2019-2020 MARKETING PLAN

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2019-2020 M A R K E T I N G P L A N

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Table of ContentsIntroduction .................................................................................................................................... 3

Brand Foundation ........................................................................................................................... 5

Target Audience .............................................................................................................................. 6

Research Findings .......................................................................................................................... 10

Media Strategy ............................................................................................................................... 13

Digital & Web Strategy .................................................................................................................. 17

a. SEO .................................................................................................................................... 18

Strategic Communications Plan ................................................................................................... 21

a. Public Relations ................................................................................................................. 21

b. Content Curation .............................................................................................................. 26

c. eNewsletter ....................................................................................................................... 28

d. Social Media ...................................................................................................................... 29

e. Referral Strategy ............................................................................................................... 34

Creative Development ................................................................................................................... 35

a. Photography/Video........................................................................................................... 36

Campaign Management ................................................................................................................ 37

Marketing Budget .......................................................................................................................... 38

Swirl Machine Marketing Plan ...................................................................................................... 39

Addendum ...................................................................................................................................... 44

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IntroductionWelcome to the 2019–2020 marketing plan for Santa Maria Valley. This plan will serve as a roadmap to

meeting Santa Maria Valley’s marketing objectives. As we head into our fourth year of implementing an

integrated marketing communications plan, you will see a common thread to deepen our interactions with

our target audience and encourage active engagement with the brand. Our objectives remain the same,

our goals have evolved, and our strategy has been refined throughout the following plan.

Marketing Objectives• Increase overall awareness of Santa Maria Valley, including its assets, events and local flavor in an

effort to attract visitors.

• Increase the number of targeted, unique website visitors to the website, so that we may best

influence their decision to visit the area.

• Continue our strategic and cohesive marketing and communications effort for Santa Maria Valley

based on a $530,000 budget.

• Create a new creative approach that captures the spirit of our Wine+ offering.

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Primary Key Performance Indicators

DREAM:

Obtain $775K in publicity value

and 36 regional/national articles

+ increase total social following

by 20%

PLAN:

Increase Website Visits by 25%

GO:

Increase Outbound Hotel

Clicks by 75%

On top of our primary KPIs for the year, we will be looking at maintaining the following desired channel

proportions:

• Organic Traffic 40%-50%

• Paid Traffic 30%-40%

• Referral Traffic 5%-15%

• Social Traffic 5%-15%

• Email Traffic 5%-10%

• Direct Traffic 10% or less

Note: Each of our individual initiatives outlined in this plan have a clear set of objectives, goals and KPIs that

rollup to our primary KPIs.

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Brand FoundationSanta Maria Valley provides visitors a true change of pace in an unpretentious atmosphere while

discovering an approachable, unexpected wine experience, traditional Santa Maria Style barbecue and

open space to explore rolling hillsides and coastal access points; all at a price that gives you more.

BRAND PILLARS

• Genuine Heritage

• Unexpected Wine Experience

• Santa Maria Style Barbecue Culture

• Real Value

• The Ideal Home Base

• Naturally Unconstrained

BRAND PROMISE

We treat visitors like family.

This promise is bold, simple and attainable. It can be as natural as a warm greeting or asking how

someone’s visit is going. This promise embodies the culture of Santa Maria Valley and the authentic

hospitality its businesses and residents are known for.

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Target AudienceAPPROACH

Over the past four years we have worked to better define our audiences based on interests. This year, our

plan is to add a layer of geography to each interest, tying our offerings to geographic markets where they

resonate best.

Though our targeting and positioning is becoming more sophisticated and dynamic, we still have

instances where our general interest and beliefs come into play.

INTERESTS AND BELIEFS

The investments we make in media and content creation will be informed by the interests and beliefs of

our target visitor. Those who love Santa Maria Valley value the following aspects of tourism.

• Outdoors

• Family

• Culinary

• Events/Entertainment

• Value

• History and heritage

MOTIVATORS

• Being outside

• A bottle of wine and a juicy steak

• Finding a place to be yourself

• Friendly, “real” people

• Value for time and money spent

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WHAT’S NOT APPEALING

• Dress codes

• Reservations

• Lines

• Facades

• Prestige or status

DEMOGRAPHICS (ONLY FOR SPECIFIC MEDIA BUYS)

• Age: 25-54

• $75,000-$100,000 annual household income

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CASUAL

I’m most comfortable in jeans and in shoes I can wear all day. I’m not fussy about most things. I like going

at my own pace.

GOOD TASTE

I know and appreciate delicious, classic, fresh food that’s thoughtfully prepared but don’t think I should

have to spend a fortune on it. Family-style eating with my favorite people at the coziest hole-in-the-wall

is the best but I also love stumbling across a cool taco truck. As long as the food is good, I wouldn’t think

twice if there are paper napkins at a restaurant. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a foodie. I just like to eat.

LOW IMPACT OUTDOORSY

I like to go for a nice bike ride or a walk. I like to roll the windows down. The fresh air always feels good

and puts me in a good mood. I can easily get distracted by something in nature, especially a beautiful

sunset. Hiking is fun as long as we’re not gone all day. I’ve always wanted to drive a dune buggy. I like

sitting on a patio and enjoying a glass of wine or a cold beer.

AUTHENTIC

I enjoy real people. I appreciate real conversation, a genuine smile and people who are comfortable being

themselves. I don’t like the feeling that I am just another number. I don’t want a cookie-cutter or cliché

experience. I want to do things that enrich my life and make me happy.

Santa Maria Valley’s Core Customer LAID BACK RECREATIONAL WEEKENDER

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YOUTHFUL

I want to keep feeling young, even as I age. It’s important to me that we continue to have fun with new

and different experiences, creating memories I’ll cherish for years.

OUTGOING

I make friends wherever I go. I like to send my friends to places I’ve been and loved, and will keep up with

people I meet along the way on social media.

ECONOMICAL

I am frugal and like to make our money work harder. I look for offers and discounts that stretch our

dollars and our time together. I would rather spend less on a room and venture out to do more. Besides,

all you do in the room is sleep, anyway.

LOYAL

I will come back to have the same amazing experience and love it when people remember me. I like the

feeling of being treated like I’m family - that’s the real VIP treatment.

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Research Findings—Geographic Markets This year, we will run separate campaigns by DMA so we can allocate budgets to each DMA. To start, we

recommend the following split. This will likely be adjusted quickly and often depending on performance:

• Los Angeles: 35%

• Bay Area: 30%

• Fresno-Visalia: 15%

• Bakersfield: 10%

• Monterey-Salinas: 10%

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

• We will exclude San Diego from all paid media efforts.

• Our wine advertisements need a refresh.

» The new Deals messaging will be a key component of this, but we will also want to develop

some non-deals focused wine ads.

• Watch smaller DMAs very closely as we gather more data and adjust messages accordingly.

• Incorporate event and attraction promotion into our Facebook & Instagram advertising efforts

based on the data gathered for each market.

FINDINGS BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

Los Angeles - The $500 Wine Weekend deal message was the top performer for May’s media test.

While the other wine-focused ad did not crack the top 3, historically people visiting our site from LA are

highly engaged with our wine content. People who land on this content look at an average of 3 pages per

session and have a 10% or higher conversion rate.

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Our Wine Search campaign has done well in LA, while our wine-focused Facebook and Instagram

campaigns have lagged. This all indicates that we should continue to focus on the wine offering, but

perhaps with different ads. The deals messaging may be a great place to start.

Bay Area - Our Outdoor, Deals and Wine ads were the top performers for May’s media test in the SF-

OAK-SJ DMA. Similar to the LA market, Bay Area visitors are highly engaged with our wine content.

They also engage more with our Barbecue content. Last year, the Brews & Cues Festival was one of

the top events for these folks. The website and organic search data indicates that we should continue

to promote the wine offering, but the ad data suggests that we should try out some new messaging and

creative.

