Travel South Dakota is requesting proposals from qualified agencies that provide professional marketing and advertising services. Travel South Dakota intends to work with collaborative agency partners in the development, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive marketing programs to promote South Dakota as a travel destination to regional, national and international markets.

The South Dakota Office of Procurement Management (SD OPM) facilitates the collection of responses online. All proposals must be complete and received by Travel South Dakota by February 13, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. CT.

To access the SD OPM system and review the RFP, visit their homepage and search for RFP # 25RFP15823, or follow this link to the Posting Board of the Central Bid Exchange. The RFP may also be found via this link:
 

Request for Proposals
For
Marketing Services
RFP #25RFP15823

Deadline to Submit Proposals:
Friday, February 13, 2026, 5:00 p.m. CT

Offerors may submit inquiries concerning this RFP to obtain clarification of requirements. No inquiries will be accepted after date and time indicated in the Schedule of Activities (Friday, January 16, 2026, 5:00 p.m. CST). Questions must be emailed to South Dakota Secretary of Tourism James D. Hagen at [email protected] with the subject line “Questions about RFP #25RFP15823”.

Travel South Dakota will respond to offeror’s questions/inquiries (if required) via email. In addition, all questions/inquiries and the State’s responses will be posted on the state’s procurement system. Offerors may not rely upon any other statements, either of a written or oral nature, that alter specifications, terms, or conditions of this RFP. Offerors will be notified in the same manner as indicated above regarding any modifications to this RFP.

The deadline for submitting inquiries or questions is Friday, January 16, 2026 (5:00 p.m. CT).

1-25   |   26-50   |   51-75   |   76-100   |   101-125   |   126-150   |   151-175   |   176-200  

201-225   |   226-250   |   251-275   |   276-300   |   301-325   |   326-350   |   351-373

Questions & Answers

#1

Q:  Is the proposal limited to 75 pages whether you respond to just one component or to multiple/all?

A:  The proposal is limited to 75 pages whether you are responding to one component or to multiple components.

#2

Q:  Do you have a historic perspective (or directional guidance) on the breakout of the $14m estimated budget and the split between 'agency services' and 'working media hard cost'?

A:  Here is a quick budget breakdown for you that covers our state fiscal year of 2023-2026:

FY23-FY26
Strategic/Account Management: 11%
Production: 10%
Media: 76%
Ad Tech: 3%

#3

Q:  While the stated purpose of RFP #25RFP15823 to identify the most qualified agency or agencies to execute all aspects of the South Dakota Department of Tourism’s / Travel South Dakota’s marketing objectives is clear, I would appreciate additional information regarding how many agencies are expected to be considered and ultimately awarded the opportunity to work with the South Dakota Department of Tourism / Travel South Dakota, as the language of the RFP suggests that multiple agencies may be selected as partners.

A:  

1. This is a wide-open RFP. We have no preconceived ideas, notions or ideas about any agency. We are simply looking for the BEST agencies who are committed to hard work and excellence.
2. We currently work with five different marketing agencies, each handling one or multiple components of our work (the same components laid out in the RFP).
3. We may continue to work with multiple agencies once we have made final decisions OR we may choose just one agency who we believe can handle all components. Again, we are looking for the best and most talented team(s). We may find that in one or multiple agencies.
4. Bring your A-game!

#4

Q:  As for being invited to submit a proposal, do we need a formal invitation applied to our ESM profile? And if so, do I need to reach out to the Procurement Office or can your team authorize that?

A:  You don’t need our permission or invitation (or the state’s) to be eligible to bid or respond. You also don't have to register (I know the state’s procurement site can be very confusing). Please find the RFP at this link: https://sdvisit.com/rfp.

#5

Q:  Is there a current incumbent agency or agencies supporting Travel South Dakota across any of the components outlined in the RFP?

A:  Yes, we have incumbent agencies overseeing all components outlined in the RFP.

#6

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota define success from a broader economic impact perspective? Are there specific economic development or local impact KPIs that tourism marketing is measured against?

A:  We look at the growth of the tourism promotion tax, growth in Historic Deadwood gaming revenues, BBB and BID tax growth in SD communities, general sale tax growth at the state and local levels, and hotel occupancy rates, to name a few. Please see pages 13-14 of the RFP for additional background.

#7

Q:  From your perspective, what do you most want the world to understand about South Dakota that they may not fully see or appreciate today?

A:  1. A better understanding of our incredible national and state parks 2. Our vibrant Arts & Culture scene. 3. Our rich Old West, pioneer and Indigenous culture and history 4. Our expanding culinary scene 4. The incredible outdoor scenery and activities available in the state.

#8

Q:  Who do you see as the core visitor to South Dakota today, and which audiences do you believe represent the greatest opportunity for growth moving forward?

A:  Core audiences include families, retirees, adventurous couples with no children in the home. Please see the top of page 13 in the RFP for more information about marketing, research, core audiences (all found on SDVisit.com).

#9

Q:  If the RFP results in multiple Agencies of Record rather than a single AOR, will there be a designated lead agency or primary point of contact at Travel South Dakota? How has inter-agency collaboration worked in practice in the past?

A:  Yes, there is one lead agency, but the Travel South Dakota team is actively involved in day-to-day oversight. We have had excellent collaboration in the past between multiple agencies because we work hard to foster it.

#10

Q:  To help inform scope and cost assumptions, approximately how many major creative campaigns are developed in a typical year across the various components?

A:  We have many, including peak season, shoulder season, winter, fishing, hunting as well as niche campaigns centered around our stewardship Forever 605 initiative, Arts & Culture, and Indigenous experiences. There are also 15 community cooperative marketing campaigns our departments oversees and takes the lead on. In 2025, we had 32 different campaigns. An agency can expect 25-35 per year, depending on how an agency approaches campaign setups or the number of participating co-op partners. Most likely, one can expect 30+ custom, opti-channel campaigns with varying investments and numerous placements.

#11

Q:  When evaluating experience, does Travel South Dakota consider the prior experience of individual team members in addition to the agency's overall experience?

A:  Yes.

#12

Q:  What’s one thing about working with Travel South Dakota that agencies often don’t expect until they’re in it?

A:  We are extremely passionate, collaborative, responsive, professional, bring lots of marketing experience to the table and demand excellence.

#13

Q:  We’re curious: what do you personally love most about South Dakota, and where do you see the greatest opportunity for the state’s tourism story to grow over the next few years?

A:  I love that we have a plethora of experiences to share, including many hidden gems. The responses we hear over and over from visitors are the following 1. We had no idea your state was so beautiful 2. We had no idea there was so much to see and do. 3. We should have spent more days/time in your state.

#14

Q:  In Component 1, in the last bullet on page 25 where it states to develop a peak-season campaign: are you looking for spec creative in addition to media/strategy recommendations and budget?

A:  Yes, correct.

#15

Q:  Similarly for Component 2, in the last bullet on page 26 where it states to develop three peak-season marketing campaigns: are you looking for spec creative in addition to media/strategy recommendations and budget?

A:  Yes, correct.

#16

Q:  In Component 9, does the budget outlined on page 24 include printing costs as well? Or would those costs be above and beyond/in a different project scope/sourced by TSD directly?

A:  The budget is for content production and creative design of the vacation guide as well as creating the eGuide. We contract the printing separately.

#17

Budget and cost structure 

Q 17A:  Please confirm whether the stated $350,000 PR budget is intended to cover agency fees only, or both agency fees and hard costs (media travel, media blitzes, etc).

A 17A:  $350,000 reflects both agency fees and hard costs. This is total PR budget.
 

Q 17B:  Is it possible to share any detail around how the budget has historically been allocated (agency retainer vs events vs press trips, etc)?

A 17B:  It has roughly been around 65% spent on retainer/agency fees and the remainder on hard costs.
 

Q 17C:  Please clarify whether media monitoring tool is contracted directly by Travel South Dakota or expected to be included within the agency PR scope and budget. If you are able to share the current tool (and it is a long-term commitment or open to review) it would be greatly appreciated.

A 17C:  This has typically been contracted through our PR agency. Tools have varied over the years, and we are not particular as long as it delivers the information we are needing for research and reporting. 

#18

Destination immersion tours

Q 18A:  How many destination immersion tours are anticipated annually (IE headcount for media hosted)?

A 18A:  We typically have 1-2 group trips (2-6 journalists each), including organization of our annual Buffalo Roundup press tour. We have invested more in independent press trips in recent years. Number of independent press trips annually varies by initiative and interest.
 

Q 18B:  Are immersion tours: group tours, individual hosted visits, or a mix? 

A 18B:  See above (A 18A).
 

Q 18C:  What level of agency responsibility is expected for immersion tours. Media recruitment and itinerary coordination only, or full planning and on site execution?

A 18C:  We expect a high level of agency involvement both on the media recruitment and coordination of the trip. On our small group trips, we expect agency representation alongside our staff to further build relationships.

#19

Media events, media blitzes, and event activation

Q 19A:  How frequently does Travel South Dakota anticipate media events or media blitzes?

A 19A:  Annually.
 

Q 19B:  Which industry events does the PR team for Travel South Dakota typically attend? 

A 19B:  PRSA, ESTO, Adrian Awards (as needed), Brand USA Travel Week, IPW, occasionally IMM.
 

Q 19C:  Which markets have you historically done Media Blitzs in?

A 19C:  New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington D.C.

#20

In-market media relations and partner coordination

Q 20A:  What level of in-market media relations is expected, including outreach to regional and local outlets? As a % of overall time and effort, how much emphasis is put on in-state efforts?

