The Biggest Myth in Local Tourism Marketing

“Just Posting on Social Media Is Enough”

And why it’s quietly hurting Front Royal, Warren County, and Downtown Front Royal.

The Myth: “We’re Already on Facebook and Instagram”

Many people believe that if you post regularly on social media, you’re “doing marketing.”

You are not.

You’re creating content, but you are not getting it in front of new people.

Here’s the simple truth:

Facebook and Instagram show your posts to only a small fraction of your followers
Most of the people who see your posts:
- Already live here
- Already know about you
- Already follow your page

Posting mostly talks to the same small group of people over and over again.

It does almost nothing to bring in new visitors.

The Front Royal Reality

Right now, Front Royal spends $0 on Meta ads (Facebook & Instagram as reported on Facebook Ads Library).

Zero.

That means:

No paid promotion in travelers’ feeds
No way to introduce Front Royal to new people
No control over who sees our content
No way to remind people who showed interest to come back

In simple terms:

Front Royal is invisible to people who don’t already know it exists.

What $500 a Month Could Do (But Isn’t)

Let’s keep this very basic.

On Facebook and Instagram:

$10–$15 typically gets your message in front of 1,000 people

So with $500 per month, Front Royal could reach:

33,000–50,000 people every month

Instead, with $0:

We reach no new people at all

Over a year, that’s:

400,000–600,000 missed chances to show people that Front Royal exists, is close, and is worth visiting

The Warren County Issue

Now let’s talk about Warren County.

Warren County has chosen to market on its own instead of working together with Front Royal.

On the surface, that sounds fine — but here’s the problem:

Front Royal is inside Warren County
Both are trying to attract the same visitors
When they act separately, they compete for attention instead of helping each other

This actually makes marketing more expensive and less effective.

And here’s the key point:

Warren County also spends $0 on Meta ads (as reported by Facebook Ads Library).

Downtown Front Royal: A Different Role (Not a Lesser One)

Downtown Front Royal exists for multiple reasons, one being:

To bring people from the local area to Main Street.

That is a different job than regional tourism — and it matters. Tourism brings people into the circle, their job is to get people inside the circle to Main Street.

But Downtown Front Royal also spends $0 on Meta ads (as reported by Facebook Ads Library).

That means:

They talk mostly to locals
They promote events to people who already know about them
They rely on hope instead of reach

They are not consistently putting events, shops, and restaurants in front of nearby people who could come downtown — but aren’t thinking about it today.

What a Small Downtown Budget Could Do

Because the audience is local:

The budget can be smaller
The impact can be immediate

With:

$300/month → 20,000–30,000 nearby people reached
$600–$750/month → 40,000–60,000 local people reached

Right now:

That number is zero

What Each Group Should Be Doing

Front Royal

Purpose:
Let people know Front Royal exists and is worth a weekend visit

Suggested budget:
$1,000–$2,500 per month

Potential reach:
70,000–150,000 people per month

Front Royal owns:

Destination messaging
Tourism promotion
Events, dining, lodging, and Main Street visibility

Warren County

Purpose:
Support a single destination voice by funding Front Royal’s tourism marketing — and focus county efforts on long-term regional growth

Recommended approach:

Warren County allocates $10,000 per month to Front Royal specifically for destination marketing
Funding is released quarterly, not automatically
Continued funding is tied to clear, metrics-driven performance milestones

Example milestones include:

Website traffic growth
Engagement rate on ads
Cost per click
Click-through rate
Growth of remarketing audiences

This creates accountability:

Perform → funding continues
Underperform → strategy is adjusted

At typical digital costs, this level of funding could place Front Royal in front of:

650,000–1,000,000 people every month

At the same time, Warren County focuses on what only a county can realistically pursue:

Sports complexes
Tournament facilities
Conference centers
Major destination anchors
Large capital and infrastructure projects

Those projects are well outside the scope of Front Royal — and exactly where county-level leadership belongs.

Downtown Front Royal

Purpose:
Drive people from the surrounding area to Main Street

Suggested budget:
$300–$750 per month

Potential reach:
20,000–60,000 nearby people per month

Downtown marketing works best as activation, not discovery — and becomes far more effective once Front Royal is being advertised consistently.

The Most Important Point

Right now:

Front Royal spends $0
Warren County spends $0
Downtown Front Royal spends $0

That means:

No system exists to bring new people here.

Posting without advertising is like:

Putting up a flyer
Inside your own house
And wondering why no one shows up

A Few Common Questions

Where does the money come from?
- Answer: The money comes from tourism dollars that are already being wasted in other areas and not utilized correctly. The town spends dollars every year on tourism already and the county is mandated to spend 3 of the 5% lodging tax on tourism. The dollars are there, taxes will not go up, and we just need to spend it wisely.
People are trying to do the best that they can, why are you bashing them?
- Answer: This isn’t about bashing anyone. Most people involved genuinely care and are doing the best they can with the tools and structures they have, and effort isn’t the issue. The issue is that right now we spend $0 on social media advertising, which means we are not reaching new people at all. No amount of hard work, posting, or planning can overcome zero distribution. Pointing out a missing piece in the system isn’t a criticism of the people in it — it’s recognizing a structural gap so the work already being done can actually reach more people. The goal here is to make existing efforts more effective, not to diminish them.
Why don’t you help then?
- I have tried to help — many times, and with many different entities — and that offer still stands. I’ve offered my time, experience, and support with no compensation, simply because I care about this community and want to see it do better. I’ve shared ideas privately, raised my hand publicly, and even ran for the Board of Supervisors because I believed we could make smarter, more effective decisions together. This isn’t about stepping back and criticizing; it’s about continuing to step forward and say, “Here’s a gap I see, and I’m willing to help fix it.” Sometimes helping means doing the work, and sometimes it means clearly pointing out what isn’t working so we can improve it.
But we already have tourism, and it does well.
- Tourism exists here, but existing is not the same as doing it well. What we have today is largely passive tourism — people who already know the area, stumble upon it, or come despite our lack of visibility. Meanwhile, surrounding destinations are actively competing for the same visitors with modern digital marketing, and they’re winning that attention battle. When we don’t keep up, the impact shows up downstream: small businesses struggle with inconsistent foot traffic, restaurants and shops close or barely survive, and events underperform. Tourism isn’t “doing well” if it isn’t growing, adapting, and supporting the businesses that depend on it. Standing still in a competitive environment isn’t stability — it’s falling behind.

Final Thought

You don’t grow tourism by posting.

You grow tourism by making sure people actually see what you post.

Right now, the problem isn’t messaging.
It isn’t branding.
It isn’t creativity.

It’s zero distribution.

The Biggest Myth in Local Tourism Marketing