Publicity experts predict that a newly published article highlighting the charm of Marion will be seen 9.1 billion times.
Yes, that’s billion with a “b.” County Tourism Director Amanda Livingston clarified that point.
The article, “10 Charming Small Towns to Visit Along the Appalachian Trail,” was first published by the national magazine Travel + Leisure. According to its media kit, the print magazine reaches a readership of 962,000, while its digital and social media audiences come in at about 14.7 million.
To add to Travel + Leisure’s reach, the article has been republished by Yahoo News and MSN Travel. On Monday, Livingston said that the public relations firm she and the Smyth County Tourism Association are working with estimate “that the three articles will be seen 9.1 billion times (not a typo!).”
While the Appalachian Trail runs from Georgia to Maine, another Southwest Virginia town was also chosen to be among the 10 communities profiled. The other was Bristol, Va.
It’s difficult to put a price tag on the value of such positive PR.
“In my work in tourism,” Livingston said, “I have found that publicity has a really important long-term effect on bringing in visitors. I like to call it the snowball effect: you might be featured in one article, then more publications pick it up, then word of mouth spreads…. You might not see the effect the next day, or the next month, but pretty soon you’ve built up positive word of mouth, and people know your name. You are ‘top of mind’ when people are choosing a vacation destination, a community to relocate, or a place to start a new business.”
Being honest, Livingston also noted, “The other value of an article like this is that we would never be able to afford advertising in a national publication like Travel + Leisure, much less MSN or Yahoo. Our small marketing budget just wouldn’t allow it. By working with a PR team that specializes in great tourist destinations like ours, we can spread the word much more cost effectively.”
The tourism association paid $10,000 for a 12-month contract with the PR firm. To put that in context, Livingston said, “In the past 12 months, we have earned over 60 articles in large and small publications, with a total value of $99,233,644.”
That dollar value is calculated by estimating how much it would cost to place an advertisement of the same size.
The article highlights some of Marion’s vacation rentals, the town’s independent restaurants and “eclectic boutiques,” the Dip Dog Stand, The Henderson School of Appalachian Arts, and the wild ponies of Grayson Highlands State Park.
Written by Perri Ormont Blumberg, the other towns selected are Blue Ridge, Georgia; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; North Conway, New Hampshire; Cortlandt, New York; Adams, Massachusetts; Bryson City, North Carolina; Vernon, New Jersey; and Hanover, New Hampshire.
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