Discover Stillwater MN- Stillwater/Oak Park Heights Convention & Visitors BureauMarketing Director
Apr. 2012 - Mar. 2022Stillwater, MN · HybridDirected all tourism marketing campaigns for a leading destination marketing organization in Minnesota, targeting vacation travelers, group travel, corporate meetings and wedding events. *Pitched annual marketing plan and collaborated with vendors to implement digital and traditional media advertising. *Established brand identity through logo and website redesign and new events calendar, resulting in 47% increase in website traffic and steady 400K visitors/1M pageviews annually. *Grew lodging tax revenue 86% in 8 years, facilitated the expansion of lodging by 200 rooms with 2 new boutique hotels, 20+ VRBOs, and millions invested in new restaurants and shops. 2019 highest lodging tax revenue year on record and post-pandemic 2021 56% more. *Built social media presence doubling Facebook fans in 2 years and reaching 10K Instagram followers organically within 2 years (20K at departure). Curated all organic and paid content and engaged with fans daily showing ability to be spokesperson in varied settings from informative to fun live adventures like log rolling to helicopter rides. *Led efforts to expand business by hosting familiarization tours for professional planners, exhibited at association and wedding fairs, and virtual 360 venue tours, attracting over 2M views. *Managed publication of 7 official visitor guides, optimizing costs and ad sales leading to an 79% increase in revenue, 42% profits, and 40% increase in distribution. *Provided exceptional customer support via phone, email, and social media. *Wrote and designed print/digital/radio ads, articles, social media, and video shoot concepts/locations/models while highlighting diverse and inclusive experiences. *Cultivated relationships with stakeholders serving as tourism liaison with small business owners (restaurants, venues, retail, hotel, attractions, festivals), BOD, city council, community organizations, and media. * Drove customer engagement via blog and email newsletter (added 25K subscribers).