• A full page feature on the Cleveland Way in The Guardian
• Helmsley spotlighted in Country Living magazine
• Five pages devoted to the North York Moors culinary delights in Olive magazine
• Berties of Bay appearing in Coast magazine
• Whale spotting included in a round-up in Prima magazine
• A review of Alum House near Staithes published in the Daily Telegraph.

These are just some of the results of my work with the North York Moors National Park as part of the marketing team’s destination marketing campaigns.

Over the years these campaigns have involved working with a huge number of businesses (from attractions through to accommodation providers and shops) to help raise awareness of the National Park’s delights to visitors, both those coming for a day out and those taking longer breaks.

It has also meant that I have worked with a very long line of talented journalists from the news, travel, lifestyle and business sections of the print, broadcast and online media.

Picture above shows Rosedale in the North York Moors National Park c:Paddy Chambers 

For those who wonder about the value of such PR activity, here are three good reasons:

• The press is still a powerful medium for raising awareness. Just one page on the Cleveland Way in The Guardian was shared online more than 700 times while Prima’s readership is around 300,000.

• It can directly result in bookings – one B&B reports of bookings still coming in several years after it first featured in an article about the North York Moors.

• Website links from online press coverage are viewed favourably by Google, helping to improve the Search Engine Optimisation of a site. The online web links ultimately make it easier to drive visitor traffic to a website. In 2019 the North York Moors National Park reported a 23% uplift in page views as part of its marketing activity, including PR.

Read on for a little more about how I’ve implemented the PR activity.

Brief:

Broadly speaking my brief has been to publicise visitor initiatives and seek out press opportunities for raising awareness of the National Park as a destination.

Activity:

1. Press information

I issued press releases to highlight the visitor marketing initiatives that had received National Park support and funding – everything from the Taste of the North York Moors website showcasing the hamper of food delights awaiting visitors through to the Cleveland Way's 50th Anniversary and the Smugglers’ Trail in Robin Hood’s Bay.

As well as securing news coverage for these initiatives I also pro-actively sought out other press opportunities within the local press, national travel and lifestyle media (online, print and broadcast). For instance:

• issuing a round-up of forthcoming events within the National Park that would help journalists compile their ‘things to do’, ‘days out’ sections.

• providing specific content that I knew would suit regular sections of the travel and lifestyle press such as pitching Betsy and Bo in Staithes as Coast magazine’s shop of the month.

• seeking out story content that would make good feature material. Often this was linked to a ‘press trigger’ or hook such as The Cleveland Way National Trail’s 50^th anniversary; or the upcoming release of the new film adaption of The Secret Garden.

• working with the broadcast media, both on a local and national basis to help them tell the story (arranging interviews, advising on locations and providing background information). Songs of Praise, BBC Radio Four Open Country, Look North and BBC Radio York are among the list of broadcasters I’ve helped.

A key part of a successful PR campaign is knowing the subject inside-out. To that end I ensured I had a good handle on what was happening across the National Park whether it was knowing when a new B&B was going to open, when it was good to talk about whale spotting or simply having a good supply of quirky accommodation suggestions stored in the brain!

This meant I could provide plenty of ideas to respond to journalists looking for specific content, whether it was ‘hidden gems’; ‘free things to do’ or ‘family holiday ideas’.

 

Caption: The Cleveland Way's 50th Anniversary c: Charlotte Graham 

2. Press visits

A significant proportion of a travel journalist’s work is the review – experiencing a place, attraction or hotel first-hand and then relating their account to their readers.

This was one of the key strands to the PR campaign and involved me pitching suitable ideas to journalists and then helping arrange the details of their itinerary from travel to reach the North York Moors right down to the meals they ate, places they visited and people they met.

I have also worked with Visit Britain’s PR team to help arrange itineraries for journalists they have been working with.

As you can imagine this involved many hours of work particularly for detailed itineraries such as Olive Magazine’s five-day tour across the North York Moors and conversations with numerous businesses.

Again, like London taxi drivers, it made all the difference having ‘The Knowledge’ of the National Park so I could home in on the right places that would suit the journalist’s audience (this was a godsend as it is a common gripe among journalists that elements of a press trip itinerary are often irrelevant).

The effort paid off though – with full page and multi-page features appearing in a wide range of publications from The Times through to Coast magazine as well as regional press titles such as the Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Life and Luxe magazine.

3. Copywriting support

My way with words also led me to help support the National Park’s campaign by providing extensive copywriting for blog posts, Perfect Days itineraries, the Magical Coastline magazine and the Taste of the North York Moors website.

4. Providing PR advice

Coming into contact with a wide range of businesses across the North York Moors has also led to me providing PR advice along the way whether it’s showing how to write a press release, improving press images or simply having a story to tell.

Results:

In the years that I have worked with the North York Moors National Park I have managed to sustain a high level of press coverage across all forms of media.

I hesitate to include the actual amount of press coverage in terms of column inches/number of pieces (even though it is substantial) because the greater measurement of the success of any PR campaign is how the client believes it has worked.

So a few words from Catriona McLees, Head of Marketing and Communications at the North York Moors National Park:

“In the years that we have been working with Amanda we’ve seen the passion she has for the tourism industry and the National Park. This has meant she’s been able to be very responsive to journalists who are looking for information as well as pitching story ideas based on her extensive knowledge and contacts with the individual businesses.

“We have been ecstatic with the press coverage that has been achieved. PR has been an important strand of our destination marketing activity as it has put us on the travel journalists’ radar; helped drive a significant increase in audience traffic to the website and boosted awareness of numerous businesses from accommodation and experience providers to individual shops and restaurants.”