Digital Advertising 2024/25 Application

RTO7’s offer of the Partnership Program for 2024/25 is contingent upon the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sports' approval of RTO7’s 2024/25 Business Plan.

If you are unfamiliar with the Partnership Program and applications, I highly recommend calling (Alex 705-441-2931 ahogan@rto7.ca) to first talk through your proposed project and/or completing the application, as the process is greatly simplified with some direct explanation prior to completion of the application.

RTO7 reserves the right to limit the number of programs/funds that one stakeholder may receive per year.

Please read the Partnership Program Guidelines for important background information before completing this application.  The Guidelines refer to a Resource Guide which we have put together that contains lots of useful information that relates to Partnership Program projects (e.g. target markets, performance metrics, the importance of data, etc.) - we encourage you to check this out. 

The documents linked to within this application should open in a new window in your browser when clicked on.
We highly recommend that you log into a Google account (directions in link) to access this form and know that your progress is automatically saved as a draft for 30 days so you can return to it.
If you choose not to do this or to work offline
  • You will need to complete and submit the form all in one sitting
  • Be sure to save a copy of your submitted application (if you are not logged  in as recommended, once submitted, neither you nor we will have access to your application to make edits so if we ask you to make any revisions to your application you will have to start the application process from scratch)
If you choose not to log into a Google account, contact us to discuss how best to submit your application.

● For our purposes, digital advertising refers to conducting a digital advertising campaign which might include platforms such as Google Search and Google Display, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. 
● Note that this medium of advertising is very effective for increasing awareness; the program is also effective for increasing comfort level with digital advertising and appreciating how different digital advertising media work with and support one another.  Immediate conversion (i.e. ticket sales, bookings, etc.) may not be an immediate outcome of the campaign. Only one call to action (as opposed to multiples) will avoid dilution of our joint investment.
● Through RTO7, you will work with the Aber Group (RTO7's advertising agency) who will develop a media plan and ad copy that suits your audience, messaging, etc. The agency will then execute the media buy and optimize the campaign over the duration of the project.  Please note that while the Aber Group will be planning, placing and measuring the results  of your  campaign (the media side), you will be responsible for:
  • designing your campaign i.e. you will already know the purpose or goal of your campaign, the graphic theme and messaging, etc. before applying for this partnership (this can be as simple as having a selection of good images and messages in mind through to having full blown ‘ads’ developed by a creative agency that you are wanting to distribute through a mix of media platforms)
  • supplying the campaign creative - a selection of current, high resolution images (min 1 MB) and/or at least one video (30 sec. max)

● It is assumed that you have a fully functional website already (since you will be driving traffic to it with an advertising campaign) that:
  • is  up to date,  easy to navigate and reflects current offerings, hours  and contact information
  • displays properly on desktop  and mobile devices (this is critical as close to 80% of our target markets  are using  mobile  devices  to access your campaign) 
  • is under your control for the purposes of updating  content  in a timely manner
● Please note that while these campaigns will be run through the BruceGreySimcoe Ads Manager (for billing purposes), the campaign will run as sponsored ads on your social media platforms.
● The audience for your campaign will align with some/all of RTO7’s Target Markets below (or may be determined using your more specific postal code data analysis through Environics Analytics/Prizm Segmentation).
● Program preparation (your  development of your creative, media plan, website tagging, media buy, etc.) will require at least five weeks lead time (from project approval to campaign launch). Faster turnarounds may be considered but ONLY if high resolution visual assets/creative, the landing page and messaging are ready to share at the time of application. Note that we will be setting firm partner deliverable deadlines with associated consequences (monetary or launch delay) for partner's missing deadlines
● The media buy may be flighted or taken all at once depending on size (e.g. three consecutive months or on/off throughout the year according to your product offer)
● Leverage is $1 partner funds matched by $1 partnership funds to a combined maximum of $40,000 per project, e.g. $15,000 leverages to $30,000.
● There is a minimum $7,500 investment from the partner (can be a single tourism entity or a tourism group/DMO/tourism organization).
● Since improved understanding and capability with respect to digital advertising is one objective of this program, the partner is encouraged to ask questions of The Aber Group during the kick-off call, and will participate in a debrief provided by The Aber Group and RTO7.
● Once the project is approved, all communications regarding the project MUST be conducted in Basecamp (provided by RTO7)
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Email *
Tourism Operation Business Name (and Legal Operating Name) *
Senior Organization Rep *
Note this is the individual with signing authority for the project and ultimate responsibility for the execution and completion of the project 

