Agenda - 10/4/2022 (9) — Santa Maria City Council, October 4, 2022

FOR THE COUNCIL MEETING OF OCTOBER 4, 2022

COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: City Council
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT: PRESENTATION — SANTA MARIA VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2021-2022 ANNUAL REPORT
RECOMMENDATION:

The City Council will receive and file the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Commission, Visitors Bureau & Tourism Marketing District 2021- 2022 Annual Report.

BACKGROUND:

Attached is the annual report from the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, which encompasses the Economic Development Commission, Visitors Bureau & Tourism Marketing District. This report comprises their most recent activities, programs, and services from the period July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.

DISCUSSION:

Glenn Morris, the President/CEO of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, will be making the presentation.

JASON STIL ELL
City Manager
Attachment: The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce 2021-2022 Annual Report

2021- 2022

ANNUAL REPORT
Economic Development Commission
Visitors Bureau & Tourism Marketing District

TABLE OF

CONTENTS
MESSAGE FROM THE CEO 03
CATALYST. CONVENER. CHAMPION. = COMMUNITY VITALITY

CATALYST FOR BUSINESS GROWTH
04 05

CONVENER OF LEADERS & INFLUENCERS

CHAMPION FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
14 17

WHAT'S NEXT
25 APPENDIX A: MID -YEAR FINANCIALS
26 APPENDIX B: TMD MARKETING REPORT
29 is
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

MESSAGE

FROM THE CEO
September 2022
Alice Patino, Mayor
Mike Cordero, Council Member
Carlos Escobedo, Council Member
Gloria Soto, Council Member
Etta Waterfield, Council Member
Jason Stilwell, City Manager
The Chamber is proud to continue our partnership with the City of Santa Maria to improve the economic vitality of our community. This report highlights the work that the Chamber performed during the 2021-2022 fiscal year and the results of that work.

The Chamber leads the economic and tourism development
for the City of Santa Maria and the surrounding Santa Maria Valley. In doing so, we are committed to being effective and impactful in supporting businesses already operating in our community, attraction of new businesses and business start-ups, and the growth of tourism and hospitality as a key economic driver.

This annual report provides a review of our work for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022. This period has been one of recovery as our businesses and community emerged from the pandemic, but has also been one of volatility due to economic conditions (inflation, labor availability, supply chain interruptions) that impact not only the Santa Maria Valley, but the country at large.

GLENN MORRIS
President/CEO
Santa Maria Valley Chamber
We remain optimistic about the future for our community and its overall economic vitality. We are aware of the challenges that still face all of our businesses, but we are confident that working with individual businesses, the City, and our growing network of partners, we can continue to create jobs, wealth, and opportunities for Santa Marians.

On behalf of the Chamber's board, staff, and members, we are grateful for the opportunity to work on these critical initiatives and look forward to your continued feedback and support.

Sincerely,
Glenn D. Morris
President & CEO, Santa Maria Valley Chamber
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CATALYST. CONVENER. CHAMPION.

COMMUNITY VITALITY
The Santa Maria Valley Chamber exists to help business - and the broader community - prosper. We are a catalyst for business success, a convener of leaders and influencers, and a champion for a stronger Santa Maria Valley.

We deliver on our mission through valuable business services, deep and relevant connections, effective partnerships, business learning opportunities, and influence on economic and public policies.

The Chamber brings a unique perspective and lens to our work. Because we operate the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Commission, and Visitor Bureau/Tourism Marketing District, we bring to bear a full spectrum of tools and services to truly enhance the vitality of businesses and individuals throughout our city and valley.

The Chamber brings leadership to the process of creating a community where business thrives. Partnering with employers and community partners, we work to create a "culture of commerce." Chamber programs are built around the core principles of:
• Creating a strong local economy
• Promoting the community
• Providing networking opportunities
• Representing the interests of business with government This report shared the activity and results of the Chamber's work, particularly in the areas of Economic Development and Tourism, during the July 1, 2021 to June 31, 2022 period.

This report is organized to highlight the interconnected nature of the work we do in supporting existing businesses, attracting new business, and bringing visitors to the community. Each section will highlight key efforts and results as they relate to our mission focus of being a Catalyst a Convener, and a Champion. 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

The first element of the Chamber's mission is to help create new and better opportunities for the businesses in our community to grow and succeed. We do this through a wide range of partnerships, and targeted programs that offer businesses the chance to strengthen their business model, connect with new customers and partners, and secure their future. 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
5 CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Assisting Local Businesses
The Economic Development Commission provides assistance to the business community on a variety of issues.

From those looking to start a business in the community to those needing COVID assistance or workforce labor, the EDC connects business professionals to the resources they need to be successful. Additionally, the EDC works with community partners to bring new developments to the Santa Maria Valley. 63 Business Assisted
63 businesses assisted with permitting, business licenses, business set up, contractors board info, seller's permit, SBA loan assistance, general business assistance, and other items.
5 Business Prospects & Projects
Projects include assisting Allan Hancock College with student housing & market rate housing combo, other housing projects within Santa Maria & Orcutt, the Skyway Collective, Downtown Project, and a large Warehouse project. 10 Information Requests
Recent information requests had topics including health department rules and contacts, workforce labor issues, city and county permitting concerns, business formation guidance, interest in the new Enos Ranch project, and community engagement needs.

Business Outreach Contacts
The Chamber and EDC team continually engage with local businesses via phone and email outreach. Additionally, the team conducted 25+ in -person meetings to understand current or future needs of local businesses, to understand growth opportunities and requirements, and to express appreciation for the jobs and other investments the business brings to the community. 4tioe(9,
W�
8 California GoBiz Business Leads
The EDC is an official partner with the Governor's Office of Business (Go -BIZ). As such, we receive and have the opportunity to respond to business opportuni- ties that the state is facilitating. Often, these are larger projects with complex requirements that need community (or regional) coordination. community (or regional) coordination. This year, the EDC received and evaluated a total of eight (8) Requests for Information via this network. Projects that came to us during the year included an air mobility manufacturer, a developer of metal -hydrogen batteries for large-scale stationary energy storage applications, a manufacturer of copper foil, a large-scale used vehicle dealer, a film location for a major science fiction story, an electric vehicle company looking to create a headquarters and R&D/testing/manufacturing site, a metals technology business, and a company seeking to use recycled "end of life" passenger tires for new industrial products.

While some of these projects are not good fits for our community, the relationship we have established with the State's economic development team ensures we will continue to have the chance to review projects looking for solutions. 6 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Improving Our Local Community
Downtown Revitalization & General Plan Update
The Economic Development Commission
remains heavily involved in the City's community
improvement efforts including the Downtown
Specific Plan and General Plan Update.

