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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.1b 1-18-2022 CGCVB Minutes COTTAGE GROVE CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU MINUTES CITY HALL - COUNCIL CHAMBERS January 18, 2022 A special meeting of the Cottage Grove Convention and Visitors Bureau was held on the 18th day of January, 2022, at 7:30 a.m. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:30 a.m. by Chair Steve Dennis. ROLL CALL Assistant Mann called the roll: Members Present: Steve Dennis, Chair - Here Justin Olsen, Vice Chair - Here Christine Costello, Director - Here Members Absent: Laurie Levine, Director Roshan Patel, Director Staff Present: Jennifer Levitt, City Administrator Jaime Mann, Assistant to the City Administrator Julie Prior-Miller, Marketing and Communication Specialist Others Present: Roger Sievers, Sievers Creative Chairman Dennis noted since there wasn’t a quorum present today, they would not be making any motions or voting on anything. 3.1 ADOPTION OF AGENDA APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4.1 Approval of Meeting Minutes CGCVB 11-23-2021 Approval of the November 23, 2021, Cottage Grove Convention and Visitors Bureau Meeting Minutes. There was no feedback provided on the minutes. BUSINESS ITEMS 5.1 Website and Social Media Performance Metrics Roger Sievers of Sievers Creative stated he’d present findings for the past year on the website, advertising, and marketing. The website was launched in December, 2020, but it was really kicked off in April, 2021, with money from the Explore Minnesota grant. Prior to April, there wasn’t much website traffic until they started the social media campaign, which included the $500 giveaway package. He provided the statistics on age range and gender for visits to the site. He discussed the ad targeting radius of 45 miles, excluding Cottage Grove, and how they chose appropriate ad interests. The audience included 500 people, who had signed up through the newsletter for the contest giveaway, which he felt was a pretty good start, and that will continue to grow; it will act as a good marketing asset moving forward. On June 1, they added a second Facebook social media campaign, so there were two running side by side. Since that time, we’ve added over 760,000 ad impressions and about 20,000 clicks. In November, instead of having two social media campaigns running side by side, they added in more of a banner-ad campaign with similar targeting of the 45-mile radius; they only purchased reputable websites. There were just shy of 150,000 ad impressions that were delivered, 262 clicks directly to the website; engagements are when somebody interacts with the ad in some fashion. Google Analytics is what they use City of Cottage Grove Convention and Visitors Bureau January 18, 2022 Page 2 of 3 as a compass as a way of measuring how things are performing. He noted in September, 2021, there were Bike Park ads that performed extremely well, as did the Bike Park video in October, and the Zywiec’s Halloween Haunting Experience. Mr. Sievers stated that of the 16,300 total visits to the website, 12,702 visits were a direct result of the advertising. Marketing had a real effect on the site. In 2021, there were 1.4 million ad impressions, and 42,819 ad engagements. Mr. Sievers stated he’d take any questions. Chairman Dennis asked about the 2.99% engagement that was shown and how that measured against an industry standard; he asked what number we wanted to hit. Mr. Sievers replied that Google says that .1 is the industry standard across all sectors; so, if it falls below that, we’d feel that something needed to be changed. 5.2 Visitor Guide Specialist Prior-Miller spoke about the long awaited Visitors Guide for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. She spoke about the previous layouts displayed and displayed more of them. She stated previous comments made were incorporated into the final product, including diversity in the photographs chosen. She spoke about the following: Cover: We felt it necessary to have a high-quality image, and wanted it to be action-oriented, outdoors, with a summer photo highlighting something we offer; so, it shows a gentleman kayaking at Hazen P. Mooers Park on the Mississippi River. Lodging Facilities: They’re showcased in a prominent area, so when you open the cover, photos of all of them are displayed with a description of their features and amenities. Table of Contents: Follows a seasonal theme. River Oaks: Placed right after the Table of Contents, with two pages; we describe the golf course and its amenities, including the Eagles Bar & Grill, wedding venue availability, and more. It is also listed throughout the guide in related areas like bocce ball, best patios, and meeting spots. Parks: As Mr. Sievers mentioned, our Bike Park ad did very well online, it’s unique