Marketing team and agency present co‑op ad results; board reviews metrics and contracted work

Staff and Love Communications presented a marketing update and performance report covering October through January, including co‑op placements, reach, and early booking data.

Staff reported approximately $197,000 in paid placement across co‑op and targeted buys that ran in late 2024 and early 2025. The co‑op campaign — which includes partners such as TripAdvisor and Priceline — was reported as the highest-performing paid effort; staff said the campaign achieved a return on ad spend (ROAS) of roughly $10 of estimated hotel revenue per $1 spent and reached about 17 million impressions across channels. Reported metrics included 59,000 website visits in December–January (45,000 unique) and an early increase in average length of stay tied to co‑op activity (2.6 days reported vs. about 2 days previously).

Board members raised measurement concerns and asked for benchmarked, historical reports to put current results in context. Multiple members urged staff to provide clear dashboards (TRT collection, web analytics and Adara hotel‑booking feeds) ahead of future meetings so the board can set quarterly goals and react to “real‑time” booking trends.

The board also discussed content strategy. Staff introduced a potential content‑creator contract with a local producer (Scott Rogers of Fisher Creative) with an estimated starting price in the low five figures; members asked that any content procurement follow county purchasing rules and local‑preference language. The board additionally approved a plan to issue a request for proposals for a PR firm and asked staff to draft an RFP and to consider whether a countywide communications effort would be appropriate.

Finally, staff said they will prepare a third amendment to the agency‑of‑record contract (Love Communications) to lock in a 2025 paid‑media plan once budget lines are released.