Long Beach, Robe (Mark Fitzpatrick / SATC)

Limestone Coast

Storytelling & Social Community Management

Project Scope

In November 2020, the destination marketing organisation for the Limestone Coast Tourism Region, Limestone Coast Local Government Association (LCLGA), engaged the Tourism Collective to plan and implement a strategic storytelling and social media marketing strategy to drive awareness and visitation to the Limestone Coast Tourism Region.

Following the production and launch of the new website in mid-2021 this activity has carried a major content-driven focus, leveraging powerful visuals, with writing and publishing of strategically themed blog articles to run alongside full social media channel management.

With our long term partnership wrapping up later 2024, we have been delighted to play a role in delivering extraordinary long-term benefits that come with an investment in quality visual storytelling which is underpinned by consumer-first insights and strategy.

Program Methodology

Social Media Community Management (2000 - 2024)

Social Media Optimisation & Visitor Journey Mapping

To ensure strategic and focussed implementation, we first ensured all content creation and targeting aligned with the region’s high-value visitor personas, as outlined in our previous work on the Limestone Coast Destination Tourism + Marketing Plan 2025.

It was essential to understand who the region was trying to attract and convert, and gain deeper understanding on the people who stay the longest, disperse around the region, spend the most, love the experience of the destination (including the towns, natural attractions and tourism businesses) and become strong word of mouth advocates or repeat visitors.

From here, we also analysed the region’s current social media audience. The channels were in their infancy in November 2020, but using the information available we were able to extract some data around users’ age and location, when they’re generally online and the types of content they engaged with the most. This provided an even better picture of who we were targeting, and the triggers needed to catch their attention in a busy and cluttered social media environment.

Given both social media channels were very much ‘start ups’, additional work was then undertaken to optimise Facebook and Instagram to aesthetically fall in line with the region’s new branding (which was also being implemented on the new website), while ensuring best practice functionality was implemented on each platform.

Metrics & Measurement

Our second step was to establish some baseline metrics and a measurement framework, using both Iconosquare and Facebook Business Manager as key sources for insights and forward planning on LCLGA’s Facebook and Instagram.

This was critical to benchmarking future performance, so baseline metrics were taken retrospectively around community growth, engagement and reach, in addition to the all-important website traffic data on Google Analytics.

By setting the bar from the beginning, this has provided a solid platform to track the long-term effectiveness of social media efforts, while also providing LCLGA with a robust reporting tool that can be used and referenced well into the future. As such, a comprehensive reporting template was designed to cumulatively capture and input key data moving forward.

Content Audit & Curation

Following our research undertaken in the Limestone Coast Destination Tourism + Marketing Plan 2025 around key content themes, we took an initial deep-dive to source fresh, high-quality, seasonally relevant visuals for use across the channels. This was critical to ensure we had an established library of amazing material to draw and build upon from the very beginning.

To do this, we ‘mined’ for user-generated content on Instagram, searching through a labyrinth of hash tags, geo-tags and accounts to ensure we left no stone un-turned.

First, we targeted any content shared with LCLGA’s official hashtag, plus material their account had been physically tagged in. We then utilised geo-tags to find additional content users had shared at key locations around the region. Research was also put into other non-official (but highly relevant) hashtags that people otherwise used when posting, enabling us to fill more gaps, as required.

Approaches were then made to well-known local influencers and professional content creators, helping us build productive relationships with a talented group of artists (many being local) that we could activate and encourage to contribute from time to time.

Throughout the process, sharing permission was sought from all creators before images were optimised for social (right size, right medium, with/without enhancements) and banked away in the library, kicking things off with a base library of around 200+ photos and videos to ensure the channels received immediate traction.

This initial base library has since expanded to over 3000 images and videos, which have been sourced over the last three years via the same curation process. With a consistent focus on harvesting and saving new material with descriptive naming conventions, we have established an extremely powerful resource that enables relevant, high-quality content to be found quickly and easily, in line with seasonality. Many of these images have also been re-negotiated for use in key blogs throughout the website.

Social Channel Management & Reporting

With posting having commenced on LCLGA’s socials, it was clear that inspiring and engaging the Limestone Coast tourism industry and town communities was going to be key early on, and by showcasing the breadth of hidden gems (not just hero experiences) around the region, this helped foster regional pride whilst turning them into the channels’ biggest advocates.

While budget variations have meant the number of posts and Stories have reduced slightly over the last three years (dropping from five to three organic newsfeed posts per week on Facebook and Instagram) daily Instagram Stories have been maintained, shifting from regular dedicated features to pure operator re-sharing, along with full daily community management.

