Case Study: Evoke a destination using images,
video and creative writing to reach potential
travelers through various targeted media.
Client: GoNOLA
Industry: Tourism
Service Line: Social Media
Summary:
New Orleans is one of the top travel destinations in the U.S. with more than 8.3 million visitors coming in 2010
alone. New Orleans is known across the nation for food, music and nightlife, all of which are represented during
Jazz Fest. We decided to launch the Web site GoNOLA.com around this event while there was a flurry of activity
in the city and search queries nationally to attract visitors.
Recognizing an opportunity to expand current social media efforts and online presence, FSC and NOTMC pulled
together top bloggers and writers in these categories as well as in arts, culture and sports and
recreation to develop GoNOLA, a blog written for visitors to New Orleans by locals with a bi-weekly video
component. Because YouTube is the second largest search engine and the average time spent on YouTube is 15
minutes daily, we pulled together a video team featuring one of New Orleans’ growing personalities, Fleurty Girl.
Tactics:
 Promote popular New Orleans personalities Lauren “Fleurty Girl” Thom and Happy Johnson as the
GoNOLA hosts to schedule and film two segments every week featuring New Orleans culture and
lifestyle (including music, restaurants, attractions, etc.)
 With nearly 20 contributing bloggers and guest writers, FSC developed a consistent and comprehensive
content calendar assigning bloggers due dates, publication days and selected target topics.
 Incorporate Twitter and Facebook updates in real time at events and festivals, monitor trending
searches to incorporate popular keywords in content and entered conversations happening online
relevant to New Orleans.
 In addition to the blog, Facebook and Twitter efforts, FSC optimizes the video assets from GoNOLA TV
on a YouTube Channel with targeting in-video advertising and opportunities to serve video content to
targeted audience through keyword tagging.
 Leveraging trends in Google Search, FSC uses keyword research to stay on top of the rising news stories
in organic search to increases the positive and accurate view of New Orleans
 Over the past year, FSC has incorporated targeted paid search ads on Facebook, Google AdWords and
YouTube. The online ads are segmented geographically and by target audience to deliver the most
appropriate messaging, including custom airfare rates by city. In-video YouTube ads target related
content to offer GoNOLA videos while viewers are browsing.
1943 Sophie Wright Place | NOLA 70118 | 504.894.8011 | [email protected]
Results:
 Blog Traffic & Engagement
Within 6 months with no traditional advertising efforts, strictly through online word of mouth and
Facebook, Google and YouTube Ads, the GoNOLA blog has developed a loyal following:
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Video Engagement
Within the first 6 months, there were 35 videos uploaded on the GoNOLA YouTube channel and it is one
of the top 3 referring sites to the blog.
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More than 11,000 channel views
More than 10,500 videos views
More than 635 views were through referring traffic including YouTube search, related video and
embedded videos.
More than 100 Subscribers, Friends and Interactions in 2 months
More than 40 views from mobile devices
Social Media Engagement
FSC leveraged the existing social media popularity of Visit New Orleans on Twitter and Facebook before
gaining enough momentum to create a separate account in August.
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21,784 average monthly visitors
847.83 average daily visitors
256.5 average daily visitor increase month-over-month
2,394 interactions including comments and link-clicks
Over 150 followers of @GoNOLA504 within one week without any promotion, which grew to
over 1,000 followers after 6 months
More than 80 Retweets, Mentions and Replies in one month
Twitter referred over 2,530 visits to GoNOLA.com according to Google Analytics
Nearly 200 interactions on GoNOLA Posts on Facebook
More than 5,400 total clicks on published links, as tracked using Bit.ly
Audience
o The GoNOLA objective was to reach drive market Millenials and according to Google Analytics,
over 70% of blog visits come from out-of-towners. The top 10 states driving traffic include
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Georgia - all drive market states
o According to Facebook Insights, 55.9% of our Fans are between the ages 18-34
Awards:
Public Relations Society of America 2011
HSMAI Adrian Award 2011
1943 Sophie Wright Place | NOLA 70118 | 504.894.8011 | [email protected]