Joe Rossiter, Program Director with the Carroll Chamber of Commerce, presented the goals and objectives of a new, comprehensive marketing plan to the city council Monday night, making a funding request of $22,000 for fiscal year 2018. The annual funding request will use money from hotel/motel taxes to support these goals. Rossiter told council members the majority of expense will go to an update to the current marketing campaign.
Rossiter said the focused goal is to increase lodging by five percent in three years and to convert day-trip visitors to overnight stays. The chamber is planning to use a variety of marketing tools to reach a broad audience.
The campaign will be monitored on a quarterly basis by looking at lodging and occupancy trends, website traffic, through chamber visitors and response to promotional incentives. Councilman Clay Haley asked about any metrics that will be used to evaluate the efficiency of online and print advertising.
Carolyn Seimann and Haley also suggested there may be the possibility of getting more combined marketing efforts through publications that have both print and online versions. The council did not take action, but accepted the request for consideration during the fiscal year 2018 budget planning workshops.
