SOUTHEAST COMPASS JULY 2018
 
In This Issue

SSDTA Board

Sportsman's Guide

FANtasy Contest

Current Efforts

Statistics

Photos Needed

 
Quick Links








 
SSDTA Board

Ryan Friez President
Thunder Road, Sioux Falls

Kris Frerk  Vice President
Garretson Commercial Club

Emily Hennigar Secretary/Tres
Mitchell CVB

Cindy Gregg at large
Prehistoric Indian Village,
Mitchell

Tim Peterson at large
Broken Willow Lodge, Springfield

Patricia Bornhoffen
National Music Museum, Vermillion

Nicole Bruning
Great Plains Zoo, Sioux Falls

Adam Nelsen
Siouxland Heritage Museums, Sioux Falls

Dave Greenlee
Tuckers Walk Winery,
Garretson

Holly McCann
Cogan House, Tabor

Kimberly Burg
City of Mitchell

Eric Hortness
Madison Chamber




SSDTA Staff
Gary Keller, Exec Director
Cindy Mason, Design Specialist
Casey Tow, Office Manager
Vanessa Barkl, Staff Assistant


 
 
Membership
Check out the benefits you get with your annual membership... Invite a business friend to join.
Membership
Benefits

We grow together to make the region stronger.
S portsman's Guide 
The Ink is Still Drying!

The Official South Dakota 2018-2019 Sportsman's Guide is on its way. They should arrive by the end of July, dripping wet if necessary. This year's theme  is "National in Nature," featuring parks, trails, and attractions that have national designations as well as all of the other great locations visitors can enjoy. Stay tuned!


FANtasy Weekend Contest Winner

Kayla D. from Altoona, Iowa is the lucky winner of our first ever FANtasy Weekend Contest. We launch the daylong whirlwind tour on Friday, July 27 with Kayla and her three sisters. 

Thanks to sponsors Country Inn & Suites of Dakota Dunes, SD and J oDean's Steakhouse and Lounge, Yankton for lodging and meals. We will post digital photos of the excitement on our social media channels and list additional sponsors in next month's Compass, but definitely go to our social and Like, Share and Follow SSDTA's social media channels for upcoming wild ideas like this one. 

Current Efforts 

SSDTA has placed ads in the September (AAA Living Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska; and AAA World South Dakota for the South Dakota Coop). Why? Because it generates qualified leads and hits a targeted audience of travelers that are right up your alley. Here's a sneak peak of the ads.
 

Submit Your Events to SSDTA

We need your events for our online calendar. Submit EventsEvents must be a member of SSDTA for inclusion in our events calendars.
We promote regional events through our publications and website but also through our Visitor ENewsletter that goes to 7,000+ emails monthly. Upcoming events are featured each month along with link to our full calendar and website. We also feature vacation packages and special deals, so be sure to tell us about those.


Submit Your Events to AAA

Submit your own late summer/fall 2018 event directly to  AAA's Events & Destinations web page as a  value-added benefit of being a member of SSDTA. To see how others do it, click on   https://eventsanddestinations.com  and  then go in  

Promote your 2019 events as well!  AAA's World South Dakota editorial team is also collecting information for their 2019 editorial calendars. Please share information about festivals, anniversaries, indoor and outdoor events, exhibits, sport events and culinary ideas. The deadline is August 1, 2018.

AAA asks that all press releases include the following:
* Advertiser, Attraction or Festival name
* Contact name, email and phone number
* Website address
Note, please DO NOT send photography
 
Thank you for sharing your 2019 edit ideas with the AAA World South Dakota editorial team!

Statistics for June 2018 

Facebook Likes          vs June 2017             + 60%
                                     vs May 2018              + 2% 
Instagram Followers    vs June 2017             + 5%
                                       vs May 2018          + 0.6%
Twitter Followers             vs June 2017          + 5%
                                          vs May                + 0.4%
Visitor r equests                   vs May                 + 23%
Online publication reads    vs June 2017      + 23%
                                            vs May                 + 6%
Website sessions                vs June 2017    - 0.4%
                                              vs May             + 17%

Top four states for visitor requests in order: 
- May 2018: SD, NE, IL, MN
- June 2018: SD, WI, MN and IL 

Traffic by device May 2018  
Mobile 52.6%;  Desktop 29%; Tablet 8.4%

Traffic by device June 2018
Mobile 53.8%; Desktop 37.3%; Tablet 8.9%

Top four states for web traffic in order:
SD, NE, IL, MN

Top Traffic Sources in order:  
Organic, Direct Traffic, Referral Traffic, Social & Email Marketing


Photos & Video Clips Needed

We need YOU to send photos or short video of places our visitors would like to see. Your event, landscapes, etc. We will be using photos on our website and Social Media. Some may even be used in future regional and state publications.  Fun photos or video of your event or attraction is great for us to link in our ENewsletters.  Show off your photography skills and get a mention for your event or attraction. Contact   Director.sesd@iw.net