Since 2017, the Côte-d’Or department has developed a very fine reputation for its destination on social networks, and has repeatedly been in the top 5 of the most engaged French departments on Facebook.
Today, let’s meet Isabelle Cassotti, Community Manager for Côte-d’Or Tourisme, who explains the tourism department’s social media strategy.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us more about your position at Côte-d’Or Tourisme?

To begin with, I have a dual career path, which enabled me, after studying marketing and advertising, to work for around ten years in consumer marketing with clients such as Duracell, Suchard, Microsoft and Nestlé, before managing a major food brand myself within the Bongrain group.
At the age of 30, I went back to school and obtained a Master’s degree (BAC+5) in tourism, which enabled me to join Côte-d’Or Tourisme after a spell in Champagne.
At Côte-d’Or Tourisme I held several different positions in the communications department (promotion, qualification of the offer…) and in 2014 I created the position of CM by proposing a Social Networks strategy that didn’t exist at the time (before that I took a professional training course dedicated to Social Media for 5 months at the CFPJ in Paris).
Since 2015 #lacotedorjadore has been our signature on the networks we’ve invested in: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin.
Today, social networks are an integral part of our communication strategy with the general public, in line with the newsletters and the general public blog that I also manage.

Qhat are today’s challenges for a French department in terms of digital communications?

There are several reasons, of course!
Firstly, competition from foreign destinations that have become super accessible in terms of budget thanks to low-cost flights and, of course, competition from French destinations whose diversity is a real boon for consumers!
What’s more, we’re one of France’s “inland” destinations, which means that we don’t have a coastline or mountains, and are therefore more complicated to promote to a very broad public.
We’re a destination that’s more focused on the art of living, gastronomy, wine tourism and nature, which are all more compelling than “the beach” 😉.
Then, when it comes to the digital challenge, there’s that of tone and messages. Beyond the budgetary aspects, of course, which may or may not allow for an increased presence on the networks (but when you work with a smart agency, you’ll do fine 😉 ), for me one of the grails on the networks is the “visual translation” of our destination.
The second point is to be vigilant about targets: on the networks, they have to correspond to our consumer targets, and so are not necessarily always “superimposable” on our communities.

What are the objectives of your social networking presence?

There are 3 main ones with different levels: destination awareness, recruiting “new” consumers and engaging our communities.

Which social networks are most important to you?

Facebook andInstagram for the general public and Twitter and linkedin for professionals, facebook to a lesser extent for our local players too (we have specific pages for them).

How do you measure the effectiveness of your actions, and on which KPIs?

Engagement is our primary kpi, measuring interactions and growing our communities are our main guides.

How do you manage content production as part of your social media strategy?

We work both in-house on content production, particularly for the written word (articles, posts, etc.), but also for photos with our in-house photographer, as well as with our photo and video libraries, and of course I call on Travel Insight for the production of new content adapted to the networks, particularly for videos, which have to be shorter and punchier than those we’ve already produced.
We’re very complementary with the agency, so we often produce together through regular brainstorming sessions, followed by translation by the Travel Insight team.

Travel Insight now supports you in your social media communications.
What’s in it for you?

Very much so!
I’m practically the only one managing social networks for Côte-d’Or Tourisme, and it’s very important for creativity, monitoring and performance to be accompanied by professionals who do just that. 😉 With Célia (editor’s note: the agency’s director), who is my main contact, we’ve easily developed a real complementarity from the outset.
It’s a real pleasure to produce together, because we bring a lot to each other, we know how to listen to each other and change our minds when necessary.
And when I see the results of our collaboration for a “small” destination like ours, I’m very happy with my choice of agency. 😉