Campaign Overview:
In 2007, MGH developed of a formal ambassador program for the vacation town of Ocean City, Maryland. Over 80 enthusiastic Ocean City “regulars” were recruited as part of the campaign, and were charged with completing two primary tasks:
1. engaging in a dialog with potential travelers and providing support information through a Ocean City Question and Answer microsite (InsideOceanCity.com);
2. regularly completing buzz assignments that focused on accelerating the word of mouth recommendations these loyalists were already making.
Goals:
The Ocean City ambassador group aimed to increase both first-time and repeat visits to Ocean City, while improving potential visitors’ opinions of the vacation destination. In addition, the program has focused on promoting a variety of Ocean City events and driving traffic to the main Ocean City site – ococean.com.
Results:
Since the start of the campaign, Ocean City ambassadors have provided over 1,000 answers to 154 questions submitted to InsideOceanCity.com, and have given visitors comprehensive information on everything from food to entertainment to lodging and transportation.
Additionally, over 200 buzz tasks were completed, including writing reviews of local business, answering questions on external sites, creating and promoting user-generated content (images/video), and making posts on highly-trafficked travel forums and blogs.