A 20A:  Our internal team handles all our in-state efforts. Occasionally support is kindly offered by our agency of record, but 95% of the local lift is handled internally.
 

Q 20B:  To what extent is the PR agency expected to coordinate directly with tourism partners, attractions, DMOs, and industry stakeholders statewide?

A 20B:  Building relationships is crucial to success. While we are mostly highly engaged with our industry partners, we do find it valuable to have the agency represented and engaged across the state as well. Typically, those conversations are handled in close connection with our internal PR team to facilitate a destination immersion experience, gather story ideas, and fact check.
 

Q 20C:  Is partner coordination expected to be facilitative only, or inclusive of ongoing relationship management and counsel?

A 20C:  Primarily facilitative. We do not expect our PR agency of record to serve as PR contacts for our industry members.

#21

Marketing co-op program

Q 21A:  Has the marketing co-op program referenced in Section 6.2 previously extended into public relations activity?

A 21A:  Not formally. Our PR team works to be an extension of our overall offerings and takes into consideration our niche campaigns and initiatives to leverage those story ideas.
 

Q 21B:  Would Travel South Dakota consider PR aligned co-op participation tied to shared earned media storylines?

A 21B:  It is possible.

#22

Q:  Hosting - Are they expecting the agency must provide hosting server infrastructure? Or are they asking who you'd partner with? We don't host client websites, that’s more like GoDaddy, Amazon, WPEngine, etc. 

A:  No, we do not expect the agency itself to provide hosting server infrastructure. Yes, we would like to know who you do or would recommend partnering with for this service.

#23

Q:  Is the expectation a redesign/rebuild of both sites, and ongoing optimization of existing sites?

A:  No, we do not expect a redesign/rebuild of both sites. TravelSouthDakota.com was rebuilt and relaunched in late July of 2025. We are considering a possible redesign/rebuild of SDVisit.com in 2026. Yes, we do expect ongoing optimization of the existing sites.

#24

Q:  What platforms are the current sites built on? What are the pain points?" Can't give migration strategy without knowing current state.

A:  The TravelSouthDakota.com site is a decoupled site and site content is maintained via a Drupal CMS. SDVisit.com is not decoupled but is also maintained via Drupal CMS. There are few pain points at this time, although a couple of areas that we are working on refining in the near future are the information request process and fulfillment (data flow) and site search functionality to include possible AI integration.

#25

Q:  Maintenance - CMS Updates, Ongoing website maintenance, and managing their training system - this is ongoing and really should be a separate budget (ie. $2,000/mo). 

A:  Yes, we currently do consider Maintenance to be a separate budget item paid via a standard monthly fee. You are welcome to itemize these elements in your proposal as you see appropriate. Specifics would be handled in the scope of work.

#26

Q:  Maintenance - The RFP mentions CMS updates, ongoing website maintenance, and managing the training system. This type of ongoing work is typically structured as a monthly retainer (e.g., $2,000/mo) separate from project-based redesign work. Is that the intended structure, or are you expecting this bundled into the $800k-$1.15M annual figure?

A:  Same answer as question above (A 25).

#27

Q:  Could you let us know if you are open to a Canadian agency doing similar work with the States of California, Wyoming, Colorado, Michigan etc. and a host of cities across the US or do you have a local preference?

A:  Yes, we welcome your submission.

#28

Q:  The RFP is directed toward advertising/marketing agencies. Would proposals from other entities be considered if they are not an advertising agency but can fulfill certain components outlined in the RFP?

A:  The straightforward answer is maybe. It all depends upon on the component(s) for which you are submitting a proposal. We have worked with established, talented and successful marketing agencies for decades and are seeking that same level of talent with this RFP. With that being said, if you feel your agency is qualified to handle the work of one of our components, we’ll welcome your submission.

#29

Q:  What is the expected budget for the initial year of this campaign, for media buying specifically?

A:  See page 20 of the RFP, 6.1 Component One: Brand Marketing, for what the department spends annually on its marketing campaigns.

#30

Q:  How are you measuring media success today? What are the primary KPIs?

A:  BBB tax revenue, tourism promotion tax revenue, Historic Deadwood gaming funds generated, hotel occupancy rates, attributable hotel and flight bookings and booking efficiencies/CPM, hotel and flight search generated plus search CPM, website visits generated, campaign/placement-specific engagement metrics, leads generated, associated post-impression activity, plus brand lift, foot traffic and spending reports, depending on campaign or partner.

#31

Q:  Will out-of-state agencies be considered equally, or are there points earned in the scoring process for local agencies?

A:  All agency submissions will be considered equally.

#32

Q:  Is your incumbent agency welcome to propose on this RFP?

A:  Yes.

#33

Q:  Can you share the name of your incumbent media agency?

A:  We currently work with 5 agencies: Karsh-Hagan, Lawrence & Schiller, Miles Partnership, Love Communications and the Lou Hammond Group.

#34

Q:  In the context of out-of-state bidders, what is the extent of in-person marketing needs? Any events (outside those listed in the RFP) that will require in-person attendance? How often would you desire local photo/video shoots?

A:  Outside of what is listed in the RFP, there may be events that pop up that will require in-person attendance. Local photo/video shoots will depend upon the creative concept(s) / direction being proposed by the lead creative agency and if that direction requires fresh/new video/photo assets, etc.

#35

Q:  Component 1 – Brand Marketing (Q 35-45) --- Does any new campaign work need to fit within any existing brand architecture/identity?

A:  No, the agency awarded this component would have the license to help define and evolve our brand architecture, ensuring that our efforts, no matter how many agencies are awarded in the various components, are cohesive and impactful.

#36

Q:  Is there appetite to completely replace the existing “So Much South Dakota, So Little Time” campaign or should any brand work be considered an extension of this campaign?

A:  Yes, we enter this process open to new ideas and committed to strategies that achieve our top-line goals and elevate South Dakota’s brand.

#37

Q:  Can we have access to any existing brand perception studies? 

A:  Yes, past studies are available on our Research & Reports page on SDVisit.com.

#38

Q:  Does South Dakota plan to keep existing audience segments (Memory Makers, Moment Seekers, Thrill Chasers, Known Travelers) or does the agency have license to pursue different segments? 

A:  No, the awarded agency has the license to define and pursue different segments.

#39

Q:  If existing audiences still have a place in South Dakota’s plans, are comprehensive audience personas available for reference?

A:  Yes—our audience, audience archetype, and audience segments are available in our brand book. Additional information is available in previous webinars posted on our Webinar Series page. Upon award, the agency would have access to extensive audience personas and segments in our CDP.

#40

Q:  Does the desire for a new brand identity coincide with any larger social changes in the state’s identity?

A:  No, any desire or motivation to continually evaluate and potentially evolve our brand identity is purely driven by our mission to enhance the quality of life for all South Dakotans by strengthening our communities and their tourism economies, encouraging responsible stewardship of our destination, and creating meaningful experiences for all to enjoy.

#41

Q:  How have recent socioeconomic changes impacted South Dakota’s approach to tourism, if at all?

A:  We’re fortunate that the vast majority of our stakeholders and residents understand the positive impacts of tourism on our state and its importance to local economies. As such, there’s been a history of accountability, strong engagement, and support that exceeds the norm across the country.

#42

Q:  It appears that “Nationwide” was removed from the campaign markets list in 2025. Is there a strategic reason for this and should the selected agency expect this to be the case moving forward?

A:  Yes, there were strategic reasons for the shift, as we optimized select placements to maximize impact and performance efficiency. National efforts were still maintained through select channels, tactics, and partners. And no, this shift was in response to current market conditions, and our goal is to continue expanding our reach to grow brand awareness.

#43

Q:  How do the South Dakota “Passport” programs currently fit into South Dakota’s overall marketing strategy?

A:  The Passport program currently serves as a secondary touchpoint for engaged audiences, with the goal of inspiring and incentivizing exploration to all corners of the state, helping us build awareness of lesser-known visitor experiences and advancing our initiative to promote the distribution of visitors across geography and season. Surprisingly, it’s been a valuable tool for engaging locals and stakeholders, helping foster pride in our state and in our work promoting it.

#44

Q:  From a media spend perspective, how does South Dakota currently prioritize its experience-specific campaigns (Arts & Culture, Native American Culture, Hunting, and Fishing)?

A:  These campaigns are secondary and tertiary to our seasonal brand and co-op campaigns in media spend. They have performed exceptionally well, though, and have warranted discussion about whether some (such as Arts & Culture or Indigenous) should be part of our primary campaigns’ strategy and creative sets.

#45

Q:  What third-party data partnerships currently exist that inform audience segmentation and targeting, media performance measurement, and economic impact?

A:  We work with Tourism Economics for economic impact, Future Partners and Love Communications for audience insights. Love Communications, ADARA, Datafy and Google Analytics for third-party media performance measurement.

#46

Q:  Component 5 – Consumer and Industry Websites (Q 46-51) --- What is the ideal launch date for the new website? 

A:  We are considering a possible redesign/rebuild of SDVisit.com in 2026. TravelSouthDakota.com was rebuilt and relaunched in July of 2025 and do not expect any rebuild in the immediate future.

#47

Q:  Will the relaunch of the website coincide with a rebranding?

A:  We would expect a reskin or refresh with a rebranding. We strive to ensure our brand is cohesive across channels and efforts, and that will remain of utmost priority to us.

#48

Q:  Are there any essential integrations for CRM, email marketing, or other important functions?

A:  Yes, currently Salesforce, BlueConic, Crowdriff, and direct FTP connections on TravelSouthDakota.com; Integrately and Zoho on SDVisit.com. TravelSouthDakota.com is a decoupled site and site content is maintained via a Drupal CMS. SDVisit.com is not decoupled but is also maintained via Drupal CMS.

