Best Travel Email Message

From 4th of July fireworks at the Capitol to winter ice-skating, Destination DC’s monthly DC Insider e-newsletter showcases the city’s top offerings to nearly 118,000 subscribers. Yet just as the April 2020 edition was getting ready to deploy in late March, shelter-in-place orders took hold in DC and across the globe. Representing the travel arm of our nation’s capital at the pandemic’s onset, DDC’s e-newsletter messaging was critical. DDC had to rethink how to maintain its connection with its audience while creating new ways to promote tourism and partner organizations. The team quickly reimagined the April edition. The revised DC Insider led with #DCtogether, a theme conveying unity and hope in a time of grave uncertainty. New editorial and ad content featured virtual ways for readers to engage with the destination while staying at home, from a roundup of films and television shows shot in DC to virtual tours of DC attractions, including a live stream of the beloved National Cherry Blossom Festival. The results were astounding. The open rate was a phenomenal 51 percent – 59,801 subscribers opened the message; the second-highest number of opens in 2020 was 43,345 for the March edition, which deployed in late February. The top feature, a showcase of virtual DC events and tours, garnered 1,576 clicks ¬– dramatically overshadowing the monthly average of 660 click-throughs for the top feature (excluding April 2020). The high engagement reflects the audience’s enduring emotional connection to DC as a destination, even – or perhaps especially – in times of crisis.

Contributors:

Destination DC Associate Director, Content Marketing:	Andrew O’Connor
Destination DC Digital Marketing Manager:	Storm Montunnas
Project, Advertising & Data Manager, Miles Partnership:	Laurel Bookhardt
Senior Art Director, Miles Partnership :	Rebecca Jones
Content Manager, Miles Partnership:	Kate Bradshaw

MILES PARTNERSHIP

Website: www.milespartnership.com

Location: USA

About the Agency:

Miles Partnership markets destinations and hospitality businesses by working with state tourism offices, convention & visitors bureaus, hotels and other organizations in the tourism industry to create forward-thinking digital and print content marketing solutions.