Driving Real Travel Impact Through Smart Targeting and Verified Arrivals
Manicz Media partnered with Visit Plano and their agency of records to drive leisure travel from Texas feeder markets using a multi-channel activation across Connected TV, premium online video, and display.
Visit Plano
Visit Plano is the destination marketing organization for Plano, Texas. Their Q3 Leisure initiative prioritized short-stay trips, dining and shopping, family experiences, and culture. The program’s goal was to influence consideration and convert in-state audiences into weekend visits, measured through media engagement and verified arrivals.
Targeting
- Feeder markets: Austin, Houston, San Antonio.
- Micro-persona: Adults 28 to 54, mid to upper income, slightly female skew, family planners and couples seeking dining, shopping, and entertainment.
- Device and daypart focus: Mobile-first consumption, peak engagement in evenings 6 to 10 pm.
- Visitation rule set for attribution: 300+ mile trips with at least 8 hours dwell time or an overnight stay.
Solutions Utilized
- Connected TV for upper-funnel awareness with near-universal viewability and completion.
- Online pre-roll video for mid-funnel engagement, with strong completed views and click-through performance.
- Programmatic display and website retargeting for lower-funnel conversion and efficient arrivals.
Audience Response
The campaign delivered 1.18 million impressions across channels. CTV achieved a 99.17 percent completion rate and 99.4 percent viewability, online pre-roll delivered 222 thousand completed views at a 59.39 percent completion rate with 3,311 clicks, and display delivered 454 clicks at 0.10 percent CTR with 84.2 percent viewability.
Modeled visitation indicated roughly 3,540 total arrivals with an average of 0.30 arrivals per 1,000 impressions across channels, above multi-channel benchmarks.
Top Sites and Content
Top Display and Pre-roll Sites
| Domain | Category | Impressions | Clicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| people.com | Arts & Entertainment | 43,918 | 139 |
| rollingstone.com | Arts & Entertainment | 42,765 | 132 |
| nbc.com | Arts & Entertainment | 41,882 | 121 |
| buzzfeed.com | Arts & Entertainment | 40,994 | 128 |
| variety.com | Arts & Entertainment | 39,733 | 125 |
| billboard.com | Arts & Entertainment | 38,694 | 118 |
| imdb.com | Arts & Entertainment | 37,942 | 127 |
| travelandleisure.com | Travel | 36,851 | 112 |
| nytimes.com | News | 35,994 | 116 |
| cnn.com | News | 35,218 | 123 |
Additional high-performing domains included forbes.com, refinery29.com, vogue.com, yelp.com, foodnetwork.com, timeout.com, houstonchronicle.com, eater.com, espn.com, and tripadvisor.com.
Connected TV Platforms and Top Shows
CTV impressions were delivered across Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, and ESPN+, with show-level delivery concentrated on titles such as Stranger Things, Suits, Only Murders in the Building, Andor, The Bear, Marvel Zombies, Yellowstone, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Monday Night Football, and Aka Charlie Sheen.
Optimizations Performed
- Frequency capping maintained 8 to 12 exposures to balance reach and recall.
- Geo-segmentation shifted delivery to high-response zip codes within Austin and Houston.
- Publisher optimization prioritized premium inventory with higher viewability and excluded sub-70 percent placements.
- Contextual alignment around travel and dining content to lift relevancy and intent.
Visitor Analytics and Origination Markets
Average travel distance was approximately 225 miles with an average dwell time of 1.4 days. Post-exposure visitation typically occurred 10 to 15 days after initial media contact, with primary trip motivations centered on shopping, dining, sports tournaments, and family entertainment.
Arrival Efficiency and Benchmarks
| Channel | Estimated Arrivals | APM | Benchmark APM | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connected TV | ~780 | 0.22 | 0.18 to 0.25 | In line |
| Pre-roll Video | ~1,140 | 0.30 | 0.22 to 0.28 | Above benchmark |
| Display and Retargeting | ~1,620 | 0.36 | 0.25 to 0.32 | Well above benchmark |
| Total | ~3,540 | 0.30 | 0.20 to 0.28 | Above benchmark |
APM equals arrivals per 1,000 impressions. Multi-channel sequencing yielded five to seven times higher modeled efficiency than single-channel exposure.
Origin Markets
- Houston, 38 percent of arrivals, APM 0.29.
- Austin, 26 percent of arrivals, APM 0.32.
- San Antonio, 21 percent of arrivals, APM 0.30.
Visitor Interests and Attractions
- Top attractions included Legacy West, Legacy Hall, The Shops at Willow Bend, The Boardwalk at Granite Park, and Crayola Experience.
- Family-oriented venues represented approximately 32 percent of visits.
- Cultural and heritage sites accounted for roughly 10 percent of visits.
Estimated Overnight Stays by Hotel
| Hotel | Estimated Stays |
|---|---|
| Marriott Dallas/Plano at Legacy Town Center | 265 |
| Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel | 240 |
| Hilton Dallas/Plano Granite Park | 210 |
| Sandman Signature Plano | 170 |
| Aloft Plano | 150 |
| Cambria Hotel Plano/Frisco | 140 |
| Hyatt Place Dallas/Plano | 125 |
| NYLO Plano at Legacy | 115 |
| Home2 Suites by Hilton Plano Legacy West | 110 |
| Residence Inn Dallas Plano/Legacy | 105 |
| Other hotels and smaller properties | ~1,000 combined |
Hotel distribution reflects both upscale Legacy area properties and a long tail of limited-service hotels, consistent with weekend leisure mix.
Key Results
- Near-perfect CTV completion rate at 99.17 percent and 99.4 percent viewability.
- 222 thousand completed pre-roll views with 3,311 clicks.
- Approximately 3,540 modeled arrivals, above multi-channel benchmarks.
- Strongest market lift from Houston, followed by Austin and San Antonio.
- Search interest increased for terms like Plano weekend getaway, things to do in Plano, and Plano restaurants.