#49

Q:  Is South Dakota able to temporarily share view-only Google Analytics access?

A:  Yes, for those agencies that are chosen as finalists, we can grant temporary view-only access.

#50

Q:  Beyond the project team, what stakeholders will be involved in the approval process? 

A:  We’re collaborative as a team, and major project kickoffs or elements (such as in a redesign) would be presented to a broader representation of the Travel South Dakota team. That being said, we understand the need for one voice of truth, and approvals or edits would be handled through a designated project point person.

#51

Q:  Once this RFP is awarded, will the current vendor maintain the production website or will the code and CMS be opened up to the new vendor to maintain between award and launch of the new website?

A:  The sites would be migrated to the awarded vendor for maintenance and management in collaboration with our current vendor and Travel South Dakota staff. This is relevant for both websites.

#52

Q:  Component 8 – Research & Reporting (Q 52-60) --- Can you please provide a title or category list of all research South Dakota Tourism has conducted within the past three (3) years? 

A:  In this fiscal year, the breakdown is as such:

• Website usability study
• Top Personas study
• ROI, Image and Perception study
• Dashboard integration for visitation and economic impact metrics
• Focus Groups – travel behavior and motivators, destination perceptions, creative testing, competitive testing etc.
• Travel forecasting
• Visitor volume and spending
• Visitor profile
• Economic impact – State and County
• Resident Sentiment – State and Local County/Region
• Geolocation tracking
• Media conversion and attribution
• Market performance study
• Visitor Spending –credit card data
• Hotel data and performance
• Short term rental data and performance
• Campaign engagement metrics and KPI’s
• Campaign bookings and revenue
• Website analytics

#53

Q:  Have you engaged outside firms to measure advertising effectiveness and ROAS? Would this be in scope?

A:  Yes, we work with several vendors. One of the vendors tracks hotel and flight bookings and revenue by media placement, and another company uses a panel-based survey to measure effectiveness of advertising (and performance by creative showing awareness, intent to travel and overall return on investment).

#54

Q:  Increasingly, XXXXXX is using big data analytics to measure and monitor destination reputation sentiment, as well as a consolidated view of ratings and reviews for points of interest throughout the state. Is this of interest to South Dakota Tourism and/or included as part of the research RFP and budget?

A:  Yes, this would be of interest, and we would recommend including this as part of the RFP. We will determine if it will be something worth the investment based on how it will provide direction on marketing strategy and likelihood to see a return with increased visitation, length of stay and visitor spending. This can be discussed further during the negotiation phase.

#55

Q:  Similarly, XXXXXX Travel Intelligence does extensive resident sentiment research for destinations around the world. Does South Dakota Tourism survey state residents about their understanding and support of the tourism industry to build advocacy for SDT’s efforts, and should we include these capabilities in our submission?

A:  Yes. We do measure this for the state and local county/region level. We would suggest including this in the RFP and feel it is an important part of our research portfolio.

#56

Q:  For many years, XXXXXX DK Shifflet PERFORMANCE data division provided SDT with visitor volume and spending estimates, as well as state visitor profile information. Is this to be considered part of the scope of work for this RFP and should we detail our capabilities in our submission? 

A:  We currently work with a vendor to receive visitor volume and spending data annually and rely on this data as part of our overall economic impact reporting. We suggest including this as part of your RFP submission.

#57

Q:  In the past three (3) years, which SDT research project investments would your team consider to be the most and least valuable to your organization?

A:  Visitor Profile Study, ROI Image and Perception Study, Resident Sentiment Study and Campaign Level Bookings and Revenue performance.

#58

Q:  What current third-party measurement providers are being used to measure the effectiveness of media?

A:  Adara, Datafy, Google Analytics.

#59

Q:  With multiple agencies of record across creative, social, and media, what is the current protocol for data sharing between vendors to ensure all teams are moving in the same direction? Is Component Eight viewed as the central source of truth that partners will look to in an effort to align strategy?

A:  We encourage data sharing and collaboration across all agencies regardless of which components they are selected for. However, it will be critical for the agency selected for Component 8 to have a proven track record of working collaboratively with various research partners, collaboration across agencies, ability to show their expertise in custom research and analysis, and most importantly, show how that research was used to deliver results.

#60

Q:  Which metric(s) are currently used to ultimately determine the success of campaign efforts? How are these results communicated to all stakeholders?

A:  A number of results are used together to show a true picture of success. For example, we will monitor monthly visitation and spending data such as hotel performance, park visitation, length of stay, geolocation data, and taxable sales collections but also use that in conjunction with marketing engagement metrics such as CTR, return on ad spend, cost per click, post impression rate and video completion rate. We feel it is important to monitor both to get a true measure of campaign success.

#61

Q:  Of the capabilities outlined in Component Eight (8), which are considered to be the highest priority to accomplish first?

A:  The first priority would be to ensure the selected agency can provide tracking and reporting of all campaign elements as well as other aspects required to manage and measure results of an integrated marketing campaign. We know this will involve collaboration across multiple agencies, but the vendor selected for component 8 would be responsible for coordinating this effort.

#62

Q:  Which responsibilities are expected to be led by the chosen partner versus supported or informed by others?

A:  Market analysis, psychographic analysis, focus groups, determining the motivation and influences for consumers and conducting monthly meetings to share findings and emerging trends across all agency partners would be led by the chosen partner.

#63

Q:  Is there an existing cadence or forum where cross-agency insights are shared today?

A:  Yes, through shared interactive dashboards and weekly meetings with all agencies.

#64

Q:  Is the historical budget amount intended to support always-on research functions, or is it specific to campaigns or one-time initiatives?

A:  A combination of both. Primarily for always on research and reporting but would have the ability for an increased budget above this level for special one-time initiatives for additional studies as needed.

#65

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota define success for Component Eight (8) in the first 12 months?

A:  Success within the first year would be to have a strong foundation for campaign performance tracking, in-depth consumer insights that inform marketing strategy decisions, and strong collaboration and information sharing across agencies. We also see a measure of success by the level of trust in the research provided across agency staff, our internal team and our industry stakeholders.

#66

Q:  For sections that include both national and global campaign components, can proposers bid solely on the U.S. (domestic) portion of the scope if that aligns with their operational capabilities? The RFP mentions that awards may be made to multiple agencies, so we want to ensure we are adhering to your intent for how partial section participation may be structured.

A:  Yes, that is fine.

#67

Q:  In addition to the RFP itself, are there any other documents that need to be filled out from "Appendices" or "Attachments"?

A:  No.

#68

Q:  Creative Assets: To what extent will the winning agency be expected to utilize existing creative assets versus developing entirely new brand concepts for the July 1, 2026, start date?

A:  We understand that there will be a transition period, and we have existing media plans in place that will run through the summer, allowing for a grace period as any new agency comes online. We can be patient, as what we’ll value most is doing the work needed to go to market right with anything new.

#69

Q:  AI Integration: Regarding Section 5.8, does the State currently have any specific legal or ethical restrictions on the use of Generative AI for final creative deliverables that we should be aware of when drafting our policy?

A:  Here is our state Bureau of Information and Technology’s guidelines for reference “State of South Dakota Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidelines & Acceptable State Use.”

#70

Q:  Retainer vs. Project Fees: Beyond the confirmed monthly fee for website maintenance, does the Department prefer a fixed monthly 'management retainer' for all other components, or a 100% hourly billing model against approved SOWs?

A:  We currently use and prefer a monthly management fee.

#71

Q:  Budget Fluctuations: Since the budget is dependent on tourism promotion tax and gaming revenues rather than the general fund, what is the historical frequency and margin of budget adjustments mid-fiscal year?

A:  Historically, they have been minor, 0-3% at most.

#72

Q:  Media Handling: Section 6.0 states the agency must have the financial capacity to purchase media without advance payment. Is there a standard timeframe for the State to reimburse the agency after receiving a signed state voucher and itemized invoice?

A:  We prefer net 60 for invoicing, but our state payment system typically processes payments in 14-21 days from receipt.

#73

Q:  Early 2025 estimates showed a significant drop in Canadian traffic due to political friction, new visa fees, and a 25% tariff on Canadian goods. Regarding the reported 20% decline in Canadian visitation in 2025, to what extent does the Department expect the new partner to prioritize international recovery versus domestic market expansion in 2026?

A:  As international visitation typically accounts for 2% of our totals, domestic market expansion would be the priority and the best opportunity to offset fluctuations in our international markets.

#74

Q:  In light of current 'cautious' consumer spending patterns, does the Department have a preferred messaging framework for 'value-driven' travel that maintains the premium nature of the South Dakota brand?

A:  Yes, we like to present South Dakota as undiscovered and a hidden gem, as a world-class outdoors and road-trip destination.

#75

Q:  How does the Department define the primary barriers to conversion for 'high intent' travelers who have not yet booked?

A:  Besides conducting annual economic impact and advertising ROI studies to help identify, we also launched an ongoing online focus group research project that allows us to continue identifying and defining those barriers across strategy, creative, reputation, competition, and other factors. We also work closely with a vendor who supplies a monthly survey to a representative sample of U.S. travelers regarding their top deterrents to travel to South Dakota as well as a brand identity index ranked against our competitors.

#76

Q:  Does South Dakota have any pre-existing plans for the 2026 U.S. 250th Anniversary that we should be aware of?

