Discover Klamath reports ~161,000 website visitors in 2024, recommends shifting budget toward social media

Discover Klamath presented a condensed 2024 marketing audit to the Klamath County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 4, reporting website analytics, a breakdown of advertising spend and recommendations for 2025.

Mia Apps, Discover Klamath’s marketing director, said the organization recorded about 161,000 website visitors in 2024 after launching a new site. "We had a total of a 100 and 61,000 website visitors for 2024," Apps said, noting that most users were recorded as new because the site went live this year.

Apps outlined the 2024 spending mix: digital display and paid search (managed in part by contractor Q1 Media) were the largest line items, visitor guides/DM mag mailers accounted for about 14% of spend, public relations about 14% (using the same PR firm that works with Travel Oregon), print roughly 10% and social media and content creation smaller shares. She said display and paid search consumed roughly 30% of the budget — about $100,000 — while social media spending totaled about $43,000.

Based on performance data, Apps recommended shifting more dollars to social content and short-form video to increase longevity and organic reach: "So I think there's a little bit more longevity there...based on the findings from 2024, it's gonna be a better investment," she said.

Kim Matthews, executive director of Discover Klamath, framed the recommendations as part of broader 2025 strategy lanes that will tie marketing to measurable returns. Matthews said the organization plans to bring some contracted services in-house when current contracts end, and to provide quarterly return-on-investment reporting to county stakeholders.

Presenters demonstrated site features and campaigns designed to extend visitor stays and improve trip planning. They highlighted the "All Roads Lead to Oktoberfest" pilot page, which had 4,900 hits, and described an integrated events calendar pulled via ITI profiles. Discover Klamath said it aims to raise the average length of stay from about 1.7 nights toward a 2–3 night target.

Matthews and Apps also described staffing additions for 2025, including an events planner and assistant marketer (Marissa Davidson) and a director of operations (Mel McGee), and partnerships intended to reduce costs for event registration (including work with the Ross Ragland center).

Commissioners responded positively and asked follow-up questions; no formal county budget decisions were made at the work session.