Fresno-Visalia - Our Outdoor and Deals were the top-performers for May’s media test in the Fresno

area. The Barbecue ads underperformed, but historically this market has been engaged with our other

food-based content and advertising. As with our other markets, wine content also does well and wine ads

do well in search.

Bakersfield - For the Bakersfield DMA, wine wasn’t a standout in the digital test but is for organic.

When the new campaign launches, we’ll want to focus on Wine/Wine Deals & Food Festival/Event

messaging. We’ll watch this DMA closely in the first part of this year as we gather data from a larger

pool.

Monterey-Salinas - Data from this DMA is coming from a smaller pool of visitors than our other DMAs.

We should introduce all of our new campaign messages to this DMA and then watch their performance

closely and adjust accordingly as we bring more visitors to the site.

San Diego - While this market has never been a priority for us, it has been one that was included in

certain intent- and interest-based campaigns. It is also an area we receive some organic traffic from;

therefore, we did include San Diego in the May digital test to gather additional data on the market. We

recommend stopping all targeting of this market in our paid efforts and focusing instead on the other 5

DMAs.

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BAY AREA: 30%• Outdoor• Deals• Wine

FRESNO-VISALIA: 15%• Outdoor• Deals• A little food/wine mixed in

BAKERSFIELD: 10%• Wine/Wine Deals• Food Festival/Events

LOS ANGELES: 35%• Deals• Wine

SAN DIEGONo longer targeting based on performance

MONTEREY-SALINAS: 10%• Food• Outdoor

GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING AND MESSAGING FINDINGS

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Media StrategyOVERVIEW

We have modified our spend approach to focus the majority of our budget on highly targeted and

trackable media. We have also adjusted our creative approach to better align our messaging with our

target customers based on location and where they fall in the travel buying process. Furthermore, our

native and paid search were developed to enhance other areas of focus in PR, Social and SEO.

MEDIA PLAN OBJECTIVES

• Attract visitors to consider Santa Maria Valley for their next getaway.

» Increase the number of targeted, unique visitors to the website, so that we may best

influence their decision to visit the area.

• Enhance and capitalize on the new Wine+ creative approach.

• Gain additional insights into our potential/current customers.

• Use media to bolster off-peak visitation while still maintaining top-of-mind awareness throughout

the year.

• Provide additional insights relevant to all areas of the marketing plan.

• Increase paid traffic to the website by 35%.

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TARGETING MEDIA 2019–2020 2018–2019

Highly Targeted Media(Increased from 35% to 56% of budget)

Search $72,000.00 $30,000.00

Social $40,000.00 $40,000.00

Remarketing $12,000.00 $6,000.00

Targeted Media(Decreased from 43% to 38% of budget)

Native & Video $75,250.00 $84,000.00

Yosemite Journal $9,695.00 $10,000.00

Broadly Targeted Media(Decreased from 12% to 5% of budget)

Secondary Audiences $0.00 $10,000.00

Wrangler Network $2,500.00 $2,500.00

Print Budget $8,555.00 $14,555.00

Unassigned Contingency $0.00 $22,945.00

Total $220,000.00 $220,000.00

MEDIA FLIGHTING (SEE ADDENDUM FOR FULL VIEW)

BROADLY TARGETED MEDIA (Awareness among a large audience)

TARGETED MEDIA(Awareness among a smaller, defined audience)

HIGHLY TARGETED MEDIA(Soliciting action among a small audience with demonstrated interest)

PrintOOHTV / OTT / CTVDigital VideoRadio / Digital RadioPodcast AdvertisingDisplay AdsNative Display Ads

PrintDisplay AdsDigital VideoDigital RadioNative Display AdsNative Sponsored ContenteNewsletter PartnershipsSocial Media

Paid SearchSocial MediaRemarketing (Display, Video, Social, Search)

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PAID EVENTS / PROMOTIONS

TARGET GEO JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC

Los Angeles - - Swirl Machine Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest

- Foxen Canyon Christmas Wine

SF - SJ - - Swirl Machine Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest


Salinas - - Swirl Machine Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest


Fresno - - Swirl Machine Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest


Bakersfield - - Swirl Machine Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest


TARGET GEO JAN FEB MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE

Los Angeles - - - Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest

Strawberry Festival // Brews & Cues

Rodeo // Wine Trolley

SF - SJ - - - Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest

Strawberry Festival // Brews & Cues


Salinas - - Butterfly Migration // Kite Festival

Beerfest // Central Coast Airfest

Kite Festival // Strawberry Festival // Brews & Cues


Fresno - - Butterfly Migration // Kite Festival




Bakersfield - - Butterfly Migration // Kite Festival




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Awareness (Targeted & Highly Targeted)

Consideration (Targeted & Highly Targeted)

Intent (Highly Targeted)

Decision (Highly Targeted)

Deals (Test) | Heritage | Outdoor | Casual Wine | BBQ (Sparingly)

Deals | Heritage | Outdoor | Casual Wine

PYT | Aligned with Past Visits

Deals & PYT | Aligned with Past Visits

MESSAGING APPROACH BY STAGE

Our Visitor

MEDIA MANAGEMENT

Media management includes all media strategy, planning, negotiation, media promotion development,

coordination with media representatives and trafficking of final media files.

Our plan also includes Digital Media Management: the execution, monitoring and updating of campaigns

on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Google Ads.

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Digital & Web StrategyWith the website in its third year, we are now ready to take things to the next level through

personalization, optimization and enhanced content features. That will be the focus of our website

strategy along with adapting the website to take on the personality of our new creative campaign.

OBJECTIVES

• Capture the spirit of our new creative campaign in a digital format

• Optimize our website visitors to maximize our opportunity to drive overnight visitation

• Experiment with personalization across the website

• Drive more search traffic for wine-based content

WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

The following are major milestones the team will plan to accomplish in the first six months of the fiscal

year. After six months, we will re-evaluate and prioritize the web development needs and projects

according to our key performance indicators.

Homepage design

• Update design with look, feel and messaging of new campaign

• Heat mapping/Click tracking:

» We have data from the previous year that should help inform our performance

• A/B Testing (4 month process) - “Conversion Rate Optimization” (CRO) Examples:

» Stay with Us vs. Book your Room

» Happening Here vs. Events

» What’s New vs. Blog vs. News

Mobile optimization for key pages used in marketing

• Mobile PYT content approach

• Wine Country

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Personalization/Promotions integration

• Wine Country pages—include nearby Santa Maria Valley hotels display ads

• Install Google Optimize and use option to dynamically change content based on region and

content consumed

New wine content features

• Winery Profiles

• Revisit the SMV map based on keyword targets and content plan

• $500 Wine Weekend Landing Page

Additional web projects to evaluate in January 2020:

• Revisit site structure and blog categorization in conjunction with our SEO efforts

• Evaluate whether we should add AMP to the site

• Create a new Weather Page

• Explore a “Plover Cam” feature

• Revisit the online cookbook

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

This year, we are going to concentrate our SEO efforts on wine search terms to support the overall

Wine+ marketing strategy. From an SEO perspective, ranking organically for queries relating to wine

trips is the long game, but it will be well worth the effort. Wine tasting and wine trip keywords are

moderately high volume and very competitive. We will need to focus on this one effort consistently this

year and in future years in order to get the Santa Maria Valley website into a strong place organically.

In our first year with this positioning, the support of other marketing channels in this effort—PR, social,

and paid search in particular—will be critical to our SEO success. We will be relying heavily on refreshing

existing and creating new website content to support the SEO strategy.

Over the years, we’ve made gains for branded wine terms (e.g., Santa Maria wine tasting) and have a

good hold on them currently, but we have not devoted the resources to making a concentrated effort on

building our presence for non-branded wine searches. This will be our SEO priority for 2019-2020.

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KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Organic Traffic

Our goal this year is to increase organic traffic by 30%. In addition to the volume of search traffic,

however, we also want to be sure to monitor the type of organic traffic we’re getting. We want to keep

our focus on increasing organic traffic landing on non-event content and, this year specifically, monitor

the traffic that our target keywords are bringing to ensure they’re the queries we want to target.

