City Advertising and Promotion Commission’s March 9 workshop had Paradise Marketing’s Chief Strategy Officer Rudy Webb, and Sustainability and Visitor Economy Strategist Nicole Brownell speaking to the commission and the public. Paradise, based in Florida, receives $900,000 per year to market Eureka Springs.
The 20-minute presentation focused on how Paradise Marketing attracts travelers to Eureka Springs and how data assists in that endeavor. Brownell covered the step-by-step work of collating geo-location, spending, and interest data. She pointed out outdoor recreation as the top interest for travelers coming to the region and that Paradise is working through their advertising to match that and other top interests.
Brownell said there was a need for events at the Aud to be front in center on the website, and how visitation notably increases on days with events in the Aud. She said that Texas brings in the largest percentage of overnight stays at 74 percent, with Oklahoma second, and how visitors from Detroit spend an average of more than $450 per day in town. Paradise looks to such statistics to help gauge where to send digital marketing. She said that the CAPC also receives monthly insight information on visitor spending.
Webb spoke on the 2021 media year, a mix of out-of-state media campaigns and a regional campaigns running in the last half of the year. He also showed breakdowns of social media and other forms of advertisement as well as digital advertisements used in the previous year.
Commissioners’ questions focused heavily on current major world events and rising gas prices. Webb and Brownell answered that while traveler enthusiasm has not shifted, Paradise was watching events closely and taking care that they would be able to shift messaging to visitors as sentiment changed. They also said that much of Eureka Springs’ marketing focuses on natural assets of the town and that it is on the edge of major developments in the region.
In response to commissioner Autumn Slane asking if Paradise was a datamining or marketing company, Brownell stressed that the company does not produce any of the data they use, that they use data only to show and improve marketing performance.
Comments from the public centered on suggestions to the Paradise team on further ways to market town. Bill Ott suggested that they advertise area lodging more to show that Eureka Springs has rooms available for people to stay in comfort while being close to outdoor recreation. He also suggested that Paradise and the CAPC share their social media strategy with the public to help business owners wanting to piggyback.
Brownell said that while the marketing plans for 2022 were not complete, paid social and digital marketing would begin in the next week. She said they wanted to receive input from the public and hold meetings with business owners to get their thoughts on how best to market Eureka Springs to “fuse it in where it aligns” with their marketing strategy. They also said that they had submitted their response to the CAPC’s Request for Proposal to redesign their website. They said the new website would be developed separately until it was ready to launch and they would keep the old website up for visitors to use.
The final suggestion from a member of the public was for Paradise to focus on the quirkiness of the locals to help with creating a connection with visitors.
The next CAPC meeting was rescheduled to be Tuesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. at the Auditorium.