Shenandoah Valley Tourism Issues Digital Marketing RFP
The Shenandoah Valley Tourism Partnership (SVTP) is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide digital marketing, social media and content creation services The purpose of the proposal is to increase awareness of the Shenandoah Valley as a visitor destination in our target markets, stimulate overnight stays, promote our partner destinations, increase visitor spending and produce a substantial economic impact for the Shenandoah Valley.
Background:
The Shenandoah Valley is known far and wide because dedicated residents, recognizing its natural beauty, have joined to enthusiastically sing its praises for more than nine decades. The vehicle for their efforts is a Valley-wide promotional travel organization known as the Shenandoah Valley Travel Association (SVTA). Originally formed in 1924, SVTA is one of the oldest regional tourism promotion organizations of its kind in the United States. Simply stated, the mission of SVTA is to promote the tourism assets of our beautiful and historic Valley to the rest of the world. SVTA members are located within a compact 200-mile region stretching from Harpers Ferry, WV to Roanoke, VA, and are majestically bordered by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Alleghenies to the west. Currently, the Association is comprised of Valley attractions, lodging establishments, campgrounds, restaurants, golf courses, retail stores, tourism offices, convention and visitor bureaus, and city, town, and county governments that are interested in welcoming visitors to our region.
Scope of Work:
Serve as SVTP’s digital marketing agency:
Shall promote and encourage visitation to the Shenandoah Valley. The successful contractor or contractors will work in conjunction with SVTP’s advertising committee to conduct a digital marketing program to attract potential visitors from our primary target markets of, but not limited to, Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, Richmond, Norfolk, and Hampton Roads. Other markets include Baltimore, Roanoke, New York, Charlotte, and Philadelphia. (Contractors shall develop and execute creative concepts based on strategic analysis and research and input from SVTP. These services shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Analyze local, regional, and national research to recommend the best strategies and promotions and target markets.
2. Provide advice, counsel, and assistance to the Committee on matters pertaining to digital marketing to ensure SVTP’s benefit to the fullest extent possible and with input from SVTP.
Facebook & Instagram Campaigns:
Set up and manage Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns using the following delivery methods to test ad variations:
1. Facebook newsfeed ads testing unique combinations of images, headlines, copy, and link to each of the landing pages produced by
2. Instagram photo ads using eye-catching visuals to boost awareness, increase social following and engagement, and drive website visits.
3. Instagram Stories ads to reach audiences with full-screen branded photos and/or video in their Story Feed.
4. Submit the necessary paperwork required for VTC co-op reimbursement
Campaign Optimization:
Optimization campaigns on a regular basis to continually increase performance and marketing Return on Investment (ROI).
1. Bid Optimization: monitor and adjust keyword bids to attract visitors who are more likely to convert.
2. Budget Allocation: analyze the performance of the various campaigns to pull
3. Ad Testing: Test
4. Audience Targeting: Test and optimize ad messaging and/or images
Landing Page Designs & Development:
1. Design and develop campaign landing pages, for digital campaigns, on the existing website, www.VirginiasShenandoahValley.com.
2. Content review & recommendations based on page copy, outlines, and images provided by SVTP.
3. Mobile responsive dynamic CSS styles that change layouts depending on the device and screen size.
4. Browser Compatibility: the website will work on the latest stable version of all modern browsers that account for the vast majority of US web traffic: Internet Explorer 11, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, iOS & Android browsers.
Analytics tracking Set Up:
1. Build onto the existing Google Tag Manager installation and set-up key goals and conversion events (e.g. newsletter sign up, partner referrals, UTrip) to quantify user engagement and compare the quantitative and qualitative value of visitors from each advertising source. Final tracking parameters will depend on the back-end flexibility of the current website’s content management system (CMS). Deliverable will include documentation of new goals and conceptual analytics-based visitation funnel.
F. Video Campaign(s):
1. Create social ads to promote existing video content, run and optimize ad campaign.
G. Google Adwords:
1. Create, run and optimize Google AdWords.
H. Retargeting:
1. Create ads for retargeting.
2. Deploy retargeting campaign to reach previous website visitors who have not resulted in conversions.
Performance Reports: Produce monthly reports summarizing campaign performance and key insights including:
1. Overview of KPIs like spend, clicks, CPC, CTR, and CPA (where applicable).
2. Highlights of top performance areas of the campaign will be included
3. Overall analytics of performance with key insights and major action items (as needed)
J. Purchase Media per Campaign(s) including but not limited to: Google, Facebook
K. Blog Campaign:
1. Create seasonally relevant blog posts, including photos for the SVTP website. Photos may be sourced from the SVTP Flickr account.
2. Create social ads for new blog posts.
3. Run and optimize ad campaign.
L. E-Newsletter Campaign:
1. Create seasonally relevant E-newsletter to go out monthly to SVTP subscribers.
2. E-newsletter to include current blog content, upcoming events, relevant news, etc.
Due Date:
February 1st, 2019
Address:
Jenna French, Director of Tourism & Economic Development
Shenandoah County
600 North Main Street, Suite 101
Woodstock, VA 22664
Shift Communications is worth considering for this assignment.