Rankings

We will monitor our rankings for all of our target keywords and our goal will be to increase those rankings

over time. In addition to our position in the blue links on the SERPs, we identify and monitor any

relevant SERP features and develop content for those we may want to go after. For example, when you

google “Santa Maria beaches,” our website currently owns the knowledge box SERP feature as well as

the #3 position.

TARGET KEYWORDS

Through our keyword research, we’ve identified 182 target wine keywords. We’ve categorized them based

on their topic and any geo modifiers as follows:

Geo Categories:

• Santa Maria

• Foxen Canyon

• Santa Barbara

• Santa Ynez

• Central Coast

• California

Topic Categories:

• Tasting

• Tour

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• Trip

• Attraction (e.g., an individual winery or the wine trolley)

• Wine Info (e.g., varietals)

• Hotel/Lodging

• Maps

We have also prioritized the keywords:

• Hold Onto: these are keywords for which we already hold the #1-5 position. We want to hold onto

our position, gain any relevant, available SERP features, and move up very slightly for some of

them.

• First: these are the target keywords we will tackle first. We will work on content, on-page

optimization, and any linking strategies for these in the first half of the year. These are low to

moderate volume keywords that are moderately competitive. Many of them are longer tail.

• Second: these are moderate volume, high competition keywords, many for which we need to

develop brand new content. Many of the Central Coast and Santa Barbara queries fall into this

priority level.

• Third: these are our long-game keywords. This year, we’ll ensure that we have content capable of

ranking for each of these, but ranking in any reasonable position will likely take a year or longer.

These are high volume, high competition queries like “california wine country weekend getaways”

or “girls weekend getaways wine country.”

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Strategic Communications PlanTHE TRIPLE THREAT OF COMMUNICATIONS: PR | CONTENT | SOCIAL MEDIA

Santa Maria Valley’s communications strategy is designed to successfully build relationships that

establish rapport and communicate strategically with our audiences. When public relations, content and

social media complement one another, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Our approach to

developing plans and campaigns, optimizing to reach, touch and engage people, all supports the key goal

of stellar storytelling.

Our approach will also consistently tie into our digital-first mindset, understanding that opportunity

can be found through data. We will continue to act on that to connect brand-centric messaging with

quantifiable insights, driving bottom line results.

Public RelationsOBJECTIVES

• Obtain $775K in publicity value and 36 regional/national articles in the fiscal year, while increasing

awareness of Santa Maria Valley.

• Continue to cultivate partnerships and mutually beneficial relationships with allied organization,

VisitCA, to increase the share of voice on VisitCA’s website, social media and print.

• Help increase website hotel page conversions, generated in part by referral and social media traffic

from our positive media coverage.

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STRATEGIES

• Continue to form and leverage relationships with regional and national print, online, broadcast

media, and influencers/bloggers for earned media exposure to increase awareness of the Santa

Maria Valley and their main brand pillars, with a continued focus on wine, and with supporting

messaging around the pillars of food/barbecue, outdoor and culture.

• Invite targeted media, with a focus on larger audienceship and the main brand pillar of wine,

to participate in Familiarization (FAM) visits. Continue to work with neighboring DMOs as

appropriate for visiting journalists and influencers/bloggers. Our FAM budget has been reduced

this year, so we will focus on impact.

• Continue to work with VisitCA’s content marketing and public relations teams to amplify content

on their website, social media and print platforms to benefit their content strategy.

• Maintain efforts to attend hosted media missions, receptions and other meeting opportunities

in key markets such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to make new contacts, foster

relationships with media and other CA DMOs (who may also attend).


• Obtain $775K in publicity value and 36 regional/national articles

• Obtain 6,600 Facebook page likes

• Get 550/month average website referrals from Facebook

• Obtain 3,000 Instagram followers

• Obtain 25k/month average impressions on Instagram

• Get 35/month average website referrals from Instagram

• Have 1,600 Twitter followers

• Obtain 15k impressions/month average on Twitter

• Get 10/month average website referrals from Twitter

• Have 50 followers on Pinterest

• Get 20/month average website referrals from Pinterest

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• Increase Referral Traffic by 10%

• Increase Social Traffic to the Website by 20%

RESEARCH THAT SUPPORTS OUR EARNED MEDIA STRATEGY

According to the Forrester Opportunity Snapshot: A Custom Study Commissioned By Cision, October

2018, the following question was asked of marketing experts:

In which of the following ways does your organization use earned media?

• To build and/or sustain awareness: 77%

• To create competitive advantages: 73%

• To build and/or sustain customer loyalty: 73%

• To promote company values: 70%

Base: 151 marketing experts or higher in North America who are knowledgeable about communications/public relations efforts.

Earned media not only builds awareness in the “dream” stage of a traveler’s decision-making process,

but it can also help a brand create competitive advantages, can build or sustain loyalty and also promote/

reinforce a company’s values (e.g., our Santa Maria Valley brand pillars).

TACTICAL HIGHLIGHTS AND ACTIVITIES

• Develop pitch angles and pitch emails.

• Pitch brand pillars relevant to the reporter’s beat based on research on what they cover. For

instance, Thrillist would receive a pitch on Santa Maria Style barbecue and Wine Enthusiast would

receive a pitch on the Wine Trolley.

• Monitor media opportunities.

• Continue to use our FAM evaluation form and process of evaluation to select the right reporters,

writers, influencers and bloggers who are a fit for us. Our budget parameters for the year support

roughly 10-12 FAMs.

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• Continue to collaborate with industry partners (CCTC, VisitCA) and other DMOs (Santa

Barbara, SLO County, Highway 1 Discovery, Pismo Beach) on Central Coast FAMs as

appropriate.

• Respond to relevant HARO (Help A Reporter Out) inquiries.

• Continue to work in tandem on native content efforts, ensuring these writers have a great

experience, write and generate quality content and use our links, handles and hashtags as

necessary.

• Marshall coordination of PR, social media and original content on SantaMariaValley.com as a

synchronized effort to deliver a consistent message, and educate the audience about our region.

• Identify events appropriate for a specific reporter to cover.

• Use Cision to monitor and track media.

• Work with internal search and analytics team to align with the main brand focus, understand

referral traffic to the website, how content is performing and optimizing for greater results.

• Generate monthly reports to highlight results and impact of efforts to the advisory committee.

TARGET MEDIA

Our approach is to primarily target the leisure travel audience, continuously reinforcing our unique

experiences—Santa Maria-Style barbecue, wine country and authentic hospitality at a value. We will

prioritize based off of our Top list, type and size of audience and reach.

• National Travel Print and Online

• Southern/Central California Media Outlets with emphasis in Los Angeles

• Bay Area Media Outlets with emphasis in SF/East Bay/South Bay

• Regional Travel Print and Online

• Travel, Food and Wine Bloggers

• Niche Publications

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TOP MEDIA HIT LIST

• USA Today*

• Westways/Via/AAA*

• The Los Angeles Times*

• The Food Network

• PBS/NPR (national public TV or radio)

• CNN Travel

• Thrillist

• Food & Wine*

• Travel + Leisure*

• Conde Nast Traveler

ADDITIONAL HIT LIST

• Sunset

• The New York Times Travel

• The Travel Channel*

• Epicurious

• AFAR

• Los Angeles Magazine

• Men’s Journal

• National Geographic Travel

• BuzzFeed (or the like: Refinery29, Elite

Daily)

• Good Day LA

• Bon Appetit

• INSIDER*

• HuffPost*

• 7x7

• Eater LA*

• Wine Enthusiast*

• Wine Spectator

• Forbes*

• The Daily Meal*

• Travelocity*

• Martha Stewart Living

• GQ

• People

• VICE

Also at our top are bloggers and influencers that have the right audiences, reach and quality of content.

*Pubs we have received coverage from in the past or the story is in progress.

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Content CurationConnecting with our visitors in a deeper way, on a personal level, is how we will build long-term

engagement. We will build engagement through storytelling—sharing why Santa Maria Valley is the

perfect home base where you can eat, drink, and do more for less. Our hashtag, #SantaMariaStyle,

allows us to showcase stories of our own and source those of others who are experiencing all the valley

has to offer.

