#SoMeT13US Breakout Session. Presenters: David West, Pocono Mountains CVB, @DavidBWest & Adam Johnson, Visit Saint Paul, @MayorGatsby & Shannon Paige, Visit Denver, @IknowDenver

1. Adam Johnson | VP of Marketing | Visit Saint Paul

3. [EAT]

4. [TWEET]

5. [RE
]

12. Social Media Successes! Nope!
Learn from Social Media Flops
The Denver Dares
SoMeT13US
November 8, 2013

13. Background
Shannon Paige (spaige@visitdenver.com)
Director of Interactive Marketing and Web Operations

14. Background
VISIT DENVER
•
Launched our first app in July 2010
•
2011 – 39,000 App Downloads
•
Jan 2012 – Begin redesign
Decided to add Badging Capability to the app to highlight our “Dares”

15. Why Badges?
Gamification of experiences
Social Media Strategy - Get
users to share info about us on
their social media sites
1,826 badges awarded during Denver
Restaurant Week: Jan 19 – March 9, 2012

16. The Denver Dares
• 10 Badge categories
• 10-15 “Dares” per Badge
• Check-in to an dare – earn a badge

17. The Denver Dares

18. Results
First 6 months (April-Sept)
• 42,000 downloads
• 64,000 active users
• 205,000 sessions
• 1.6 min average session
length
• 202 Badges awarded

19. What Went Wrong
•Complicated Directions
–
Didn’t distinguish
between “checkingin” and “badging”
thus one action had
two results

20. What Went Wrong
•Complicated Directions
–
Didn’t distinguish between “checking-in” and “badging”
thus one action had two results
•No incentive to earn a badge
–
Badges are only fun if there’s a level of competitiveness
to earn them.

21. What Went Wrong
•Complicated Directions
–
Didn’t distinguish between “checking-in” and “badging”
thus one action had two results
•No incentive to earn a badge
–
Badges are only fun if there’s a level of competitiveness
to earn them.
•Wasn’t challenging to earn a badge
–
While trying to keep the threshold to earn a badge low,
we took the fun out of it. Could earn a badge
anywhere/anytime.

22. What We Learned
2012
Badges Awarded
202
Sharing (email)
1,137
Favorites
4,956
Users were NOT using the badging
capability, but they were big fans of
being able to “favorite” a dare or
member listing in order to access it later.

23. What We Learned
2012
Badges Awarded
202
Sharing (email)
1,137
Favorites
4,956
Users were NOT using the badging
capability, but they were big fans of
being able to “favorite” a dare or
member listing in order to access it later.
This was obviously being used as a “planning tool”, as
opposed to an in-market guide.
We had to change our whole attitude about the app…..

24. What We Changed
1. Got rid of badges

25. What We Learned
We don’t need no stinkin badges

26. What We Changed
1. Got rid of badges
a) Turned them into categories
b) Still allow people to check in, but now they have to be
at the location, so it’s similar to Facebook check in

27. What We Changed
1. Got rid of badges
a) Turned them into categories
b) Still allow people to check in, but now they have to be
at the location, so it’s similar to Facebook check in
2. Introduced a new category called “My Saved Dares” that
encourages users to add more favorites.
3. Introduced a new category called “Top 10 Dares of
Denver” that allows users to see what other people’s
favorites are.

28. What We Changed
1. Got rid of badges
a) Turned them into categories
b) Still allow people to check in, but now they have to be
at the location, so it’s similar to Facebook check in
2. Introduced a new category called “My Saved Dares” that
encourages users to add more favorites.
3. Introduced a new category called “Top 10 Dares of
Denver” that allows users to see what other people’s
favorites are.
4. Make users login to Facebook and share their hometown
with us if they want to save favorites.

29. What We Get
April - September
2012
2013
Badges Awarded
202
0
Favorites
4,956
35,889
• Year over year the amount of “favorites” has increased
624%
• This gives us valuable insight into the
dares, listings and events that our users
are interested in

30. What We Get
April - September
2012
2013
Badges Awarded
202
0
Favorites
4,956
35,889
Facebook logins
520
2,435
• Year over year the number of users connecting the app to
their Facebook account has increased 368%
• Allows us to collect demographic data
• Out-of-market user using out-of-market
• Out-of-market user using in-market
• In-market user using in-market

31. Conclusion
• Make sure users want and
will use the interaction
you’re giving them.
• Figure out what action
they are already taking and
develop a strategy based
around that.

33. Social Media Flops:
Gear Up for a Getaway New York Jets
Sweepstakes
David West
Vice President of Marketing,
Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau
@DavidBWest

34. Gear Up for a Getaway! NY Jets
Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes hosted on the NYJ
Facebook Page
3-Monthly Sweepstakes with prizing
from the Pocono Mountains
Participants prompted to “Like” the
PMVB on Facebook to enter.

35. Goals
Gain 10,000 Likes on Facebook
Reach a large market of New York
and New Jersey residents with their
1.4 million fans.
Introduce winter offerings to a
nearby market.

36. Gear Up for a Getaway! NY Jets
Sweepstakes

37. NYJ Sweepstakes Promotion

38. NYJ Sweepstakes Promotion

39. Results
3,048 Total
Likes on PMVB
page
Digital Stadium
Signage
Compensation

40. Contributing Factors
During the Jets’ Season
• Controversial Topics: Tim Tebow, Bad
Record
Only 1 sweepstakes winner per
month
Jets would only post about the
contest once per week
“Likes” were followed by “Unlikes”

41. Takeaways
 Be mindful when selecting a partnership and the
devil is in the details of the agreement
 Difficult to refocus the conversation within a
social community
 Dealing with a big company also means dealing
with big rules and policy
 Contesting is a good incentive - Need a
combination of small and big and higher
frequency of winnings
 Promotion is a key to success

42. Thanks a lot… Tebow!