NOMINATION FORM FOR COMPETITIVE TRAVEL MARKETING AWARDS Name of Nominee: Minneapolis Northwest Tourism Key Contact: Grace Post Phone: Advertising time line : 12/1/ /15/2014 Campaign Budget $ 50,000 and Less: $1,200 Campaign Budget: Over $ 50,000 and Less Than $ 100,000 Campaign Budget: Greater Than $ 100,000

1. PLEASE SUBMIT A ONE-PARAGRAPH SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT, STATING WHAT YOU WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH, WHAT YOU DID TO ACCOMPLISH IT, AND HOW WELL YOU SUCCEEDED. Minneapolis Northwest Tourism’s 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways is an interactive holiday promotion offering 12 daily chances to win prizes totaling over $2,000 in value. Partnering with stakeholders, Minneapolis Northwest put together prize packages featuring attraction tickets, overnight stays, shopping sprees, and more. The overarching goal of the promotion is to promote awareness, drive visitation and some positive economic impact by showcasing the fantastic shopping, attractions, dining, etc. in our area through a fun and memorable promotion. The campaign was integrated into all of Minneapolis Northwest's channels with a special contest landing page ( housing the online entry form, daily e-blasts revealing the prize of the day, and extra chances to win on our social media platforms. Gamification of the giveaways on social media created a highly engaged audience throughout the campaign. The 2014 giveaway was tremendously successful with 12,000 entries, double that of It also saw a 168% increase in social media engagement from the previous year. Success of the campaign can be evidenced by the growing number of businesses who get involved each year by donating prizes for the promotion. In anticipation of the 2015 promotion, we have already received more donations than the total amount given away last year, thus allowing us to give away higher-value prizes and allocate more dollars towards promoting the campaign.

2. DESCRIBE YOUR PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. The primary objectives of the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways were to: Raise general awareness of Minneapolis Northwest CVB and its stakeholders Drive traffic to our website Increase number of followers on all social media channels Generate social media engagement Collect new contacts Increase the number of entries into the giveaway from the previous year

3. DESCRIBE THE TARGET AUDIENCE AND PRIMARY MARKETS. Target Audience Demographics: Women aged Living in the Twin Cities metro area 50% of Minneapolis Northwest’s existing Facebook followers are local 10% of Minneapolis Northwest’s contacts are local Interested in travel, shopping, outdoor recreation, restaurants, golf, family activities, live events, etc.

4. DESCRIBE ANY SECONDARY MARKETS: Secondary Markets Women aged living within a 6 hour drive of Minneapolis Northwest

5. DESCRIBE THE EFFORT’S CREATIVE BACKGROUND AND STRATEGY. STRATEGY & CREATIVE A combination of video, , social media (including Facebook ads) was used to reach our audience in as many places as possible. How the giveaway worked: each morning the giveaway of the day was revealed through all of our channels and participants had until midnight to enter to win that item. The prizes were not revealed ahead of time. This kept participants coming back day after day for chances to win each of the prizes. The evening prior to each giveaway, a clue to the next day’s prize was posted on our 4 social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest). To drive social media engagement, participants were awarded extra entries into the giveaway by guessing what the prize would be, as well as for liking, sharing, retweeting, etc. Although the giveaway was promoted heavily on social media, in order to drive web traffic, participants had to enter using an online form on our website.website Each morning during the campaign an e-blast was sent out to all of our subscribers revealing the giveaway of the day and a link to the entry form on our website.e-blast As the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways has matured (2014 was its 3 rd year), Minneapolis Northwest created a special logo to foster brand recognition of the annual promotion  A short :30 teaser video was created to announce and promote the giveaway in the weeks prior:30 teaser video

6. DESCRIBE THE TRACKING SYSTEM USED TO MEASURE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. Google Analytics was used to track traffic to both the contest landing page, and the Minneapolis Northwest website in general Analytics provided by Constant Contact were used to measure the results of the daily e-blasts Analytics provided by Facebook were used to measure the number of new followers, reach, and engagement Analytics provided by Facebook were used to measure the results of 2 separate ad campaigns: one a ‘Facebook Likes’ campaign centered around 12 Days; the other a campaign driving Facebook users directly to the contest website.

7. DESCRIBE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RESULTS OF THE PROJECT. (SPECIFICALLY, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AS A RESULT OF YOUR PROMOTION?) The Minneapolis Northwest online community grew substantially as a result of the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways promotion: Minneapolis Northwest pageviews: 31% growth compared November % growth compared to December 2013 Minneapolis Northwest unique pageviews: 29% growth compared to November % growth compared to December 2013 Social Media Growth: 977 new Facebook followers (495 paid, 482 organic) 54 new Twitter followers 73 new Pinterest followers 57 new Instagram followers

8. DETAIL THE EXACT BUDGET FOR THE PROGRAM, AND HOW IT BREAKS OUT. FIGURES SHOULD TOTAL THE AMOUNT OF THE EXACT BUDGET. TOTAL PROGRAM BUDGET: $1,200 Prize purchases: $600 (nearly $1,200 worth of prizes were donated by our partners, and we were also able to use attraction passes already on hand from previous advertising trade with tourism partners) Facebook advertising: $600

9. WHAT TRACKING METHODS DID YOU USE WITHIN THE PROGRAM AND WHAT WERE YOUR KEY RESULTS FOR THE EFFORT? TRACKING METHODRESULT Total giveaway entries11,650  Compare to 5,664 entries in 2013, a 105% increase Number of participants (unique entries)4,023  Compare to 1,944 entries in 2013, a 107% increase Additional social media entries (achieved through engagement on our pages; likes, comments, shares, retweets, etc...) 3,215  Compare to 1,199 in 2013, a 168% increase Social media growth 977 new Facebook followers (495 paid, 482 organic) 54 new Twitter followers 73 new Pinterest followers 57 new Instagram followers Pageviews for NEW s captured577 Average open rate12%