New for the 2019-20 year is the combining of social media, newsletter, web and blog content all under

one budget to streamline the writing process, ensuring cohesive messaging and consistency in updates

across all channels.

The integrated content calendar has been built with anticipated events and seasonality. The first part will

be focused on updating the winemaker profiles. September will be focused on California Wine Month

and promoting the Swirl Machine. Content for the subsequent months will be determined and driven by

SEO.

The Swirl Machine has a specific Marketing Plan dedicated to its promotion leading up to and through its

launch in September; California Wine Month.

GUIDELINES FOR EVENT PAGE CONTENT

OUR GOAL WITH THE EVENT PAGES IS TO:

• Refresh existing event pages without duplication.

• Provide as much detailed content as possible as some of the pages are currently stark.

• Provide updates to the guidelines to Santa Maria Valley for event page enhancements and

updates.

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INTEGRATED CONTENT CALENDAR

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

Event Updates/Promotion• Obon Festival• Bent Axels, Windmill Century Bike Ride

Refresh Wine Country page (geographically what the wine region is) and Top Winery Attraction page refreshes

Wellness blog post

Event Updates/Promotion• North/South Run

Winemaker profiles

Best Wine Country Hotels

Swirl Machine blog post

Event Updates/Promotion• Cruizin’ for Life Car Show and Cruise Los

Alamos Old Days (end of Summer)

• Santa Barbara Vintners Celebration of Harvest

Winemaker profiles

California Wine Month blog post refresh, include $500 wine weekend

OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

Event Updates/Promotion• Santa Maria Beer Fest• Dia de Los Muertos• Central Coast AirFest

Winemaker profiles

AirFest blog post

Event Updates/Promotion• Pork & Pinot at Cambria Winery• Turkey Trot 5K• Taste of Nipomo Guadalupe-Nipomo• Dunes Center Trees of the Season

Winemaker profiles

Girls’ trip wine itinerary

Christmas on the Trail refreshed blog post

Event Updates/Promotion• Foxen Canyon Christmas on the Trail• SMV/Guadalupe Christmas Bird Count• Christmas Orcutt Parade, Parade of

Lights

Foxen Canyon content clean-up

Budget wine itinerary

Native content refreshes

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH

Event Updates/Promotion• California Restaurant Month

California Restaurant Month blog post

Guide to Santa Maria Valley wine tasting

Romantic wine itinerary

Native content refreshes

Event Updates/Promotion• Start of Strawberry Season

Strawberry and wine blog post

APRIL MAY JUNE

Event Updates/Promotion• Amgen Tour/Cycling• Santa Maria Brews & Cues• Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival• Strawberry Festival• Orchid Show• Kite Festival• Santa Barbara Wine Country Half

Marathon

Festival roundup blog post

Event Updates/Promotion• Wine Trolley Begins• West Coast Kustoms Car Club Show

Barbecue month with wine blog post

Event Updates/Promotion• Elks Rodeo & Parade• Foxen Canyon Wine Trail Passport Event• Elks Car Show, Santa Maria Elks Lodge

Car Truck & Motorcycle Show

Car-focused blog post

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ENEWSLETTER

We now have 33,000 subscribers in our email database, however, we continue to see both positive

and negative behaviors within this group. Our primary objective this year will be to clean, optimize

and engage with this list. With the creation of drip campaigns in 2018-19 fiscal year, we now have the

framework established in MailChimp to offer our newsletter subscribers customized content according

to their preferences.

We will continue to send emails twice per month to our regular subscriber list, highlighting upcoming

events and recent blog posts, with an invitation to stay.

As newsletter performance (open and click-through rates) is collected and analyzed we will optimize and

enhance newsletter content and send strategy (time of day, day of the week, etc.) as needed.


• Grow email subscriber base to 15,000 active/engaged customers

» Attain a minimum open rate of 20%

» Attain a minimum click-through rate of 2%

• Increase Email Traffic by 30%

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SOCIAL MEDIA

This year, we will increase our content standards to ensure that the best, most engaging photos, events

and posts are shared across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. We will focus on quality of

posts, paying special attention to unique engagement opportunities on our posts and others. Facebook,

Instagram and Twitter will all have slightly different voice and tone iterations designed to capture the

specific audiences on each platform while reinforcing the overarching Santa Maria Valley brand.

OBJECTIVES

• Position Santa Maria Valley as an affordable vacation destination, putting special focus on wine

messaging

• Continue to push our voice and tone

• Inform audiences about events and attractions happening in and around the region

• Increase audience followings on all platforms by a combined 20%

• Increase engagement across all platforms, boosting our overall social referrals to the website by

20%

STRATEGIES

• Our new personalities for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will better identify the voice and tone

of each channel.

» I am Santa Maria Valley’s Instagram page. Come for the eye candy—stay for the witty

captions (and the wine tips).

I am witty, quick and anything but long-winded. I might be playfully sharp tongued from

time-to-time—who doesn’t love a little sarcasm, after all?—but I’m always inviting and bright.

I love little quips...almost as much as I love a good glass of wine (or three). I’ve got plenty of

knowledge about this awesome Valley to share—but I’ll never bore you with it (snooze fests

need not apply).

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» Hey, there. I’m Santa Maria Valley’s Twitter account. Grab a glass and join me (or don’t—

more for me that way).

If you’re looking for a good laugh, quick wit and some fun-loving sass, I’m the one you want

to follow. I tell it like it is…and I do so with a sharp tongue sometimes—but also with a level of

organic approachability you won’t find in places like LA or Santa Barbara (sorry, sister cities).

I’m pretty damn playful—and I certainly don’t take myself too seriously. I might even go a

little rogue here and there. Isn’t that what Twitter’s for, after all? I love things with a little bite

to them—rainbows and butterflies and candy-coated reality aren’t really my thing. Want to

know what is my thing, though? One word: WINE.

» I’m Santa Maria Valley’s Facebook page. I’m educational and informative, sure—but not in

the same way as that friend who won’t stop talking about going vegan.

I am helpful, inviting and warm. I love sharing a great article, a good round-up, or an exciting

itinerary that doesn’t break the bank. I value connection and community. If there’s an

awesome event happening in my Valley, I want people to know about it. I happen to think

the Santa Maria Valley website is pretty darn awesome—so I do my best to drive people to

it when it’s helpful and appropriate. I treat my followers like family—welcoming them with

open arms and serving them plenty of pro-tips and insider local knowledge they’ll love. I love

talking about barbecue, berry picking, and beach days—but I always circle things back to our

incredible wine culture whenever I can.

• Creating and maintaining a posting strategy and schedule for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and

Pinterest to ensure social media presence is consistent and these channels work together to

reinforce the key messages.

» Posting up to five times per week on Facebook

» Posting every other day of the week on Instagram

» Posting a minimum of three times per week on Twitter

» Posting two pins minimum per week on Pinterest

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• Planning meaningful, original posts that resonate with and provide value to our audience. The

monthly posting schedule will be submitted in the week prior to a new month beginning for

approval.

» Storytelling by introducing the region and all it offers to our audience

» Driving the connection between Santa Maria Valley, #SantaMariaStyle barbecue and world-

class wine

» Sharing media stories that demonstrate that Santa Maria Valley is home to renowned wine

and barbecue

» Re-posting related communications provided by both guests to the region and locals

• Accomplishing the specific engagement goals for each social media platform in followers, likes,

reach and shares

» Improving content quality and targeted messaging

» Encouraging audience dialog with timely responses to comments and inquiries

» Being strategic about posting cadence and consistency

» Monitoring hashtags in the social sphere

• Connect with and follow travel media and writers and key influencers to build followers and

increase engagement across all platforms

• Monitor social media conversations, questions and comments, and engage with the audience

• Develop recurring themes on Instagram with unique hashtags, the management of social media

contests, and the management of Instagram takeover events

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Platform-specific GoalsFACEBOOK

Stats as of June 2019

• Total Page Likes: 6,229

• Website Referrals: 480/month average

12-Month Goals

• Post on Facebook up to five times per week, highlighting upcoming events and attractions, new

blog posts, news stories and more to drive traffic back to SantaMariaValley.com.

