Sunshine Matters

Each year, VISIT FLORIDA conducts a Return on Investment Influencer Study to measure the collective impact of our marketing efforts on visitors’ decisions to come to the Sunshine State.  Results from the 2010 study, conducted in November and released in June, show a nearly ten percent increase over the previous year in the number of Florida visitors who were significantly influenced in their decision to visit the state by one or more VISIT FLORIDA marketing initiatives.

Of the surveyed respondents who had been to Florida in the past year, 36.9 percent were significantly influenced by at least one of seven factors directly attributable to VISIT FLORIDA.  Those factors include VISIT FLORIDA’s television ads, website, print ads, Welcome Centers, print publications, contests and sweepstakes, and radio ads.

2010 marks the second year of consecutive increases, with the percentage of visitors directly influenced by VISIT FLORIDA initiatives at 26.7 percent in 2008 and 27.3 percent in 2009.  Clearly, continued optimization of paid advertising, as well as the integration of traditional, digital and social marketing with public relations, promotions and sales, have resulted in maximizing the impact of VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing efforts.

ABOUT THE STUDY:

Conducted via Internet, the Return on Investment Influencer Study surveyed domestic visitors who had been to the state in the past year. 17.3 percent of respondents indicated they had visited Florida in the past year and were then questioned on what items influenced their decision to choose Florida as a destination.

The survey, comprised of 19 items, gauged the respondents’ level of importance when considering Florida as a destination location.  Each item was ranked on a scale of  1 – 5, with 5 representing a “very important” factor in the decision-making process.  Those respondents ranking VISIT FLORIDA efforts with a 4 or 5 were deemed “significantly influenced.”

In addition to the seven factors directly attributable to VISIT FLORIDA, other items considered in the survey included non-direct influencers, such as brochures from trade shows, advertising by theme parks or other Florida locations, and information found on the Internet other than through VISITFLORIDA.com, as well as non-marketing influencers, including travel articles, business trips turned into vacations, and visiting family or friends.