Back To Our Roots: Agritourism In The Greenbrier Valley

Tag: agritourism

By Mason Deel, Cassidy Falk, Paul Henry, Alessia Mangan

Whether you travel solo, with friends, or with family, the Greenbrier Valley region has something for everyone, including many farm-based and agriculturally oriented businesses. By teaming up with WVU Extension, MHA plans to show residents and visitors alike that the agritourism opportunities in the Greenbrier Valley can offer them a truly wild and wonderful experience.

What Were We Up Against?

After meeting with our client, Dee Singh-Knights, the group’s main challenge was to increase the appeal of agricultural tourism and related businesses to a more diverse audience. Often, these groups lacked awareness of these businesses, or as the client put it, didn’t see people who looked like them enjoying such activities.

Key Insights of Our Campaign

At the beginning of the semester, the group had a solid foundation to build on. The materials passed along from prior semesters included a brand guide, preliminary business lists (which included a map of all these businesses and descriptions of each), and physical designs like signage and stickers complete with a logo to use.

The account team initially reviewed a previous MHA campaign to gain insights into the audience’s preferences and expectations. Through cross-examination of qualitative and quantitative research, it was found that people were interested in agriculture-related offerings in the Greenbrier Valley region but were generally unaware of where businesses were located, what they offered, when they were open, and their impact on the community. 

Further, many of these businesses are one-man shows or small staffs, and the work provided would need to be as easy to implement. Also, these small businesses aren’t always the most tech-savvy, meaning the group had to ensure anything provided to them was thorough and easy for anyone to use so that they could focus on their business. 

Next, the team delved into secondary research focused on three key points: past successful agritourism and DEI campaigns, influencer strategies, and West Virginia’s cultural history. 

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Target Audiences

 Based on research, the team also identified three audiences: young adults looking to immerse themselves in West Virginia’s culture, middle-aged parents looking for cherished moments, and retired adults who value experiences centered around health, relaxation, and meaningful family visits.

This work will be meaningful to these people because of its historical aspect and West Virginians’ great state pride. By highlighting these experiences, people can connect with the state and its people unlike any other experience.

The Central Message

The team wanted a clear and concise message that would build a sense of community. When you experience something as fun and unique as an agritourism business, you will ask yourself the same question: “Where to next?”

What We’ve Created

To achieve our goals this semester, the team focused on four main strategies: digital media, media relations, influencer relations, and community relations.

Crawl the GBV

Central to the MHA’s efforts was the planning for a farm crawl on June 29. This self-guided tour allows participants to pick their own adventure. As a kickoff, an info session was held, where a presentation, meet-and-greet, merchandise, and much more kicked off collaboration. 

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Collateral Material

As part of collaborating with businesses participating in Crawl the GBV, the team also produced materials for businesses and event attendees. Recognizing that some businesses are off the beaten path, signage was created to designate participating businesses, while window decals were developed to help guests find other destinations. The QR code on the decal directs to a webpage with all the businesses and an interactive map. 

Since cell phone service isn’t guaranteed in the region, a print map of participating businesses, in brochure form, was developed for event attendees to plan their itinerary. Tote bags and key chains were also produced to serve as a fun, reusable takeaway from the event.  Finally, shirts were produced for event volunteers to wear on the day of the event. A close-up of several promotional items Description automatically generated

Digital Strategy

One of our key strategies was social media posts containing fun facts about the different agribusinesses in the Greenbrier Valley. The wild and wonderful graphics will be published on Instagram and Facebook on set days leading up to the farm crawl.

Media Relations

On April 10, the team took local media on a tour of partner businesses in the Greenbrier Valley. The itinerary was specified for each agribusiness, and a fun fact sheet was provided. After the tour, News 59 Beckley W.Va published a broadcast story, and the West Virginia Daily News published a news article with promises from each for more in-depth stories of these partner businesses.

Influencer Relations

Influencers were engaged to highlight further the unique opportunities businesses in the region provide. Two plan to travel to the region in the coming months leading up to Crawl the GBV. These individuals will highlight the eclectic opportunities for diverse populations to enjoy all that Greenbrier Valley offers. 

Deliverables, media relations, merchandise, events, and social media posts are an effort to promote agritourism in the Greenbrier Valley. These efforts help our team reach our campaign goals of increasing the appeal of agricultural tourism and businesses to a broader and more diverse audience to foster increased awareness and community involvement.

