The Nevada Commission on Tourism recently concluded that its year-long advertising campaign directly generated $110 million in tax revenue. Translation: for every $1 spent on ads $31 in tax revenue was generated. More interestingly, the commission did this using a budget that was 30% lower than the previous year. This year the ad budget came to $3.5 million, and generated about $1.3 billion in total expenditures by tourists. Last year, the budget was $4.9 million, generating $1 billion in expenditures.
Spokesperson Chris Chrystal, who provided those statistics, attributes them in part to increased use of online ad technologies - especially leading-edge tools. For instance, this was the first year the state used Google In-stream video to market itself, she tells MarketingVOX. Other channels used were television, national tourism magazines and other forms of online ads.
It also used better targeting methodologies to make sure its ads were targeted at people - preferably in close-by states - who traveled and liked Nevada-type activities. The percentage of consumers who saw or heard the ads in markets where they ran jumped from 29.7% in 2009 to 42.9% in fiscal 2010, which ended June 30.
Now Google has decided to use the state as a model for some of its own sales efforts. Specifically, it recently chose the Nevada Commission on Tourism's online winter ski commercial as a success-story case study after it attracted 8 million viewers in seven targeted markets. It was among the first tourism entities to use Google’s in-stream video. Viewers who were exposed to the ad in markets where it appeared were 33% more likely to consider Nevada as a vacation destination than were those who saw other online ads about Nevada that did not use Google’s technology.
Tracking technology also showed that 45% of the viewers watched the entire 30-second commercial that appeared on in-stream video. Google used geo-targeting to show the ad in designated marketing areas that are close to Nevada and are home to skiers and snowboarders aged 25 to 54 with high-level household income: namely, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas, Seattle, Chicago and Phoenix.
The tourism state agency also used TNS Custom Research to track the effectiveness of its campaigns and measure the ROI. That one campaign last winter generated $22 for each $1 invested, it was determined.