The EDC continues to facilitate negotiations
between the City and their preferred development
partner on the proposed Downtown Revitalization
Project. We remain hopeful that a final project
design and land purchase agreement can be
completed in the next few months.

The EDC also remains involved in conversations
and community meetings related to the General
Plan Update. In addition to being an active leader
on the Technical Advisory Committee, the Chamber is leading conversations about community needs and preferences.

Business Support: Get Your Business Online Program
The Chamber's "Get Your Business Online" program provides customized one-on-one support with businesses looking to strengthen their online presence.

Chamber staff works directly with a business on an intake assessmentto determine where the business needs improvement online, and provides the resources and support for the business to take action and strengthen their website, social media, email marketing, etc.

Additional details available at santamaria.com/get-your- business-online.

Visitors to
website
landing page.
18 Businesses
provided direct
assistance.

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Media & Influencer Campaign
The Visitor Bureau/Tourism Marketing District work with a national influencer marketing platform, Glocally, to source, vet, and coordinate influencer visits to the Santa Maria Valley to source, vet and coordinate influencer visits to Santa Maria Valley. As part of this, we create custom itineraries for different influencers so they can ex- perience the area and share their experiences on their own blogs and social media platforms. We also receive rights to all of the images and video captured during their trips to use in our marketing efforts moving forward.

All in all, this content marketing program resulted in:
• Six influencers
• Three received press kit gift baskets at home with the goal of generating interest for a future visit • Three visited Santa Maria Valley
• Six content pieces per influencer that visits, plus two blogs • Three content pieces from the at-home gift recipients • Three videos and 20+ hi-res photo assets
6 FAM Tours Hosted
FAMs hosted in Santa Maria Valley this year included Teresa Bitler (Allegiant/Sunseeker), Ashley Colburn, Brian Cicioni (USA Today/10 Best), Roamaroo, Jared Ranahan and Brad Japhe, and RoadRUNNER magazine. So far, these visits have garnered the coverage below for Santa Maria Valley, with the others yet to publish. • Ultimate Guide to 2 Days in Santa Maria Valley, CA
• 10 essential food experiences to eniov along California's Central Coast • Roamaroo - Our last road trip as two!
8 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Local Event Support
Rather than trying to organize a year's worth of events ourselves, the Visitors Bureau supports event organizers by providing support in several areas. Through the Special Projects Grant program we offer financial support of complimentary services ranging from welcome bags, social media, event calendar listings, assistance with hotel room blocks, site selection, and media support to mention a few. Some of the noteworthy events supported this year included:
• West Coast Kustom's Cruise & Car Show
• Elks Rodeo & Parade
• Early Motors Car event
• 19th Annual All Ford Car Show
• 50th North South Run
• Santa Barbara County Farm Day
• Barbecue Festival
• Strawberry Festival
• Santa Barbara County Fair
• Santa Maria Open Disc Golf tournament
jill
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Community Partnerships & Projects
Santa Maria Public Airport District
• Participate with the Airport's Air Service Development Team, promoting airline service through visits with airline headquarter visits, etc. • Launched an ad campaign with Allegiant Air targeting the Mesa/Phoenix fly market
• Completed a market feasibility study, profiling businesses that are viable attraction opportunities for industrial parcels owned by the Airport A
A.T. Still University
Facilitated connections for assistance with some of their students who needed basic housing and food requirements due to financial hardships.

Continued to assist in exploring long-term development opportunities Allan Hancock College
Facilitated discussions between the College and developers about potential housing projects
Continued to connect employers with the College to understand training and employee recruitment opportunities and resources
6;
Testa
• Facilitated completion of first Testa super charging site at the Santa Maria Town Center
• Continuing to work with Testa charging team to identify additional sites in the Santa Maria Valley
Small Business Development Center
Partnered with the SBDC team to enhance outreach and support for the Hispanic business community in North Santa Barbara County. Initial phase of partnership included the hiring of a full-time, bi-lingual Business Outreach Specialist to concentrate on this business segment and the creation of a Hispanic Business Committee.
10 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Hispanic Business Outreach
Recognizing a need to better connect with the local Hispanic business population, in April 2022, the Chamber hired a Hispanic Business Outreach Coordinator. This position assists the Chamber with improving engagement with, and services to, Hispanic -owned businesses. The Hispanic Business Outreach Coordinator splits their time between direct Hispanic business outreach, and supporting the Economic Development Collaborative's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in expanding services to businesses in Northern Santa Barbara County.

Hispanic Business Committee
The mission of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber's Hispanic Business Committee is to ensure Hispanic businesses are connected to and benefit from the Chamber's work as a Catalyst for business growth, Convener of leaders and influencers, and Champion for a stronger Santa Maria Valley.

This Hispanic Business Committee currently has 15 members who meet monthly to plan networking events and discuss
strategies to better engage with the local Hispanic Business community.

SANTA MARIA VALLEY
4VSehiCan rYlik

COMITE DE NEGOCIOS HISPANOS
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT m

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Welcoming New Business
The Chamber's EDC plays an important role in assisting companies that choose to locate operation within the City or surrounding region (Orcutt and Guadalupe). Services include assistance in locating a facility, understanding permitting requirements and processes, connecting to vendors, strategic partners and staffing solutions, and beginning relationships with local leaders and influencers. Examples of projects we were involved in include:

New or Expanding Businesses:
• Toyota's Used Car Dealership
• Kia Dealership
• Aldi
• Tesla Supercharge station
• Raising Canes
• Chipotle 2nd location
• Dutch Bros 2nd location
• Boot Barn 2nd location
• Panda Express 2nd location

CATALYST
FOR BUSINESS GROWTH.

Tourism Metrics
The Chamber uses a number of metrics to measure the size and health of the local hospitality industry. Among these are Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), hotel occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), room revenue, and rooms sold. The City provides regular updates on TOT collection; the Tourism Marketing District subscribes to an industry -specific data service to track the other metrics.

While some sectors of the hospitality industry (e.g. museums and cultural institutions and some sectors of the restaurant community) struggle more than others with the lingering impacts of the pandemic and the more recent challenges associated with supply chain and labor availability, in general FY2022 continued the strong rebound begun in 2021. While the percentage change from 21 to 22 may not be as impressive as the prior year, we believe that the continued positive trends are important and indicate that our collective efforts are paying dividends.

We are pleased to share that the numbers for the Santa Maria market compare very favorably with our comparison cities and statewide outcomes. The charts below show 2021 results versus both 2020 and 2019 for better context.

