Sunshine Matters

Through a partnership between National Geographic and VISIT FLORIDA, a new online hub dedicated to the 50 best wild and natural experiences in Florida has already garnered nearly 20 million impressions.  This custom editorial and marketing program supports VISIT FLORIDA’s publishing and storytelling initiative and beautifully communicates the state’s incredible array of outdoor attractions.

In January, the Florida Hub editors began sharing 25 wild and natural experiences by land through articles, photo galleries, travel tips, local storytelling and an interactive map pinning the top travel destinations.  In February, new storytelling focused on Florida by sea, highlighting marine life encounters, water sports and activities, as well as great island day trips.  The two topic areas include more than 100 pages of authentic, engaging and meaningful editorial content about roughly 150 Florida locations.

“Florida by Land and Water” has been one of the best performing content sections on NationalGeographic.com.  Within the first 30 days, the Hub generated 110,000 page views and nearly 30,000 unique visitors globally.  The most popular features within the Hub included: Florida Wildlife Pictures, Florida Beach Photos, Florida Wetlands/Springs/Bays Photos, Florida by Land: Places to Photograph Wildlife, and a Florida by Land and Sea Map.

In order to drive visitors to the Hub, dedicated promotions for Florida were featured on the main homepage, the Travel homepage, Top Picks for Travel, Travel 365, and Beaches and Islands.  These editorial promotions garnered 13.2 million page views. National Geographic also promoted the Hub in their eNewsletter, which is disseminated to 1.4 million subscribers.

A major contribution to the Hub’s success is National Geographic’s extensive social media campaign, which included feature announcements for the launch of the Hub via their travel social accounts.  The hashtag #FloridaWild was established during social promotions to direct followers to the new hub, as well as VISIT FLORIDA’s in-state advocacy hashtag #LoveFL.  The social media campaign has garnered more than 15.6 million impressions.

As part of the advertising program for the Florida Hub, National Geographic is currently hosting a custom sweepstakes, which includes a landing page with VISIT FLORIDA branding, custom co-brands to promote the contest, a targeted media schedule, and bonus print promotion in National Geographic Traveler. The winner of the “Island Adventure Sweepstakes,” which has attracted 215,000 entries to date, will receive a trip to Amelia Island and other local attractions from featured partners.

To complete the photographic experience, National Geographic is planning an upcoming major feature on Florida called Your Shot Photos.  Your Shot is a photography section on NationalGeographic.com where the audience shares their favorite images.  This Florida feature will pull thousands of images from the 350,000 Your Shot members, from which the National Geographic editors will select their favorites and highlight them on the Hub.