Visit Seattle’s New Video Channel Is Good But It Could Be Great


Skift Take

Tourism bureaus like Visit Seattle have an opportunity to attract a new user base with episodic video-content campaigns and video testimonials. Deciding that is the easy part. Funding is a little more challenging. The hardest part is correct place branding and then muzzling the marketers so the real content people can do their thing.

Visit Seattle launched a VisitSeattle.TV video channel with two different content campaigns, including 10 somewhat contrived first-time visitor testimonials and a cool music series partnership with Sean "Diddy" Combs' Revolt TV. This new video marketing initiative is an expansion on the popular 2 Days In Seattle lifestyle content campaign that launched in 2012 to promote local small businesses. That standalone site tracked the social media posts of cultural influencers tagged on a Google Map of Seattle, categorized by Visit Seattle's core content pillars: arts, culture, food/wine, music and outdoor activities. Moving forward, the overall purpose of VisitSeattle.TV is specifically designed to drive leisure room-night stays in the November through April off-season. The funding comes from an ancillary Tourism Investment District self-assessment fee created and paid for by 54 downtown Seattle hotels. "We felt this was the perfect time to move into a little more content genera