Q: Why does content marketing matter for the meetings industry today?
The meetings industry is highly competitive and the only way to give your destination (Ireland in our case) an edge over the rest is to show what you have to offer. Beautiful imagery, captivating videos and evocative articles are the best way to capture your audience’s imagination.
At Meet in Ireland, we’ve very lucky to have content that almost generates itself – from the stunning coastlines of the Wild Atlantic Way and the mystery of Ireland’s Ancient East, to Dublin, our buzzing capital city and then right up to the tip of scenic Northern Ireland. Ireland offers the perfect backdrop for all the beautiful and engaging content we need to generate.
Q: Does content marketing carry any real substance or is it just a buzzword?
At Meet in Ireland, we don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. Content marketing has been a buzzword across every industry for years but that’s not to say it doesn’t carry weight – it’s certainly an integral part of our marketing strategy.
Google and many social media platforms reward frequently published, high-quality content, meaning your destination or organisation is more searchable – which is always a good thing!
Q: What makes for a remarkable piece of content
Obviously, content should be high quality – with sharp images and sharper words – but we feel that the real key to great content is to ensure that it’s relevant and helpful to the audience it is targeting, while at the same time encouraging engagement.
Creating and sharing personalised and captivating information has always been a great idea, but it’s only become easier with the availability of analytics and online feedback. Today we have data and insights and as a result, we know more about what our audience wants and needs and can personalise content to suit.
Beautiful imagery, captivating videos and evocative articles are the best way to capture your audience’s imagination.
Q: How do you decide what topics to focus on and what format to use?
At Meet in Ireland, our primary objective is to promote Ireland as the number one MICE destination and our content is designed to communicate and educate our audience on what is so special and unique about our beautiful island.
As an organisation we regularly meet with, talk to and assist our clients and buyers, and in doing so we also continuously seek feedback on their content needs and requirements. This informs the kind of content we create and the platforms that we choose to use.
We find that our core messages are often most impactful when we effectively blend a variety of formats – imagery, video and text. By prioritising style and substance equally, our content is eye-catching and highly shareable. We brainstorm and take a multimedia approach to a theme/topic from the outset, ensuring we have multiple assets to be pushed out through web, social and video platforms – such as images, quotes, infographics and video clips. As we all know, social is increasingly a visual medium, and we have increased our video output to reflect this. As well as showcasing the beauty of our country, video is the perfect format for people to gain a sense of familiarity with our team and what we do. In short, it adds a personal touch.
Q: What makes content successful?
Beyond ensuring our content is relevant to our audience, we’re also open to changes in the topics we cover – all while staying true to our brand. This not only means that we keep our content fresh and interesting, but also that our audience recognises us as a trusted, consistent source. For example, Ireland has been focusing on country-wide food events with the Taste the Island campaign this autumn and Meet in Ireland have been delighted to join in with its promotion.
Brands should also not be afraid of taking risks, which can always be measured by looking at the metrics and seeing what did and didn’t work. This will only help in creating content that is more successful going forward.
Q: How do you know if your content has performed well?
We review the efficacy of our content strategy on an ongoing basis via a combination of online feedback/engagement, traffic and search ranking. In terms of analytics, we go beyond vanity metrics (views and likes) into comprehensive engagement timelines, detailed conversion rates, and individual channel performance. This analysis allows us to get to know our existing audience better, and to identify where and how we can increase our reach. We also apply active listening around the content on our social channels, interacting with our followers and requesting additional feedback where necessary.
We want the client to be exhilarated by their chosen destination, from quirky meeting rooms right through to ancient attractions and culinary delights. Our goal is really for people to come across our services through content marketing and feel encouraged to get in touch, rather than feeling like they’re being sold something.
Q: What is your ultimate definition of content marketing?
For Meet in Ireland, content marketing means creating content that speaks to our audience and opens minds to what’s possible in Ireland for unique, successful MICE events.
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