Dear All,
With Easter behind us and the cooler weather settling in this week, we look ahead to what marketing activities have planned over the cooler months of the year. The end of financial year is fast approaching too, therefore plans for new financial year are well underway.
Keep reading to find out about what we have coming up over the next few months and how you can get involved:
- Save the date: our annual DMT Conference will be held on Tuesday 25 June at Macedon Ranges Hotel and Spa.
- The next edition of our popular Tasty Little Touring Map is now open for bookings.
- We’ve had some amazing PR wins, including weather crosses with Channel 7 Sunrise, and features in Australian Traveller, the Herald Sun and more.
- Planning for the spring/summer edition of DML magazine is well underway – find out which editorial opportunities exist below, including a new food review column.
- Find out about what we have happening across our social channels and how you can best engage with us.
- Lastly, we invite you to share any feedback or thoughts on what we could be doing better or what marketing activities you’d like to see more or less of.
Cheers
The DMT team
DAYLESFORD MACEDON TOURISM CONFERENCE 2024
Save the Date! We are hosting our annual conference on Tuesday 25 June at the Macedon Ranges Hotel & Spa. Our theme this year is ‘Gearing up for Growth’ and will explore how you can use technology to become more efficient.
Here’s a sneak peak of some of the speakers you’ll hear from:
- Dan Monheit – Australia’s leading thinker and presenter on behavioural science.
- Bronwyn White – tourism industry expert and CEO of New Young Consulting
- John Hall – tech expert and owner of Cactus Country
- Visit Victoria – find out how to market your business internationally
- Booking.com – market updates, traveller review awards and sustainability.
- Plus much, much more!
We’ll share details on how to book soon. In the meantime, mark Tuesday 25 June in your diaries.
TASTY LITTLE TOURING MAP
This much loved map, now in its 12th year is highly coveted by partners and consumers. Book now to avoid disappointment. We have already reached out to all existing businesses with listings.
If you would like to be on this map email Annissa to secure a spot today or click the button below to complete the registration form online.
BOOK YOUR SPOT ON THE TASTY LITTLE TOURING MAP
PR Wins
DMT, in partnership with Visit Victoria hosted the Channel 7 Sunrise weather crosses on the morning of Tuesday 19 March. The crosses took place at the Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa and in the adjoining Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve. They highlighted the region as a wellness destination as well as promoted the upcoming Macedon Ranges Autumn Festival. A big thank you to those businesses involved.
A number of local businesses, including Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa and The Surly Goat were featured in the latest edition of Australian Traveller magazine – which included a story about Victoria’s bathing trail. The story was coordinated by Visit Victoria, with the assistance of DMT. Read a full copy of the article HERE.
DMT has led the PR for the Macedon Ranges Autumn Festival – resulting in mentions in multiple media outlets including The Herald Sun (above), Concrete Playground, Time Out Melbourne, Sitchu, Secret Melbourne, The Urban List and Forte Magazine.
SPRING SUMMER MAGAZINE OPPORTUNITIES
The autumn / winter edition of DML magazine is out now. If you haven’t read it yet, check it online HERE. If you’d like some copies for your business, pease email Cath using the button below, or pop into the office to grab some. We’d love to see you.
EDITORIAL CALL OUT
Planning for the content of the spring / summer edition of the mag is already well underway, with some exciting features planned. We already have lots of great ideas, however we’d love to hear from you too. Please get in touch if your business fits the bill for any of the following stories, or if you have any ideas for inclusion.
- Wine bars & cocktail lounges
- Retail feature – where to shop for gifts to suit all budgets
- Open gardens – what gardens will be hosting open days in spring
- Family fun – top spots for family adventures
- Art feature – local artists who are painting / photographing the region
- Wineries where you can get married / host your reception
- Historic stays – accommodation venues with a story to tell
Or if you have any other ideas, we’d love to hear them too. Get in touch with our editor Madeleine.
DML MAG: FOOD REVIEW
An exciting new idea we have for DML mag is the introduction of a ‘food & drink review’ where one of our writers would visit a local drinking or dining venue and write a half page review.
We are seeking expressions of interest from businesses that would like to be reviewed. To be fair, we would then randomly choose a business for each edition of the mag. This business would then be responsible for covering the cost of a meal / drinks for the assigned reviewer.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please hit the button below and let the team know. Note this opportunity is only open to DMT partners.
I’M INTERESTED IN A FOOD REVIEW
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE
We continue to see strong growth across DMT”s social media profiles – all of which have been created to align with our strategic brand pillars and marketing initiatives. They are tailored to specific demographics and promote the sharing of user-generated content (UGC) to spotlight the attractions of the Daylesford Macedon Ranges tourist region. The role of our accounts is to entice visitation to the region.
We now manage three consumer social media accounts with a combined following of 91k+
- Daylesford Macedon Life – @daylesfordmacedonranges – our primary tourist account – 82.9k+ followers.
- Daylesford Macedon Produce – @dmpharvest (Instagram) @daylesfordmacedonproduce (Facebook) – our reactivated food & drink account- 7.9k+ followers.
- Ride Daylesford Macedon Ranges – @ridedaylesfordmacedonranges – our brand new cycling-related account – 159 followers.
We do not post sales promotions/business-branded content on our grid but share your promos in our stories. Tag us (@daylesfordmacedonranges, @dmpharvest, @ridedaylesfordmacedonranges) for easy sharing. Just be selective; we get lots of content. Food & drink businesses, tag @dmpharvest as we are working on growing this account to showcase the amazing produce in the region.
We LOVE video! Encourage your visitors to tag us with any of the above handles, and we’ll gladly share their reel/video content showcasing your business to our accounts. We’re big fans of collaborations so the more businesses mentioned in the UGC, the better!
We aim to share partner content as much as possible. If you feel like you are not being heard, please DM or email Sharon, because this is simply the joys (note the sarcasm) of working with an algorithm.
To download our latest Social Media Support Document, click here.
Facebook Co-Hosting
There have been changes to Meta (of course there have!) and now we don’t always see your co-host requests, especially if you are a new partner and we have not connected yet on Facebook. If you send a co-host request and have not had a response within 24 hours – between Sharon’s working days of Tuesday to Thursday – please email Sharon. For more info on co-hosting, please down this document or go to our Content Hub on our industry website for more support.
HAVE YOUR SAY
We want to hear from you. Is there something we could be doing better when it comes to promoting the region? Can we help you with something? Do you have any ideas or thoughts you would like to share? Click the button below to let us know.