Please provide Name, Title & Email (needed to send the Agreement to, with a copy to the Contact below)
Contact Name & Title of Individual Responsible for Day-to-Day Execution of the Project

Note this person will be the  day-to-day decision maker  for  the project,  responsible for execution of the project and regular communications with RTO7 and agencies, and should have skills and experience in managing projects of a similar nature as well as available time to devote to the project).
 *
Address *
Phone Number *
Project Name
Target Campaign Start Date & Anticipated Duration *
Please note that it takes  a minimum of  5 weeks setup prior to launching a campaign (subject to change based on demand)
Partner Funding Contribution *
This should be 1/2 of the total project cost (including tax)
You will need to send RTO7 this amount in the form of EFT, e-transfer or cheque
The minimum partner contribution for this program is $7,500; the maximum is $20,000 (including tax)
Total Project Budget  *
This is the total cost of the project you are applying for including tax (with 1/2 paid by you; 1/2 paid by RTO7)
Website/Campaign Landing Page *
Facebook page *
Please use the exact address as it appears on Facebook e.g. @yourorg OR facebook.com/yourorg
Full Control Access 


 *
In order to launch the campaign, you will need to allow The Aber Group to act as an advertiser on your page. In the new Pages experience on Facebook, only individuals with “full control” (not partial) will be able to accept or assign task access. 

To prevent delays in the campaign setup stage, please provide the name of the individual who has full control of the Facebook Page by following these steps:

  • Log into Facebook, then click your profile photo in the top right
  • Click see all profiles, then select the page you would like to switch into
  • Click your Page profile photo on the top left side to go onto your Facebook Page
  • On the left bar that now appears, click settings
  • From there, click the New Pages Experience that appears on the left bar
  • Under People with Facebook Access, click your profile to see your access
  • levels. 

Page Owners will have profiles that say that they have full control and will be able to accept access invitations.

If you do not have full control of the Facebook Page, and cannot determine how to move forward at this stage of the program, the campaign will need to run through the BruceGreySimcoe platforms and you will be required to pay a $200 administrative fee.

Person with full control of the Facebook Page:
Instagram page
Please use the exact address as it appears on Instagram  i.e. @brucegreysimcoe OR https://www.instagram.com/brucegreysimcoe
RTO7 Geographic Target Markets *
These are markets and activities that BruceGreySimcoe targets in our campaigns; check off those that you would like to target in your campaign.
Required
Cities & Towns your target audience is located in (if known)

If your asset or event is not targeted clearly at attracting tourists (i.e., people from over 40km away), RTO7 may request justification during the application review process. This entails explaining why/how you are marketing it as a tourist attraction and detailing local community partnerships such as overnight accommodation collaborations.
RTO7 Target Activities *
Required
What are some interests  that your audience might have?
What will your campaign promote, and to whom? *

This could be an event, an attraction, an asset, a season, a destination, an activity, etc.  And you could be promoting it to couples, families, young professionals, grandparents, age, gender, interests, etc.  

For example: This campaign will promote our business (motel) to young families (with teenage and younger kids)

Please keep in mind that although this is an awareness campaign, revenue generation by tourism operators is of key importance and should therefore  be considered in what you are promoting to your target audience e.g. we are more likely to approve/promote activities that are associated with businesses that stand to benefit e.g. a tour guide, an outfitter,  etc. than simply beautiful vistas or free hiking trails.

Messaging *
What is the specific message(s) that will be communicated through the digital campaign?

For example: This campaign will let our target audience know that

  • Our accommodation is the perfect family getaway for March Break, and
  • We’ve created 3 fun family packages with nearby experiences 

Keep in mind that given the recent increase in demands on limited resources and our desire to increase the region's sustainability, RTO7 will require incorporation of Plan Ahead/Book Ahead messaging into campaigns. This should help to ensure fewer visitors are disappointed upon arrival (if they have not booked and are unable to get access or be served), thereby improving the quality of their visit to the region, but will also make it easier for operators to budget and plan when they know more/less what demand will be. In addition we'll focus on messaging that promotes longer stays and a deeper connection to the area over less sustainable/beneficial messaging promoting for example bucket lists and Instagram worthy shots.