Transient Occupany Tax (TOT)
Fiscal year comparisons for FY22 (July June), FY21, and FY20.

FY22
FY21
FY20
FY22 v FY21
FY22 v FY20
$4,287,579
$3,214,260
$2,949,707
+ 33.4%
+ 45.4%
Hotel Occupancy, ADR, and Hotel Revenue Trends
YTD Comparisons as of June 30, 2022 vs 2021
Market
Occupancy
ADR
Room
Revenue
Rooms
Sold
Santa Maria

8.1%

18.0%

27.6%

8.1%
SB/Goleta/Carp

15.4%

21.9%

40.8%

15.6%
SLO (City)

5.3%

15.6%

27.4%

10.2%
SLO County North

14.6%

10.9%

27.1%

14.6%
SLO County 5 Cities

0.7%

5.7%

6.5%

0.8%
SY Valley

19.3%

2.2%

41.5%

15.9%
Salinas
(0.6%)

22.7%

21.1%
(1.3%)
California

19.4%

36.5%

71.6%

25.7%
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT le

CONVENER
OF LEADERS & INFLUENCERS.

The Chamber leverages community partnerships to expand our reach and impact in the Santa Maria Valley and beyond. The EDC's local and regional partnerships focus on projects and issues important to strengthening the local economy. The Visitors Bureau convening role leads to some projects and partnerships between the lodging industry and businesses that create unique experiences for visitors.
14 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CONVENER
OF LEADERS & INFLUENCERS.

One of the key tenets of the Chamber's work is to be a Convener of leaders and Influencers. The ability to bring together individuals and organizations who, collectively, can marshal resources and support for ideas and projects is critical to our ability to enhance and ensure long-term economic vitality in the community. Examples of ongoing convenings include the following:

Economic Development Commission
• The Commission, made up of approximately 30 local industry and city leaders, provides guidance to the Chamber's development and implementation of Economic Development strategies and action plans. • The Commission receives quarterly updates on key economic indicators and activity; identifies opportunities for, and barriers to, economic growth in the community; and helps to identify key initiatives to be undertaken by the Chamber.

Tourism Marketing District Advisory Committee
• Made up of local hotel owners/operators, as well as City and Chamber officials, the Advisory Committee provides guidance to the District's marketing plan and coordinates cooperative efforts to grow visits to the community as well as enhance the experience of those who do visit. • The Advisory Committee meets every other month to review marketing campaigns, analyze results, and consider future strategies.
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CONVENER
OF LEADERS & INFLUENCERS.

Business/Government Roundtable
• The Roundtable provides direction and feedback
on the Chamber's advocacy and policy work. The
Roundtable assists in developing the Chamber's
policy platform and helps identify legislative and
policy areas where the Chamber should engage on
behalf of local businesses.
• The Roundtable convenes representatives of
elected officials serving the community with
the employer sector of the community. The
Roundtable serves as a platform for sharing
information, testing proposed policies or actions,
and building support between the public and
private sectors in the community.

Regional Partnerships
The Chamber further extends our impact by
participating and leading a number of regional
economic development, tourism, and advocacy
organizations. Key among these groups are:

CalChamber Local Chamber Coalition
(legislative/policy advocacy)
Central Coast Coalition of Chambers (business
support coordination)
• Central Coast Tourism Council (tourism
marketing and advocacy coordination)
• EconAlliance (economic development
advocacy)
Partners in Education (workforce development)
REACH Economic Action Coalition (economic
development)
• Tri-County Chamber Alliance (legislative
advocacy)
• Workforce Development Board of Santa
Barbara County (workforce development)
Leadership fro `, bers in Si' 'a Barb
met with Congressman Carbajal for a roundtable dis-
cussion on the impacts of inflation on businesses in the County.
•
Leaders from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo
Counties convened for a planning retreat for REACH, the regional economic action coalition.
16 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Chamber programming plays a direct role in strengthening our local economy. The Chamber's workforce development programs help build a strong future workforce, with programming available for ages as young as 6th grade. The Visitor Bureau continues to expand awareness of, and appreciation for the Santa Maria Valley. A newly updated website has had a dramatic effect on this effort, doubling hotel referrals over the past year. Their "Spice" and "Beat Inflation Vacation" campaigns brought significant awareness and visitors to the Santa Maria Valley. 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
17 CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Supporting Local Businesses
Flower Carriage by s. Cardel was the monthly fe
women -owned business for June 2022.

Local Business Spotlight Series
The Chamber partnered with the Santa Maria Times
on the "Local Business Spotlight" series, a video series highlighting different businesses in Santa Maria.

Videos are shared by the Chamber, and the Santa
Maria Times publishes an article, podcast and video
from the business interview.
• 1200+ video views
• 700+ visits to landing page (santamaria.com/
local -business -spotlight)
Monthly Featured Business Program
The Chamber partnered with the City of Santa Maria
and launched the Monthly Featured Business program
in December 2021. This year, the program recognizes
one women -owned and one manufacturing business
each month with a presentation at city council and
press release and social media exposure.
•• • NEW AND USED

TRUCK SALES

PARTS ANO SERVICE
18 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Workforce Development Programs
Junior CEO
Junior CEO is an 8 week program that teaches 6th
grade students the fundamentals of starting their own
business. At the end of the program, participants get
to launch their business and sell their products to the public. The Fall 2021 & Spring 2022 sessions of Junior
CEO program saw:
• 103 student participants
• 24 businesses opened on business launch day
Junior CEO will resume in the Fall of 2022. Additional
information is available at santamaria.com//unior-ceo
Leadership Santa Maria Valley
Leadership Santa Maria Valley is an 11 month program designed to foster and create future community leaders. The program allows participants to increase their understanding of local issues, challenges and solutions while expanding their personal and professional networks and refining their leadership skills. Each Class gives back to the community with their own unique Legacy Project.

Founded in 1995, Leadership Santa Maria Valley has over 330 graduates serving on boards of local organizations and in a variety of leadership roles within government, service, non-profit and business sectors today. 16 individuals kicked off the 2022 Leadership Class in August with their weekend -long retreat at the newly rebuilt Rancho Allegre near Lake Cachuma.

Additional information on this program can be found atsantamaria.com/leadership-santa-maria-valley Additional Programming
The Chamber is involved in other programming focused on building a strong future workforce, including:
• Paid Student Internship Program
• FBLA Speaker Series
• Tour for Teachers (launching October 2022)
Additional information on this program can be found at santamaria.com/workforce-development 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Attracting visitors to the Santa Maria Valley
Improved Website Launched
Hotel room
referrals
Over the past six years since the Santa Maria
Valley brand was established, we've seen it
grow and evolve along with our marketing
strategies and creative assets. Visitors
have come to know Santa Maria Valley as
an authentic and laid-back Central Coast
destination ready to welcome them with open
arms.