A:  This America 250 page on TravelSouthDakota.com is a good resource for what’s currently planned and for any other events or efforts that come online. Our department is also tasked with coordinating and overseeing the official America250-sanctioned fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3. We are partnering with the U.S. Dept of Interior and the National Park service on this event.
We won’t have a dedicated paid media campaign centered around America250.

#77

Q:  What locations does the Department consider to be primary competitors?

A:  We encourage you to check out our prior research on SDVisit.com for competitor analysis and comparisons.

#78

Q:  What have your past influencer efforts been? What was successful? What could be improved?

A:  Our past influencer efforts have focused on creating authentic experiences that showcase the diversity of South Dakota. We host several individual influencer trips each year, ranging from traditional travel creators to niche influencers in areas like fishing, hunting, and outdoor adventure. These partnerships allow us to reach targeted audiences who are passionate about specific aspects of South Dakota. We also prioritize dispersing influencers throughout the entire state to highlight the wide range of destinations and experiences available beyond the most well-known attractions.

Our most successful efforts have come from creating authentic, immersive experiences that allow influencers to genuinely connect with South Dakota and share that passion organically through their content.

We are always looking to improve our influencer vetting process and open to different platforms to accurately pinpoint audience demos, account growth, engagement rate, etc. We could also do better at integrating relevant influencer content into our owned branded channels.

#79

Q:  How should the proposed scope of work balance traditional 'destination marketing' with the newer 'destination stewardship' initiatives, such as the Forever 605 campaign?

A:  The traditional campaigns are a priority, while our Forever 605 campaign is secondary and targeted to visitors in South Dakota and to residents.

#80

Q:  Beyond the 16+ DMOs mentioned in Component Two, what is the Department's biggest pain point regarding 'cooperative marketing' integration across the state’s diverse regions?

A:  Getting brand image and video assets for all partners and seasons.

#81

Q:  What does 'operational excellence' look like for your ideal agency partner?

A:  Clear, timely communication with the client and any other potential agency partners, fostering the collaborative spirit we prioritize.
Responsive, detailed, and collaborative account leads that effectively bridge clients with internal teams. Consistency in core team members.
Clear and accurate billing that aligns with the detailed Scope of Works and approved media calendars. Up-to-date billing tracker that includes both SOW and media calendars and is available to key client team members.
Vigilant monitoring of both campaign performance and internal processes to maximize results and minimize fraud or waste. Optimizations and insights are ongoing and actionable in the moment, with no surprises in the End-of-Campaign report.
Award-winning and innovative creative that’s presented weeks in advance of ship dates to allow for review time and potential edits. Creative is thoughtful and feels representative of the brand.

#82

Q:  Your 2022-2025 strategic plan outlines the desire for a stronger partnership with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). Is this still a goal going forward? Are there co-advertising opportunities with GOED?

A:  Yes, we’ve found that we’re stronger together and especially value our current partnership with our Game, Fish and Parks department, which has led to some truly impactful campaigns that leverage the resources and strengths of both organizations. We look forward to exploring shared goals and strategies that could lead to partner efforts, even if simply sharing resources like consumer insights or communicating ongoing efforts to start.

#83

Q:  Regarding the Department’s mission to encourage 'responsible stewardship of our destination' and the goal of 'responsible destination management,' could the Department provide further clarity on the strategic priority between these two areas:
○ Environmental Sustainability: Is the focus primarily on promoting low-impact travel, 'Leave No Trace' principles, and the preservation of natural resources/parks?
○ Economic/Product Diversification (Agritourism): Is the focus more on the 'expansion of markets' and 'destination development' through niche sectors like agritourism to support rural communities and strengthen local economies?

A:  We launched our stewardship campaign in 2023 and encourage you to visit Forever605.com, plus our industry-focused page on SDVisit.com for more on how this serves to align visitors, residents and the industry behind the campaign pillars for the benefit of South Dakota and our resources for future generations. We are also prioritizing sustainability through the targeting of high quality-visitors, prioritizing length of stay over volume, and distribution of those visitors to all areas in the state – including our more rural communities. And yes, we see agritourism as a way to positively impact rural communities and economies while expanding the state’s product offering. Both are ongoing priorities.

#84

Q:  Does Travel South Dakota anticipate awarding multiple components to a single agency of record where appropriate, or is the Department intentionally seeking a distributed, multi-agency model across components?

A:  We do not have a predetermined agency model. The RFP is structured to secure the best talent for each program, whether that results in one- or multi-agency awards based on what best serves our needs.

#85

Q:  For components involving creative development and brand marketing, how does Travel South Dakota envision the balance of creative leadership between internal staff and the selected agency(ies)? Are agencies expected to proactively evolve campaign creative year over year, or primarily execute within an established creative framework?

A:  Our team will be a resource and partner in that process and ultimately provide final approval; otherwise, we will look to the awarded agency to proactively lead the evolution of the Travel South Dakota brand and the campaigns created within that architecture, working with all teams to ensure this work is cohesive across channels.

#86

Q:  For components that include media planning and purchasing, does the Department have preferred media partners, buying platforms, or contractual structures already in place, or should agencies assume full responsibility for negotiating, placing, and managing media buys?

A:  The agency can assume full responsibility, and if, in the select case, there is any partner or preference on our behalf, the agency can trust that it will be a collaborative part of any discussion.

#87

Q:  Can you clarify how Travel South Dakota currently integrates research, analytics, and reporting across agencies and vendors? Is there an existing dashboard or data environment that agencies will be expected to plug into, or should respondents propose their own reporting frameworks?

A:  We are looking to the agency awarded Component Eight to provide tracking and reporting of all campaign elements by making available a tool that connects with various vendors and systems for a central reporting system, and expect that agency to work with any others to ensure their information is piped in.

Currently, we have much of that information centralized in a single dashboard managed by our research agency, though each partner maintains their own reporting system for their own use and preference that the Travel South Dakota teams access. The various agencies currently collaborate on a consistent nomenclature for third-party measurement.

#88

Q:  Beyond the meetings and conferences outlined in the RFP, are there anticipated expectations for additional in-state travel or embedded working sessions during the contract term?

A:  It is dependent on the component one is submitting for. For components one, two, three, and six, we would say yes between content productions or shoots, co-op partner planning meetings, and media hostings, though those special projects can be reimbursed or billed to our account as work on our behalf. Otherwise, we do our best to schedule cross-agency, full-team working sessions where appropriate around the meetings and conference outlined.

#89

Q:  When evaluating cost proposals, will greater emphasis be placed on hourly rates, retainers, media commission structures, or overall value and flexibility across components?

A:  Overall value and flexibility, understanding that we should see some differentiation in the other elements between agencies, reflected in that.

#90

Q:  How do you divide budget among the nine separate initiatives, as outlined in the RFP?

A:  The budget is determined yearly by the Travel South Dakota team based on overall strategy, projects, and goals for the upcoming year. Historically, we have not seen large fluctuations or swings in that breakdown.

#91

Q:  May a full-service agency pitch for solely Brand Marketing, Co-Op Marketing, Email Marketing, Print Guides, and Research, and what would be the fee structure?

A:  Yes! We would still ask that you provide a detailed budget, including spend, fees, and production costs, for each component you respond to. We encourage you to show in your response where any efficiencies or savings are achieved by having multiple components, and how they may differ if only one were awarded.

#92

Q:  May we include additional agency experience outside of the 3-5 year range?

A:  Yes! We encourage you to do so.

#93

Q:  We are a Florida-based agency with extensive travel experience, but would our location disqualify us?

A:  No.

#94

Q:  Is work-related travel costs (meetings, presentations, shoots, etc.) reimbursable to the agency?

A:  Yes, if not a pre-determined or key meeting/event as stated on page 17 of the RFP.

#95

Q:  Is it acceptable to partner with a PR agency, or would it be considered a separate contract?

A:  If the agency chooses to partner with another agency with the intent to supplement the responding agency’s capabilities, we view that relationship as any other the agency might have with a media partner or vendor. The supporting agency’s contract and payment for services must be directly with the awarded agency, and all costs must be incorporated and identified in the replying agency’s proposal. We must have one contract for the awarded agency that submitted the RFP.

#96

Q:  What is the typical billing cadence and payment timeline (Net 30, Net 60, Net 90)?

A:  We prefer net 60 for invoicing, but our state payment system typically processes payments in 14-21 days from receipt.

#97

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota balance drive vs fly markets, especially given rising travel costs and airline capacity volatility?

A:  It depends on our campaign goals, whether we’re looking to expand into fly markets over existing drive markets, and on various economic factors and consumer sentiment. We take all this into account when planning the campaign and optimize as needed throughout the campaign’s schedule, adjusting to ensure we’re meeting goals and performance KPIs, while balancing the steady, multi-year commitment needed in growth markets.

#98

Q:  Are international markets currently active, and if so, which countries?

A:  Yes, we currently partner with Brand USA and use many of their co-op programs for our paid international efforts. This fiscal year, we are in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, India, Australia and Ireland.
Through our Great American West partnership, our Travel/Trade efforts target the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Benelux Region, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

#99

Q:  What level of media innovation is encouraged?

A:  We know we’re not a Top 10 U.S. travel destination (not yet anyway!). We’re also not easy to get to. And we have a reputation for being cold. So, without the budget or the reputation of a Top 10 destination (or an international airport with numerous direct flights) as competitive advantages, we have to be innovative to be impactful.
We have challenges, but also something special that some people have no idea about. We’re looking for an agency partner who welcomes that and is ready to be scrappy and get creative to help lift our brand and achieve our goals.

#100

Q:  Does Travel South Dakota subscribe to or own research tools of their own (Arrivalist, etc)?

