StreetSense reports strong early engagement for Bothell marketing; reels and new email template cited as drivers

StreetSense told the Bothell tourism/marketing committee that marketing efforts are pacing ahead of a two‑year target and that new short‑form video and email strategies are improving engagement. At a committee meeting, Jennifer Jasper, senior account director for StreetSense, and Emily Magus, senior content strategist, presented results through May and outlined tactical changes aimed at attracting World Cup and Club Cup visitors.

Jasper reported 51 social media posts through May, including seven original Instagram reels and 10 reshared reels; the team published seven blogs and deployed five marketing emails to a database of about 20,500 contacts. StreetSense said the database’s average open rate was 25%, the click‑through rate was 1.5% and the combined engagement metric was 26.7%. Those figures covered January–May of the contract year, a timeline the committee confirmed during the meeting.

On website performance, StreetSense said paid and organic channels produced 16,290 visitors against a two‑year pacing benchmark of 13,241 — a result the contractor described as ‘‘pacing ahead’’ of expectations. The team reported adding 773 new leads to the marketing database and estimated roughly 6,000 additional visitors driven by lead‑generation and social channels.

Magus described a strategy of saving Instagram reels to Story Highlights to extend their lifespan and drive repeat impressions. She showed examples of three posts tied to World Cup promotion: a February post with about 700 likes and a 15.37% engagement rate, and a boosted April post that reached many non‑followers and received strong engagement. The presentation credited a contracted content creator, Melissa, for B‑roll used in top performing pieces, including an itinerary‑style reel titled "If we only had one day in Bothell."

On long‑form content, Magus highlighted two blog innovations: embedded reels and an interactive map that aggregates destinations mentioned in a post and links to business listings. Jasper said those enhancements increased session length and created more entry points for visitors to book or plan visits.

The contractor also previewed a redesigned email template that places a four‑photo gallery in the hero position and includes a dedicated reels section. In an early June rollout, StreetSense reported 42 clicks to the reels section; a single 'bucket list' reel accounted for about one‑third of engagement within that section.

Committee members asked about cost‑saving options if revenues did not meet projections. A committee member asked where to start if the group needed to make substantial budget adjustments; staff responded that budget status and the StreetSense contract would be discussed later in the agenda and offered to share the contract for comparison. StreetSense emphasized that much of the current growth has been organic and reliant on content and SEO work rather than paid spend.

The presentation concluded with StreetSense offering to share the slide deck with committee lead Danae for distribution.

The committee did not take a formal vote related to the contractor’s recommendations at the meeting; staff said they would continue monitoring budget performance and suggested contract and budget comparisons at a future agenda item.