Experience Fayetteville launches multi-channel marketing push focused on bikepacking, connected TV and Razorback fans

Experience Fayetteville presented a multi-channel marketing update May 19, outlining new advertising channels and partnerships intended to increase overnight stays and local spending.

Interim CEO Jennifer Walker summarized early activity: “that campaign is actually in partnership with our Arkansas Tourism, who's doing a matching, for cost,” and said staff had emailed a fuller CEO report to commissioners that morning.

OutRight, Experience Fayetteville’s media partner, gave the commission a detailed briefing on campaign strategy and early results. Anne Davis, director of marketing at OutRight, said the paid campaign “just launched in April, running through December” and that the agency had added connected TV — streaming platforms such as Roku, Samsung TV and Hulu — to its channels this year. “Connected TV essentially is like streaming TV,” Davis said.

Why it matters: Experience Fayetteville measures lodging and restaurant spending through the hotel/motel (HMR) tax. The marketing briefing emphasized a mix of short drive markets and longer “fly” markets to raise average length of stay — a key objective in the organization’s strategic plan.

Most important program elements

- Bikepacking and outdoor focus: A three‑month paid search campaign timed to bikepacking season launched in coordination with Arkansas Tourism as a cost‑share. Staff said the campaign specifically highlights the Fayetteville bikepacking route (the Megaloop) and other outdoor experiences.

- Connected TV: OutRight added streaming inventory to reach travelers in a top‑of‑funnel way; the video creative was refreshed this year to emphasize both downtown and outdoors experiences.

- Wild Sam digital guide and paid placements: Experience Fayetteville purchased a prominent placement in Wild Sam’s digital guide and a back cover in the Northwest Arkansas visitors guide; OutRight reported more than 17,000 visits to the Wild Sam digital guide since publication in April.

- Razorback and game‑day outreach: Staff said they will target Razorback and SEC fans through cooperative earned and paid opportunities to encourage multi‑night stays around athletics events. Commissioners discussed radio and affiliate outreach for game days and asked staff to explore local radio and sports programming partnerships.

- Direct flight test: A smaller “direct flight” campaign in July will target origin markets where XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport) has recently added service; staff described the July test as a way to evaluate future flight‑driven media investments.

Early measurement and attribution

OutRight reported nearly 1.5 million ad impressions in the first three weeks after the April 7 launch and click and video metrics near industry benchmarks. “We served nearly 1,500,000 impressions,” Davis said, and added that results are in an optimization period and will be clearer with more data. She also described a new Arrivalist media‑attribution integration that will let staff track whether people who saw an ad subsequently visited Fayetteville; staff said Arrivalist attribution typically requires a 60–90 day planning window and that initial attribution results should be available by June.

Other initiatives and local promotion

Staff flagged restaurant week in July (enrollment to open June 10), a smaller summer “avid outdoors” creative push in July ahead of the fall travel window, and ongoing earned‑media efforts (examples cited included recent or upcoming coverage in the New York Times, Outside magazine and GearJunkie). Sarah King, vice president of marketing and communications, said staff are also researching AI tools for calendar and listing maintenance to handle high volumes of community events.

What’s next

Commissioners asked staff to coordinate radio, podcast and in‑market partnerships tied to Razorback game days and to share further creative and attribution results at the June meeting. OutRight and Experience Fayetteville staff said they will return in June with deeper channel performance and initial Arrivalist attribution insights.