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Overall:
The Visitor Guide uses a single bold image for stopping power and visually outperforms the competition and while staying true to our tourism roots, the guide now also has multi-use appeal thru its features and navigation as a visitor guide and a resource for residents or future residents. Our investment in photography makes our guide stand out from the competition also, as well as our approach that meets the needs of each audience: Visitor, resident, potential new resident and niche markets (Wine & Ale Trail, B&O Trail, The Shawshank Trail). The 2022 Visitor Guide results showed increased interest, access, and exposure. Our distribution vendors couldn’t keep up with demand! The Digital Visitor Guide Impressions increased 803% over last year during the same timeframe. Digital Reads increased 501%, and the average read time is up 17% for the 2022 digital guide. Print Version of Visitor Guide: 80% of guides now in circulation, Printed 80,000. Requests for hard copies of the Visitor Guide is slightly behind 2021 numbers, by 19 guides. The new 2022 Visitor Guide arrived 3 months behind schedule from publisher due to supply chain/staffing/production issues, but interest and use was very strong , and we were happy to meet our goal of being the first area organization to utilize the new community brand!

Breakthrough: Does the piece have impact/stopping power? 

The Visitor Guide uses a single bold image for stopping power.  We test the guide in brochure racks and compare it to other pieces to ensure impact.   The guide stands out in brochure racks with a single dynamic image at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, showing a family that is engaging and approachable. The rich, warm wood of the treehouse and smiles and attention from the family draw the person in. The cover clearly tells people this is about the Mansfield area and conveniently shows the website for more information.  Our new brand logo appears to include all cities and villages of the county under one umbrella (“a Richland County community”). The guide now has multi-use appeal as a visitor guide and a resource for residents or future residents. 

Relevance:   Does the piece meet the need of the intended audience?

Our goal was to create a lifestyle publication, in a magazine size, that resonates with readers and positions the area in a truly intriguing fashion while showing potential visitors the unique experiences that await them. This new generation of Visitor Guide helps us continue our goal of elevating the profile of Richland County to any visitor.  Our investment in photography makes our guide stand out from the competition.  The photos are dynamic and draw people in because they can picture themselves here.

The eye-catching community marketing piece can also be used by an audience of recruiters and local economic development organizations as a promotional tool to entice potential investors, new businesses, and other targets for the area. The new centerspread map helps show the area at a glance. 

The guide helps showcase all the diverse towns, cities, and communities of the county and the pride residents feel about their town.  The piece now incorporates additional content from our niche marketing pieces like Wine & Ale Trail, B&O Trail,  and The Shawshank Trail to make it more comprehensive and convenient.  The piece is also a companion to our website and people can view and download the digital guide or request a printed copy. 

CONCEPT/GOALS

  • Design & Concept Goals:
    Be the first economic development agency to incorporate a new community brand into a countywide marketing publication.  Integrate the new community Brand into the Visitor Guide.
  • To create a Lifestyle piece that focuses on tourism but is also relevant to residents and potential relocation and recruitment candidates.  
  • Create a resource for tourism and non-tourism (overall community image) use: Realtors, Hospitals, businesses, schools, new employees, talent recruitment. 
  • Introduce the idea of Mansfield and Richland County as a place people can thrive and make a difference, beyond just encouraging visitation.
  • While our image is highly Mansfield-centric as we promote outside of our region, introduce/highlight all the communities within the county.  They represent the complexity and depth of the county’s personality.  Visually show our county is more than just the county seat of Mansfield. 
  • Increase map size for easier use.  Challenge:  Shape of county is a vertical, rectangle. 
  • Increase the size of the photos in the guide.
  • Expand Target Markets – visitors and residents
  • Production Goals
    Partner with Great Lakes Publishing (GLP) to gain more exposure, opportunities, assets.
    Get it published!  Paper prices/availability issues.
  • Distribution Goals: Print 80,000 and select regional routes for distribution. 

Differentiation:  Does it stand out from the competition? 
The Visitor Guide uses a single bold image for stopping power and visually outperforms the competition.  The guide stands out in brochure racks with a single dynamic image at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, showing a family that is engaging and approachable. The guide now has multi-use appeal thru its features and navigation as a visitor guide and a resource for residents or future residents.  Our investment in photography makes our guide stand out from the competition also, as well as our approach that meets the needs of each audience: Visitor, resident, potential new resident.  

Action How well does it promote the service/product?  Is there an understood next step/CTA?

The tourism product presented in the guide stands out for each audience.  The “Live like a local” piece involved the community making suggestions to a visitor about what’s best to do, eat, explore.  There are community profiles showing success and why people choose to live here targeted at potential relocations.  Things like events, attractions, and dining appeal to all.   And our niche markets shine through the guide and meet the interests of visitors interested in our popular Wine & Ale Trail and The Shawshank Trail.  Each sections helps direct readers to where to learn more.  We stand out from the competition by successfully integrating all these facets into a beautiful piece to be shared.

Results  Does the piece meet the objective?

The 2022 Visitor Guide results showed increased interest, access, and exposure.  This Visitor Guide lifestyle magazine is relevant to residents and potential relocation.  We continue to stay true to our mission in tourism, but this piece embraced our place not only as an economic development agency, but also a true community asset for visitors, residents, and recruitment. And we met our goal of being the first economic development agency to use the new community brand.  Digital Visitor Guide: Impressions increased 803% over last year during the same timeframe. Reads (# of people viewing digital guide) increased 501%. The average read time is up 17% for the 2022 digital guide. 

