RFP- Digital Media Services for Tourism Marketing #15338

The purpose of this Request for Proposal is to seek qualified agencies to support the City of Laurel, Mississippi’s strategic communications for tourism marketing through digital media tactics. Qualified agencies will have a working knowledge of the tourism industry. The City’s desired partner will have the capacity to provide strategic counsel, actively promote the destination’s message, amplify successes, and position Laurel as a premier destination in the Gulf South for leisure travel at the national, regional, and local levels.

This RFP in no way commits the City to award a contract, to pay any costs in preparation of a proposal, or to contract for the goods and/or services offered. Although it is the City’s intent to contract with the person/company that best meets the qualifications to complete the scope of work, the City may terminate the negotiations if they are unsuccessful in reaching an agreement on all matters including the scope of work and cost.

SCOPE OF SERVICES
The selected agency’s responsibilities will include the below:

• Work in conjunction with the City staff, Tourism Committee and consultants to conduct a digital marketing program to attract visitors from primary target markets.

• Develop and execute creative concepts, strategies, and tactics, including but not limited to:

  o Blog posts
  o Display Advertising

  o Geofencing

  o Retargeting

  o Search Engine Marketing / Google Ad Words

  o Sponsored Content Marketing

  o Email Marketing

  o Video Marketing (OTT, Native, YouTube)

  o Streaming Audio Marketing

• Manage and implement opportunities to leverage state marketing co-ops

• Use data provided by the City, Mississippi Development Authority, and other reputable third parties to optimize digital campaigns

• Provide a comprehensive monthly report of activity, campaign results and strategy updates.

• Regular campaign optimization to increase performance and Return on Investment (ROI), including:

  o Bid Optimization – adjust keyword bids to focus on visitors most likely to convert

  o Budget Allocation – monitoring campaigns to increase the budget for campaigns that provide the greatest ROI and decrease it in low-performance areas

  o Ad Testing – test various ad elements to discover what is most effective (headlines, images, descriptions, display URLs, site link extensions, call-outs, call to actions, etc.)

  o Audience Targeting – serve most relevant and compelling ads to the audience based on demographics, known interests, and likely decision-making criteria.

• Create a portfolio of new marketing assets, including photos and videos for use in print and digital campaigns

• Provide design services as needed for placements in print, OOH or other platforms that coordinate with the agency’s campaign themes and messages. These non-digital ads may be placed directly by the City. The agency may include non-digital strategies in their proposal if desired, however.