Alongside the new brand, we had launched
a new website to promote tourism to Santa
Maria Valley. The website incorporates unique
sections that feature attractions, events and
lodging, and also showcases the region's
unique offerings: wine, barbecue and the great
outdoors. While we intend for all of this to remain at the forefront of the new website, we see an incredible opportunity to grow and enhance the website - it is, after all, Santa Maria Valley's greatest strategic marketing asset.
705
Promotional
packets
distributed
Santa Maria Valley is the
perfect home base for
California's Central Coast
Since its launch, the upgraded tourism website has generated the following results:
• Average session duration has increased 2-3x depending on the channel • Hotel referrals have doubled over last year
• All core web vitals (including site speed and usability) have improved • We've maintained our primary keyword rankings and have seen significant improvements for others 20 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Attracting Visitors to the Santa Maria Valley
Santa Maria Spice Campaign
Throughout the fiscal year, we continued to run our Spice campaign creative that we'd originally kickstarted immediately following the Stimulus campaign in February of 2021. While the intention was to refresh it in the middle of the year, we continued to see our ad and engagement metrics improving month -after -month and decided we'd hold off on a change until those metrics started to level off. This campaign has yielded the best performance and overall engagement that we've seen on paid social to date.

In addition to the social and digital ads, we leveraged the Spice campaign for our Yosemite Journal ad creative. immerwr,

SANTA MARIA

VALLEY HAS ALL

THE VIEWS WITHOUT

THE ATTIT DE

SANTA MARIA

VALLEY IS THE

PERFECT SPOT
FOR A RELAXINb
G ETAWAY.

THERE'S PLENTY

OF ROOM TO

STRETCH OUT IN

SANTA MARIA
VALLEY

HAVE YOU SEEN

THE VINEYARD

VIEWS IN SANTA
MARIA VALLEY?

SANTA MARIA

VALLEY MAKES

YOUR NEXT

GETAWAY MORE
AFF .

Get sway to Santa Maria Valley.
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT IN

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Restaurant Month & Craft Cocktail Contest
2022 Dine Out Santa Maria Style was a month -long celebration of Santa Maria Valley culinary culture, held from January 14 - February 13, 2022. All -month long, fifteen of our favorite restaurants served up special menu items for just $20.22.

Our Craft Cocktail Contest returned and ran in concurrently with Dine out Santa Maria Style. The handmade and unique cocktails found at various establishments are meant to represent our region's history and culture.

Secret judges visited each location to get a taste of the cocktail offerings and additionally, consumers were able to judge by taking pictures of the cocktails and using the hashtag #SMVCraftCocktail and #SMVDineOut and posting to their social media channels.
2022 Craft Cocktail Winners:

Fan Favorite: The Salty Brigade Kitchen's, Lazy Lemon Drop Judges' Pick: The Maker's Son's, The Rancher
Santa Maria Valley Wine Trolley
The bureau was thrilled to see the Santa Maria
Valley Wine Trolley return after a two-year hiatus.

The initial support received from the community has
been a clear indication that people, both visitors and
locals alike, are eager to enjoy Santa Maria Valley's
signature attractions. With over 250 riders in the first 45 days of service, we're optimistic that the trolley will continue to surpass our expectations. The trolley is a
partnership between the city of Santa Maria's transit
department and the Santa Maria Chamber.

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Attracting Visitors to the Santa Maria Valley
Beat Inflation Vacation
In May 2022, we launched the Beat Inflation Vacation campaign. During a time when we knew people were still eager to travel but economic inflation and rising costs were a hot topic of conversation, the intention of the campaign was to leverage the positioning of the Spice campaign with a focus on highlighting Santa Maria Valley's affordability as compared to that of its Central Coast neighbors. We identified and exposed the average costs of the typical expenses of a trip to the Central Coast - a hotel room night, a nice dinner, a wine tasting - in order to prove that you can do more, for less when you choose Santa Maria Valley.

Campaign objectives were to a) increase awareness of the affordability of a trip to Santa Maria Valley; b) drive publicity value/earned media; and c) promote social media engagement.

Campaign Results:
video plays
on Instagram
and TikTok.
376
hotel referrals
story
placements,
including
SF Gate
and Yahoo!
Finanace.
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT El

CHAMPION

FOR STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Public Relations
Our PR approach continues to be to primarily target the leisure travel audience, continuously reinforcing our unique experiences, Santa Maria Style barbecue, wine country and authentic hospitality at a value.

With Cision, we are able to add publicity value for stories trackable by the monitoring service. Throughout this fiscal year, we achieved $643,755 in publicity value through 28 articles, with 9 FAMs, 4 influencers, 3 press kit gift baskets Paid Media - Native Content
We've continued our relationship with Visit Santa Barbara this year and have several sponsored placements within VSB emails over the course of the year.

In addition to our ongoing regional partnerships, we placed ads in Sunset Magazine, Sunset Magazine Harvest addition and Allegiant Airlines.
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

CHAMPION

FOR A STRONGER SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Growing our Tourism Social Media
We've set out to "level up" our tourism social media
presence this year with continuous posting and
engagement/interaction on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and Pinterest - plus, new for this fiscal
year: TikTok.

What we found is that Instagram Reels are really
where we're seeing the most engaged audience and
the most success with our content. We started off
repurposing our TikToks to Instagram Reels, but
quickly learned that the two are not necessarily
synonymous. From there, we started creating content
specifically for Instagram Reels. Further, we've started boosting (or creating ads out of) the Reels and
pushing them out to a larger audience. On the whole, Instagram Reels have propelled follower growth on our Instagram account, but more importantly, we're seeing the engagement numbers go up proportionately. 0 Twitter
Goal: 10,000 impressions per month
Actual: Average of 8,541 per month
o
V✓
Facebook
• Goal: 500-550 website sessions per month
• Actual: Average of 578 website sessions per month
Instagram
• Goal: 1.22% average engagement rate
• Actual: Average 1.00% engagement rate
Pinterest
• Goal: 25 website sessions per month
• Actual: Average 24 website sessions per month
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
El

CATALYST. CONVENER. CHAMPION.

