The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) met Thursday morning inside the Crookston Inn in the Ballroom.
Marketing – Phylis Marden
Advertising Specialist Phylis Marden of Gray Television (KVLY) presented the board a digital marketing update. These stations and programs included KVLY, KXGB, MeTV, Circle TV, North Dakota Today, and Heroes and Icons, and adding them to their Core Digital App to help spread them out to other areas, which could target up to 7,500 people. “Getting this message out with TV, we know people are watching TV, and no matter what way they’re watching it, they’re watching news and the programming that is on television, and we know that when they’re watching our news, they’re also using our core app, which has our news and weather app and digital sites,” Marden explained. “Then we reach other people through the audience targeting with the digital campaign that goes beyond what our local station offers.”
The first package would give over 5,000 impressions to people around Minnesota and the Dakotas. Which could spread as far out as Bemidji, and their app would even reach out to people using streaming services.
The second package was more of a morning News rotation that would go from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. with local morning news and TV programs, which would have a little less reach but would cost more.
The third package would have more of an all-day rotator on KVLY, KXGB, and MeTV, covering three stations and being reasonably priced.
The final package would have them on stations like KVLY, KXGB, North Dakota Today, Kelly Clarkson Show, and several other stations, which would give the most impressions and cost the most.
Chairperson Bob Magsam said they could make different price plans for different amounts of time to save money or advertise for the best months. Marden explained she put the same amount of targeted ads in for every package, so it was up to the bureau on what they wanted to do. Marden told the bureau she would send them written copies of the plans for them to review before choosing a plan.
Tourism Coordinator
The board then began talking about the advertisements for their Tourism Coordinator position. Magsam reported that the ad was not ready to go out but gave the bureau a copy of the job description for them to review. The bureau then discussed creating an internship with the University of Minnesota Crookston marketing class that would work in tandem with the position. “It spurred another conversation about potentially offering an internship for the marketing side. That is huge for that Tourism Coordinator. It takes up a lot of time but is a critical piece to CVB,” said Magsam. “So, I will be reaching out to the professor of the Marketing Class that we’ve worked with in the past and spurring those conversations. Hopefully, it materializes, it’ll be a great benefit to our community, a student or group of students at the University, and certainly to the CVB.”
CVB Welcome Bags
Magsam then presented some new visitor’s bags they had created for future events that they would give as a bag for visitors that came for certain events. “In the past, we had a lot of donated items that we were using. We’re looking at potentially purchasing and printing more of a material bag. We have to verify with the Minnesota CVB that our funds can be used on some of those types of things, but in addition, we’re looking to partner with other entities out there, like the Chamber, etc., to get these bags stuffed to give these participants that come to town something and points them in the right direction. It might be coupons for discounts at stores, restaurants, hotels, or things along that line. So, we’re moving forward with that, but you can look forward to some bags in one way, shape, or form for a lot of those events to get the information spread around about what Crookston has to offer.” The bureau is currently trying to prepare them for the upcoming hockey tournaments and conventions.
Explore MN Grant
The board then began discussing their Explore MN Grant. Magsam explained the grant was still not finalized, and they needed to close up some loopholes and give some final information on what needed to be completed to finalize the grant of $5,000 by Wednesday, February 15.
Events Grant
The board then heard from Vice Chair Elle Koepp on an Events Grant for the Crookston Eagles for their Minnesota Fraternal Order of Eagles Convention in June. Koepp reported that the Crookston Eagles requested a minimum of $1,650 for their convention book and local advertising and requested $2,000-3,000. The bureau approved the motion unanimously.
Marketing Spending
The bureau then began discussing their spending for 2023. Magsam explained they had the decision with KVLY to make, but they still had a planned budget for future spending. The bureau then began discussing their ad on the KROX website. It had run through all of January, and they needed to decide if they would continue running it or instead focus on using KVLY. It currently was not tied to the Explore MN Grant and cost $250 per month. The bureau discussed that KROX reached out to a large demographic locally and for people outside of the area, usually for sports events, but wished for their ads to be more visible on the station’s website’s front pages. They decided to invite KROX General Manager Chris Fee to share how the advertisement worked on their website, similar to how KVLY had done so earlier in the meeting for their next meeting in March.
Treasurer taxes and report
Bengtson then held a treasurer’s report with the bills payable from HR Block. Bengtson reported that they needed to make an official motion now to change Dean Adams as the new Treasurer of the bureau. She noted there hadn’t been any checks deposited since December, and the only withdrawals they had made were for their annual payments for $375 for the KROX radio ad, $37 for W2s at H&R Block, $89 for their website, $24.63 for their consumer cellular, and $390 for their MACVB annual membership. The only other one was a pending withdrawal they made on February 8 for the annual federal, social security, and Medicare withholdings for $1.058.50. The bank balances since December 12 were $83,893.01 for Small Businesses and $15,455.83 for the MMDA. The final items were pending reimbursements to Nell DeBoer for social media marketing for December 2022 for $36.26 and KROX for $250.
Board Reports
The board finished the meeting by hearing Board reports. Crookston City Council member Joe Kresl reported the Crookston Council was on a slow time of the year but was going through day-to-day events.
Tanya of the Cobblestone reported a few new groups were coming in for the next weekend that was filling the Inn to near full capacity and would include it in the next “What Brings You to Crookston” report.
The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau’s next meeting will be on Thursday, March 9, in the Crookston Inn Ballroom.