• Total Page Likes: 6,600


INSTAGRAM

As of June 2019

• Total Followers: 1,754

• Impressions: 18k/month average


12-Month Goals

• Post on Instagram every other day, maintaining the feed’s consistent look and feel. Put an extra

focus on wine-related photo content.


• Impressions: 25k/month average


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TWITTER

Stats as of June 2019


• Tweet Impressions: 10k impressions/month average


12-Month Goals

• Post on Twitter three to four times per week, highlighting upcoming events and attractions, new

blog posts, news stories and more.


• Tweet Impressions: 15k impressions/month average


PINTEREST

As of June 2019

• Total Followers: 14


• 12-Month Goals

• Post 8-10 original pins per month. Re-pin relevant content monthly.

• Total Followers: 50


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Referral Strategy Our approach for the referral strategy will include working to build relationships with more local partner

sites with the goal to have a link to SantaMariaValley.com on partner sites throughout the region.

Leveraging our event widget and website content, we will pitch opportunities to connect website content

from our site to theirs. We will also email our partners when they are mentioned in an article, blog or post

so they have a greater level of awareness and have direct links to share the coverage we are providing.

This will be a joint effort, with most of the outreach efforts being handled by Santa Maria Valley staff.

LOCAL EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS

• Santa Maria Discovery

Museum

• Santa Maria Elks Lodge

• Foxen Canyon Wine Trail

• PCPA

• West Coast Kustoms

• Susie Q

• Santa Maria Airport

• Central Coast Airfest

• Santa Maria Fairpark

• Andrew Murray Vineyards

• Cottonwood Canyon

Vineyard & Winery

• Cambria Winery &

Vineyards

• Fess Parker Winery &

Vineyard

• Firestone Vineyard

• FOXEN

• Kenneth Volk Vineyards

• Koehler Winery

• Martian Ranch &

Vineyard

• Rancho Sisquoc Winery

• Riverbench Vineyard

Tasting Room

• Tres Hermanas Vineyard

& Winery

• Zaca Mesa Winery

• Radisson

• Holiday Inn & Suites

• Candlewood

• Fairfield Inn

• Best Western

• Santa Maria Inn

LODGING PROPERTIES

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Creative DevelopmentBased on our research, we will be creating a layered campaign with wine as the lead supported by Santa

Maria Valley’s additional offerings. Wine is our strongest asset to drive overnight visitation. It also has

a unique ability to “pair” well with additional brand pillars, giving the campaign flexibility based on our

dynamic and highly targeted approach to media and audience variations. Our primary call to action for

the campaign will be to invite visitors to enjoy a wine weekend for less than $500. This, however, will

be one of many calls to action created based on the audience and their stage in the buying process. For

example, we will explore other brand pillars for a $500 weekend of BBQ, History, Outdoor, etc.

OBJECTIVES

Through this creative we want to capture and inspire travelers to choose Santa Maria Valley for their wine

experience.

1. The primary objective of this creative approach is to drive home the “unique wine experience”

brand pillar at a surprisingly reasonable cost.

2. Our secondary objective is to strengthen and solidify the tie to wine for all of our brand pillars.

3. Our tertiary creative objective is to generate new content (video, stills and messaging) that can be

used throughout the year (and years to come) in all forms of media.

ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS

We know the 2019-20 fiscal year will bring the development of a new marketing campaign. In addition to

that, we had some additional “blue sky” ideas for projects this budget could cover.

• Santa Maria Valley wine label

• Scavenger hunt collateral

» Can help with user-generated content and capturing visitor data

» Find the hidden gem at Santa Maria Valley points of interest

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» 10 things to do for a unique Santa Maria Experience

» Scavenger hunt based on an itinerary

» 6 of 10 or you have to go in sequence to get your next clue

» Redeem for a bottle of SMV wine

• Collateral on wine trails or wine tasting (alternative to wine map)—in partnership with wineries

» Complement to the visitor guide, digestible

» Placement in hotel rooms, tradeshows, events

PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO

With the development of a new creative campaign, we will manage a full video shoot to collect new photo

and video assets to support an integrated marketing campaign using our preferred photographer, Jeff

Dow.

We will also continue to leverage our relationship with local photographer Josh Morris, of Chromatic

Collective, to collect additional photo assets of local attractions and to continue our “30 Miles” video

strategy.

Beyond creating awareness, our video strategy will contribute to our goals by providing engaging content

that can be used (and reused) to reach people in every stage of their path to purchase.

• Campaign photo/video shoot to support the

2019-20 Campaign

• Local attractions and events assets, building asset

library

• “30 Miles” video series

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Campaign ManagementREPORTING + ROI TRACKING

In order to properly judge our marketing efforts we must constantly monitor and report on the progress

of each strategy. A monthly marketing summary report will be provided, based on key metrics and KPIs,

as well as general statistics such as overall traffic, demographics, search engine traffic, and traffic by

region. This also includes ad hoc requests for analytics or performance summaries as needed.

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Managing all of the elements in this marketing plan requires oversight and management. This element

includes non-project specific campaign management, strategic planning, goals-related research, status

meetings, campaign optimization, budget and timeline tracking spread over the course of the fiscal year.

It also requires travel (and expenses) for 6 trips for meetings per fiscal year. Travel time is not billed.

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Marketing BudgetThe following budget has been defined for marketing efforts with KPS3. These budgets represent the

overall mix of effort to best market Santa Maria Valley.

Media Placement $220,000

Media Management $25,000

Website Design & Development $25,000

SEO $30,000

Public Relations $50,000

Content Creation (Newsletter, Blog, Social Media, Web) $60,000

Photography/Videography $36,000

Creative $32,000

Reporting $17,000

Account Management $30,000

Marketing Contingency $5,000

Total $530,000

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Swirl Machine Mini Marketing PlanThe Swirl machine embodies the concept of repositioning the “Santa Maria Style” phrase to show that it

is about a simple way of life, finding good people and being yourself; not just about a style of cooking. It’s

an interactive, digital-meets-the-real-world way to show that coloring outside the lines can be a beautiful

thing.

We’re inviting users from our target markets to connect with the Santa Maria Valley brand in a lasting

and meaningful way; to swirl and experience the art of Santa Maria Style for themselves.

THE SWIRL MACHINE EXPERIENCE

The Swirl Machine will be positioned inside a clear box (similar to an old-school arcade game) and can

be viewed through a web page or live video feed. Inside the machine sits an empty wine glass. Users will

select their pour level and the wine will fill the glass accordingly. Next, users can adjust the swirl speed.

Once the wine is swirling and the user is ready, they can push the big button to spill. This action causes

the wine glass to forcibly jolt and effectively spill its contents onto the side of the machine wall, creating

an original piece of art for users to enjoy. Every swirl and spill will be unique to each individual user.

A digital image will then be captured of the spill, allowing users to save it and ultimately share on social

media. Along with the Santa Maria Style branded image, users will receive their own personal “spill-

nalysis,” which is part Rorschach-test-inspired art but will read more like the results of a Buzzfeed quiz.