A:  Yes. We currently subscribe to Datafy, Key Data, STR/CoStar, Symphony, SATS+ State of the American Traveler and ADARA Impact.

#101

Q:  What type of dashboards do you currently use for reporting?

A:  Across our various agencies and some partners, we currently use dashboards built on the Amplify, Tableau, and Looker Studio platforms. We also utilize GA4, Google Ads, ADARA and Datafy.

#102

Q:  Do you have a full-funnel media mix model?

A:  No, we currently do not.

#103

Q:  When asking for a campaigns/concepts – are you looking for full blown campaigns and plans or just high level concept and comms/media strategy?

A:  We want to see thoughtful campaigns/plans that help us understand the inputs that led to the strategy and the campaign's components, while allowing responding agencies to differentiate themselves, so would encourage more full-blown campaigns.

#104

Q:  Is an out-of-state agency okay? Do you have any geographic constraints?

A:  Yes, an out-of-state agency is totally okay. We have no geographic restraints.

#105

Q:  Would there be favorability for a woman/minority owned business?

A:  We welcome all businesses to apply.

#106

Q:  What email and web hosting do you use?

A:  Salesforce is currently used for email. AWS is currently used for web hosting.

#107

Q:  What’s your current email strategy? How is it used? How do you segment? What platform do you use?

A:  Our eCRM strategy is robust and successful. We have several segments, including interest-based, community cooperative marketing partner sends, event-focused, engagement history, and more. Our current AOR uses Salesforce for both consumer and industry eCRM.

#108

Q:  Is this a mandatory review?

A:  Yes.

#109

Q:  Do you anticipate (or would your preference be) naming a single agency across efforts or multiple agencies across multiple components?

A:  We are open to a single agency or multiple agencies. We currently work with five different agencies, located both out-of-state and in-state.

#110

Q:  Are certain capabilities or components weighted more heavily in the evaluation process?

A:  Not necessary, but we are looking for a well-rounded, reputable, experienced and financially stable marketing partners.

#111

Q:  What words would you use to describe your ideal partner?

A:  Professional, creative, collaborative, communicative, smart, insightful, hardworking, fun and always striving for excellence.

#112

COMPONENT TWO: Coop Marketing & Management

Q 112A:  Do you envision the target markets to remain similar to the ones outlined in the 2025 Coop Marketing Program Booklet?

A 112A:  Kansas City is primary for us, so you can add both Kansas and Missouri to that map and remove Oregon.
 

Q 112B:  What DSP is currently being utilized?

A 112B:  Currently, a few different platforms are utilized, including DV360 and Meta.
 

Q 112C:  What audience groups (as noted in the Coop Marketing Program Booklet) are being targeted?

A 112C:  Please see our 2025 Marketing Campaign page or Brand Standards on our industry site.

#113

COMPONENT FOUR: Email Marketing Program

Q 113A:  What email platform do you currently use for your campaigns?

A 113A:  Salesforce.
 

Q 113B:  Can you give us an idea how large your lists are, what segmentation looks like & how often you currently send to the various lists?

A 113B:  The consumer list size is approximately 380K. Several audience segments including interest and engagement based. We also incorporate cooperative marketing messaging through our partners into sends as well. There are sometimes three sends per week to the various consumer audiences. Messaging to our industry audience averages 3-4 sends per month.
 

Q 113C:  Can you share a breakdown of email “hard costs” vs production costs in your current model?

A 113C:  9-10% of the budget for this component is currently dedicated to the strategy retainer the remainder to production and development.
 

Q 113D:  Specifically for email, what are your main success metrics? IE: growing list size, engagement, specific conversions?

A 113D:  Growing list and segmented list sizes; engagement with new and existing subscribers, fostering travel planning behavior like clicks to TravelSouthDakota.com and SDVisit.com for further engagement onsite and with our guides; amplification and intent-based actions with initiatives and promotions like our South Dakota Stories podcast or videos and Passport program; Open and Click-to-Open rates.

#114

COMPONENT FIVE: Consumer Website & Industry Website

Q 114A:  The current sites are built within the Drupal and WordPress content management systems. Are you open to other content management platforms based on current best practices?

A 114A:  Yes, all options can be considered. However, with a recent relaunch of TravelSouthDakota.com, we are comfortable with the CMS.
 

Q 114B:  Is hosting expected to remain where it is currently hosted or be transitioned to the agency selected?

A 114B:  Once the RFP is complete, this can be discussed between Travel South Dakota and the relevant parties. Also, see answer to question #51. RFP - Marketing Services | South Dakota Tourism Industry
 

Q 114C:  What third-party integrations are currently in place?

A 114C:  See answer to question #48. RFP - Marketing Services | South Dakota Tourism Industry
 

Q 114D:  Are there any known constraints related to security, compliance, or state-owned infrastructure we need to account for?

A 114D:  Short-listed agencies for website and eCRM will need to review documents and guidance from the State of South Dakota’s Bureau of Information and Technology as part of the RFP process.
 

Q 114E:  What is the current cadence for ongoing optimizations (weekly, monthly, quarterly)?

A 114E:  Weekly.

#115

Q:  What results or performance data is available on international travel to South Dakota, and, in particular, from Canada? This could include overall percentage of visitors, visitor spend and target audience segmentation differences (i.e., larger percentage of families with children).

A:  In 2025, spending by international visitors made up roughly 2% share of our total visitor spend of $5.16B. International travel spending in South Dakota declined 6.8% in 2025. When looking at visitation volume, Canada makes up 52% of total international visitation with overseas markets making up 47% and Mexico 1%. Top overseas markets include UK 5.3%, Germany 3.4%, Australia, 3.3% and Spain 3%. Last year, visitation from Canada/Mexico declined 19.4% and overseas markets declined 1.9%. For South Dakota, Canada is expected to grow 6.5% in the next 5 years and visitation from overseas markets is expected to increase by 4.9%.

#116

Q:  Of the overall visitors and travel spend, what percentage or overall composition are in-state travelers vs. out-of-state travelers? 

A:  In-state visitation is around 52% / out of state is around 48%.

#117

Q:  Comparing three audience segments, what percentage of overall visitation and spend is attributed to each of the segments? If such data is not available, can you detail generally how each segment contributes to the overall economic impact and how that impact has shifted over the last three years?

A:  While we don’t have visitation, spending or economic impact segmented by our target markets, we can share some findings with generational segments. Boomers currently make up the majority of our visitation with 34.5% share, followed by Millennials at 24.3%, Gen X 23.3% and lastly Gen Z at 17.9%.

#118

Q:  Historically, what percentage of paid media investment has gone to in-state vs. out-of-state?

A:  Historically, our in-state spending is around 15% of our paid media spend.

#119

Q:  If there are Components that we don’t wish to compete for, where is the best place to indicate that – in the Executive Summary or somewhere else?

A:  You don’t need to indicate any you are not competing for. You can simply respond to the components for which you are bidding. You may also indicate that in your Executive Summary.

#120

Q:  In areas of question overlap, given the page limit, can we point back to previous sections where we feel the question has been thoroughly answered? (An example – in component four, the RFP asks “Describe your experience with or understanding both the travel and tourism consumer audience and tourism industry audiences” – we expect to have covered this thoroughly in earlier sections.

A:  Yes, totally fine.

#121

Q:  The RFP states that one of Travel South Dakota’s goals is to advocate for responsible destination management (which we love); are there specific campaigns geared towards this goal currently?

A:  Yes, please see SDVisit.com and TravelSouthDakota.com to learn more about our Forever 605 stewardship program. Simply typing Forever 605 in the search engines on both sites will take you to this award-winning campaign.

#122

Q:  In section 6.8, the RFP notes that traditionally Travel South Dakota has “spent around $500,000 annually, inclusive of all media and production costs” in the research and reporting component - does the $500K figure also include data collection costs (e.g. panel costs, interview incentives, etc.)?

A:  Yes. The $500k is an average of what we have budgeted and includes the entire cost of our research efforts. The panel costs, incentives and other data to support the research efforts have been contracted by the agencies with a 3rd party (such as consumer panel company) who they generally use and trust. Keep in mind, in cases where we feel there is a need for a custom study or research project, we are able to invest more if we feel that it is necessary.

#123

Q:  In section 6.9, the RFP notes that traditionally Travel South Dakota has “spent around $50,000 to $100,000 annually, inclusive of all media and production costs” in the vacation guide and print guide production component - does that amount also include the actual printing costs?

A:  See answer to question #16 in the Q&A section. RFP - Marketing Services | South Dakota Tourism Industry

#124

Q:  When responding to the point-by-point questions in section 7, would you prefer that respondents follow the same order of bulleted questions, or can we reorder for purposes of narrative flow?

A:  You can reorder to better fit your flow.

#125

Q:  In section 7.8, when providing reporting examples, is it acceptable to redact the data (or some of the data)? We recognize that there is a platform for marking portions of response as confidential but would appreciate the chance to insure confidentiality for our clients if possible.

A:  Yes. We are fine with this.

#126

Q:  Are there any social media channels that are currently off limits (TikTok or others)?

A:  Tik Tok is currently off limits.

#127

Q:  If multiple agencies are selected for one component, how will you define the “lead” vs. “supporting” role for that specific component?

A:  We will only award one agency per component.

#128

Q:  What work is expected to remain in-house or with the AORs?

A:  Generally, much of our work is handled by our agencies. What we do in-house support often serves our industry-focused needs or the work of the Global Travel/Trade and Industry Outreach and Development teams (see us for a breakdown of teams and roles/responsibilities). Otherwise, it’s internal support, in conjunction with our agencies, for our greater efforts.