From the outset, extensive, immersive storytelling in captions was key, particularly early on with the new Limestone Coast Tourism Region website still a few months from launching, not only helping to fill this the void but also linking directly to operators and council websites for further information. Following the website’s launch in mid-2021, the content strategy shifted to the next phase. Monthly blog articles were written (refer to Content Creation section below), with social channels publishing relevant and highly impactful visual leads to drive users back to the website (blogs and operator ATDW listings) to learn more. It is here we see the powerful combination of high-impact social media content working in harmony with a highly engaged audience to produce truly exceptional results.

From the very outset, every post was organic (no paid advertising). They have also been optimised to ensure they are fully tailored to the relevant channel on which they are being shared. In doing so, organic posts are best placed to achieve maximum reach, engagement and web traffic, with community interactions and messages being addressed as they arise.

A critical part of the process has been ensuring the content schedule is always 100% reflective of seasonality, ensuring the audience sees the best and most relevant material at any one time of year. In doing this, daily weather fluctuations regularly see content adapted to better capture and harness community sentiment ‘in the moment’, capitalising on the mood on any given day.

What our Storytelling Looked Like...

To date, storytelling has reflected every aspect of a holiday to the Limestone Coast across all seasons, combining stunning imagery with creative captions that inspire users to dream, plan, book and stay longer.

Throughout the entire duration, regular dialogue has been maintained with LCLGA staff to ensure communications stay responsive to their ever-changing needs, as well as the dynamic nature of State-led tourism campaigns (including recovery initiatives around COVID-19).

Our extensive research and preparation has yielded some amazing results, with all key social media and website metrics rising significantly (detailed further below). As the channels continue to build momentum and more visitors travel to the region, we are continually sourcing fresh new user-generated material on a daily basis, which is then optimised and shared as part of the mix.

Large local and national influencers are frequently sharing content with their audiences, extending the content/region’s reach to valuable new audiences of millions.

Comprehensive quarterly Social Media Reports have been delivered to LCLGA, addressing all key results areas in line with earlier planning and benchmarking.

Website Marketing & Storytelling (Feb 2021 - Jun 2023)

An equally important part of the project was to build out the article content on the brand new destination website to drive demand and interest for holiday makers to the Limestone Coast Tourism Region.

After project managing the build of the new website, we knew immediately what content needed to be created to drive demand from the regions high yielding visitor personas.

Given there was no legacy content, we had to prioritise the development of new articles articles. So we prioritised based on:

  • Specific itineraries to support the region's Visitor Personas
  • Key niche interest experiences that the region needed to 'own' in terms of experience strengths.

The first round of storytelling content was the development of 4 hero itineraries/articles to provide foundation content for the website, including the sourcing and approval of imagery.

Each article targets a specific Visitor Persona in line with the Limestone Coast Destination Tourism + Marketing Plan 2025.

Once the initial itineraries had been written and published, a number of other articles began to follow, each tapping into current seasonality and interest niches of the Visitor Personas.

These have been rolling out on a monthly basis since the website launch.

A significant level of planning and background research was undertaken to curate and write each of these stories, which aim to be both in-depth and informative pieces.

As part of the process, we also sourced and approved all of the images for use within the articles, which was made easy through the relationships we had built with creatives via our Social Media Management work.

Increase Reach & Engagement

To extend the reach of these articles, each was optimised for key search queries for visibility in search engine results, and they have continuously been referenced and linked in social media content, reaching thousands of users across the destination's social channels (as per the work above).

To improve the visibility and engagement of the new article content for users on the website, we optimised the Itineraries and Blog pages to ensure they added value for the Region’s Visitor Personas, helping to move them down the purchase funnel to plan and book their next trip.

A seasonal focus was also maintained in terms of content timing and delivery to add value for customers ‘in-the-moment’ and encourage them to delve deeper by cross-promoting to other articles, events, operators and information.

Focus on Conversions

To measure the impact of the content as genuine driver for travel to the region, we ensured that where relevant, we linked content to tourism operator websites (rather than their ATDW listing on the site) so that the user could easily make the next move (hopefully booking direct!) in their planning journey.

We also ensured the website's Google Analytics platform had the right user tracking mechanisms in place to record how many times a user clicked on the operator websites, which could then be used as a reportable KPI for industry.

Consumer eNews (Apr 2022 - Jun 2023)

A quarterly consumer eNews was also launched for the region in April 2022, with an organic strategy implemented to help grow the consumer database, drive referral traffic to the website (especially blogs and events), encourage organic community growth of official social media channels and promote the services of the region’s local Visitor Information Centres.

All eNews were themed and released in line with seasonality, featuring recent blogs and upcoming hero events as well as a showcase of recent Instagram images that were linked to their creators. An ongoing link to the Limestone Coast’s Visitor Information Centres was also featured for personalised, local advice.

An eNews sign up form was prominently displayed and promoted on the website, Facebook and Instagram profiles, with occasional promotion via posts on Facebook.