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OBJECTIVES

Primary Objectives:

• Gain attention from the masses with support from media and influencers to drive awareness

• Demonstrate the affordable and casual aspects of Santa Maria Valley wine experience

• Invite prospective visitors to experience the Santa Maria Valley brand

• Distinguish the Santa Maria Valley wine experience from competitors

Secondary Objectives:

• Collect email addresses of users to provide follow-up communications, carrying them further

down the path of consideration to book a trip to Santa Maria Valley

• Launch a technical project both locally and nationally

CAMPAIGN OUTPUT OBJECTIVES

• 2,000 total participants in one-week timeframe; presuming no technical failures

• 250 social followers on Instagram; shareability

• 10 PR stories, $150K publicity value

• 90% positive sentiment

TARGET AUDIENCE

People who:

• Take buzzfeed quizzes and share results on Facebook

• Send their friends links to buzzfeed quizzes

• Drink wine

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• Are interested in visiting a low-key wine country

• Like being an influencer in their own inner circles

• Want to discover a new place to explore

• Appreciate novelty items

CREATIVE DELIVERABLES

• Website

• Digital delivery of art design

• Look/feel concept for PR/social media/email

• Customized personality “Swirl-nalysis”

• Email and social media teaser

• Social media contest: Tag your friend and win a swirl

• Incentive for the first 50 people in the queue

» Show your swirl and get a discount, prize, etc. (like the room key)

• Website graphics on SantaMariaValley.com

• Social media artwork for Facebook/Instagram $2,000 paid campaign (KPS3 + SMV)

IMPLEMENTATION COMPONENTS

The launch is coming this September to coincide with California Wine Month and will include:

• Blog post

• Connection to SantaMariaValley.com website

• Social media teaser and during campaign (using current handles)

• Influencer marketing

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• Public Relations

» Primary angles:

- Travel

- Food/Wine

» Secondary angles:

- Tech

- Agency (AdWeek)

- Local (Reno, SMV)

• Media list building/management

• Video and photo assets

• Marketing to Santa Maria Valley’s database

• Events/Activations - TBD

• Internal SMV promotion

» SMV newsletter

• Paid SMV social promotion

» Facebook

» Instagram

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Addendum2019-2020 MEDIA PLAN

RESEARCH FINDINGS

2019–2020 Santa Maria Valley Media Plan This document is meant to guide our media spend throughout the 2019–2020 fiscal year. We have adjusted our spend approach to focus the majority of our budget on highly targeted and trackable media. We have also adjusted our creative approach to better align our messaging with our target customers based on location and where they fall in the travel buying process. Furthermore, our native and paid search were developed to enhance other areas of focus in PR, Social and SEO.

Media Plan Objectives

• Attract visitors to consider Santa Maria Valley for their next getaway. o Increase the number of targeted, unique website visitors to the website, so that we may

best influence their decision to visit the area. • Enhance and capitalize on the new Wine+ creative approach. • Gain additional insights into our potential/current customers. • Provide additional insights relevant to all areas of the marketing plan.

Media Approach MEDIA PLACEMENT In the 2019–20 fiscal year, we will continue with a highly targeted media plan, increasing our budget in this area with the goal of soliciting a specific action—hotel conversions.

Broadly Targeted Media (Awareness among a large audience)

Targeted Media (Awareness among a smaller, defined audience)

Highly Targeted Media (Soliciting action among a small audience with demonstrated interest)

Print OOH TV / OTT / CTV Digital Video Radio / Digital Radio Podcast Advertising Display Ads Native Display Ads

Print Display Ads Digital Video Digital Radio Native Display Ads Native Sponsored Content eNewsletter Partnerships Social Media

Paid Search Social Media Remarketing (Display, Video, Social, Search)

Media Buckets

2019–20 2018–19

Highly Targeted Media (Increased from 35% to 56% of budget)

Search $72,000.00 $30,000.00

Social $40,000.00 $40,000.00

Remarketing $12,000.00 $6,000.00

Targeted Media (Decreased from 43% to 38% of budget)

Native & Video $75,250.00 $84,000.00

Yosemite Journal $9,695.00 $10,000.00

Broadly Targeted Media (Decreased from 12% to 5% of budget)

Secondary Audiences $0.00 $10,000.00

Wrangler Network $2,500.00 $2,500.00

Print Budget $8,555.00 $14,555.00

Unassigned Contingency $0.00 $22,945.00

TOTAL $220,000.00 $220,000.00

Target Audience For the past two years, we have been operating under a two-prong audience approach. We use interest and location profiling to align our messaging with our media. This year, we have honed in on that further and will be marketing specific messaging and CTAs based on geography. With that said, we do have some standard visitor data. Typically, our visitor profile is 25–54, with an annual household income of $75,000–$100,000. They show interest in the outdoors, family-friendly activities, wine, culinary experiences, value and history/heritage. They are motivated by a relaxing and authentic destination with friendly, “real” people and want value for their time and money spent. Geographically, they are within a 3-hour drive from Santa Maria Valley.

Flighting Approach Our flighting approach was designed to follow the needs of the hotels, driving visitation during off-peak months. However, in order to stay top of mind and drive continued awareness, we have allocated some budget for peak season activities.

2019-2020

Santa Maria Valley Media Plan - Flight ScheduleCLASSIFICATION MEDIA JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE BUDGET

HIGHLY TARGETED $124,000Paid Search $4,000 $4,000 $4,800 $7,300 $8,400 $8,400 $8,700 $7,000 $7,200 $4,800 $4,200 $3,200 $72,000Social Media (Facebook, IG, Pinterest) $2,500 $600 $5,000 $5,000 $4,500 $4,000 $4,100 $3,000 $3,600 $3,900 $3,800 $0 $40,000Remarketing $600 $600 $1,000 $1,250 $1,300 $1,250 $1,300 $1,000 $1,400 $900 $800 $600 $12,000

TARGETED $84,945

Visit Santa BarbaraDedicated Email //

Multi-Partner Itinerary

Instagram Lookbook // Email Experience

FeatureItinerary Promo // Dedicated Email

Email Featured Partner & Experience Feature

New Custom Itinerary // Email Experience Feature

Itinerary Promo // Email Sponsored Partner & Experience Feature

Email Featured Partner // Next Month

in SB Highlight Facebook Promo $14,900

Yosemite Journal

Eblast RT Contest

Print Ads in New 2020 Issue // New Content Launches

Online // RT Contest // Eblast (need to confirm with

YJ) $9,695Visit California Dedicated Email Dedicated Email $15,000Good Day LA Segment TBD $6,500LA Mag Article Live LA Mag Promo $12,000SFGate Story Studio Story Studio & Email Story Studio $12,000Content Promotion TBD Based on LA Mag, Good Day LA, and SF Gate Buy Finalization $4,750YouTube $1,700 $2,000 $2,300 $2,000 $2,100 $10,100

BROADLY TARGETED $11,055

Wrangler Network $2,500 $2,500SLO Vintages $2,150 $2,150 $4,300CO-OP Travel & Leisure Road trip $2,930 $2,930CO-OP CCTC Map (Certified Folder) $1,325 $1,325TOTAL $220,000

Actual Monthly Spend $7,100 $5,200 $12,950 $13,550 $15,900 $15,650 $16,400 $13,000 $14,300 $9,600 $13,450 $8,055 $220,000

Updated - June 20, 2019

Native Media Buy

Native media buys have been a viable strategy for Santa Maria Valley because they offer new opportunities with media outlets that are on our targeted media list, with controlled, curated content that maps to both our PR and digital media strategies. We are able to promote and track even further when the content lives on, via our and the publications’ website and social media channels.

This year, the proposed buy focuses on:

1. Continuing partnerships with proven publications allowing us to promote content that aligns with our new Wine+ strategy.

2. Developing new partnerships with publications from our PR target list that will provide us with new, evergreen content that we can continue to promote after the buy has ended.