#129

Q:  Is there a component of B2B marketing needed that relates back the goal of increasing the number of tourism-related jobs?

A:  No, those efforts are through our various internal projects across teams (like in response to #2), or we see the impact through the demand we’re able to generate from our overall efforts.

#130

Q:  What international locations do you currently market to?

A:  UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Nordics, Australia, the Benelux, Canada, India and some Asian markets.

#131

Q:  What international marketing partnerships do you hold currently?

A:  We currently have full-time representation in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Nordics, Australia, and the Benelux, targeting both the travel trade and media. In addition, we have recently been active in Canada, India, and Asian markets through opportunities and relationships we have developed, as well as through Brand USA, the nation’s destination marketing organization. These marketing partnerships reach both consumers directly and the travel trade.

#132

Q:  If you are currently marketing internationally, are these seasonal or evergreen campaigns?

A:  A combination of evergreen efforts in our more established European markets, with a primary focus on the travel trade, complemented by seasonal, direct-to-consumer campaigns targeted for late winter and early spring in conjunction with Brand USA.

#133

Q:  What media tactics are you currently using that work really well and are there any tactics you haven't used but would like to explore?

A:  Across all campaigns and efforts, we have fairly robust multi-channel efforts and haven’t left much unexplored — aside from animatronics, virtual reality, 3D forced perspective, 4D and interactive installations or we once really, really wanted to turn a motorcoach into a roaming buffalo mobile or mobile Wall Drug Store (much in the spirit of the Planter’s Peanut Nutmobile, Oscar Mayer Wienermobile or the legendary LL Bean Bootmobile.) We also haven’t been able to get real tattoos through internal review yet either (not yet anyway).

We’ve found that our multi-channel approach works really well when channels amplify our message across each other, and especially when layering in storytelling, how we can through episodic series, long-form docs, PR, content creator and influencer relationships, or through overlooked channels like audio, activations and cool swag as part of a lead-gen program.

#134

Q:  Do you give preference to an agency within South Dakota or are you open to agency support across the country (based on experience and capability)?

A:  No preferences are given. We are open to any and all agencies, and all are on equal footing.

#135

Q:  Are the current support agencies hitting metrics as expected?

A:  Yes, our current agencies are meeting metrics but that does not influence any future decisions about marketing agencies we may work with.

#136

Q:  What is the length of time you have been working with your current partners?

A:  We have been working with our current agencies (total of 5) for the past four years.

#137

Q:  In regards to the $5M Peak campaign (Q 137-144):  Should the media plan include creative costs? 

A:  Yes.

#138

Q:  Should ad serving fees be included in the $5M total?

A:  Yes, even if just estimates.

#139

Q:  Is social media considered in this $5M, or is there a dedicated budget for that in a separate section?

A:  This includes paid social media only; the rest comprises Component Three: Organic Social Media & Influencer Marketing.

#140

Q:  Does this include niche campaign efforts (ie, Forever 605, Arts & Culture, Sturgis Rally, etc)?

A:  Correct!

#141

Q:  Do you have specific audiences you want us to focus on for this campaign, or should we include audience targeting and supporting research recommendations in this scope?

A:  We encourage you to include audience targeting and supporting research on which your strategy is based on.

#142

Q:  Should paid search efforts be included here?

A:  Yes.

#143

Q:  Does this budget include activations, partnerships, and content creation, or is there a separate dedicated budget for those elements?

A:  This budget does not include activations (see Component Seven) but should include any relevant partnerships and content creation that you feel are important to the strategy.

#144

Q:  Is there a specific goal for this campaign? EX: grow awareness with a specific (Gen Z) audience(s), or show improvements in tracked bookings, etc.

A:  No, we encourage you to share what you think the campaign's goal should be to help us achieve our mission to enhance the quality of life for all South Dakotans by strengthening our communities and their tourism economies, encouraging responsible stewardship of our destination, and creating meaningful experiences for all to enjoy.

#145

Q:  General Questions (Q 145-148):  What current key performance indicators do you find most valuable? 

A:  Post campaign: Est Booking Revenue Generated, Post-Impression activity, attributable visitation, trackable spend, ROAS, and CPL.
Monthly: Impressions, Uniques Reached, relevant engagement metrics specific for placements, Rate of Est Booking Revenue + Searches Generated, and PIR.
Weekly: Relevant delivery and engagement metrics specific to placements (Imp, CTR, VCR, Competed Views, Engagement Rates, etc.).

#146

Q:  Is there a specific number of case studies you’d like to see for components 1, 2, and 8?

A:  Yes, three for each.

#147

Q:  Where should SEO be addressed?

A:  Those are currently addressed under our SEM budget, created as an item in the scope of work for an awarded contract, and we will again address them as SOW items for an awarded agency. As these are ongoing efforts that impact our overall brand efforts, please provide them where you see fit under Component 1 or 2, and note that they can be viewed as ancillary to the component campaign and budget. Please share what you view as the ideal investment in them.

#148

Q:  Would you like to see SEO specific case studies?

A:  If including in a component, yes.

#149

Q:  Public Relations (Component 6) - (Q 149-155) - Do you have a crisis communications plan and protocol in place or is the PR agency expected to oversee and execute?

A:  Yes, we have a crisis communications plan in place that we have drafted in years past with the assistance of our PR firms.

#150

Q:  Regarding international outreach, Canada, Germany, UK, France seem to your focus based on the 2024 Highlights Report.

A:  This RFP and Component 6 is not directly responsible for maintaining our international outreach, with the exception of Canada which we treat more like a domestic market for PR. The other markets are handled and maintained for trade and media through a separate contract, not part of this RFP.

Q 150A:  Do you participate in travel industry conferences in these markets. How many? What is the expectation on the agency’s scope at these events?

A 150A:  This would not be expected as part of this contract, other than occasional one-off efforts in Canada.

Q 150B:  Do you host earned media visits from these markets. How many do you host?

A 150B:  Yes, but not as part of this contract.

Q 150C:  Do you expect a PR strategy + plan for each market or one overall?

A 150C:  See above.

#151

Q:  How is international earned media outreach evaluated against regional and national in terms of priority?

A:  This component will be for domestic + Canada only. With U.S. being 90% focus of this work.

#152

Q:  Are your international target audiences similar to US? 

A:  Yes.

#153

Q:  Who do you consider your main competitor set?

A:  Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa.

#154

Q:  Do you have 26-27 PR tentpoles/ PR moments on which the PR agency should focus?

A:  Yes, we lay out a detailed, yearly gameplan with our PR firm.

#155

Q:  I understand the entire PR budget is $350,000. Could you clarify the expenses that are included in this budget such as travel expenses for all media visits, travel expenses for agency team to attend industry meetings and conferences, and influencer fees. Does this also include inbound international media travel expenses to South Dakota?

A:  It includes all listed here, with the exception of international media expenses. The only exception to this is occasionally our international media and domestic media are on a destination immersion together, and our PR AOR helps cover costs for group experiences collectively.

#156

Q:  Organic Social Media / Influencer Marketing (Component 3) - (Q 156-158) - The RFP notes that the annual organic social media & influencer marketing budget is approximately $1,000,000, inclusive of media and production costs but excluding monthly retainer fees.

Q 156A:  Can you clarify whether Travel South Dakota has an anticipated or preferred monthly retainer range for Component Three, or if retainers should be proposed at the agency’s discretion?

A 156A:  The monthly retainer range can be proposed in the RFP and negotiated upon award.

Q 156B:  Which social platforms does Travel South Dakota anticipate prioritizing over the course of the contract (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, emerging platforms), and should platform emphasis vary by season or campaign focus?

A 156B:  All are important in our plan, but more focus on Meta platforms, Pinterest, and YouTube. We currently do not utilize TikTok.

Q 156C:  Are there any influencer, content creation, or community management functions that Travel South Dakota plans to retain in-house, or should agencies assume full execution responsibility for Component Three?

A 156C:  Agency should expect lead in all, with support and direction from Travel South Dakota internal team.

#157

Q:  Does the Component Three budget include paid amplification or boosting of organic social content, or should paid social efforts be budgeted and managed under a different component or agency of record?

A:  Paid social will be part of Component 2.

#158

Q 158A:  Approximately how many influencer or creator visits does Travel South Dakota anticipate executing annually under Component Three?

A 158A:  4-6.

Q 158B:  Is there a target mix between in-state vs. out-of-state creators, or between macro, mid-tier, and micro creators?

A 158B:  This fluctuates annually based on the priorities and goals. We have consistently worked with all types.

Q 158C:  Should influencer fees, travel, and on-site costs be assumed as part of the $1M Component Three budget, or are certain costs covered directly by Travel South Dakota or partner organizations?

A 158C:  Majority of these costs should be part of the Component Three budget. There are times when internal budget or partnership with our industry reduces these costs, but majority is part of this component’s budget.

#159

Q:  Given Travel South Dakota’s record-breaking 2024 and award-winning performance in 2025, could you provide additional context on the decision to issue this RFP? Specifically, is this RFP driven by the conclusion of the incumbent contract, a desire for new or different capabilities, or another strategic objective? Additionally, will the incumbent agency be participating in the RFP process?

A:  We’re required by state statute to issue an RFP for these services every five years. The first awarded contract has a maximum term of three years, followed by up to two one-year term contracts. The timing of this RFP is driven by the end of both our current contract and our most recent strategic plan, recognizing how intertwined work on future strategy and brand can and should be.

We do expect to see all incumbent agencies participating.

#160

Q:  We noticed that you have a very thorough Brand Book that was created or updated last year. Is the expectation that the selected Agency of Record will continue to apply and build upon this existing brand look and feel, or does Travel South Dakota desire a brand new visual direction?

