In 2017, Shooting Star was invited to tender and was subsequently chosen by East Lindsey District Council to promote the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Lincolnshire coast as visitor destinations. The aim was to raise the profile of both by arranging press trips for national journalists and media bloggers to secure coverage in a range of publications, newspapers and online.
East Lindsey District Council had tasked Shooting Star with securing targeted media coverage both national and regionally through traditional PR-led activity based on three themes:
The council provided Shooting Star with a nominal budget to fund family and press trips at Shooting Star’s discretion, and had set out two key targets:
Shooting Star conducted thorough research to identify the most appropriate target media and bloggers for securing editorial/broadcast coverage on each theme. To ensure the correct visitors were being targeted, we also researched three clear groups identified in the council’s Destination Management Plan. These visitors were identified as:
Each group was recognised as having unique characteristics, interests and budgets which helped to target certain print publications, blogs and websites.
From mid-June 2017 to January 2018 we met and exceeded the key performance targets set out by the council which included:
Thanks to Shooting Star the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB and Lincolnshire’s natural coast are both getting the recognition they deserve. Their experience, relationships with journalists and knowledge of pitching to national media outlets has generated coverage which would not have otherwise been possible. We’ve been so impressed with the titles that they have managed to get into and our expectations have been surpassed following successful visits from journalists writing for The Guardian, Country Walking, Coast magazine, and Landlove magazine. A 10-page double spread in a national magazine which is read by thousands of people is exactly what you want when trying to promote tourism in an area. The team at Shooting Star proved they were the perfect fit for the job which is why we chose them to continue promoting the area the following year.
