Using Destination Signals to Launch a New Partner Engagement Strategy in the Manatee Capital of the World
Learn how a popular Florida destination re-engaged its partners and local stakeholders through innovative digital solutions offered by Destination Signals.
Known as the Manatee Capital of the World, Crystal River, Florida, is a year-round Gulf Coast destination that attracts visitors from around the globe to observe and interact with these beloved marine animals.
Manatees, however, are not the only stars of the show in Crystal River, who — along with their adjacent communities of Inverness, Floral City and Homosassa — is home to an eclectic mix of restaurants, attractions, outdoor activities, accommodations and other community hospitality partners that craft one of Florida’s most memorable vacation experiences.
Challenge
The Citrus County Visitors and Convention Bureau had historically activated their community partners through their visitors guide, but had decided to no longer offer this benefit due to the ever-increasing complexity of gathering assets and spurring partner engagement. With the absence of this high value partner benefit, the Citrus County VCB connected with Destination Signals to brainstorm new ways to activate their partners in ways that were impactful for local businesses and motivational to prospective travelers, all while being scalable and easily managed by the VCB team.
Solution
Destination Signals viewed this as a great opportunity to realign the overall partner engagement and activation plan with the VCB. To begin, Destination Signals offered sponsored website content opportunities for partners to use in marketing their businesses to motivated travelers, with curated blogs and strategic content placements naturally woven into the already successful content of DiscoverCrystalRiverFL.com, which had received over 2.6 million unique pageviews in 2022.
To provide additional value to the stakeholders and community partners, the Crystal River program was built as a discount model. Unlike the traditional revenue share model, the VCB would instead take that share and offer it as a longevity discount for partners when they renew. In the end, partners would continue to see the same value and ROI through their sponsored placements, but with a declining investment over two years.
Results
20+
Community Partners
125,000
Referrals
$0.23
CPC