71% of travelers watch video in planning their trips. And our audience absolutely loves the travel planning process. This inspired us to move beyond a traditional ad campaign and create something bigger. A branded content channel, called VISITSEATTLE.tv, featuring immersive video content that told the story of the city better than any ad could ever do. It started with our flagship film series, “Seattle First Takes.” The idea was simple: First-time experiences are always powerful, especially in the world of travel. So we invited eight first-time visitors to Seattle and let them experience the city through the five senses – the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures that only Seattle can offer. We filmed their journeys and their recollections, creating an immersive glimpse into the city for all to enjoy.

We cast real travelers from around the country for this film series, eventually settling on eight people with varied backgrounds – all of whom had never been to Seattle. After filming each traveler as they soaked up the city (during perhaps the most gorgeous week Seattle had all year!), we sat each traveler down and let them recount their time in the city. The films all end with annotations allowing viewers to take the next step in planning a trip, from booking ferry tickets to hotels. We then promoted the film series through paid and organic social, as well as on sites where our audience visited for content about food, culture, sports, outdoors and more. In addition, we recently partnered with Amazon to create the Visit Seattle Amazon Fire TV app, allowing our “Seattle First Takes” film series to be enjoyed by an even larger audience.

The results: Visit Seattle started to engage more travelers from a more national perspective, highlighted by a 310% increase in site traffic from New York, a 252% increase in site traffic from Chicago, and a 178% increase in site traffic from LA.