and there’s a lot of interest, so it is highlighted in the Parks section of the guide. She also highlighted the All Inclusive Playground at Woodridge Park, which is one of the largest in the State. Each of the parks listed describes the features within it to help people decide which park to visit. Events: Are always a large draw for Cottage Grove, especially Strawberry Fest in the summer. She felt everyone enjoys these community events so she highlighted Strawberry Fest, but it also plays into the Halloween and various holiday activities we also have. She wanted to showcase the community feel and encourage people to experience that. Hosting: Includes memorable meeting spots in Cottage Grove, including the Ice Arena, the HERO Center, and various hotels; we want to become the destination of choice for meetings, sporting events, and conventions because we have the space and many options from which to choose. Proofing: City staff members and several committee members contributed to proofing this guide for accuracy and also submitted feedback. Total Ads: There are 11 advertisers in our Guide, so that’s a total of $6,035 in advertising revenue to help offset our printing costs; they are: Boondocks, Furber Farm, River Oaks Golf Course/Eagles Bar and Grill, Hy-Vee, VFW, Hound Around Resort, Dodge Nature Center, Afton Apple, Country Inn & Suites, Whistling Well Farms, and Dennis Brothers Liquors. Specialist Prior-Miller stated she’d take any questions, and Chairman Dennis asked about the size of the Visitors Guide, if it would be 8.5” x 11”. Specialist Prior-Miller stated no, it would not be, it would be 7.25” by 9.5”. He asked about the points of distribution, and how that would occur; he wondered if we would put the guide within various businesses, maybe in an acrylic stand with the Discover Cottage Grove logo on it. Specialist Prior-Miller replied they had not yet determined how the distribution would occur, but that was a great idea and they’d research that. Chairman Dennis stated he felt Specialist Prior-Miller had done a great job on this; while she’s not yet been here a year, he felt she could be a better tour guide than those of us who have been here for decades. The totality of opportunities portrayed in this Visitors Guide is impressive, even if it’s not all inclusive. He hopes that all of the work that was done on this Visitors Guide will reach out and speak to people in different places and make them want to come to Cottage Grove, to spend some time and money here. Chairman Dennis stated the diversity of our community was very evident to him as he looked at the Visitors Guide. Chairman Dennis asked if anyone else wished to provide feedback, and Director Costello stated she thought it was great, as it had started as a thought; to now see it come to fruition is fabulous. We’ll continue to get more photos of action shots in our community, as previously we hadn’t had many, to include in our future guides. She thinks it’s great and thanked Specialist Prior-Miller. Vice Chair Olsen thanked Specialist Prior-Miller for her presentation and for all of the hard work she did on the Visitors Guide, as it looks really nice. With the formatting, he appreciated the use of different fonts to highlight certain things, as that caught his eye. On the page with the Mayor’s Commentary, the font is already a bit small; when we shrink the pages down, it will become a bit smaller. For those people over the age of 50, that’s not going to be very easy to read. Other City of Cottage Grove Convention and Visitors Bureau January 18, 2022 Page 3 of 3 pages have verbiage on a white background; on the Mayor’s Commentary page, the background has a slightly blue and yellowish hue, so it doesn’t really pop as much. He’s not sure what could be done to fix that, perhaps some bolding of the font or some editing. He appreciated Specialist Prior-Miller focusing on diversity in the photographs as he’d also noted that; he also appreciated that she did not use stock photographs. He liked that she got feedback from many different people; he asked if Communications Manager Jen Longaecker had had a chance to review this, and Specialist Prior-Miller replied yes, she’d seen it many times. Vice Chair Olsen complimented Specialist Prior-Miller for the very professional Visitors Guide she’d put together. He noted it was done very meticulously, and he could tell how much hard work she’d put into it. OTHER BUSINESS 6.1 CGCVB Comments - None. 6.2 Response to Previous CGCVB Comments - None. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Dennis stated the next regular meeting will be on Tuesday, February 22, at 7:30 a.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Chairman Dennis adjourned the meeting at 8:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, _______________________________________ Jaime Mann, Assistant to the City Administrator /jag