Background
Cavan County Council, via its consumer brand This is Cavan!, selected Octave Digital to develop and implement a dynamic, professional and high-quality digital and social media campaign.
The key objectives of the activity were to:
- Target and engage effectively with family and couples audiences on key social media platforms
- Significantly improve the quality and impact of their existing social media activity – through high-impact campaigns based on creative content and ideas
- Work with our tourism network trade partners to showcase the range and quality of the county via the campaigns.
(Octave Digital has been working very successfully with Cavan Tourism since 2019 and has been highly commended by the client for the quality and impact of our work)
Delivery
We began the project by reviewing existing Tourism strategies and from Tourism Ireland This is Cavan! At the outset of the project we developed a clear project plan including the key deliverables for the campaigns.
The project and campaign activity successfully delivered the following areas:
Quality and Value
Octave Digital was able to deliver a high-quality video production that utilised the latest video technology and delivered excellent value for money compared to competitors in the market. We used the methodology below to manage video production. Note that this outline is similar to the proposed website management methodology outlined below.
- Agreement on the overall project objectives, tone and style, and key locations to be used
- Review and agreement on the stages and timelines of the video projection project
- Drafting story treatment / key shots outline for review by the client and incorporating changes / sign off
- Setting up the shoot – coordination with key stakeholders, carefully checking the location set up , access, confirming times, checking equipment etc)
- Video Shoot – Shooting of all key scenes
- Post-production – editing of content to create a professional short films.
- First draft to client for review/incorporation of required edits
- Final version – made available in a variety of content formats as requested including for website and social media
Content
The video includes key shots reflecting the best of Cavan’s high-end accommodation and food offerings based on Cabra Castle Hotel and a cookery class from Celebrity chef and owner of McNean House Neven Maguire.
The team did a fantastic job in working with the actors and staff to bring out lively reactions and positivity – resulting in lots of positive and fun scenes that really helped to create a positive impression of the County and the tourism experiences.
Family Fun Video:
The following key areas:
- Drafting story treatment / key shots outline for review by the client and incorporating changes / sign off
- Setting up the shoot – coordination with key stakeholders, carefully checking the location set up, access, confirming times, checking equipment etc)
- Video Shoot – Shooting of all key scenes
- Post-production – editing of content to create a professional short film
To capitalise on the potential for families and people seeking lockdown release breaks, we quickly developed and delivered a highly engaging family activities fun video. Key shots in the video included Cavan Adventure Centre and Cavan Museum.
Check out the Youtube video here.
Social Media Content and Engagement
Organic social media content based on the key themes of positivity and reconnecting with the Irish outdoors and targeting the primary demographics. Tourism provider’s stories and great content lay at the heart of the social media activity, which included:
- Profiles / Spotlight focus on Business Owners
- Family activities – Spotlight/ suggestions on activities and businesses
- Outdoors – series of posts profiling the best Cavan outdoors spots
- Heritage – practical ideas on the key Cavan heritage sites to explore
Facebook and Instagram Advertising
Expert use of social media advertising played a critical role in the success of the promotion of the video social media content.
Octave Digital created and managed multiple Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns to promote the content based on the following areas:
- Audience targeting
- Copywriting of compelling and professional copy
- Professionally managed advertising campaigns
Octave Digital used its extensive experience in Facebook advertising to deep-target particular relevant demographic groups – such as families and people with fishing interests. This led to a massively improved targeting compared to traditional methods of adverting.
Our expert use of Facebook advertising served to benefit Cavan Tourism in the following ways:
- Increased the marketing reach compared to traditional campaigns
- Improved targeting of the exact democratic audiences that This is Cavan is aiming to influence
- Provides clear evidence of positive engagement on content
- Demonstrates much more efficient use of Council money compared to traditional advertising
Results
The 2022 activity very successfully improved the brand awareness and engagement among target audiences and achieved the following outcomes:
- Social Media Reach of over 1,350,000
- + 470,000 video views on You Tube
- Very high organic social media engagement rate – average of 5% (versus industry standard of 1%)
- +500% reach improvement on Instagram
- Significantly improved value for money compared to previous traditional media advertising campaigns
Instagram Reach through Paid and Organic Social Media Campaign