If you're a council somewhere in Australia, you probably have an economic development arm or maybe even a tourism arm. If you have both, do they work together? And if not, why not?

To our way of thinking, they're one and the same, because if you can attract visitors to your town or region, they will bring money with them from outside. Money that simply wasn't going to reach you otherwise. And guess what? If you can attract more visitors, that creates business opportunities for locals and, voila! Economic development!

So how do you find those elusive visitors? How do you know where they're looking and what they're looking for? Well, the starting point is still the same. What does your destination have to offer that people want to see or do? Importantly, if other destinations have a similar offer, why is your beach/waterfall/lookout/walk/event special or different? In other words, why your destination and not somewhere else? And how do you best promote your point of difference?

If you're like most councils, you have to manage the diverse expectations of a range of stakeholders. You might have a progressive GM but a conservative council. Or vice versa. Some people may want to keep doing things the way they've always done them. Which is great if they work. But increasingly, the old ways are being outgunned by new platforms and new approaches. You still need great content, but a brochure and static images on your website are not going to cut it. You need video. You need dynamic content and it needs to be updated constantly. So, how do you create fresh new video content on a council budget? User generated content.

Research shows that user-generated content (UGC) is much more effective at influencing consumer behaviour. UGC is perceived as more authentic, and if it features people like them, it's incredibly powerful and can impact decision making. People are also more likely to watch user-generated videos than content created by the brand and they trust online peer reviews and recommendations more than professional content and copy, that is, ads.

That's where we come in. Vloggi can help you to build up your content library without the exorbitant costs usually associated with video production. Our content is created by travellers in your destination or by your own local ambassadors and characters. It harnesses the incredible technology that lives in virtually every pocket these days - the HD video camera that lives in smartphones. 

It is editorial content, so rather than you writing a script, someone else tells your story for you. Yes, there's a risk to that, but no marketing exercise is risk-free. UGC can also deliver far greater returns as well, especially among younger demographics, who are more likely to trust and remember UGC. 

So, do councils need video to promote their destinations? Well, yes. Why?  Because that's what people are searching for and because it can tell a story in a way that still images cannot. But you don't have to spend a fortune to create compelling and effective content. Visit vloggi.com/tourism and see how we can help you create compelling video content to promote your destination for less than you think.