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Tourism is growing at an exponential rate in Wild & Wonderful West Virginia – from cave and river adventures, to resorts and spas, there is something for everyone to try and love. But what about the opportunities to connect with local communities and learn about the heritage of Appalachia? Businesses like farm-to-table restaurants, farm stays, u-pick farms and distilleries offer family-friendly adventures and hands-on experiences that are uniquely Appalachian. 

The challenge, however, is that people are largely unaware of the more than 200 agritourism and farm based experiences found only in the Mountain State. To overcome this, MHA and WVU Extension partnered to craft a campaign that takes visitors and residents alike on a route to the roots of Appalachia.

What we learned

To determine the best path, the account team looked to other states to learn how they were promoting the industry and conducted interviews with tourism authorities, agritourism business owners and experts. Recognizing we needed to pilot the ideas we generated, the group identified three main regions that were positioned for growth: the Eastern Panhandle, Potomac Highlands, and New River Valley/Greenbrier regions. 

We also learned a lot about what the businesses felt were the best first steps to achieve the campaign goals, as well as who would be most likely to enjoy the deeply rooted traditions of the Appalachian experience. To be successful, we also needed to recognize a few key insights: 

Who we connected with

While we knew that farm-based fun wasn’t the experience for everyone, we learned that there were some audience segments that were craving a unique experience and new family tradition. 

The first audience segment was the sustainably conscious young mom. The primary goal for this audience segment was to bring awareness to the many family-friendly agritourism experiences that the eastern part of the state has to offer. 

The second audience segment identified was the adventurous, retired couple. The primary goal of targeting this segment was to show those who have the time to travel and are seeking memorable experiences that there are many relaxing and novel agritourism opportunities throughout the eastern part of West Virginia. 

The last audience segment that the group identified were busy, enthusiastic business owners in eastern West Virginia. The main goal of pursuing this audience segment was to show that agritourism businesses in eastern WV cultivate environments to pursue passions. 

What we created

Based on our research, we knew the first step was to cultivate relationships with a variety of businesses ranging from lodging to farms and restaurants to breweries. For these businesses we wanted to provide them a way to connect with one another, while also elevating visibility of their own business.  To accomplish this we created a variety of digital and print assets.  

Meet Me in The Mountain State Guides

Digital and downloadable travel guides were published on the WVU Extension website.  This one stop destination for all things farm-based allows tourists and travelers an easy to find list of businesses in the region.  To drive traffic to the site, window decals including a QR code were provided to all partner businesses. 

To increase awareness of agritourism in general, attractive posters were also created as a fun and artistic way to demonstrate the Appalachian roots of farm-based businesses.   

Brochures were created for distribution at visitor centers throughout the state and through partnered businesses. The brochure included information about agritourism in general and a helpful map highlighting what was in each region. 

Enlisting the Support of Influencers and Travel Writers

To increase our reach and awareness, the team developed a list of micro influencers with a passion for travel and an engaged following.  Targeted influencers ranged from people who loved to share their passion for the Mountain State to those who were known for finding exciting outings in unique places. We also reached out to travel writers and bloggers at respected publications ranging from The Washington Post to WV Tourism and WV Living to Virginia Travel tips. These experts offered another way to connect audiences with the rich stories, deeply rooted traditions and tapestry of farm-based opportunities in the eastern portion of the state. 

Optimizing Businesses Digital Footprints

Our research also indicated that many of the farm-based and agritourism operators didn’t have extensive knowledge of how to promote their businesses online.  As a first step to improve their searchability, the team developed instructional SEO tutorials, keywords lists and optimized content. These resources were provided to businesses so that they can easily implement these strategies and improve their digital footprint.  

What we accomplished

While the work is never done, the team accomplished many things that lay the foundation for ongoing success. A few highlights include:

  • Partnering with nearly a dozen businesses in the Eastern Panhandle New River-Greenbrier Valley regions. 
  • Securing 133 page views on the Eastern Panhandle guide and 104 page views on the New River-Greenbrier Valley guide 
  • Confirming interest from two influencers, four publications and one podcast.
  • Presenting SEO strategies to 21 owners and operators with many committing to implementation 
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White text that reads "Home Grown Family Tradition" in front of a truck

In West Virginia, pride and heritage are the foundations of the culture. Agritourism offers a unique, uncharted experience for West Virginians in their home state. Yet, most residents are unaware of the presence of more than 220 agritourism businesses operating within the state. Just as concerningly, most are not familiar with the term “agritourism” and what it encompasses.

To combat this unawareness, we partnered with WVU Extension to increase West Virginians’ awareness of the state’s agritourism industry and equip agritourism businesses with resources to promote themselves and agritourism effectively.

