Spokane Valley unveils 'Bella the Intern' and 'Valley Venture Fam' campaigns; staff press hotels for conversion data

Marketing staff and a consultant from 116 and West presented two new destination marketing campaigns to commissioners: a short‑form social series led by an on‑staff intern called "Bella the intern" and a longer‑form influencer family series named "Valley Venture Fam." Staff said the campaigns aim to use authentic, influencer‑style content to increase engagement and, ultimately, hotel overnight stays.

The marketing presenter said social media is the primary discovery channel for the target audience and that approximately 80% of website users access content from mobile devices. The "Bella" campaign will feature short, authentic Instagram Stories and feed posts showing local parks, trails, breweries, restaurants and events; marketing staff said Bella is already collecting assets and posts are planned for late July or early August. The "Valley Venture Fam" is a paid family influencer series (10–15 videos planned) that will run long‑form episodes on YouTube and be cut into shorter social ads and landing‑page content with the goal of driving bookings.

"Social media is where stories and experiences are discovered and inspired," the 116 and West presenter said, explaining the strategy of using real people and episodic content to increase engagement and web traffic.

Commissioners and hoteliers pressed staff for more direct measures of campaign effectiveness. A hotel representative said it is straightforward for major brands and franchises to run reports showing how many stays and bookings come from specific referral sources and volunteered to send a sample report to marketing staff. Commissioners emphasized the need for an independent or aggregated "heads‑in‑beds" metric that shows conversions from Discover Spokane Valley to actual hotel reservations.

Marketing staff said June analytics showed increases in active users and that social media giveaways (specifically a June Crave ticket giveaway) drove higher engagement and a 288% increase in views of the "places to stay" web page. Staff also reported increased traffic from the U.S. and a rise in users from Canada, which the presenter said they may test again with paid targeting in August. Display and organic social were cited as top performing channels.

Some commissioners questioned the content mix. Several said that while the Spokane Indians minor‑league baseball content performs well in display channels and is easy to produce, it is not a unique reason for out‑of‑market travelers to stay overnight. Staff responded that while the Indians-related content helps engagement and last‑minute stays, the campaign includes regional assets (Mount Spokane, Green Bluff, Silverwood) to showcase unique experiences.

Staff and commissioners agreed on two follow‑up items: (1) marketing staff will coordinate with hoteliers to get sample reports or raw data showing conversions from Discover Spokane Valley referrals to bookings, and (2) staff will proceed with campaign production as planned, with the understanding that additional videos and placements will be monitored for their conversion performance.

Ending: Staff invited commissioners and local partners to notify them of local events (motorcycle rallies, Corvette shows, biking events) that could be highlighted by the Bella campaign; hotel representatives offered to share sample booking reports to help the marketing team measure direct outcomes.