FY2025 – 2026
Annual Marketing Report
• WHAT'S INSIDE
1 Overview & Goals 2 Communications Strategy
3 Geography 4 Completed Initiatives
5 PR & Partnerships 6 Sponsorships
7 Results to Date 8 Strategic Plan
1 OVERVIEW & GOALS
The Arroyo Grande Tourism Business Improvement District (AGTBID) Arroyo Grande TBID’s plan to increase tourism involves expanding to new audiences while driving greater differentiation and distinctiveness:
Marketing Objectives
1 Attract new visitors from top feeder markets by inspiring a new audience to consider SLO and Arroyo Grande as a vacation destination. 2 Increase Arroyo Grande's share of overnight stays among visitors to the 5 cities and SLO County by creating a distinctive proposition and voice for Arroyo within the broader region.
Communications Goal
We need to ignite a spark
that makes people want to
visit our area, while giving
them a clear reason to
choose Arroyo Grande
over all the other options
available.
2 COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
Positioning Statement
“There's Just Something in the Air”
There are plenty of places to shop, dine, and play on the Central Coast, but Arroyo Grande continues to set itself apart. Whether it's the charm of the historic downtown, the cozy neighborhood feel, the best weather in the region, or the locals' passion for their community, AG has a unique, indefinable character that must be experienced to be truly understood. “ It's SLO for those in the know. ”
Our positioning remains unchanged, allowing creative to develop in new and interesting ways that capture the spirit of the town. Strategic consistency serves as the bedrock upon which we test different formats for storytelling — resulting in the highest-performing and most interesting work to date.
COMMUNICATIONS ARCHITECTURE
1 Inspire
Reach travelers where they go to get
inspired, establishing AG as an
aspirational destination.
Social Media · Influencer · Display · OOH ·
CTV/Video
2 Convince
Connect with interested travelers through
shared passions and human storytelling.
Display · Organic Social · Web
3 Capture
Make AG travel information and
experiences more engaging and easy to
discover.
Search · Display · Social Media · Web
MEDIA MIX: FY25 VS. FY26
In FY2026, we de-prioritized marketing activities targeting the local community, while scaling exposure and awareness to regional visitors with OOH billboards.
The media mix is optimized toward channels effective at driving visitation to Arroyo Grande, as tracked by mobile device IDs. 3 GEOGRAPHY
Focus on expanding visitation from major growth markets while continuing to increase share of Nurture markets.
GROW
High-volume markets with
lower per-capita visitation
— suggesting opportunity
for growth.
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco
• Sacramento
• San Diego
NURTURE
Low/mid-volume markets
with high per-capita
visitation — suggesting a
high conversion opportunity.
• Fresno
• Monterey / Salinas
• Bakersfield
4 COMPLETED INITIATIVES
Over the past year, Visit Arroyo Grande deepened its investment in the “That's Arroyo Grande” campaign, expanding creative assets, media placements, and content production across print, outdoor, and digital channels — while renewing its partnership with agency of record Commune Communication for three additional years.
1 Updated Visitor Map
A hand-drawn map appeared in the SCC guide and
on the railroad kiosk in the Village.
2 Edible SLO CAL Placement
Recurring half-page ad featuring AG's foodfocused content. 3 Eye-Catching 101 Billboards
New collage-style creative renewed north of town,
plus a new billboard south of AG.
4 Social Media Growth
Expanded video library and formats like “Where
Should We Go Next?” drove top-performing posts.
5 Grew the Content Library
Social-first video/photo capturing the Harvest
Festival, holiday parade, and every AG hotel.
6 Statewide & Regional Visibility
Placements in the CA Visitors Guide, CA 101
Travelers Guide, and America's Favorite Small
Town contest.
5 PR & PARTNERSHIPS
With so many incredible destinations in California, standing out requires a strong and strategic presence. Continued partnerships with influential tourism organizations earned Arroyo Grande increased exposure and access to regional and statewide PR opportunities.
