we were able to use a unified approach to keeping West Virginia content relevant and interesting to consumers.

The level of partner participation exceeded all expectations. Throughout the 7-week campaign, over 150 industry partners participated by sharing posts, creating additional content and urging their followers to show that West Virginia is the place they belong. We saw more than 1,250 social shares using the new #PlaceIBelongWV hashtag from both partners and consumer profiles. The social media reach throughout the campaign topped out at over 21 million with a social sentiment rating of 89.925.

Without these toolkits, many of our partners would have gone dark on their social media channels. Jamie Null from the Mercer County CVB explained, “The Place I Belong campaign was essential for partners during the height of the pandemic. The creative assets and quick thinking by the West Virginia Department of Tourism gave us all one voice during this uncertain time. It also brought us together to accomplish several things: a way to keep people dreaming about vacations, entertain and inform our local community and keep folks engaged with all things West Virginia.”

Not only did it provide partners with tangible assistance, but it helped West Virginia continue to build on the Almost Heaven brand. Leisha Elliott from the Marion County CVB summed it up best, "In the middle of a most difficult year for the tourism industry, the Place I Belong campaign brought attention to ways travelers could safely visit Marion County's spacious, open attractions and kept our area and all of West Virginia top of mind for those dreaming of a more typical trip following the pandemic."


We hope we never face another event like the COVID-19 pandemic, but if we do, we’ve got a great roadmap for how to quickly support partners with very limited resources.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

This campaign leveraged West Virginia’s brand message very creatively to provide stimulating social media content to destination partners throughout the state. The content provided was innovative, engaging and relevant to the special circumstances and challenges of COVID-19 in 2020. The program offered lots of material, which was consistently packaged and promoted in a way that clearly showed local partners how to participate.