1. The new publications focus on reaching audiences and developing partnerships in two of our biggest markets, Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Continuing Partnerships Visit Santa Barbara By the Numbers

• 98% new users • 45% bounce rate • 2+ minutes on site • 3 pages per session • 19% conversion rate

Proposed Buy—$14,900 (+$2,400 Added Value)

Month Media

Sept. 2019 Dedicated Email (Swirl) // Wine Month Multi-Partner Itinerary

Oct. 2019 Instagram Lookbook // More Experiences Feature in Monthly Leisure Email (Brewfest)

Nov. 2019 Promotion of Existing Custom Itinerary // Dedicated Email

Dec. 2019 Featured Partner in Monthly Leisure Email ($500 Wine Getaway or Foxen Canyon Christmas Event)

Jan. 2020 More Experiences Feature in Monthly Leisure Email (Restaurant Week) // New Custom Itinerary

Mar. 2020 Promotion of 2020 Custom Itinerary // Sponsored Partner and More Experiences Feature in Monthly Leisure Email

Apr. 2020 More Experiences Feature in Monthly Leisure Email

May 2020 Facebook Promotion (Wine Trolley Opening) // Next Month in SB Highlight (Wine Trolley or Vintners Fest)

Visit California By the Numbers

• 98% new users • 40% bounce rate • 1.5 minutes on site • 2.5 pages per session • 16% conversion rate • 60% were in California

Proposed Buy—$15,000

Month Media

Dec. 2019 Dedicated Email

Feb. 2020 Dedicated Email

Yosemite Journal By the Numbers

• The primary source of new, engaged email subscribers • 8,600+ over last 6 mos.

Executed Buy—$9,695 ($28,290 Value)

Month Media

Sept. 2019 Eblast

Dec. 2019–Nov. 2020 Email Leads

Jan./Feb. 2020 New Print Journal Release: Half-Page Ad and Half-Page Custom Content (print & online)

Dec. 2019–Feb. 2020 Coastal CA Road Trip Contest

Jan. 2020 NP Newsletter Feature // FB Posts // Eblast

New Partnership POVs Good Day L.A. with Ashley Colburn Why Good Day L.A. is a Good Fit for Santa Maria Valley With many L.A. eyeballs watching Good Day L.A. as part of their daily morning routines, this hits a nice portion of our L.A. general travel audience looking for a road trip or weekend wine getaway to our region. The show offers a diverse mix of content—anything from news to entertainment to travel. With our current relationship with Ashley Colburn and the work she did on KUSI San Diego, coordinating this request will be relatively seamless. About the Journalist (Ashley Colburn) Ashley is a two-time Emmy award-winning television producer and host. We were first introduced to her through CCTC, and then later produced our own segment with her for Good Morning San Diego/KUSI in February 2019. Proposed Buy—$6,500 Sponsored Segment (Date TBD) 3-4 minute segment accompanied by a 30 second commercial

Los Angeles Magazine By the Numbers

• 4,850,000 monthly reach • 57,500,000 annual reach • 101,338 Facebook followers • 486,000 Twitter followers • 113,000 Instagram followers • 633,000 monthly web visitors

Audience

• 45% are 35-54 • 27% are 21-34 • $280,000 avg. HHI • 89% have taken a domestic trip in the last 12 months • 56% have attended wine or food festivals in the last 12 months

Why Los Angeles Magazine is a Good Fit for Santa Maria Valley Los Angeles Magazine has been a premier source of information about people, food, culture, arts and entertainment, fashion and lifestyle for Los Angelenos for more than 58 years. Our content will target an engaged group of travelers—even at a valued price point with a $500 wine weekend.

Proposed Buy—$12,000 Sponsored Content Takeover Package—LAMag.com

• Sample from Visit Central Oregon • (1) sponsored article featured on Homepage and Travel landing page

o Lives indefinitely on lamag.com • (1) sponsored Instagram post • (1) sponsored Facebook post • (1) sponsored Twitter post • (1) dedicated newsletter • ROS display ads concurrent with promotion of article • Sample Metrics from Similar Inventory

o 3m40s avg. time on page o 100,000 impressions (ROS display) o Facebook Post Reach: 13,749 o Facebook Post Engagements: 607 o Instagram Post Reach: 12,390 o Instagram Post Engagements: 667 o Twitter Post Reach: 3,392 o Twitter Post Engagements: 37 o Dedicated newsletter Open Rate: 19.7% o Dedicated newsletter CTOR: 6.9%

Hearst Media: SFGate Storystudio By the Numbers

• 475,000 Twitter followers • 599,407 Facebook followers • 100,000 Instagram followers

Audience

• San Francisco Bay Area • 60% 25-64 • 75% HHI $50,000+ • 60% female

Why SFGate’s Storystudio is a Good Fit for Santa Maria Valley SFGate’s audience and inventory aligns with our media strategy, and the publication can give us quite the bang for our buck. Between the value offered and Cheryl’s past success with other travel clients on the publication, we believe they’re the right outfit to hit our Bay Area+ audience. Proposed Buy—$12,000 There are a few different approaches we could take with SFGate’s inventory that we want to

discuss with the team. We have the ability to mix and match (likely at a discount) the options below. We have included $12,000 in the media plan for SFGate. If we decide on a lower level of investment, we can allocate the remaining money to an additional Visit CA email, additional social promotion with Visit SB, and/or our video and content promotion line items. StoryStudio + Accompanying Promotion

• (3) Stories on StoryStudio o These stories are then promoted for 30 days on sfgate.com and its affiliate sites

such as The Chronicle’s site. Here is a sample from La Crema. o Estimated 1 million impressions

• (1) Email Promotion o Can target by interest, behavior, and/or geographies o Up to 50,000 emails per drop based on targeting criteria

Paid Search, Social, and Remarketing Buys This year, we will run separate campaigns by DMA so we can allocate specific budgets to each DMA. To start, we recommend the following split. This will likely be adjusted quickly and often depending on performance:

a. Los Angeles: 35%

b. Bay Area: 30%

c. Fresno-Visalia: 15%

d. Bakersfield: 10%

e. Monterey-Salinas: 10%

We will exclude San Diego from all paid media efforts. We will be watching the smaller DMAs (Fresno, Bakersfield, and Salinas) very closely as we gather data and adjust both spend and messages accordingly.

Paid Search This fiscal year, we have recommended heavily increasing our investment in Paid Search because it is a highly targeted, intent-based channel that has performed exceedingly well for us in the past. We will continue to run our three primary types of search campaigns (Getaways, Wine, and Hotels), but this year each will have its own sub-campaigns, one for each of our target DMAs (e.g., Hotels – LA, Hotels – Bay Area, etc.). We will begin the year with the following budget allocation, but will remain flexible and adjust based on performance:

a. Hotels: 49%

b. Wine: 34%

c. Getaways: 17% We’ve increased our investment, proportionally, in our Wine campaign to align with this year’s marketing plan. Both it and the Hotels campaign will run throughout the year, at decreased levels during our peak seasons and at increased levels during our down season. The Getaway campaign will run during our down season in October through March. Earlier in 2019, we ran Dynamic Search campaign experiments to test them against our traditional search campaigns. Based on the results of that experiment, this fiscal year, we will be changing over our Hotels and Wine campaigns to the Dynamic Search type and our Getaway campaigns will remain Traditional Search campaigns.

Paid Social Based on Instagram’s strong performance last fiscal year and in our digital media test, we’re going to begin this year by dividing our budget 50/50 between Facebook and Instagram. Due to Pinterest’s inability to correct its bot traffic issue, we will only be running follower campaigns on that platform. We have planned for one in August and another in January. As with our Search campaigns, we will have separate campaigns dedicated to each of our target DMAs. In addition to our Facebook and Instagram ads, we will run promotions and follower campaigns throughout the year. We have outlined the events and items for which we will want to run these promotions.

Remarketing Our remarketing budget is flighted to mirror our overall media spend. Our primary remarketing campaign will focus on serving Plan Your Trip itineraries based on the content the visitor has explored on our site (e.g., people who have recently viewed our wineries will get the Wine Weekend itinerary). We will also experiment with using the cookbook as a way to re-engage past visitors and bring them back to our site. We will adjust budget based on performance. Our remarketing ads will be served on Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads display network.

Santa Maria Valley - Research Findings Over a 30 day period, KPS3 tested different messages across our target audiences. We also reviewed the past 2 years of organic search and paid media data in an effort to obtain a complete picture of what messaging, geographic areas and stages in the funnel were working and which were underperforming. The findings of this research were then used to inform our overall marketing plan and media spend. Goals of the Research Project Determine what wine messaging is most compelling to whom.

