Discover Stillwater/CVB Marketing Recap May 2017 Page 1

September 13, 2017 CVB Board Meeting – Marketing Recap

Prepared by: Christie Rosckes info@discoverstillwater.com (Fresh Avenue Marketing) 651.351.1717

1. STATISTICS for DiscoverStillwater.com via Google Analytics.

a. 1st quarter up 50% with 27,000 more users than last year. 2nd Quarterly report shows flat growth. July visitor growth is up 10%. Slow spring appears to be similar state-wide (EMT Lodging stats). August is down 1%.

Discover Stillwater/CVB Marketing Recap May 2017 Page 2

2. Budgeting/Planning/Staffing/Admin a. Executing contracts and campaigns for 2017. Starting to think about 2018. b. Hired new marketing assistant Jen McCormick in May. Continued training on events calendar software,

social media for events and distribution of visitor guides. c. Converted to new email system. Rackspace was no longer serviced by our provider and cancelled mobile

access so we switch to Office 365 which also allows us the ability to share contacts and documents via One Drive. Conversion continues but we are hopeful the new system will work better.

3. Tourism Update Reports a. Tourism report sent to

businesses on July 20th for June-July data and information. SEE THIS EMAIL FOR MORE GRAPHICS…keeping this marketing report simple to save time. Also shared Roger Brooks Resurgence of Downtowns video (32%).

b. The Annual Mixer & Tourism Season Kick-Off Party took place May 16th. There were around 150 in attendance. It was a rainy night which affected turnout. We should consider whether or not to continue this event.

c. Next tourism report will be sent once September 3rd Quarter results are in.

4. Advertising Campaigns a. Radio

i. Next campaign in November with KDWB. We have sold all the spots, so here are the partners: Sawdust Savvy, Gammy & Gumpy’s, Lift Bridge Brewery, Portside Restaurant, and Biercycle Adventures. I’m very pleased with the perfect mix of categories.

b. TV

i. Next campaign

in November

with Comcast

Spotlight. We

are using the

same holiday

spot we ran in

Eau Claire last

year with an

ice castles

tease.

c. Direct Marketing

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d. Out of Home

i. Digital Billboards co-op with EMT. First two

weeks in September. 5 boards per week,2

designs, new locations each week.

e. Print Publications

i. Women’s Press – July Shop Local Issue in

partnership with Mainstreet IBA who

covered half of the cost. Stillwater is

positioned to be one

of the best shop

small/buy local

destinations in the

state, so this was a

great partnership we

should explore

further.

ii. MN Parent –

remnant

opportunity to use

the same ad as in

Women’s press. 1/3

of the cost. $500.

August back to school issue.

iii. Savour Magazine – created a several page editorial spread on Stillwater

for September issues, so we jumped in with an ad. Distributed in Twin

Cities Kowalskis.

f. Tourism Guidebooks/Websites

i. EMT’s State Tourism guide advertising contract was due in July, so to

take advantage of early bird pricing, I spoke with Chuck and went ahead to reserve our ½ page

placement. Working on design.

g. Explore Minnesota i. Metro EMT Group – next meeting on September 20th. Information on

campaigns available upon request.

ii. Facebook campaign with MN Gophers –one week long Facebook Engagement Campaign in June

hosted on the Minnesota Gophers FB page. Stillwater broke records with 1980 entries in one

week.

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h. Digital – Content/Google Ad Words/Display i. Google AdWords Display

1. Best performing ad is year-round animation. 2. Using same ads from retargeting. 3. Roughly $1000/month spend. Constantly evaluating.

ii. Retargeting via AdRoll. 1. Photo Contest a. Run 7/21-7/31. Website banners.

Impressions 15,507. CTR .13%. $56

2. Patio Season a. Run 7/21-7/28. Website banners. Impressions 14,199. CTR .15%. $68 3. 360 Tours a. Run 8/21-9/2. Website Banners: Impressions 29,477, CTR .14% $140

Facebook Ads: Impressions 10,156, CTR 1.4%. $116

i. Social Media

i. Multiple daily posts on all channels featuring original photos and videos as well as shared content.

ii. We did a lot of promotion surrounding the opening of the new bridge including creating a video to highlight both bridges. It has been view 400 times on Youtube and 97,000 times on Facebook.

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iii. Facebook – 31,521 fans. Facebook Live 30K fans giveaway garnered 14K+ views. Top posts in June/July were related to the new bridge, photo contest, Lumberjack Days and July 4th. Bridge –

144K!

iv. Instagram – 4,856 followers. v. Twitter – 1548 followers. vi. YouTube – 42,863 views.

j. Special Markets – Weddings, Meetings, Group Travel

a. Group Travel – respond to calls from group travel planners to assist in planning. b. Meetings –

2. Respond to calls/emails from planners. 3. Created content for new listing on www.MeetingPages.com. Year-long listing went live

in April with their new website design launching in July: http://www.meetingpages.com/event-facilities/event-destinations.aspx. Negotiated free facility insider feature for August 31st.

