TOURISM MARKETING RFP ISSUED BY CITY OF STAUNTON
The City of Staunton Tourism Department (Visit Staunton) is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide digital marketing services. The purpose of the proposal is to increase awareness of the City of Staunton as a visitor destination in our target markets, stimulate overnight stays, enhance visitor spending, and ultimately produce a substantial economic impact for the City of Staunton
Visit Staunton is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide digital marketing services. The objective of the service contract is to increase awareness of the City of Staunton as a visitor destination in our target markets, stimulate overnight stays, enhance visitor spending and ultimately produce a substantial economic impact for the City of Staunton. Questions and Addenda: All questions regarding this request for proposals must be submitted in writing to Sheryl Wagner, Director of Tourism, at wagnerss@ci.staunton.va.us no later than 4:00 p.m., November 29, 2021. Prior to submitting their proposals, it is the firm’s responsibility to check the City web-site
II. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS A. Serve as the Visit Staunton’s digital marketing agency: Shall promote and encourage visitation to Staunton. The successful contractor or contractors will work in conjunction with the Department to conduct a digital marketing program to attract potential visitors from our primary target markets of Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads to the City of Staunton.
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. 2. Provide advice, counsel, and assistance to the Department on matters pertaining to digital marketing to ensure the Department’s benefit to the fullest extent possible and with input from the City of Staunton. B. Facebook & Instagram Campaigns: Set up and manage Facebook & 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 contractor(s). 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.
C. Campaign Optimization: Optimize 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 performance of the various campaigns to pull budget from low- performers and increase budget for campaigns that provide the greatest ROI. 3. Ad Testing: Test ad creativity to discover what variables (e.g. headlines, images, descriptions, display URLs, sitelink extensions, and call-outs) prove most effective in attracting high quality visitors to the visitstaunton.com website. 4. Audience Targeting: Test and optimize ad messaging and/or images shown to targeted audiences to serve the most relevant and compelling ads based on known interests, demographics, and likely decision-making criteria.
D. Landing Page Design & Development: 1. Design and develop campaign landing pages, for digital campaigns, on the existing website, www.visitstaunton.com. 2. Content review & recommendations based on page copy, outlines, and images provided by Staunton. 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, Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, iOS, & Android browsers.
Due Date: 2:00 P.M. LOCAL TIME, DECEMBER 16, 2021
Address:
Proposal documents shall be mailed to addressee below or hand-delivered to the City of Staunton Finance Office located at 116 W. Beverley Street, 3rd Floor City Hall, Staunton, Virginia. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Faxed or emailed proposals will not be accepted. All written proposals and must be delivered to: Mail to: Overnight To City of Staunton City of Staunton Chad Horvat Chad Horvat Finance Business Manager Finance Business Manager P.O. Box 58 116 W. Beverley St., 3rd Floor Staunton, VA 24402-0058 Staunton, VA 24401 Phone: (540) 332-3819 Phone: (540) 332-3819
Relevant agencies to consider include Hunter PR and Zeno Group.