Visit SLO CAL
• Press release: “What's New in SLO CAL 2027”
• Phoenix Media Co-op Trip participation
• LA Media FAM trip representation
• Heads in Beds Co-op microsite mention
• Central Coast by Design & Fall Event content
• Welcome 2.0 Destination Module
• Quarter-page co-op in Visitors Guide magazine
Central Coast Tourism Council
• Co-op ad placement with Sunset Magazine
• Regular quarterly newsletter submissions
• Co-op spread in the state's Visitor Guide
• Co-op back cover placement on the visitor's map
6 SPONSORSHIPS
Visit Arroyo Grande remains committed to fostering a city that welcomes new events, ideas, and investment in the places that make the community special — expanding support this year to include infrastructure and placemaking projects alongside community events. $5,000
Railway Kiosk visitor
map installation
$15,000
Holiday Lights in
the Village
$1,000
Murder Mystery
Event activation
2nd Payment
Visit SLO CAL SLO
Monopoly participation
Beyond these sponsorships, the city offers grant opportunities to help fund infrastructure improvements throughout Arroyo Grande, open to residents, businesses, and event organizers.
7 The City of Arroyo Grande
experienced an increase in YOY
TOT revenue — up 12% YOY
*YTD through June 2026: $1.6M
as reported by Visit SLO CAL.
RESULTS TO DATE
2025-2026
$1,600,000*
7 LOCATION VISITATION REPORTING
Mobile Device IDs track individuals exposed to advertising and whether they visit the Arroyo Grande Village or a partner hotel — connecting paid media directly to visitation.
2,276
Total Exposed
Visits
929
Total Exposed
Unique Visitors
$39.83
Cost per Unique
Visitor
$16.26
Cost per Exposed
Visit
Arroyo Grande: Location Visitation Report
VISITATION BY MARKET OVERVIEW
Total Exposed
Visits
Total Exposed
Unique Visitors
All Markets
Growth 1,811 764
Nurture 465 165
Growth
Bay Area 909 328
So Cal Area 1,104 493
Cumulative FY25-26 Fiscal Campaign from 7.1.25 thru 6.30.26 Arroyo Grande: Location Visitation Report
VISITATION BY DAY OF WEEK
Total Exposed
Visits
Total Exposed
Unique Visitors
% of Total
Visits
Day of Week Mon - Thu: 58%
SUNDAY 285 180 13%
MONDAY 277 168 12%
TUESDAY 351 202 16%
WEDNESDAY 332 181 15%
THURSDAY 354 209 16%
FRIDAY 355 210 16%
SATURDAY 296 179 13%
Cumulative FY25-26 Fiscal Campaign from 7.1.25 thru 6.30.26 Benchmarks
Metric FY 24/25
Benchmarks
FY 25/26
Delivery
% +/-
Benchmark
CTR 1.21% 2.30% +1.19
Soft Conversion
Rate 1.02% 2.24% +1.09
Cost per Exposed
Unique Visitor $54 $39.83 - 26%
Cost per Exposed
Visit $21 $16.26 - 23%
Hotels as %
of Total Visits 20.33% 21.62% +5.38
7 PERFORMANCE AGAINST BENCHMARKS
Consistent, data-driven optimization and strategic analysis has resulted in significant increases in marketing performance YOY, with gains seen against all key metrics.
8 STRATEGIC PLAN, FY26/27 – FY28/29
Visit California The Ultimate Playground
Visit SLO CAL Turns Well Taken
Visit Arroyo Grande That's Arroyo Grande
Annual Program of
Work
Media plan, content, co-op, website,
reporting
Four Objectives, Laddering to Visit SLO CAL's Strategic Direction 1 Future-proof the AGTBID
2 Build distinctive awareness for Arroyo
Grande within the SLO CAL story
3 Convert visits into overnight stays by
improving the reasons to stay
4 Demonstrate the value of tourism to
businesses, residents, and City
leadership
visitarroyogrande.org