• Identify any insights across our demographic targets • Identify any insights across our target geographic markets • Identify any insights across our interest/affinity targets • Identify any insights across our channels

Paid Test Channels

• Facebook/Instagram • Google Ads (Display) • Native Display (StackAdapt)

Targeting

• All Geographies (3-hour drive radius) • 25-54 • $75,000+ HII (where allowed by ad platform)

Additional Data Sources

• Google Analytics • GoogleAds • Facebook Ads Manager • Google Search Console

Geographic Markets Findings

Summary 1. This year, we will run separate campaigns by DMA so we can allocate budgets to each

DMA. To start, we recommend the following split. This will likely be adjusted quickly and often depending on performance:

a. Los Angeles: 35% b. Bay Area: 30% c. Fresno-Visalia: 15% d. Bakersfield: 10% e. Monterey-Salinas: 10%

2. We will exclude San Diego from all paid media efforts. 3. Our wine advertisements need a refresh.

a. The new Deals messaging will be a key component of this, but we will also want to develop some non-deals focused wine ads.

4. Watch smaller DMAs very closely as we gather more data and adjust messages accordingly.

5. Incorporate event and attraction promotion into our Facebook & Instagram advertising efforts based on the data gathered for each market.

Los Angeles The $500 Wine Weekend deal message was the top performer for May’s media test in this DMA. While the other wine-focused ad did not crack the top 3, historically people visiting our site from LA are highly engaged with our wine content. People who land on this content look at an average of 3 pages per session and have a 10% or higher conversion rate. Our Wine Search campaign has done well in LA, while our wine-focused Facebook and Instagram campaigns have lagged. This all indicates that we should continue to focus on the wine offering but perhaps with different ads. The deals messaging may be a great place to start. Best Click-through-Rates (CTR)

1. Deals 2. Outdoor 3. Barbecue 4. Heritage

Best Paid Campaigns (Site Engagement)

1. Food-Based Campaigns 2. Wine Search Campaign

a. Does well in search, poorly on other platforms

Best Organic Site Content (Engagement)

1. Wine Country 2. Eat & Drink

Top Events (Site Engagement)

1. Rodeo 2. Strawberry Festival

Top Attraction Category

1. Wine

Bay Area Our Outdoor, Deals, and Wine ads were the top performers for May’s media test in the SF-OAK-SJ DMA. Similar to the LA market, Bay Area visitors are highly engaged with our wine content. They also engage more with our Barbecue content. Last year, the Brews & Cues Festival was one of the top events for these folks. The website and organic search data indicates that we should continue to promote the wine offering, but the ad data suggests that we should try out some new messaging and creative. Best Click-through-Rates (CTR)

1. Outdoor 2. Deals 3. Wine



a. Wine underperforms on other platforms Best Organic Site Content (Engagement)

1. Wine Country 2. Eat & Drink


1. Brews & Cues BBQ Festival 2. Foxen Canyon Wine Trail Summer Sipping 3. West Coast Kustoms 4. Central Coast Air Fest


1. Wine (followed very closely by Barbecue)

Fresno-Visalia Our Outdoor and Deals were the top performers for May’s media test in the Fresno area. The Barbecue ads underperformed, but historically this market has been engaged with our other food-based content and advertising. As with our other markets, wine content also does well and wine ads do well in search. Best Click-through-Rates (CTR)

1. Outdoor 2. Deals 3. Heritage



a. Wine underperforms on other platforms Best Organic Site Content (Engagement)

1. Wine Country 2. Barbecue


1. Strawberry Festival 2. West Coast Kustoms 3. Bent Axles Car Show 4. Brews & Cues BBQ Fest


1. Rec & Outdoor (followed by a Wine/BBQ tie)

Bakersfield For the Bakersfield DMA, wine wasn’t a standout in the digital test, but is for organic. When the new campaign launches, we’ll want to focus on Wine/Wine Deals & Food Festival/Event messaging. We’ll watch this DMA closely in the first part of this year as we gather data from a larger pool. Best Click-through-Rates (CTR)

1. Deals 2. Barbecue 3. Heritage


1. Food-Based Campaigns

2. Wine Campaigns

Best Organic Site Content (Engagement)

1. Wine Country a. Does exceedingly well, even better than in other markets

2. Eat & Drink / Barbecue Top Events (Site Engagement)

1. Strawberry Festival 2. Brews & Cues BBQ Fest 3. Santa Barbara County Fair

Top Attraction Category:

1. Barbecue

Monterey-Salinas Data from this DMA is coming from a smaller pool of visitors than our other DMAs. We should introduce all of our new campaign messages to this DMA and then watch their performance closely to adjust accordingly as we bring more visitors to the site. Best Click-through-Rates (CTR)

1. Deals 2. Outdoor 3. Heritage


1. Food-Based Campaigns Best Organic Site Content (Engagement)

1. Homepage (branded search) 2. Wine Country


1. Strawberry Festival 2. Rodeo 3. West Coast Kustoms 4. Santa Barbara County Fair


1. Outdoor

San Diego While this market has never been a priority for us, it has been one that was included in certain intent- and interest-based campaigns. It is also an area we receive some organic traffic from; therefore, we did include San Diego in the May digital test to gather additional data on the market. We recommend stopping all targeting of this market in our paid efforts and focusing instead on the other 5 DMAs. Best Click-through-Rates (CTR) As with our other paid campaigns, San Diego was the lowest performing DMA in May’s digital media test.

1. Deals 2. Outdoor 3. Barbecue

Best Paid Campaigns (Site Engagement) Historically, none of our paid campaigns have performed well in San Diego, and those visitors coming to our site do not engage with our content. Best Organic Site Content (Engagement)

1. Homepage (branded search) 2. Wine Country 3. Eat & Drink


1. West Coast Kustoms 2. Rodeo 3. Strawberry Festival

Messaging Findings

Summary

1. Deals messaging drove clicks and conversions. It did not drive great engagement, but we can improve on that with more specific content.

2. Use Barbecue imagery and messaging a) for engagement on our social platforms or b) to lead people to content about barbecue (e.g., BBQ blogs, the cookbook, festival, etc.) but not for general promotion, awareness, and trip planning advertising.

3. Use the Heritage ad we ran in the experiment to drive consideration and conversions. Explore more types of heritage messaging and landscape imagery.

4. Outdoor imagery and messaging are good to include in the mix of ads for top-of-funnel audiences, as a way to bring them to the site and keep SMV on their minds. Other messaging should be used for those who are closer to being ready to book.

5. Use Casual Wine messaging a) for engagement on our social platforms or b) to bring in highly engaged visitors to the website from our social and contextual advertising channels.

Deals ($500 Weekend) ● Drives clicks and conversions

○ Top & Bottom of Funnel ● Did not drive other site engagement ● Did especially well in Monterey-Salinas, San Diego, LA, & Fresno-Visalia DMAs

○ Drove higher CTR than other messages in SF-OAK-SJ DMA ● Improve by sending to a $500 itinerary with strong CTAs

○ Use in highly targeted media ○ Test further in targeted media

Central Coast Heritage / Exploration ● Drives clicks and conversions ● Drives site engagement ● Does extraordinarily well on Instagram ● Did especially well in LA, Bakersfield (IG), and Fresno-Visalia (FB) DMAs ● Explore more types of messaging & usage

Outdoor ● Drives clicks and site engagement

○ Not in Bakersfield DMA ○ Higher CTR than other messages in SF-OAK-SJ DMA

● Does not drive conversions ● Use for:

○ Top-of-Funnel ○ Mid-Funnel ○ Social engagement

Casual Wine Experience ● Low click-through-rate ● Drives highly engaged visitors, but not hotel conversions ● Use for:

○ Contextual & interest-based advertising ○ Social engagement

Barbecue ● Drives channel engagement

○ Bakersfield DMA loves your barbecue ● Does not drive conversions or site engagement ● Use for:

○ Social engagement ○ Specific content promotion (e.g., cookbook)

2019-2020 MARKETING PLAN

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Transcript of 2019-2020 MARKETING PLAN