Purchasing Office
401 McIntire Road, Room 248
Charlottesville, VA 22902
All Inquiries for Information Should Submitted in Writing and Be Directed To: Lisa Thomas, Office of Procurement, at
LTHOMAS3@ALBEMARLE.ORG and CC to RFQ@ALBEMARLE.ORG
PROPOSAL DUE: June 24, 2024 at 11:00 am ET
PURPOSE: The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB), with Albemarle County government serving as the fiscal agent, is seeking a vendor for search engine marketing and digital media buying services to drive online visitation to the CACVB website (visitcharlottesville.org), increase brand awareness, and drive overnight visitation to the area. The selected offeror will incorporate current Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) industry best practices to promote Charlottesville/Albemarle County to domestic and international audiences as selected by the CACVB.
II. BACKGROUND The CACVB has previously contracted search engine marketing (SEM) and digital media buying services through an agency. This RFP increases the annual budget allocated for these services. The CACVB has a historic record of previously successful campaigns and can use that information to inform future campaigns.
STATEMENT OF NEEDS:
Search engine marketing and digital advertising efforts need to achieve the following key objectives:
● Have capability to provide search engine marketing, programmatic display advertising, paid social, CTV/OTT retargeting, geotargeting, dynamic search and other capabilities as directed by the CACVB to maximize website traffic through digital channels
● Increase brand awareness of the region as a destination and attract primarily leisure visitors to
Charlottesville/Albemarle – driving overnight hotel stays and increase visitor spending at local businesses and attractions.
● Support multiple marketing messages to key personas identified through the CACVB marketing plan.
● Drive traffic to landing pages that coincide with CACVB promotional campaigns.
● Maintain performance metrics that are above industry standards, defined by the various tactics being implemented
● Prioritize website traffic, cost-per-click (CPC), click-through-rate (CTR) as the primary Key Performance
Indicator (KPI) and travel guide downloads and e-newsletter sign-ups as secondary KPIs
● Provide monthly performance reports for each ad and optimize based on performance
● Be flexible to changing marketing messages, demographics and geographic locations as directed
● Respond within one business day with requested changes or to pause efforts in the case of a public relations crisis
● Administer tourism marketing best practices to maximize marketing efforts while not directly competing with local tourism partners
● CACVB staff will approve all copy and advertising creative prior to it being pushed live
● Options for pushing out photo and video content through these channels
● Google Analytics integration, with custom features, including custom event tracking
● Optional additional services may be requested from the awarded vendor to include increased level of service.
● Any potential budget increase will be tied to and based on number of advertising impressions delivered through the various digital tactics being utilized.