WHAT'S NEXT
Visitors Bureau & Tourism Marketing District
• FY23 influencer strategy + execution
• Spice campaign refresh
• Digital media mini -campaigns
• Content Creator
• Updated City Street Banners
• 2023 Visitor Guide (print and digital)
• 2023 Santa Maria Valley Brochure
• Events & Festivals Strategy 1 City-wide Event
• Trade Shows
Economic Development Commission
• Continue providing assistance to the existing business community as well as those interested in being in the community.
• Continue to assist potential business startups with setting up and getting their business off to the right start
• Continue working with the Downtown Project and the Skyway Collective. • Partner with regional economic development efforts designed to attract or create high quality, high wage jobs.
• Take an active part in the search and recruitment of businesses for the Airport vacancies Contact Us
Jennifer Harrison
Director, Santa Maria Valley Visitors Bureau
(805) 925-2403 x 815
[email protected]
Suzanne Singh
Economic Development Service of CA
Cell: (949) 433-2258
[email protected]
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX A

MID -YEAR FINANCIALS

SANTA MARIA VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Economic Development Commission
Fiscal Year 2021-2022: Fiscal Year Financials (pre -audited)' Jul 21 - Jun 22
Income
42000 • Program Revenues
59050 • Administrative Fees
Total Income
Expense
6100 - Administrative Expenses
63000 - Personnel Expenses - Shared
64000 • Professional Services - Shared
71000 - Operations Expenses
72000 • Prof. Development Expenses
73000 • Marketing & Sales Expenses
81000 - Event Expenses
Total Expense
238,008.00
-51.500.00
186.508.00
7,750.00
18,345.27
103.250.00

2.276.26
1,075.00
51,075.77

1.744.25
185,516.05
Net Income 991.95

1. This report includes pre -audited results. An annual audit report will be released later this Fall. 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT Fa

APPENDIX A

MID -YEAR FINANCIALS

SANTA MARIA VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Visitor Bureau
Fiscal Year 2021-2022: Fiscal Year Financials (pre -audited)' Jul 21 - Jun 22
Income
42000 • Program Revenues
53000 - Advertising, Sales, & Royalties
59050 • Administrative Fees
Total Income
Expense
61000 • Administrative Expenses -Shared
62000 • Building/Utility Expenses - Shared
63000 • Personnel Expenses - Shared
64000 - Professional Services
71000 Operations Expenses
72000 • Prof. Development Expenses
73000 • Marketing & Sales Expenses
74000 • Publication Expenses
81000 - Event Expenses
Total Expense
543,942.00
315.00
-265,000.00
279,257.00
2,266.34
2,024.15
159,835.15
3,282.81
11, 944.64
6,557.00
79,969.51
31,648.80
1,437.07
298,965.47
Net Income -19,708.47 2

1. This report includes pre -audited results. An annual audit report will be released later this Fall.

2. The negative net income was covered by general Chamber revenues. 28 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX A

MID -YEAR FINANCIALS

SANTA MARIA VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Tourism Marketing District
Fiscal Year 2021-2022: Fiscal Year Financials (pre -audited)' Jul 21 - Jun 22
Income
41000 • TMD Assessments
41050 • City Admin Fee
46000 • Interest Income
Total Income
Expense
60200 • Administration
60500 • Contingency Fund Set Aside
64000 • Marketing
60100 • Account Management
64010 • Media Placement
64015 • SEO I Media Management
64080 • Creative Development
64100 • Social Media / Email / Content
64300 • Marketing Plan
64340 • Memberships & Subscriptions
64450 • Public Relations / Influencer
64500 • Research & ROI Tracking
64610 • FAMs / Promotions
64800 • Website Development
Total 64000 • Marketing
65000 • Miscellaneous
Total Expense
Net Income
856.803.46
-17,324.94

20.03 839,498.55
119,952.49
27,581.41
27,600.00
134,415.80
45,498.00
21,102.35
112,763.25
5,000.00

10.240.00
70,242.11
39,340.00
26,420.47
67,000.00
600.760.73
397.84
748,682.47
90,806.08

1. This report includes pre -audited results. An annual audit report will be released later this Fall. 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
29 APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
FY Goals & Website Overview
Our 2021-22 marketing plan was built to drive engagement and inspiration and create authentic, genuine experiences for visitors to Santa Maria Valley — a continuation of our strategy from the past couple of years. As we were planning for the year, we had entered year two of the pandemic; while things were looking up and travel sentiments seemed to be trending positively, we proceeded with cautious optimism not knowing exactly what was to come. With that, our goals were intentionally challenging but realistic, and we were diligent and deliberate in identifying our top priorities for the year based on what we felt we could best control during a time when travel motivations and travel sentiments were ever -evolving.

Below are specific objectives we'd set out to achieve this year:
• Obtain $785K in publicity value and 50 regional/national stories in the fiscal year, while increasing awareness of Santa Maria Valley and focusing on our top media outlets.
• Increase overall hotel referrals from the website by way of all channels (paid, organic, direct, email, social)
• Increase organic search visits landing on non-event pages Goal Progress (as June 30, 2022)
2021-2022 Primary KPIs (Fiscal Year -to -Date)
Hotel Referrals Visits Non -Event Organic Visits Publicity Value Earned (FYTD) 7,416 322,744 94,678
-7UA%:;
$643,755
Articles (FYTD)
28 The snapshot above and the downtrends shown in red for hotel referrals, site visits and non-event organic visits represent the stabilizing of these metrics following the significant upticks we saw in the last third of FY21-22 that resulted from the Stimulus campaign of February 2021. So, while it appears as though our KPIs were on the decline this year, it's important to consider that the Stimulus played a significant part in that. For example, when looking at year -over -year metrics for FY21 compared to FY20, there was a 456% increase in hotel referrals and a 76% increase in site visits.

For additional context, if we were to compare this year (FY22) to FY20, pre -Stimulus campaign, we're looking at a 166% increase in hotel referrals and a 148% increase in 30 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
site visits. This does account for the pandemic shutdown that occurred mid -March 2020, which impacted our efforts for the remainder of that fiscal year.

While we fell short of our publicity value and articles (earned media) goal for the year, it didn't come as much of a surprise considering the stop -start environment surrounding the pandemic that continued throughout the year. This, paired with the fact that visiting writers were a bit apprehensive to travel again and the natural backlog of new material in the travel writing space, made it difficult to earn as much new coverage during the year as we wanted to. That being said, we secured large placements and significant coverage toward the end of the fiscal year which we'll cover in the PR section later in this report.

The chart below represents website traffic and performance for FY22:

Session Growth & Site Engagement (YoY)
Sessions
322,744
161
Pages / Session

1.93 s -15.5%
Unique Hotel Pageviews Hotel Referrals
23,488 7,416
s -53 9• • -70.4a
Organic Sessions
138,391
Bounce Rate

64.58%
I 79
Attraction Clicks Newsletter Signups
13,171 2,836
i -19 5% a :i0 nt_.