A:  We welcome the review of our existing brand look and feel during this process, and what that leads to moving forward. An awarded agency on Component One would have the license and lead to help define and evolve our brand architecture. See Questions #35-36 on https://sdvisit.com/RFP.

#161

Q:  On a related note, it appears that “So Much South Dakota. So Little Time.” is currently being used both as a brand platform and as the peak summer campaign creative. Should agencies assume this platform will continue to be the primary brand and seasonal campaign moving forward, or is Travel South Dakota looking for a new agency partner to rethink this approach? If the latter, is this part of the expectation for the RFP response?

A:  No, we enter this process open to new ideas and committed to strategies that achieve our top-line goals and elevate South Dakota’s brand. We’d welcome responding agencies to present what they feel is best for the brand moving forward and how that translates into the creative, whether that is a whole new direction or an evolution of our current.

#162

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota’s relationship with Indigenous communities, including the nine Reservations within the state, factor into the overall tourism and marketing strategy? Are there specific considerations, priorities, or collaboration goals that agencies should be aware of when developing campaigns?

A:  Our relationship with our Indigenous communities is both foundational to South Dakota’s story and essential to responsible destination marketing. Our tourism brand is built on the people and places that make the state distinct, and that includes South Dakota’s rich Indigenous culture and history, which are core to what we want visitors to understand and experience.

From a strategy standpoint, Indigenous-related tourism is treated as an important “experience set” within our broader marketing ecosystem—alongside areas like Arts & Culture—because it helps diversify the visitor experience mix and deepen the authenticity of the South Dakota narrative. In recent years, these experience-focused efforts have performed strongly. We also helped establish the South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance (SDNTA) in 2018 and continue to work in partnership with the group on numerous initiatives to help foster the development of a sustainable Indigenous tourism industry that supports local economies and the well-being of communities within the tribal nations of South Dakota.

#163

Q:  The RFP notes a preference for media billing in arrears rather than pre-billing. Although the RFP does not explicitly request financial documentation, would you like participating agencies to provide financial statements or other materials to demonstrate the ability to support this billing structure?

A:  No, nothing beyond the total of annual billings from 5.1 on page 18 of the RFP is necessary at this time.

#164

Q:  Components 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 reference a defined budget but note that this amount “excludes the monthly retainer and any other potential agency fees.” To confirm our understanding, should we interpret this to mean that there is a separate, additional budget allocated for the agency retainer and related fees that is not included in the total budget figures provided for these components?

A:  Correct.

#165

Q:  Section 2.12 states that the Contractor may not use subcontractors to perform the services described without the express prior written consent of the State. Our interpretation is that subcontractors may be proposed as part of the RFP response, as the RFP submission itself serves as a request for such consent—provided the subcontractors are fully disclosed and understood that they are subject to the same terms and conditions as XXXXXX under any resulting contract. Please confirm whether this interpretation is correct and whether subcontractors may be included in the proposed approach.

A:  That interpretation is correct. Subcontractors may be included in the proposed approach, so long as they are fully disclosed in the proposal.

#166

Q:  The RFP indicates that all agency resources assigned to the account must be outlined and that Travel South Dakota retains the right to approve staff and any subsequent staffing changes. For roles that would be added upon award of the contract, would it be acceptable to provide the position title and job description rather than naming a specific individual at this stage?

A:  Yes.

#167

Q:  The RFP notes that the submission cannot exceed 75 pages; does this apply regardless of how many components we’re submitting for?

A:  The proposal is limited to 75 pages whether you are responding to one component or to multiple components.

#168

Q:  For the campaign samples requested under Components 1 and 2, can you please clarify whether you are seeking media plans only, or if creative concepts and sample executions are also expected as part of the submission?

A:  Yes, we would love to see the full execution of the campaigns from your agency — from research and concept through media and creative executions, and ultimately to success and measurement strategies.

#169

Q:  While we don't fit into the traditional agency model, we would love to discuss how we can support your team internally and the agency business to ensure you're getting the most value from your investments. If you'd like us to share more, please let us know.

A:  We encourage you to submit for any component you feel your agency could be of benefit to our marketing, PR or research work.

#170

Q:  Will there be any state or regional preference given to prospective offerors?

A:  No, all agency submissions will be considered equally.

#171

Q:  Is preference given to prospective offerors that submit proposals for all 9 components?

A:  Please refer to the answers to questions #3 and #84 at https://sdvisit.com/RFP.

#172

Q:  Who are the current agencies of record for all 9 RFP components? Are the RFP components currently split, or managed by one agency?

A:  Our current agencies of record for each component are:

• Component 1: Karsh Hagan
• Component 2: Love Communications
• Component 3: Karsh Hagan
• Component 4: Lawrence & Schiller
• Component 5: Miles Partnership
• Component 6: Lou Hammond Group
• Component 7: Karsh Hagan
• Component 8: No current AOR
• Component 9: Miles Partnership

#173

Q:  Do you have a current EMS that is preferred use for Component 4?

A:  While we do not have a requirement for this, we currently use Salesforce.

#174

Q:  What is the current CMS for TravelSouthDakota.com and SDVisit.com?

A:  Please refer to the answer to question #48 at https://sdvisit.com/RFP.

#175

Q:  Do you currently have one agency that does website content, management and development? Or, is development subcontracted? Is there preference for one agency to own both management and development?

A:  Yes, our current website agency handles content, management, and development. We have found this to be effective, but we are open and always willing to hear the rationale for different approaches.

#176

Q:  Is the only submission option to send via mail hard copies for the RFP response? Or, is there an email submission option too?

A:  Please refer to the requirements in point 1.4, which can be found on page 4 of the RFP.

#177

Q:  For the 75-page limit, does that include covers, tables of contents, RFP form, executive summary, and chapter breaks? Is there an RFP page size limit (e.g., US Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches)?

A:  Yes, that includes everything. There is no RFP page size limit.

#178

Q:  Can Travel South Dakota clarify: If multiple agencies are selected, will one agency be designated as the lead integrator?

A:  Please refer to question and answer #9 at https://sdvisit.com/RFP.

#179

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota envision strategic integration across components if multiple agencies are awarded? Specifically, which agency (if any) will be responsible for cross-channel strategy alignment and consolidated performance reporting?

A:  Here too, please refer to #9, but also note that the awarded agency for Component Eight will be responsible for consolidated performance reporting.

#180

Q:  Can you clarify how media purchasing authority will function across components? Specifically, will media buys be executed independently by each awarded agency, or coordinated centrally by Travel South Dakota?

A:  We envision that a large portion of media buys will be the responsibility of the agency awarded Component One. The agency awarded Component Two will be responsible for the buys within our Community and A La Carte programs.

We recognize there are exceptions, including influencer efforts, the growing number of partner programs in the PR space, and the way lines can be blurred in events and activations. Those will be discussed and coordinated with the appropriate Travel South Dakota lead and will come from existing agency budgets and scopes. We will always stress collaboration so that anything that might fall outside of clearly defined lanes ladders up into our overall strategies.

#181

Q:  Does Travel South Dakota have any preferences or constraints regarding agency compensation models (e.g., retainers vs. hourly vs. media commission), or how these structures will be evaluated relative to one another?

A:  We currently operate based on retainers/monthly fees, but are open to, and considering, the use of a hybrid approach that would include both monthly fees/retainers and project-based billing.

#182

Q:  Given the overlap between components, how does Travel South Dakota envision delineating responsibilities particularly between Brand Marketing, Organic Social, Email, and Research & Reporting, to avoid duplication of effort?

A:  We’ve been proud of the work done by the various Travel South Dakota and agency team members in this regard, as we currently have a successful, collaborative culture that leads to very little duplication of effort. The structure of the components is the first step, and from there, we use constant communication through tools like weekly All-Agency team calls, weekly TSD/agency status calls, bi-weekly All-Agency team calls without client, project kickoffs and post-launch retrospectives, and a project management platform to discuss ongoing and upcoming projects.

#183

Q:  Will evaluation criteria and weighting be applied equally across all components, or are certain components or capabilities considered higher priority in the overall evaluation?

A:  We will be scoring each component individually and applying subjective judgment to the various assessments outlined in 9.2-9.4 of the RFP.

#184

Q:  Does Travel South Dakota anticipate a formal transition or onboarding period with incumbent agencies, and are there specific expectations for the first 60-90 days of the contract?

A:  Yes, we will have a transition period before June 30, and some components will have longer runways, with efforts planned and contracted with current agencies through August/September for both our annual and co-op paid marketing efforts. Travel South Dakota will work with awarded agencies to determine specific expectations and outline the transition period for each component.

#185

Q:  Can you please confirm if creative spec work is expected to be included in Component 1: Peak season campaign development with the $5M budget.

A:  Yes, we would love to see the full execution of the campaigns from your agency — from research and concept through media and creative executions, and ultimately to success and measurement strategies.

#186

Q:  Is the planning and execution of Social Paid Media part of Component 3 scope of work?

A:  No, Social paid media, as it relates to our campaigns, is covered under either Component One or Component Two when part of our co-op programs.

#187

Q:  Do we have 75 pages even if responding to only one or some of the 9 components?

A:  Yes, the proposal is limited to 75 pages, whether you are responding to one component or multiple components.

#188

Q:  Should the cost proposal be submitted together with the rest of the proposal?

A:  Yes, provide a detailed budget, including spend, fees, and production costs, for each component you respond to.

#189

Q:  For Component 3, is creating organic content (UGC sourcing, copywriting) and posting part of the scope of work? Or just creative campaigns?