Print Version of Visitor Guide: 80% of guides now in circulation 

Printed 80,000 and using regional routes and Ohio Visitor Centers to reach travel market.

Print Guide Requests: Requests for hard copies of the Visitor Guide is slightly behind 2021 numbers (only 19 guides). The new 2022 Visitor Guide arrived 3 months behind schedule from publisher due to supply chain/staffing/production issues.

  • This Visitor Guide lifestyle magazine is relevant to residents and potential relocation.  We continue to stay true to our mission in tourism, but this piece embraced our place not only as an economic development agency, but also a true community asset for visitors, residents, and recruitment.
  • Produced an eye-catching cover photo that is colorful and because of the angle of the treehouse roof, appears to be leaning out of the page.  Think how Disney’s Magic Kingdom Castle was designed to create same illusion. 
  • Created a resource for tourism and non-tourism use: Realtors, Hospitals, businesses, schools, new employees, recruitment.  Our guides were requested by our 2 hospital systems, local schools for new employees, and multiple businesses for use in recruiting new staff and during regional meetings.
  • Highlighted all communities within the county to show their diverse offerings and culture.  One village may feel rural with a farm emphasis, another feels like an all-American quaint downtown, and another has a city vibe.  One page of the guide features “Community Roots” to tell people what each community in the county is known for and what are the “must explore” points for each city/village.
  • Increased map size for better use.
    The map inside the guide became the centerfold concept.  The design made it larger and easier to remove if people want to use it to navigate to the many villages & cities in the county, especially to find attractions and neighborhoods for relocation. The new map clearly names all the different communities/cities/villages in the county.
  • Increased the size of the photos in the guide.  Larger images make a bigger impact, so we reduced the number and increased the size of the photos.
  • Expanded Target Markets – Reach visitors (as always) and residents, especially for potential relocation & recruitment.  

Created and inserted four diverse profiles of residents who were born here, moved away and returned or were born elsewhere, moved to the area and never left.  All of whom have stories to tell of why they love the area as a place to live, work and play.  Profiles are seamlessly incorporated and do not deliver a hard-sell, but rather an easy fit in to a tourism-focused publication.
The guide continues to give visitors ideas and tools to explore Richland County.  We also increased the appeal for non-visitors to pick it up and continue reading (like a magazine!) by engaging residents. We ask some of our residents to share their favorite spots around town.  

Engaged niche markets more in guide with expanded content for The Shawshank Trail and our Wine & Ale Trail.

    • Production:
      Partnered with Great Lakes Publishing (GLP) for the second year to gain more exposure, opportunities, assets for our message and to reach audiences in publications like Ohio Magazine, Long Weekends, and thru digital ads online. The partnership provided access to more photography for use in the guide.
      The challenge of creating an all-new publication, utilizing a not-yet-finished community brand while navigating supply chain and printing delays (putting us three months past our original delivery date of 2/1/22), the Visitor Guide was delivered in time for the summer travel season.
  • Distribution:

Digital Visitor Guide:
Impressions increased 803% over last year during the same timeframe.

Reads (# of people viewing digital guide) increased 501%

The average read time is up 17% for the 2022 digital guide. 

Print Version of Visitor Guide:
80% of guides now in circulation –Printed 80,000 and using regional routes and Ohio Visitor Centers to reach travel market.

Print Guide Requests: Requests for hard copies of the Visitor Guide is slightly behind 2021 numbers (only 19 guides). The new 2022 Visitor Guide arrived 3 months behind schedule from publisher due to supply chain/staffing/production issues. We expect the requests to catch up shortly.

  • Social Media: 1800 in reach from the few Visitor Guide promotion posts so far.
  • Brand Integration:
    The Destination Mansfield – Richland County Visitor Guide was the first local publication built with our NEW community brand!  It is the area’s first brand-focused and brand-present piece to hit the streets. 
  • Brand Elements integrated into the design of the guide include logo/color themes, fonts, community identities (community roots), the brand story (introduced to the reader on page 2) that tells what we’re about, what’s in our fiber from history, what matters to our communities, and how the future is showing up in many ways.
  • First-ever resident focused stories: Why I moved here!
    Resident/Relocation Stories included current residents and their journey to Mansfield for professional relocation, new business opportunities, entrepreneurial aspirations, family, and the desire to be a big fish in a small pond to make an impact!  Demonstrating the partnership with our Chamber and Development Corporation, the profiles and full-page brand story introduction was utilized in the Chamber’s 2022 Membership Directory.
  • Advertising included non-tourism business with the first real estate company represented, opening a new niche for our next visitor guide. 
  • Ongoing Performance:
    We will continue to track the use of our Visitor Guide with number of guides requested and viewed digitally.  We will continue to track reach/impressions on social media and blogs.  

One distribution service notified us they ran out of guides, and we shipped double the original number of guides sent to them to meet demand.  

Locally, more places are displaying the guide and the racks need restocked more often.  The visual appeal and size are drawing visitors AND locals to pick up the guide.  The Visitors Guides are distributed via Ohio travel information centers across the state and brochure racks at regional attractions, restaurants, tourism businesses in the area.  We also offer our members guides and holders to display the pieces at their business to encourage cross-promotion of tourism and have seen the most participation from members ever with the new guides.