Limestone Coast Destination Storytelling Framework (July 2023)

Following a change in resourcing from July 2023, the Limestone Coast Local Government Association (LGLCA) commenced direct management of all blog articles and content for the website, as well as distribution of the quarterly consumer eNews. With this in mind, a Limestone Coast Destination Storytelling Framework was developed for the LCLGA team and local Councils to assist with future messaging and content alignment for the region’s High Yielding Visitor Personas.

Specifically, the Framework has supported the LCLGA and Councils to:

  • Proactively plan ahead for key seasonal and in-region events, to ensure current blogs and itineraries are updated well ahead of time to support strong organic traffic to the destination website.
  • Proactively plan other future content updates on the destination website, across key pages and ATDW product listings.
  • Guide new story ideas for blogs, eNews, social media and general Storytelling Themes around Sustainability, Wellness, Aboriginal Culture and Agritourism, in alignment with SATC Experience Focus areas.
  • Support LCLGA and local Councils to identify experience and storytelling gaps that currently exist.

 

Results

Social Media Community Management

Highlights

Organically grew community, amplification, engagement and reach metrics for over three-years (1st Nov 2020 – 31 Dec 2023), with fanbase increasing by 968% across both Facebook and Instagram and posts reaching almost 4.13 million users.

At the time of writing, new records are continually being set across most key metrics, indicating that content is still very much resonating with the region’s core audience, with community sentiment overwhelmingly positive.

Given the increased competition for social media users’ attention, influx of paid content and constant tightening of algorithms, the performance of the Limestone Coast’s social media essentially bucks the downward trend for most brands on the platform. What makes this even more remarkable is that these results have been driven 100% organically across three years (eg zero money spent on paid social media advertising), proving that an investment in quality visual storytelling will still achieve cut-through, regardless of Meta’s algorithms and appetite for paid ads.

On Facebook

  • A total of 1,015 posts have been published
  • Fanbase has increased by over 803%
  • Over 1.9 million users have been reached
  • Posts have generated 29,541 reactions, 3,321 comments and 5,661 shares
  • There were 88 engagements and almost 6 shares on average per post
  • Average Engagement Rate on Reach has been maintained at 6.48%
  • Posts have been picked up and re-shared (amplified) by multiple media channels, including Tourism Australia, SATC, ABC Adelaide, ABC Australia, Glam Adelaide, Adelady, South Aussie With Cosi, Play and Go Adelaide and Mix Adelaide, reaching an extended Facebook audience of millions.

On Instagram 

  • A total of 609 posts have been published
  • Followers have increased by almost 1,950%
  • Over 2.2 million users have been reached
  • Posts have generated 147,279 likes, 3,736 comments and 10,436 saves
  • There were 242 likes and 6 comments received on average per post
  • Average Engagement Rate on Reach has been maintained at 17.33%
  • Posts have once again been picked up and re-shared (amplified) by multiple media channels, including Tourism Australia, SATC, ABC Adelaide, ABC Australia, Glam Adelaide, Adelady, South Aussie With Cosi, Play and Go Adelaide and Mix Adelaide, reaching an extended Instagram audience of millions.

The Limestone Coast’s strong and consistent visual presence on Instagram has also produced a monumental shift in SATC’s positive (and proactive) promotion for the Limestone Coast over the last couple of years, having become one of the most heavily featured regions on the @southaustralia Instagram account. A remarkable achievement, given it has come from almost nothing, and demonstrates the importance of consistently sourcing and sharing high-impact visuals that align with SATC’s brand.

Website Marketing & Storytelling

  • When the new website launched, initially the website took about 4 months to become trusted and visible in Google search.
  • However from there, the quality, long-form articles have been driving ongoing, strong organic visitor traffic to the website, with an average between 70 - 90% of all traffic to the website coming from organic search over the last 2 years (zero paid)
  • Visitor numbers continue to grow, with near double growth of visitor numbers on the size every 12 months, with an impressive 4-minute average per blog article which is a reflection of the long-form content strategy implemented (as per the above).
  • Having an active social media presence has been critical to get and maintain qualified referrals for the website, driving on average over over 5% of referral traffic to the website across the year.
  • The article content on the website averages approximately 4 minutes time on page, which is a reflection of the long-form content strategy implemented (as per the above)

eNews

  • The destination has a growing database of engaged locals, and new and repeated visitors, keeping them updated with seasonal happenings across the region.
  • The News is also driving strong direct traffic to the website each quarter when the eNews is distributed.

Destination Storytelling Framework

  • Feedback from the LCLGA team has indicated that the Destination Storytelling Framework has become an invaluable part of content planning and delivery for the region, also helping guide the 7 local government partners on their local place-based seasonal storytelling.
  • Quarterly content meetings with the TTC team provided an open exchange around current priorities and also wider strategic planning mentoring.