County Supervisors have agreed to hire a firm to do a targeted promotion of Cayucos after being selected for the job in July by Cayucos’ tourism board.
Supervisors approved a $28,000 contract with media company Orange 22, Inc., to put out “two media stories and two email blasts during the shoulder seasons,” a County report said, to promote tourism and bring in business. The shoulder season is fall, winter and into early spring.
The contract is part of the County Business Improvement District or (CBID) formed by lodging property owners with hotels, motels, B&Bs and vacation rentals located within the County’s unincorporated communities (cities have their own TBIDS).
The CBID charges 2% of the cost of a room night in the affected lodging businesses. Each town with an advisory board gets half of the CBID monies collected by their businesses to spend on promotions, special events and other uses related to tourism. The County gets the other half and spends it on promotions for all of the unincorporated areas of the county. Each City has its own TBID and advisory board.
In the contract’s “scope of work” section, Orange22 is identified as working in collaboration with SF Gate Stories, a Hearst Publishing company, with the objective “to create and deliver compelling travel content to engage Cayucos Local Area target audience while promoting the scenic destinations in Cayucos.
“This partnership leverages the storytelling capabilities of SF Gate Stories and the extensive reach of Hearst Publishing to drive user engagement and enhance Cayucos Local Area brand presence.”
The campaign’s news story work has lofty goals, including achieving 8 million story impressions; and 6,000 engagements from just two stories. The email blasts are supposed to each reach 200,000 users.
