texas parks and wildlife department

STATE GOVERNMENT
TEXAS PARKS AND
WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT
TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT REFOCUSES
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS TO INCREASE STATE PARK
VISITATION & SUBSTANTIALLY GROW REVENUE.
SITUATION
Relevant updates needed for large
audiences in a time-sensitive manner.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(TPWD) mission balances outdoor recreation
and sustainable use of resources with
conservation and management of natural and
cultural resources. The department operates
95 Texas state parks and historic sites, 46
wildlife management areas, three saltwater
fish hatcheries and five freshwater hatcheries.
TPWD game wardens and wildlife and
fisheries biologists work in every Texas county,
enforcing laws and encouraging management
to conserve fish and wildlife. Texas State
Parks have more than 8 million visits a year
and more than 3 million hunting and fishing
licenses are sold each year. TPWD’s large and
diverse customer base illustrates the need
for TPWD to utilize digital communications to
get relevant updates to a large audience in a
time-sensitive manner.
SOLUTION
TPWD evaluated the GovDelivery Platform
as a viable digital communications platform
in 2006. With so many places to go, sites to
see, and activities in which to take part, it
was vital that TPWD’s customers could selfselect topics that paralleled their interests
and that TPWD had the ability to send
targeted communications specific to those
interests.
Another important component was the
contribution to revenue generating activities.
Email is used to drive sales of department
products and programs, including hunting/
fishing licenses, boat registrations, annual
state park passes, magazine subscriptions,
conservation specialty license plates and
other products and programs.
[email protected] | govdelivery.com | (866) 276-5583
ABOUT
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s
(TPWD) mission is to manage and
conserve the natural and cultural
resources of Texas and to provide
hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation
opportunities for the use and enjoyment
of present and future generations.
“GovDelivery is a cost-effective
way for us to have ongoing
communications with our
constituents. People come to
us to buy a fishing or hunting
license once each year. And
in the past we never talked to
them again after that. Now we
can send a thank you message
and invite them to sign up
for a hunting and fishing
e-newsletter so they can get
information from us throughout
the year, and we can develop a
relationship with them.”
CARLY MONTEZ
SENIOR MARKETING SPECIALIST
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT
RESULTS &
METRICS
230K
TOTAL PEOPLE
REACHED
69%
INCREASE IN
SUBSCRIBERS
52K
ADDITIONAL
REVENUE
TPWD now regularly communicates
with stakeholders with whom it would
previously interact once or twice a year.
This regular communication enables TPWD
to achieve its mission goals to educate on
conservation efforts, increase outdoor
recreation and increase revenue.
“Pretty much every communication that
we put out there is meant to educate
people about conservation in Texas, why
it’s important and the opportunities for
outdoor recreation around them. We
have four e-newsletters that serve our
major customer groups: our hunters and
anglers; our state park visitors and nontraditional and avid all-around outdoor
recreationists and conservationists. Our
e-newsletters are one of the main ways we
get that message out to customers on an
ongoing basis, so we’re able to tell them
what activities they can take part in and
provide them with timely information on
topics of interest,” Montez adds.
TPWD sends email blasts to targeted
customer groups. For example an Outdoor
Activity of the Month email blast geared
towards urban families promotes seasonal
activities at nearby state parks. “We hear
stories about events getting completely
booked up because people are really
interested in trying the activity of the
month,” states Montez.
TPWD also generates more revenue for the
department using digital communications
and outreach strategies. “We are able to tie
some of our digital communications directly
to revenue growth so we measure our
success by that when we can,” said Montez.
For example, TPWD sells annual state park
passes. Before GovDelivery, TPWD didn’t
have a method to remind current pass
owners when it was about to expire. Once
TPWD started sending regular monthly
renewal notices through GovDelivery, the
renewal rate for those who were contacted
by email was 7.1% higher, which over a 6
month period translated to an additional
$52K in revenue.
[email protected] | govdelivery.com | (866) 276-5583
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
One of TPWD’s biggest revenue generators
to support its public hunting program
is Big Time Texas Hunts, which sells $9
online entries to a drawing. Last year,
TPWD used GovDelivery to deliver email
promotions that would drive purchases.
The department generated more than
$96K in revenue from people contacted
using GovDelivery. Those who were
contacted through GovDelivery and direct
mail had twice as high of a response rate.
33% of the people who were contacted via
email and direct mail responded versus
16% who only received direct mail.
The key to these revenue driving
initiatives is reaching more people. One
technique that TPWD uses to expand its
outreach is the GovDelivery Network,
which operates similar to major online
retailers that advertise products based
on your interests (“people who purchased
this item also bought this item”). The
Network automatically connects similar
organizations to cross-promote topics
during the sign-up process.
Anyone who has made a state park
reservation online gets a message from
TPWD through GovDelivery that thanks
them for visiting and welcomes them
to the bi-monthly State Parks Getaways
e-newsletter, which has added more than
80K people to TPWD’s outreach.
ABOUT GOVDELIVERY
GovDelivery empowers government to create
better lives for more people. More than 1,000
organizations worldwide use the GovDelivery
platform and network to inform and engage
over 80 million people. GovDelivery is the only
digital marketing platform built exclusively
for public sector organizations in order to
promote usage of services, enhance public
awareness, and increase the contributions
and involvement of citizen communities.