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4. Created professional 360 Google Street View tours of 15 key downtown venues. Available to view on our meetings webpage , you tube channel, and promoted via

Minnesota Meetings & Events Magazine’s targeted social media channels Aug/Sept/Oct and e-newsletter(BE SURE TO LOOK AT) in August and on meetingpages.com. a. Weddings – 1. Responding to TheKnot.com leads 2. Responding to brides calling for visitor guides this year. 3. Next wedding fair is October 22nd. Seeking booth staff and need to replace imac screen.

c. Website

a. Week maintenance/updates as needed. b. Events Calendar – new design launched July 27th which offers a responsive design for mobile and a

slightly new look. Jen is trying out a new approach for social media with a ‘weekend line-up’ post and graphic.

d. Visitor Guide a. 2017 requests, mailings and distribution continue – Over half of the supply is gone. Distributed

downtown five times already this year. We are so thankful for all the ambassadors (Water Street Inn, Alfresco, and Northern Vineyards) and high volume locations like Dock Café who have distributed over 15 boxes this year!

e. Monthly Newsletter a. Mail Chimp Subscription list: 29,564 Current Avg 13.3%, industry open rate 12.5% b. Wrote and sent monthly travel tips newsletters (open rates): June (12.4%), July (12.9%), August

(12.4%), Photo Contest (15.4%), September (11.5%) f. Public Relations

a. Responded to media inquiries from Pioneer Press, WCCO, AAA, St. Croix Valley magazine, Midwest Meetings, MN Monthly, Aging but Dangerous, Savour and more…

b. https://patch.com/minnesota/stillwater/stillwater-one-americas-best-beach-towns-study - I made a decision not to share this because we don’t have a beach.

c. Stillwater listed in 100 Things to Do in the Twin Cities before you Die book. g. Recent Press

a. http://www.southernliving.com/travel/outside-the-south/midwest-vacations#stillwater-minnesota b. http://www.twincities.com/2017/08/18/stillwater-mansion-is-ready-for-super-bowl-rental/ c. http://www.kare11.com/news/stillwater-less-traffic-more-business/463760790 d. http://stillwatergazette.com/2017/07/31/public-is-invited-to-several-bridge-events/ e. http://www.presspubs.com/st_croix/news/article_1857c4ca-70ca-11e7-b6f0-23d89642699e.html f. http://www.startribune.com/st-croix-river-bridge-ribbon-cutting-expected-to-draw-a-

crowd/437075013/ g. http://www.twincities.com/2017/07/23/when-the-lift-bridge-closes-in-august-stillwaters-gonna-be-a-

whole-new-town/ h. http://www.presspubs.com/st_croix/news/article_88fc4412-6e68-11e7-8dc8-db405eba543e.html i. http://kstp.com/news/stillwater-lift-bridge-to-transform-into-pedestrian-bicycle-bridge/4549431/ j. http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/category/news/3701850-lumberjack-days-kicks-off-in-stillwater/ k. http://stillwatergazette.com/2017/07/11/summer-tuesdays-kicks-off-july-11/ l. http://www.fox9.com/traffic/268384453-story

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m. http://www.twincities.com/2017/06/29/stillwater-volunteers-start-makeover-of-main-street-stairs/ n. http://www.twincities.com/2017/06/30/stillwaters-lumberjack-days-parade-nods-to-new-st-croix-river-

bridge/ o. http://www.twincities.com/2017/06/28/stillwater-historic-photos-app-will-launch-friday-transporting-

users-into-the-past/ p. http://stillwatergazette.com/2017/07/03/food-truck-extravaganza-deemed-a-success-will-expand-next-

year/

h. Branding/Marketing Materials a. Historic District Brown Sign installed. We contributed

$3900 towards the cost using money allocated for the celebration and canopy that wasn’t purchased.

b. New sign installed at bike trailhead. City requested to leave extra space so they could hang fliers, etc.

i. IBA/Chamber/City Partners j. New Businesses

a. The Velveteen Speakeasy opened in August b. Stillwater Ghost Walks started tours August 25th c. LensFlare Stillwater app started in July d. Loome Theological Bookseller is back downtown again e. Portside remodel complete (old rafters) f. Here’s a full list of new businesses in 2017:

http://mailchi.mp/discoverstillwater/whats-new-in-stillwater

k. Events a. Calendar remains full – search by date or view year at a glance from our online calendar. b. Sponsored events coming up: Harvest Fest, Hometown for the Holidays, Art Sculpture tour continues – 3

new sculptures just added!

Thank you!