Email Sessions Paid Sessions
Cookbook Downloads
1,917
b 5 ::-
Social Sessions Referral Sessions
20,027 116,309 9,017 10,512
Similar to the Goal Progress stats earlier in this report, the downtrends shown here are also reflective of coming off of the Stimulus high of 2021. For comparison, below are these same stats for FY20, which indicates significant growth when we consider removing the Stimulus campaign from the picture:
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT El

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Session Growth 8 Site Engagement (YoY)
Pages/ Session
177,443 2.06
I -6.3'3'.
trr .t1;Jr, ;_I :N:'_. 1'•J_;;',�211 ? �f 1r UC'_
6,052 552
Bounce

62.83%
Unique Hotel Pageviews
9,995
t 723'%
Vi,- ,' ?- -' _a,tY_,t,H Downloads
1,081 590
S�;_•IG�,_. t . . • I ' Se to01-1c i ,_J Sess•. .
76,582 5,038 59,638
74 7`'. t 54 1
Hotel PeferraIs
4,149
5,040 15,755
r =5 7
Paid Media — Spice Campaign Social Ads
For the first half of the year (June — December 2021), we continued to run our Spice campaign creative that we'd originally kickstarted immediately following the Stimulus campaign in February of 2021. While the intention was to refresh it in the middle of the year, we continued to see our ad and engagement metrics improving month -after -month and decided we'd hold off on a change until those metrics started to level off. This campaign has yielded the best performance and overall engagement that we've seen on paid social to date.

HAVE YOU SPENT

A WINE WEEKEND

IN SANTA MARIA
VALLEY?
The Central Coast can be expensive, but

GOES FURTHER

IN SANTA MARIA
VALLEY.

Vrjira.:::*.:- •
4164
-
We did refresh the creative in early 2022, incorporating new artwork with more "shade" thrown at more of our neighboring destinations:
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT

SANTA MARIA

VALLEY HAS ALL

THE VIEWS WITHOUT

THE ATTITUDE
•

THERE'S PLENTY

OF ROOM TO

STRETCH OUT IN

SANTA MARIA
VALLEY
•

HAVE YOU SEEN

THE VINEYARD

VIEWS IN SANTA
MARIA VALLEY?

SANTA MARIA

VALLEY IS THE

PERFECT SPOT'

FOR A RELAXI
GETAWAY.

SANTA MARIA

VALLEY MAKES

YOUR NEXT

GETAWAY MORE
AFF

EXPENSI
THAN THE BAY.

LESS CROWDED
Spice Campaign — Print
In addition to the social and digital ads, we leveraged the Spice campaign for our Yosemite Journal ad creative in the first part of the year.

Fewer people. Same Central Coast.

ESCAPE TO SANTA

MARIA VALLEY
More affordable than Pismo. More laid back than Paso.

Much less crowded than Santa Barbara. Santa Maria
Valley is the perfect destination to fill upon good wine, legendary barbecue, and wide-open spaces.

It ace a
VALLEY
Visit santaMariaValley.com
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT lig

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Beat Inflation Vacation Campaign
In May 2022, we launched the Beat Inflation Vacation campaign. During a time when we knew people were still eager to travel but economic inflation and rising costs were a hot topic of conversation, the intention of the campaign was to leverage the positioning of the Spice campaign with a focus on highlighting Santa Maria Valley's affordability as compared to that of its Central Coast neighbors. We identified and exposed the average costs of the typical expenses of a trip to the Central Coast — a hotel room night, a nice dinner, a wine tasting — in order to prove that you can do more, for less when you choose Santa Maria Valley.

Campaign objectives were to a) increase awareness of the affordability of a trip to Santa Maria Valley; b) drive publicity value/earned media; and c) promote social media engagement.

We identified Santa Maria Valley's primary competitors — based on both proximity and clout in the wine destination space — and went after them from a price point perspective.

We used data from Yelp/TripAdvisor/directly from websites, based on the top three rated hotels/restaurants/wineries in each region, to be averaged together in order to serve as the price point comparison. The competing destinations that were part of our consideration set were Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, Napa, Temecula, Santa Ynez and Solvang.

This was an integrated campaign with a dedicated landing page, public relations efforts, paid social ads, organic social posts, and a display campaign with TripAdvisor.

Results:
• Organic Social
o 11,355 Instagram Reel video plays
■ 766 engagements (likes, comments, saves and shares)
o 355 TikTok video views
■ 34 engagements (likes, comments, saves and shares)
• Paid Social
o Facebook
■ 2.6 million impressions
■ 25,017 clicks (0.95% CTR)
■ 44 newsletter signups
■ 373 hotel referrals
■ 3,609 engagements (shares, saves, comments and reactions) 34 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
• TripAdvisor Display
o 168,000 impressions
o 107 clicks (0.06% CTR - not unusual for display/awareness) o 3 hotel referrals
o 1 newsletter signup
• Public Relations
o 134 story placements via a Newswire release, including stories in SFGate and Yahoo! Finance
o Potential reach: 184 million people
Relaxed, Affordable Wine
Tr)
Country in Santa Maria Valley
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT Eg

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Pacific Plaza Resort
3 a • + . (273) • 3 -star hotel
Casual suites with kitchens, fireplaces & balconies or
patios, plus free Wi-Fi & parking
The Cliffs Hotel and Spa

4.5 *.**. (1,589) • 3 -star hotel
Cozy, refined rooms in an upscale, oceanfront lodging
offering a pool, a spa & dining options
ra=ku-1_r47-
$432
Inn at The Pier
4-2 . f • (1,145) 4 -star hotel
Upscale hotel offering a restaurant & a gym. plus a rooftop bar & outdoor pool we'
Q View map
Travel
santamariavalley
santamariavalley 5-16
Follow
With #MemorialDay coming, room rates are about to skyrocket. it/ SantaMariaValleyoffers nightly rates for less than half of what other places. like #PasoRobles, #PismoBeachand #NapaValleyare offering.#SantaMariaValley #fyp
J3 She Share Story (for Vlog) - LIJ❑94V
gip 15 ® 2
O000©►
https://www.tiktok.com/gsantamariavalley/video/7098392 ...

Joni.Cash
Saving MI is always a trend I can get behind!
5-17 Reply
santamariavalley • Creator
Yes!!
5-18 Reply
Copy link
Add comment...

The California destination that paid people to visit last year is trying to get your attention again
Amy Graff, SFGATE
. __ J.d,aud:May19,20222:02p.m.

