Media Plan to Promote Marfa, Texas

Introducing Marfa, Texas

Introduction: Welcome to Marfa, Texas, home to 1,800 proud residents, live music venues, art galleries, small bites, little distractions, a lot of history, and so much more. “It’s where land as far as the eye can see meets more stars than you can count, and where modern and historic reside side-by-side. It’s Marfa.”

Objective: To increase tourism to Marfa, Texas in 2022 through earned media coverage in local and national outlets, new influencer partnerships and blogger relationships, community-wide events, and word-of-mouth discussions on social media spurred by viral videos.

Audiences:

1. College Students: Marfa feels far away from the distractions of city life, yet is a short enough drive for a weekend getaway from one of Texas’s many universities. Marfa has endless things to offer students looking for a quick and inexpensive getaway from their college lifestyle. This audience includes students at Texas Christian University, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, The University of Texas at Austin, Southern Methodist University, Baylor University, and more — all within driving distance of Marfa.

2. Middle-Aged Couples: From wine tasting to unique meditation experiences, or even a day of golfing, Marfa offers couples young-to-old a weekend to remember. These couples reside in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and surrounding towns, and have expendable incomes that allow them to take time off work, obtain child care, and/or afford the commute and weekend experiences.

Primary Media Coverage (Over Past Six Months):

1. Outlets:

   1. Conde Nast Traveler

   2. The New York Times

   3. Town & Country Magazine

   4. Texas Monthly

   5. Travel Awaits

2. Writers:

   1. Jacob Urist, NYT

   2. Janie H. Pace, Travel Awaits

   3. Jane Sophia, View Traveling

   4. Matt Joyce, Texas Highways

   5. David Moin, Women’s Wear Daily

Strategies and Tactics:

1. Earn media coverage in local and national outlets by building relationships with the media through all-inclusive and all-encompassing media trip weekends.

   1. Invite journalists and editors from local (D Magazine, Houstonia, Texas Monthly) and national outlets (Southern Living, Town & Country, Simple Living), as well as editorial teams from Texas universities to visit Marfa for a weekend of sightseeing and slowing down in exchange for two features over the next six months.

2. Earn media coverage in local and national outlets through media pitches to reach relevant target audiences.

   1. Pitch the many restaurants, attractions, museums, spas, and shops, that make Marfa so special to outlets including those mentioned above and Southwest Review, The Texas Observer, Local Profile, Texas Lifestyle Magazine, Travel Awaits, Country Living, Conde Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, Haute Living, and InStyle.

3. Partner with influencers, local restaurants, shops, and organizations to promote annual events.

   1. Marfa has an annual event each month from April to November, including the CineMarfa Film Festival, Marfa Lights Festival, and Trans-Pecos Festival of Music + Love. For each event, 20 relevant local and national influencers will be invited to attend and promote the event via social media to attract new tourists the following year, with the agreement they will continue to promote the event once a month for 10 months following, and twice a week for two months preceding.

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