Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Annual Report 2018-19

The media launch of the STIHL partnership was featured in the Herald Sun
Campaigns and Marketing
The Marketing team worked throughout
the year to produce more than 12 multichannel
campaigns. Through extensive
market research, Royal Botanic Gardens
Victoria Visitor Segments were developed
to enable the Gardens to understand and
effectively target relevant audiences more
effectively.
The team established regular school
holiday campaigns, which consistently
exceeded targets for revenue and
visitation. Highlights include the
autumn school holidays Kids Explorer at
Cranbourne Gardens, which was 48 per
cent over target and Nature Play in the
Gardens at Melbourne Gardens, which
drew 723 visitors and exceeded target by
106 per cent Packages for special days
such as Father’s Day and Mother’s Day
consistently sold out in advance. The
Wellness Campaign drew more than 7,200
new users to the Royal Botanic Gardens
Victoria website and helped to exceed
ticket sale targets for Forest Therapy
and Pleasure Gardens, positioning
the Gardens as a space for health and
wellbeing.
Several digital marketing tactics were
introduced, including Search Engine
Marketing with Google Ads, which
delivered 63,600 impressions on Google
Search for a successful average click
through rate of 4.74 per cent. Email
marketing continued to grow throughout
the year. The Learning eNews list for
teachers grew by 12.7 per cent to 3,419
subscribers and the Gardens eNews
list grew by 139 per cent to 14,200
subscribers, with a significant increase
resulting from a partnership with
Melbourne Festival.
Corporate engagement
The Development team built on the
success of 2018 when it added a new ASX
listed strategic partner to its corporate
partnerships. The Gardens welcomed
Regis Aged Care as the organisation’s first
major partner. This partnership allows the
Gardens to become more involved with
older Australians by developing nature
learning experiences for Regis guests.
The first ever Public Seniors’ engagement
program has been established called
Branch Out. Royal Botanic Gardens
Victoria also welcomed Wine Sponsor
Katnook Estate for all fundraising events
Social media
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria’s Instagram
and Facebook following grew rapidly
throughout the year. Total subscribers on
Facebook grew by 46per cent to 30,800
followers and Instagram grew by 86
per cent to 35,100 followers. The largest
increase was seen in the lead up to Fire
Gardens, when Instagram following grew
by 11 per cent in one month.
With a reach of 49,600 people, a video
on Facebook of unusual behaviour
from Camponotus ants at Cranbourne
Gardens gained 10,400 engagements
and resulted in 1,500 clicks to the related
news story on the Royal Botanic Gardens
Victoria website. Novak Djokovic made
an impact in person and on Facebook,
with a post about his visit to the Gardens
reaching 37,000 people. Images of
Guilfoyle’s Volcano were also very popular
throughout the year. On Facebook, an
aerial shot reached 28,000 people and
achieved 4,000 engagements in August
2018. On Instagram, a re-post of the
landmark at sunset reached 25,560
people and achieved 3,930 reactions
(likes, comments and shares). In January
2019, a photograph of an agave flower
at Melbourne Gardens reached 15,200
people and had more than 1,800
reactions. ‘Flowering Friday’(posts about
orchids) and images of the new Wellbeing
Gardens were also very popular. Social
media advertising continued to be an
effective marketing channel, with more
than 878,000 ad impressions delivered
over the year.
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS BOARD VICTORIA — ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 49