C>
36 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
santamariavalley • Following
AZA • Taglourt
r , santamariavalley Everything is cheaper in #SantaMariaValley J without skimping on quality. We'll prove it to you!
santamariavalley #VisitSantaMariaValley #TravelCalifornia #SantaMariaValley #VisitCalifornia #Travel #CentralCoast #TravelCalifornia #WineCountry #BargainTravel #Explore
#Vacation
Ri:ply
thearepasplace_
3w l like Reply
View replies (11
ca.Iove.fornia Sign us up!
3w 1 like Reply
IMO Liked by saramazing and others
JUNE 1'3
OAdd a comment...
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT

ESCAPE THE EXPENSE IN SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Beat inflation with a
more affordable
vacation
Summer travel expenses making you sweat?
Cool it all down in Santa Maria Valley where
a wine tasting is half the price, hotels won't
break the bank, and the beaches never
make you wait. Other California Central
Coast destinations can't say the same...we
checked.

Website — Redesign
Over the past six years since the Santa Maria Valley brand was established, we've seen it grow and evolve along with our marketing strategies and creative assets. Visitors have come to know Santa Maria Valley as an authentic and laid-back Central Coast destination ready to welcome them with open arms.

Everything we do from a marketing perspective ultimately drives prospective visitors back to the website — from paid search ads to outdoor boards to email campaigns and influencer marketing. As our marketing programs and library of creative assets continue to evolve, it only makes sense for the website to do the same. And it didn't just come down to creative and design — it came down to functionality and fundamentals such as site speed, ability to update, and overall engagement, which have started to suffer from the fact that the current website is becoming outdated and more difficult to maintain.

As Santa Maria Valley is emerging from the downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic with flying colors, we saw this as the perfect opportunity to step up our game with the 38 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
website and better leverage it as our strongest tool for marketing the Central Coast's hidden gem — Santa Maria Valley.
'wont on<ww Pay
Tnmy<To Do v/mo Count ry Barna<uo Plan Your Tdp whore to stay 4 Santa Maria Valley is the
perfect home base for
California's Central Coast
Discover Santa Maria
Valley Wine Country
TM<wu Can't not ornaa amour,
wti .A.r./ws.NyN<.n aoe.nanM
015.0.1"hoW WA,
myna to <.n anu.aae. n„x ay,tm<
p«w+toat Sato am* C.,
Foxen Canyon Wine
Trail
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
39 APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
9 " * nta Maria Valley
P'. yO'SaM. Moro V.ky $c. routs. Wee M totting roo.,M24 Irking trail. and U ne.c.y vet.. 30 remote One, mo/ can dot . mottle the heart of th. cent rat Coat
Where To Stay
fleet Western
PIuA Dg Amer.&
Trevoloelgo
Wall Santa Mona
aaala�a mt Ain Motel
OTtl Rom
Historic Santa RAd,ason Hot01
Maria Inn a �� Santa Mari.

Dayalnn
DOV1110 Motel
111 COlontol Motel ✓4111111.4 RO.lwell Motel
In the first month after the website launched on December 14, 2021:
• Average session duration has increased 2-3x depending on the channel • Hotel referrals have doubled over last year
• All core web vitals (including site speed and usability) have improved • We've maintained our primary keyword rankings and have seen significant improvements for others
Website — Blog Content
We published several new blogs on the site this year. This current fiscal year, one of our objectives is to align new website content directly with specific SEO initiatives. We expect this will drive up our ranking positions within organic search by leveraging relevant content on the website for keywords that have a high search volume. Blogs can be read at https://santamariavalley.com/blog/ .

Public Relations — Coverage
Our PR approach continues to be to primarily target the leisure travel audience, continuously reinforcing our unique experiences, Santa Maria Style barbecue, wine country and authentic hospitality at a value.

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
A full list of articles can be found at https://santamariavalley.com/industry-info/in-the- news/.

It is important to note that the articles at the link do not represent an exhaustive list of coverage throughout the year. Stories that result from press releases we distribute are often picked up by multiple media outlets, even if only the larger outlets are noted in the list above. In May and June of 2022, we put two press releases out via the Newswire — one for the Beat Inflation Vacation campaign, and another for Barbecue Month. The Barbecue Month story achieved 389 media pickups with a potential reach of 195 million people. The Beat Inflation Vacation story achieved 312 media placements with a potential reach of 184 million people. Top pick-ups for both stories include AP and Yahoo! SFGate.com covered the Beat Inflation Vacation story as a follow-up to the Stimulus PR story that they broke last year. Not all coverage reflected on the PR Newswire supplemental reports were pulled by Cision. Therefore, not all publicity value is reflected in the number above.

And, in addition to the above, Santa Maria Valley was mentioned as part of more than a hundred articles throughout the year.

AP AP NEWS
U.S. News World News Politics Sports Entertainment Business Technology Health Science Climate and environment Oddities Lifestyle Trending News Shinzo Abe Boris Johnson Gun violence Russia.Ukraine war Wimbledon COVID-IN AYrURlic,N
warms rose sctrdtrarres
Access exclusive research
from top global minds.

PRESS RELEASE. Paid content from PR Newswire
California's top -ranked barbecue shows off Santa Maria Style during National Barbecue Month MERRILLc»
Gel Started
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
41 APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Public Relations — Influencer Marketing
We continued our influencer marketing program with Glocally this year, a company that helped us source, vet and coordinate influencer visits to Santa Maria Valley. As part of this, we create custom itineraries for different influencers so they can experience the area and share their experiences on their own blogs and social media platforms. We also receive rights to all of the images and video captured during their trips to use in our marketing efforts moving forward.

All in all, this content marketing program resulted in:
• Seven influencers
• Three received press kit gift baskets at home with the goal of generating interest for a future visit
• Three visited Santa Maria Valley
• Six content pieces per influencer that visits, plus two blogs • Three content pieces from the at-home gift recipients • Three videos and 20+ hi-res photo assets
Below is a sampling of assets from these influencers:
42 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

I-
0 a
W
IX
2 i-
1:13 W
Xce
0 C
z 2
Wra. Q
ca. 2 1—
d-

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
FAMs hosted in Santa Maria Valley this year included Teresa Bitler (Allegiant/Sunseeker), Ashley Colburn, Brian Cicioni (USA Today/10 Best), Roamaroo, Jared Ranahan and Brad Japhe, and RoadRUNNER magazine. So far, these visits have garnered the coverage below for Santa Maria Valley, with the others yet to publish.
• Ultimate Guide to 2 Days in Santa Maria Valley, CA
• 10 essential food experiences to enjoy along California's Central Coast • Roamaroo — Our last road trip as two!
Social Media
We've set out to "level up" our social media presence this year with continuous posting and engagement/interaction on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest — plus, new for this fiscal year: TikTok.