Key Activities, Milestones & Responsibilities
The following is an approximate sequence of events for the campaign you will be undertaking:

  1. Project approval – RTO7
  2. Project agreement – RTO7 & Partner; Partner adds linked BGS & ON logos to their website, completes Typsy Training 
  3. Partner submits 50% share of project cost to RTO7  - Partner
  4. Prepare kick-off call document (to be provided) as preparation for call with The Aber Group - Partner
  5. Kick-off conference call with The Aber Group to outline/negotiate project objectives, timelines, tracking, reporting frequency etc. – RTO7, Partner & Aber
  6. Provide digital specs for banner ads, social media, etc. - Aber
  7. Upload digital creative/collateral for campaign to Basecamp (RTO7 to set up) - Partner
  8. Landing page URL ready - Partner
  9. Install Google Analytics (if required) and provide Aber access to Partner website – Partner
  10. Add RTO7’s Agency of Record, The Aber Group, as advertisers to Partner's Meta (Facebook) page - Partner
  11. Install Google Tag Manager on Partner website – Partner (with instruction)
  12. Testing of Google tagging - Aber
  13. Develop proposed media plan – Aber
  14. Review and approval of media plan – Partner & RTO7
  15. Provide Aber access to social media accounts (e.g. Meta/Facebook) - Partner
  16. Upload any images/video to the Basecamp for campaign – Partner
  17. Develop keywords and ad copy for Search campaign (if applicable) – Aber
  18. Draft social media ad copy (if applicable) – Partner/Aber
  19. Review and approve all keywords, ad copy & destination URLs – Partner & RTO7
  20. Launch campaign and send screen shots – Aber
  21. Monitor and optimize campaign – Aber
  22. Call to walk through social media dashboard (new partners) or to check in part way (previous partners)
  23. Timely decisions in response to Aber questions and proposals to optimize, etc. – Partner
  24. Call to debrief the campaign - All 
  25. Final reporting and analytics to RTO7 - Partner
Performance Metrics *

The Ministry of Tourism, Sport & Culture is requiring increased reporting of project and sustainability-related metrics. We will be asking you to collect and report on the information below in an effort to continuously improve/inform both our projects and our business practices. 

Please indicate HOW or what indicators your organization will use to evaluate the success of this campaign. We also want to know what your expectations are of the campaign. For this we’ll need a baseline value to which you’ll compare this campaign - typically data from the same period last year as the proposed campaign period this year as well as an anticipated value – what you hope to achieve through this campaign specifically.

For an explanation of these and other useful tourism metrics, please read Why Collect This Info and
Additional Reporting Metrics


Metric #1
Required
Last Year Baseline Data
Anticipated This Year
* Keep in mind that conversions i.e. tickets sold, overnight bookings etc. can only be attributed to the campaign if you are selling tickets/rooms online - while this type of campaign is typically very good at creating awareness (clicks to your website), Conversions (direct attributable sales) are often not immediately evident
Metric #2 *
Required
Last Year Baseline Data
Anticipated This Year
* Keep in mind that conversions i.e. tickets sold, overnight bookings etc. can only be attributed to the campaign if you are selling tickets/rooms online - while this type of campaign is typically very good at creating awareness (clicks to your website), Conversions (direct attributable sales) are often not immediately evident
Requirements

Please confirm that the following are in place CURRENTLY in order to qualify for funding. 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT & REPORTING
 *
Required
WEBSITE *
Required
CREATIVE *
Required
ENGAGEMENT *
Required
ATTESTATION *
Required
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM *
RTO7 is committed to sustainable tourism (link out to get a better understanding of what we mean by this) and we hope you are too! As one aspect of our sustainability journey, we will be looking to our tourism stakeholders to collect and share sustainability related data in future. 

While  collection/reporting of this data will not impact on evaluation of your application this year, it may in future years.

We believe sustainability is good for your business and we're committed to making it as easy as possible in the future for you to incorporate and report on your sustainability so that down the road, we will be able to tell the sustainability story of the region (and your operations) in our promotions.

We will be directing you to a survey with a long list of potential sustainability indicators - we'd like your input as to which you are currently collecting and/or are willing to report to RTO7 on annually for the purposes of an aggregated tourism story and improved decision making.  

Please read carefully...

For  this  year, we're simply collecting  information.  To complete the survey as a required part of your application process follow these steps:

  1. Click on the link below - the sustainable tourism survey will open in a new window.  
  2. Click on the box below to indicate that you have done so and will complete the survey immediately after hitting submit on this application. Then continue on to complete the funding application and hit Submit.
  3. Next go to the survey window, complete the survey and hit submit (you have now completed the application process - both documents will be required for an application to be considered complete).


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