Research Insights

In August 2022, we began to conduct primary and secondary research to learn more about the interests of travelers and the needs of agritourism business operators. We studied campaigns that benefited the agritourism industry in other states, and analyzed their approaches. Then, we conducted two focus groups with WVU Extension agents deeply familiar with West Virginia’s agritourism.  Then we analyzed the feedback provided by visitors on popular travel websites and business pages.  Finally, we conducted five-in depth interviews with agritourism business owners and operators.

From this research, we learned:

Notably, most agritourism owners and operators expressed that they strive to create an educational, down-to-earth experience for travelers. Based on that finding, we decided that the campaign should be simultaneously educational and evocative.

Target Audience

From our research, we identified two target audience segments to engage throughout the campaign. The primary audience comprises West Virginia travelers, ages 55 and older, who live in the Potomac Highlands and are unaware of nearby agritourism businesses. The second target audience includes agritourism business owners and operators whose businesses are operating within West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands.

Based on these demographics, we created the following target audience personas to help guide the campaign’s tone and outreach strategies:

For our primary target audience, our goal is to familiarize them with agritourism and connect it with the concept of what it means to be truly local. Most importantly, we want West Virginians to be aware of local agritourism businesses and the special family-oriented experiences they have to offer. 

For our secondary target audience, agritourism business owners and operators, our goal is to help them build connections with one another. Secondly, we wish to provide them with marketing resources to promote agritourism throughout West Virginia.

The Message

The agency developed a governing brand idea, an overarching concept based on research insights, to serve as the foundation of the semester’s campaigns.

“Roots of the Appalachian Experience”

Further, the campaign seeks to answer this seemingly fundamental yet complex question: “What does local mean to you?” To help answer this question, the campaign messaging aims to draw a connection with these adjectives:

  • Unique
  • Educational
  • Traditional
  • Valuable
  • Close-by

“Meet Me in the Mountain State” Agritourism Trail

To ease the planning of weekend getaways and afternoon adventures, the account team designed a portion of the “Meet Me in the Mountain State” agritourism trail, accessible from WVU Extension’s website. The trail provides a list of farm-to-table restaurants, farm markets, u-pick farms, breweries and other agritourism businesses and experiences throughout the state.

The trail includes helpful guides for West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands, Eastern Panhandle and New River-Greenbrier Valley. 

This all-encompassing online trail is promoted with decals featuring QR codes distributed to agritourism businesses throughout the region. The trail enables travelers to search for prospective destinations with ease.

Promote Local WV Communications Toolkit

Supporting the promotional efforts of agritourism owners and operators, the account team created the Promote Local WV Communications Toolkit, which includes social media templates, radio scripts and posters, among other valuable tools.

This user-friendly, free resource will provide a competitive advantage for business owners and operators with limited time, funds and marketing expertise. Furthermore, the toolkit helps the agency and WVU Extension to enable agritourism businesses to promote agritourism and educate West Virginians about opportunities “right down the road.”

An example of a Facebook post template available to agritourism business owners and operators within the Promote Local WV Communications Toolkit.

Home Grown Networking Event

On Thursday, Dec. 1, the account team and WVU Extension hosted a networking event for agritourism business owners and operators at Swilled Dog, a cider distillery in Pendleton County, West Virginia. At the event, the account team presented the Truly Local WV Communications Toolkit to attendees and demonstrated how to use it.

The event also featured catering and beverages from the local market and two giveaways. Additionally, attendees were asked to share what local means to them, giving the account team and WVU Extension further insight into how to continue the campaign.

Paid Advertisements 

As an additional tactic to raise West Virginians’ awareness of agritourism and generate interest, the account team created Facebook advertisements promoted throughout the Potomac Highlands.

To provide a resource for WVU Extension to continue the campaign, the team also developed traditional paid advertisements, including newspaper and radio advertisements with scripts included. 

An example of a potential newspaper advertisement designed by our team

Success and Results

The concepts and strategies piloted in this campaign provide a foundation for future work. For instance, the Home Grown networking event achieved positive results from participants. Seventeen agritourism businesses were connected at the event, and 90% of attendees indicated they would utilize the Promote Local WV Communications Toolkit to support their companies’ promotional efforts. Moreover, 28 Meet Me in the Mountain State decals were distributed.

Additionally, the digital advertisements reached over 30,000 people and received a total of 735 engagements, including nearly 650 link clicks and six shares.

“We are so lucky to have an opportunity to bring students into our communities where they can showcase their skills and provide tangible tools for West Virginians.”

– Tara Curtis, Director of Communications and Marketing at WVU Extension

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