The vendor required to provide marketing, advertising and public relations services that will support the state's overarching goal of increasing both in-state and out-of-state tourism.
- Range of services that include, but are not limited to: brand and sub-brand development; creative concepting; production and execution of advertising campaigns, public relations; and performance analytics, reporting, etc.
- Brand development
1. Integrated marketing and communications
• Development and implementation of advertising campaigns utilizing the approved brand and sub-brands.
• These campaigns shall be supported by an integrated communications plan tailored to reach a diverse set of audiences, along with a methodology to support, monitor, track, and maintain brand consistency and performance across all promotional activities.
2. Strategic brand positioning and repositioning
• Continual positioning or repositioning of the brand and sub-brands as necessary to respond to market trends, audience insights, or strategic shifts.
• Such adjustments shall be designed to maximize the effectiveness of the brand in achieving the state’s tourism marketing goals.
- Strategic planning
• The existing strategic plan or at the request of the state, create, develop and implement a revised or new comprehensive domestic and international strategic plan for marketing state tourism for state review and approval.
• Include advertising initiatives and media placement for all marketing, public relations, sales, outreach, outdoor and other program initiatives as directed by the state in support of the brand and sub-brands.
• The strategic plan at a minimum annually to propose marketing and media strategies to expand promotional efforts effectively into new markets, maintain successful markets and test markets.
• Research and be knowledgeable of current domestic and international travel and tourism marketing trends.
• Utilizing that expertise contractor shall make recommendations to best promote tourism to groups including, but not limited to, niche audiences and specific demographics, such as geographic and psychographic tourism consumer targets by means of paid, earned and owned media opportunities.
• Maintain an understanding of the overall objectives of the state and it’s prior and current marketing strategies, to effectively recommend and implement strong media and creative initiatives.
• Research and render a marketing analysis, with criteria and assessment points as provided by state, of the effectiveness of the state’s advertising campaigns and media purchases implemented at regular intervals during each year of the contract.
• Analysis should include but is not limited to: tracking of all advertising and media placement efforts against agreed upon key performance indicators on an ongoing basis no less than once a month
• Ensure changes to media placement tactics, markets or brand creative to improve campaign performance be made with the state’s prior approval as warranted.
- Marketing services
1. Creative services
• Provide creative services such as concept development, copywriting, art direction, layout and design, video and image collection, graphic design, asset organization and management, and other creative services needed to support, develop and track the state’s brand and marketing campaign(s).
2. Production services
• Provide production services capable of supporting all aspects of a given campaign, including but not limited to: print design; television spots; radio spots; direct marketing; outdoor advertising, such as marketing activations, interactive exhibits, and other forms, of production services necessary to support the state’s marketing campaign(s).
3. Media placement
• Contractor shall render media placement and related services for the state pursuant to the strategic marketing plan.
• Provide recommendations for media placement that will accomplish outlined campaign goals, including projected impressions or results, for the state to approve prior to purchase and buy;
• Coordinate with the state and others, as may be required, to ensure that appropriate production materials are obtained to satisfy media placement requirements in a timely fashion to media vendor(s);
• Provide the state with reports to document the media was placed as required; provide post-buy analysis and media audits; and change tactics, with the state’s prior approval, as necessary for a given media placement campaign;
• Conduct and provide research, surveys and studies as requested by the state or as needed to support digital advertising and media placement recommendations and decisions; and,
• Contractor shall use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the state’s marketing budget is deployed effectively by identifying and recommending the most impactful channels, strategies, and opportunities to maximize return on investment.
• Actively pursue and, where available secure added value opportunities with media partners and vendors—such as bonus placements, increased results, editorial coverage, measurements tools or other enhancements.
• Throughout the engagement, contractor shall act in the state’s best interest, providing objective, strategic guidance to avoid any conflicts of interest in vendor or media selections.
4. Co-op media program for partners
• Responsible for leading the research, evaluation, and management of cooperative media placement opportunities in collaboration with tourism partners, including but not limited to tourism organizations, attractions, and other relevant stakeholders to include identifying strategic media opportunities, vetting potential partners and platforms, developing media plans, negotiating placements, and managing the execution and performance of co-op campaigns.
• Provide full oversight of the co-op media program and perform all necessary tasks to ensure successful implementation, including coordination with partners, tracking deliverables, ensuring compliance with brand standards, and providing performance reporting.
5. Digital advertising services
• Implement a digital tourism promotion advertising concept(s) with art direction, copy and design, image collection, graphic design and other production services as requested by the state to support, develop, track, manage and maintain such digital advertising campaign(s);
• Provide senior-level supervision of the digital advertising services, and document and communicate with the state as to the status and timeline of each on-line advertising campaign upon request by the state.
6. Email marketing, database management and lead generation
• Develop and maintain a consumer email onboarding and segmentation process;
• Content of e-mails shall be consistent with areas of activity and interest requested by the customers and maintained in the database;
• Expansion of the database shall include opportunities for website interaction to generate more subscribed tourism leads;
• Maintain an expert-level knowledge of new technology and lead generation techniques and make recommendations that may benefit the state’s database and lead generation activities;
• Provide reports no more than monthly, or as requested, of database and e-mail lead generation activities to the state to measure effectiveness of the activities and assist the state in better understanding the potential visitor and how to best formulate effective marketing strategies.
7. Social media services
• Recommendations for the state’s overall social media strategy to keep up-to-date on the latest social media trends, recommending best practices, presenting quarterly analytics, and advising relevant search terms to be implemented across all channels, including website, to help the state reach its target audience effectively.
• Collaborate with the state to create quarterly content calendars for its social media channels and weekly email cadence.
• Manage the state’s social media communities by actively responding to comments and messages and developing proactive strategies to encourage public interaction and engagement with the content.
• Offer continuous guidance and feedback to ensure our social media presence remains active and effective around the clock, not just during specific campaigns.
• Ensure that all the state’s brand campaigns and marketing programs are consistently and effectively represented across all our social media channels.
• Facilitate influencer brand campaigns which includes curating lists of influencers, coordinating travel logistics to state, and managing communication between client and influencers.
• Integrate social media and user-generated content initiatives to develop and maintain the platforms throughout the term of the contract.
8. Website content management
• Perform an initial assessment and evaluation of the current website and provide a plan to the state detailing a recommended development strategy to facilitate the state’s digital initiatives including continued development of the site and any hereafter created sites.
• Responsible for the ongoing content management and enhancement of the state’s primary consumer-facing tourism website, in alignment with the overall objectives of the state’s tourism marketing program.
• Provide support for the content management and strategic development of other related websites and microsites as directed by the state.
• Responsibilities shall include, but are not limited to, implementing and updating website content, videos, features, and functionality—including theme, style, navigation, user experience, and accessibility—on both the primary website and any related sub-sites, as requested and approved by the state.
• Maintain proficiency in and utilize advanced, industry-standard digital technologies including tools, programming languages, applications, database management systems, and operating systems for the development and support of the state’s websites, mobile sites, and any other digital properties owned or controlled by the state.
- Budget: $25 - $30 Manually
- Contract Period/Term: 5 years
- Pre-response Conference Date: January 14, 2026
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 21, 2026
