Background
Discover Central Massachusetts is on a mission to change the way people think about this region of the Bay State. The agency, established at the end of 2015, is dedicated to marketing Central Massachusetts as the destination of choice for travel and tourism, as well as convention, meeting, and event planning. According to Christina Andreoli, president of Discover Central Massachusetts, many people are unaware of just how much business is already conducted in and around the 35 towns that comprise Central Massachusetts. “Every year, travelers spend nearly $500 million in the region, resulting in local tax receipts of $10.8 million,” she notes. “Those expenditures include everything from lodging, entertainment, and dining to transportation and fuel. Our agency was formed to drive those numbers even higher by marketing the region as the preferred location for all kinds of events.” Whether that event is a cultural attraction, a tradeshow, or a company’s annual meeting, Andreoli and her group want it to happen in Central Massachusetts – and they want to tell people all about it.
Creating Something New
That’s where ten24 and Slatwall come into the picture. As a newly formed organization, Discover Central Massachusetts needed an eCommerce-enabled website and platform built entirely from the ground up. In June of 2016, the agency hired ten24 for the project. “This wasn’t a case of updating or enhancing an existing system,” says David Crouch, president of ten24. “This was an exciting opportunity to create something completely new.”
The first order of business was to build wireframes for the site and detail the functional requirements. “This Engineering process happens before we do any kind of design or development,” Crouch explains. “We consider the audience and site objectives, determine main navigational elements, what types of data will be required on each page of the website and describe key features.”
Different Audiences, Different Needs
Discover Central Massachusetts serves two types of audiences. The first, and primary, one includes businesses – such as hotels, restaurants, theatres, museums, and convention centers – who purchase a subscription to become members of Discover Central Massachusetts. Subscription prices are determined by a business’s size and type, and this membership entitles businesses to be featured on the agency’s website. Through the Slatwall platform, all members are able to create a profile for their business, complete with information and photos, and include links to their own social media accounts as well as constantly updated information on events that are taking place at their business. Discover Central Massachusetts is able to accept membership applications, process subscription payments, and continuously track membership activity.
The agency also has a second type of audience: end-users such as tourists and meeting or event planners. These are the people and the decision-makers whose spending dollars will grow the business of the members who are featured on the website.
As they fleshed out the wireframes and began to design individual web pages from templates, the ten24 team had to consider all of the requirements of these dual audiences. For example, the development team had to create separate membership options for businesses according to their geographic region (outside Metro-Worcester vs. inside Metro-Worcester). Membership options for restaurants take into account a facility’s seating capacity. The registration and confirmation pages for subscription processing all had to have a specific look.
From an end-user standpoint, it was critical that the Discover Central Massachusetts website be mobile-friendly
and responsive: ten24 developers ensured that all visitors have the same experience and enjoy identical functionality, whether they access the site from a desktop computer or a mobile phone. The ten24 team created a website that allows end-users to do much more than simply read about the agency’s members. Visitors, for instance, can use the Booking.com widget on a hotel’s profile page to book a room without leaving the Discover Central Massachusetts website. Built-in OpenTable functionality on the website enables diners to make reservations with the restaurants who are members of Discover Central Massachusetts. A “What’s In the Neighborhood?” feature displays links to places of interest that are nearby (if users are visiting a theatre’s profile page, for instance, they’ll also see links to restaurants, bars, and attractions that are in close proximity to the theatre). There’s even a special “Meet Here” button on the site’s home page that’s targeted to the highly specialized needs of meeting planners.
The discovercentralma.orgsite went live shortly before Thanksgiving of 2016, and Andreoli says that her agency and its members are extremely happy with the results of ten24’s work. “People are saying that the site is appealing,” she comments. “The imagery has played a huge role in that. The ten24 team spent a lot of time ensuring that the site would feature beautiful photography and images.”
Flexibility for the Future
The flexibility of the Slatwall platform means that as Discover Central Massachusetts grows...the agency’s website and eCommerce capabilities will grow along with it
The flexibility of the Slatwall platform means that as Discover Central Massachusetts grows, sells more membership subscriptions, and adds more functionality, the agency’s website and eCommerce capabilities will grow along with it. Andreoli already has enhancements planned for the site. “Down the road, we’ll be adding functionality that will let us offer packages, like a ‘Dinner and a Show’ option,” she explains. “Users will be able to select and purchase package offerings right from our site.” There will also be theme-specific guides available through the website, including guides for visitors and meeting planners.
For the moment, however, Andreoli and her staff are concentrating their efforts on driving traffic to their brand-new site, explaining the value it offers to members, and writing new content that will be appearing in the coming weeks. The agency has already done some paid advertising for the site on social media, and a comprehensive advertising campaign is scheduled to begin in the early part of 2017. “The businesses in this region have never had this type of attention paid to marketing all of them collectively, so it’s new and exciting – people want to be part of it,” she says.
At a Glance – Project Highlights
- ten24’s solution includes engineering, design, development and Slatwall as a Service (SaaS)
- Mobile-friendly, responsive website positions Central Massachusetts as a preferred destination for business and tourism
- Website features more than XXX unique pages, including member business profiles, an event calendar, and region-specific sections
- eCommerce functionality enables Discover Central Massachusetts to sell and process membership subscriptions through its new website
- Slatwall ensures efficient management of membership subscription and profiles