What we really want out of our followers and fan bases across all channels is engagement, so while we do pay attention to follower/fan growth, our primary social media KPIs are measuring whether those fans and followers are engaging with us — whether that be via likes and comments, saves or visits to the website.

Social media goals and actual achievements for the year are as follows:

Twitter
• Goal: 10,000 impressions per month
• Actual: Average of 8,541 per month
Facebook
• Goal: 500-550 website sessions per month
• Actual: Average of 578 website sessions per month
Instagram
• Goal: 1.22% average engagement rate
• Actual: Average 1.00% engagement rate
Pinterest
• Goal: 25 website sessions per month
• Actual: Average 24 website sessions per month
In order to reach our objectives for the year on each channel, we are constantly assessing and optimizing for performance based on the content that is driving us toward those KPIs. We've also consciously increased engagements and interactions with other 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
45 APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
relevant accounts and hosted various social media giveaways, contests and takeovers to grow overall engagement with and interest amongst our audiences.

This year, we also dove into the TikTok space and have been building up our TikTok content library with everything Santa Maria Valley — barbecue/food, wine and outdoor recreation. We also keep up with timely TikTok trends and explore ways we can leverage those trends to promote Santa Maria Valley as a destination.

Further, we've started boosting (or creating ads out of) the Reels and pushing them out to a larger audience. On the whole, Instagram Reels have propelled follower growth on our Instagram account, but more importantly, we're seeing the engagement numbers go up proportionately.

Follower growth:
• Instagram: +1,186
• Facebook:+403
• TikTok: +88
• Twitter: +53
• Pinterest: +20
As we look ahead to FY23, we're going to be placing the majority of our focus on Instagram, with TikTok second to that, in order to continue to drive growth in the areas that seem to resonate most with our audience.
7,1
Q
46 2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Paid Digital Media — Paid Search and Paid Social
Our paid digital media campaigns have seen stellar performance throughout the course of this year. We invested a total of approximately $107,000 across all channels, generating nearly 16,000 hotel pageviews, 4,951 hotel referrals and 869 newsletter signups.

The paid search conversion rate for our campaigns was above 9% for the majority of the year, reaching as much as 16% in certain months. The paid social conversion rate typically fluctuated between 2% and 4% each month — still consistently outperforming what we've seen from paid social campaigns in the past, a testament to the Spice creative that originally launched in early 2021.

Paid Media — Visit Santa Barbara
We've continued our relationship with Visit Santa Barbara (VSB) this year and have several sponsored and dedicated email placements within VSB emails over the course of the year. Between July 2021 and June 2022, we deployed the following with VSB:
• Email Sponsor: December, April
• Email Feature: January, May
• Dedicated Email: November, March
Combined, these placements have resulted in:
• 1,941 sessions on the website (1,621 unique users)
• Average session duration of 5:08
• 23 hotel referrals (1.18% conversion rate)
Paid Media — RoadRUNNER Magazine Custom Email
RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel is America's only print magazine dedicated to motorcycle travel. As we aim to put Santa Maria Valley on the map for motorcycle enthusiasts, we purchased a dedicated email sent to more than 42,000 subscribers.

Within that email, we featured the reasons why Santa Maria Valley is the perfect destination for a motorcycle trip, as well as a few different routes around the area that end at some of our favorite barbecue spots. We also included calls to action for wine country and our barbecue/taco/beer map.

This placement resulted in:
• 523 sessions to the website (420 unique users; 418 of them new to the site) • Average session duration of 4:18
• 4 hotel referrals (0.76% conversion rate)
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
47 APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Search Engine Optimization
We've made significant progress in the organic search space this year, maintaining and gaining rankings for dozens of priority/target keywords — particularly in the wine space where we've focused the majority of our optimization efforts. A handful of our most significant gained or maintained rankings this year include:
• California wine country weekend getaways (#4; net new) • California wine weekend getaways (#4; net new)
• Weekend getaways in california wine country (#100 -> #6) • Wine tasting weekend getaways (#6; net new)
• Best wine weekend getaways (#98 -> #15)
• Wine tasting central coast california (#44 -> #8)
• Foxen canyon wine trail (#8)
• Santa maria wine trolley (#1)
• Santa maria barbecue cookbook (#1)
• Santa maria style barbecue (#2)
Email Marketing
The bi-monthly tourism emails for Santa Maria Valley feature content metrics increased steadily over the course of the year:
• Our open rate went from 20.25% in July 2021 to 47.84% by June 2022, nearing 50% in April and May
• Our click -through -rate started at 1.18% in July 2021, jumped to 1.59% in August 2021, and to 2.76% by May 2022, consistently hovering between 1.5% and 2.5% over the course of the year
• We saw an average of 222 new subscribers per month
Toward the end of the year, we also redesigned our emails to match the design evolution of the new website, social graphics and other marketing creative.

Euy
Z
Stay with Us Plan Your Trip
Rlalte prhuclra anpertlrut at parr: Maltis plr,l(UUS. Impl1/rllut at OM... e estas irxege aplen amet esestas mleseapien AMC,.
000* YOUR STAY
nil :TARRTrn
trrhNca To 00 I ward...nay 1 1Aancui 1 PLAN 00. tar.

Santa Maria Valley
48 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT

APPENDIX B

TMD MARKETING REPORT
Looking Ahead
We're kick-starting the 2022-23 fiscal year equipped with a lot of learnings from the past six years. We know that our audience responds to bold offers and spicy creative content; that our PR efforts result in solid ROI; and that the right content in the right places sells our brand promise and drives awareness of Santa Maria Valley.

With that, our approach to this year's marketing plan is to leverage owned/created content and earned media as the primary drivers of awareness and engagement with our audiences through targeted media lists and pitching, a higher volume of content tailored to audiences across various platforms, and by establishing valuable influencer relationships.

We will dedicate our paid media plan entirely to paid search and paid social to continue to drive intent -based visits to core website content (search) and gain visibility for the brand through promotion of the Spice campaign, focusing on the key selling points of Santa Maria Valley as a Central Coast tourism destination (paid social). Paid efforts will also be utilized to provide lift to organic content and PR efforts which will allow us to reach a broader, but targeted, audience for specific messaging across channels.

Finally, we'll lean into the Spice campaign by developing new static assets and creating video assets to support our messaging and bring the campaign's personality to life. All assets will be developed for digital execution.
2021 - 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
49 CONTACT US
614 S. Broadway, Santa Maria Op
(805) 925-2403 t
www.santamaria.com
www.santamariavalley.com

Santa Maria City CouncilOctober 4, 2022

Santa Maria City Council
October 4, 2022