BRIEF
The Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau (IA) came to EdgeCore looking for ways to promote the Cedar Valley Trail System and Cedar Falls as a tourism destination for cyclist and bike teams. Having been distinguished as Iowa’s only Bike Friendly Community, it was time to promote the city’s trails, downtown cultural entertainment district and the other great amenities. Not only did the Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau want people to come and ride the 100+ miles of trails, they also wanted to establish themselves as a resource for trail enthusiasts, area families and bike teams throughout the Midwest.


SOLUTION
EdgeCore launched the Phase 1 Social Engagement Campaign to gain brand awareness for the trails through the use of Twitter. This initiative has proven to be a first of it’s kind for trail tourism. The launching of the @RideCedarValley handle was timed to coincide with RAGBRAI 2009 - an annual ride across Iowa attracting thousands of bike teams from around the world. To secure an authentic following, @RideCedarValley tweeted “We’re giving away prizes for @RAGBRAI_IOWA all next week - Follow back for your chance to win!!!”

Similar tweets followed for the next two days. After 24 hours, @RideCedarValley had a strong following of 214 individuals and bike teams from over 12 states. More importantly, @RideCedarValley had it’s first reply/mention within 20 minutes of the first tweet.


The “TwitAway Giveaway Contest” took place each day of RAGBRAI. Followers were encourage to  send @RideCedarValley their RAGBRAI team name and they were automatically entered in the daily drawing. This allowed The Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau to collect a tremendous amount of contacts to reach out to during future tourism efforts. After teams were entered in the drawing, they were instructed to email specific contact information to the tourism office. Prizes ranged from drink tickets for entire teams to hotel stays and restaurant gift cards, all of which drove teams to plan a visit to Cedar Falls. In other words, it created new tourism from a simplistic “TwitAway Giveaway Contest.”


A month and a half later, the @RideCedarValley handle is still gaining speed. With over 500 followers, @RideCedarValley is spreading the word about the Cedar Valley biking community, sharing daily biking tips and encouraging people to come cycle Cedar Falls. Overall, the Twitter campaign was a success and it was fueled by avid cyclist tweeting through RAGBRAI. The challenge is to maintain these followers and to have something important to say. But with more campaigns planned for the future and the @RideCedarValley handle staying active with its tweeting, our guess is this won’t be the last time you hear from The Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau. This new-media approach was, and continues to be, an innovative approach for attracting visitors and helping them discover a new adventure that is close to home.


Follow the Cedar Valley Trails on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RideCedarValley.