COMMISSION DU TOURISME ACADIEN DU CANADA ATLANTIQUE (CTACA)

Transcription

1 Request for Proposals COMMISSION DU TOURISME ACADIEN DU CANADA ATLANTIQUE (CTACA) STATEMENT OF WORK Project Title: Client: DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY The Commission du tourisme acadien du Canada atlantique (CTACA) is a not-for-profit organization that operates with the support of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the provincial departments responsible for tourism in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The CTACA is mandated to develop and promote Acadian tourism products and experiences in these Maritime Provinces. The CTACA brings together tourism industry stakeholders offering an Acadian product and has established six experiential product clusters (regions) throughout the Maritimes and works to further develop and promote these Experience Acadie products. The six Acadian destination regions include: 1. North West New Brunswick - Edmundston, Clair, Grand Falls area 2. The Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick - Caraquet, Shippagan, Lamèque, Miscou, Tracadie areas 3. The New Brunswick Cultural Coast - South East New Brunswick - Shediac, Bouctouche, Memramcook, Kouhibouguac areas 4. Acadian regions in Prince Edward Island 5. South West Nova Scotia - Yarmouth, Argyle, Pubnico, Grand Pré, Metaghen 6. Acadian regions in Cape Breton - Chéticamp, Louisbourg, Isle Madame 1

2 Background: Tourism marketing continues to evolve to respond to the changing marketplace and media environment. A new mix of traditional and non-traditional media is demanded of destination marketing campaigns with a unique opportunity to leverage social media through communities of interest (COIs), enablers, and travel influencers. COIs are groups of travelers who share a common interest or passion. They exchange ideas and thoughts about their passion on social media (e.g., cruising, cycling, hiking, food, motorcycling, golf, etc.). This concept operates on the principle that the tourism marketing world is flat and is no longer bound by geography. Therefore, COIs cannot be easily defined by a particular geographical area. In contrast to a spatial community, "a 'community of interest' is defined not by space, but by some common bond. CTACA wants to target the Acadian cultural enthusiast COI. Enablers are those tourism SMEs, NGOs, associations, tour operators, etc. that provide access to products or services to COIs. Enablers may in turn become advocates for COIs. Travel Influencers are paid/unpaid bloggers who have large followings, and use social media and other digital resources to write about and share their COI experience. They connect COIs with Enablers. Recognizing the above, social and digital marketing has become a primary focus of CTACA s marketing activities. To fully optimize the opportunity presented by social platforms and COIs, CTACA must develop and implement a social media strategy that leverages this opportunity. Assignment: CTACA is seeking a qualified consultant/agency to develop and implement a detailed social media strategy that increases awareness of the Acadian product throughout the six clusters, as well as engaging with the Acadian cultural enthusiast COI. The implementation will take place over a span of 12 months to allow time to monitor traction. 2

3 Project Scope: The successful consultant will work in close consultation with CTACA and CTACA s Marketing Committee. The consultant will keep the CTACA informed of the progress and communicate with regular updates on the process. The project will take place in two phases: 1. Motivation Develop a social media content and engagement strategy Develop a plan to creating, curating and posting content through influencers, advocates, and visitors 2. Action Launch and implement the strategy Bring influencers to the region (separate budget) Distribute influencer content Establish benchmarks and measure progress More specifically, the successful consultant will work collaboratively with CTACA to implement the content strategy, content distribution, establish benchmarks and track progress. The social media strategy is intended to build on the current CTACA social media activities including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Consultant will be responsible for managing these plateforms, including a regular weekly or more often involvement. The CTACA is working towards new video productions and these videos should be included in the social content. A collaborative approach should be made between this consultant and the video production consultant to ensure specific approach. Digital Strategy and Tactics may include: Sharing travel media stories, photos and blogs through CTACA channels. Creating and curating digital content to increase awareness of the Acadian product clusters/regions as tourism destinations 3

4 Engaging with influencers when they are posting on social media when in, and after visiting, the Acadian product clusters/regions Engaging with compelling and effective influencers to build content, promote initiatives, and raise awareness. Providing and managing a digital dashboard to measure project initiatives throughout the process. At a minimum, by the end of the project, the consultant will present information including, but not restricted to the following: Methodologies for tracking the visitor spending for the COI and for measuring the economic impact of those COI tourists. Projected ROI on digital marketing initiatives and project spending. Recommendations for digital tools, digital and social media platforms, and influencers to be used in the future. Recommendations for paid media strategy to target audience (extra budget available) Deliverables: Immediately following the award of a contract, the consultant will meet with CTACA to review the objectives and scope of the project. During this meeting, the overall assignment, the scope of work, methodology, project deliverables, timelines and milestones, digital assets to be utilized, and selected data management systems will be finalized. The consultant will keep the Executive Director of the CTACA informed of the progress and communicate with regular updates on the process. Checkpoints will be established at the beginning of the project. Expected Results: The social media strategy expected results are, but not limited, to the following: Increased engagement on social media platforms (impressions, reach, likes, shares, comments). A methodology for reaching and engaging COIs A methodology to track and measure engagement on social media and whether that translated to visitors 4

5 Increased tourism in the Acadian product clusters/regions and/or increased intent of tourism in these regions. Submissions: Proposals submitted by qualified bidders must demonstrate: A strong understanding of the COI initiative and the goals, objectives, and desired outcome A clear methodology for reaching, engaging and tracking Acadian cultural enthusiasts using social media marketing tactics. Professional experience in digital marketing and influencer marketing campaigns. Work history in projects related to the tourism industry. A proposed timeline for the project A proposed budget A proposed list of tools and platforms which may be used in the digital marketing stack. A proposed list of other members involved and their roles (including resumes). French and English A good understanding of the Acadian culture Electronic proposal submissions must be delivered to myriam@experienceacadie.com by 4:00 PM AST on March 15, The contract for this assignment will be awarded on or about March 19, Investment and timing: Bids should not exceed $20,000 (including HST). 5

6 Phase I: develop the social media marketing strategy (to be complete by March 31, 2018) - $5,000 Phase II: implement the social media strategy (to span from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019) - $15,000 Evaluation Process: Bids will be evaluated based on a scoring grid of the following criteria: Knowledge and understanding of project scope and objectives 15% Relevant experience and qualifications of team 20% Methodology, work plan, evaluation of focused community of interest 25% Cost and value of proposed work 20% Innovation 20% Contracting Authority: Inquiries for additional information and all submissions should be addressed to: Myriam Leger Executive Director myriam@experienceacadie.com (506) , rue St-George, Bureau 103, Moncton, NB 6