A:  Yes, all are part of this component’s scope of work.

#190

Q:  For Componet 3, do you have a budget range for agency services? What was your budget for the last fiscal year for services related to this component? 

A:  Roughly 30%.

#191

Q:  For Component 3, you specify that the paid media and production budget is around $1M/year. What was the breakdown between paid media and production expenses?

A:  This component is primarily comprised of production expenses, influencer partnerships, retainer work, as the paid social falls within Component One. Historically, we have allocated a small percentage of Component Three’s budget on paid integration/boosted posts.

#192

Q:  Who is the incumbent agent for creative, paid media and social media?

A:  Karsh Hagan.

#193

Q:  What is currently getting in the way of performance and progress when it comes to social media?

A:  Social media performance is challenged by constant change, what works today may not work tomorrow. Algorithms, platforms, trends, and audience behaviors shift quickly.

#194

Q:  Which other DMOs or comparable organizations do you consider best-in-class today?

A:  We prefer for this stage in the RFP that potential respondents focus on opportunities with Travel South Dakota.

#195

Q:  What part of the social media scope do you do in-house?

A:  Content calendar approval, some content creation, assistance with influencer itinerary planning based on industry relationships, monitoring, consulting regarding social media strategy, and reviewing performance reporting.

#196

Q:  For Component 3 Do the costs/expenses/fees for Influencers need to be included in the budget proposal or just the services?

A:  See response to question #158 at SDVisit.com/RFP.

#197

Q:  What assumptions about your audience, market, or brand are you most eager to pressure-test?

A:  Respectfully, we do not feel this question is relevant at this stage of the RFP.

#198

Q:  What stories about your region are hardest to tell today—but most important to get right?

A:  It is essential to find creative ways to showcase the lesser-known destinations, cultures, etc. (for example, Indigenous) across the state.

#199

Q:  What does a great agency partnership look like to you in practice? Where do you want a partner to challenge you, versus simply executing? 

A:  We’re a very hands-on organization and like to be involved in planning, strategic thinking, and brainstorming, but also appreciate when our AOR leads with strong recommendations and ideas with data to back them up. Then being able to follow up with quality and timely execution of the plan. Communication with our internal team, and collaboration with all other agencies is critical.

#200

Q:  Will preference be given to agencies with staff or a presence in South Dakota?

A:  No.

#201

Q:  Will preference be given to agencies who can perform all or most of your scoped services?

A:  No, please refer to the answers to questions #3 and #84 at SDVisit.com/RFP. We have no preconceived ideas and are simply looking for the best agency(ies).

#202

Q:  XXXXXX currently works with the following North American DMOs; would the South Dakota Department of Tourism / Travel South Dakota consider any of these a conflict of interest? Destination Canada, Travel Portland, Visit Sacramento, GoProvidence.

A:  No, we don’t see any of those DMOs as a conflict.

#203

Q:  Are there any major marketing or promotional priorities for Travel South Dakota, during the term, that you can share? Are you able to provide details on the brand’s most up-to-date creative work and/or annual plans and objectives?

A:  We have reached the end of our most recent Strategic Plan and will focus on key work with our new agency(ies) to set the course for the next three to five years. Until then, we will stay true to our efforts to enhance and expand the South Dakota brand (we have a goal of being a Top 10 destination).

For details on the brand’s most up-to-date creative work and other items, please refer to SDVisit.com/marketing-programs and SDVisit.com/industry-toolkit.

#204

Q:  We see Travel South Dakota spent $1M annually on media and production costs for organic social media and influencer marketing. How much does Travel South Dakota anticipate spending on agency fees for organic social media and influencer marketing? A range or estimate is okay.

A:  Historically, we have spent roughly 30% of the $1M budget on agency costs.

#205

Q:  Approximately how many influencers does Travel South Dakota work with each year?

A:  Please see response to question 158 at SDVisit.com/RFP. Also see responses to 78 and 133 for further insight.

#206

Q:  We see Travel South Dakota has spent around $350,000 annually, including monthly retainer and any other potential agency fees, for public relations services. Can you clarify if this $350,000 is for agency fees alone, or also intended to cover expenses / out of pocket costs (i.e., media travel expenses, events and activations, etc.)? If so, can you indicate what Travel South Dakota anticipates spending on agency fees for public relations services, or historically what percentage of that $350,000 was agency fee vs. expenses? A range or estimate is okay.

A:  Please see response to question #17 at SDVisit.com/RFP.

#207

Q:  What would your dream media placement be? What outlets do you envision Travel South Dakota in, that you currently are not? What’s your proudest earned media placement from the past year?

A:  Many of our “dream placements” have come to life in recent years. Overall, even more important than a wide audience, is a highly engaged audience that values the deep, narrative storytelling is critical. If we can share our cultural experiences, landscapes, and provide an in-depth look at our destination to a key audience, we see that as success. Additional niche placements that diversely represent the entire state in outlets like Outside Magazine, Field & Stream, and Road & Track are of interest, along with food and culture outlets.

Proudest – to name a few: New York Times, Route Magazine, Afar, The Weather Channel, National Geographic, Hook & Barrel, Lonely Planet Summer Road Trip Story, and a Lakota storyteller featured in Midwest Living Magazine.

#208

Q:  What is one brand, within or outside of the travel/tourism industry, whose marketing efforts you admire and why?

A:  Those who can tell a good story and make the efforts about feeling something good and honest. Just last week, one of our team members shared an awesome print piece they received from Indian Motorcycle. It featured South Dakota and even surprised them, as someone who lives and works to promote the state, with the itinerary and assets it included. It made them feel inspired and proud.

Keeping with the recency bias, some of the team was also recently discussing Huckberry's video storytelling efforts, an online men’s clothing retailer. They do a fantastic job creating and curating content, crafting a narrative that makes one almost gloss over the prices on their products.

#209

Q:  Is there an incumbent and will that agency (or those agencies) be participating in this search?

A:  We assume our incumbent agencies will be responding to our RFP. Our current agencies of record for each component are:

• Component 1: Karsh Hagan
• Component 2: Love Communications
• Component 3: Karsh Hagan
• Component 4: Lawrence & Schiller
• Component 5: Miles Partnership
• Component 6: Lou Hammond Group
• Component 7: Karsh Hagan
• Component 8: No current AOR
• Component 9: Miles Partnership

#210

Q:  What prompted this search, at this time?

A:  We’re required by state statute to issue an RFP for marketing services every five years. The first awarded contract has a maximum term of three years, followed by up to two one-year term contracts. The timing of this RFP is driven by the end of both our current contract and our most recent strategic plan, recognizing how intertwined work on future strategy and brand can and should be.

#211

Q:  Would you consider answering the questions about budgets and conflicts earlier than the outlined January 30 date, as the answers to these questions in particular will have bearing on whether our agency (and likely others) participate?

A:  You can find any question we’ve received answered and posted at SDVisit.com/RFP. There have been a few about budgets, conflicts, and the like that hopefully you’ll find helpful.

#212

Q:  You mention seeking "innovative" and "award-winning creative". Can you point to a tourism campaign from another state or destination (not South Dakota) that the Department considers the "gold standard" for creativity? How much appetite is there for unconventional concepts versus traditional scenic imagery?

A:  Great question, and it depends on the day and the campaign, as our colleagues across the country do amazing work. Tennessee has been a favorite for a few years now for their many Cannes Lion award-winning efforts. Campaigns like “Kid Reviewed” with its kids’ laughter metric introduced for locations and viewers, or their 2025 “Colorblindless Viewfinders” and “Sound Sites” campaigns aren’t just flexing, they’re valuable tools for their prospective visitors and are looking at this world differently than the rest of us, for sure. Also, they show care and heart. What more could you want coming through for your brand?

#213

For the purpose of the $5M brand exercise:

Q 213A:  Is the expectation to utilize existing b-roll and photography assets, or should our proposal include a budget and timeline for a net-new production shoot?

A 213A:  The $5M can be assuming amazing assets exist for use in this exercise—bonus points if you include an ancillary shoot budget and timeline to show your approach and processes.

Q 213B:  Can we assume access to first-party data (CRM lists, pixel data)?

A 213B:  Correct. That exists for the awarded agency.

#214

Q:  Section 5.8 asks for our philosophy on AI. Do you currently have a policy regarding the use of AI for internal ideation, storyboarding, and concepting, versus final consumer-facing assets?

A:  Here’s the State of South Dakota’s Bureau of Information and Technology’s AI Guidelines that state agencies follow.

#215

Q:  Are there existing long-term media partnerships or "must-buy" placements (e.g., specific cooperative programs or legacy publisher deals) that the new agency must honor?

A:  We have limited instances of term agreements that extend beyond one year, and those are in mar tech.

#216

Q:  Beyond standard ROI, what specific KPIs does the Department prioritize for "Brand Marketing" success?

A:  Please reference SDVisit.com/RFP, questions #6, #30, and #145.

#217

Q:  Can you share how many agencies you anticipate inviting to the oral presentation stage of the process?

A:  No, we do not know at this time, but there is great interest in our work.

#218

Q:  Can you share the estimated fee associated with Brand Marketing?

A:  Please reference SDVisit.com/RFP, question #2.

#219

Q:  What has made now the right time to reassess your agency partnerships? Are there gaps in your current agency mix that you’re hoping to fill through this process?

A:  We’re required by state statute to issue an RFP for these services every five years. The first awarded contract has a maximum term of three years, followed by up to two one-year term contracts. The timing of this RFP is driven by the end of both our current contract and our most recent strategic plan, recognizing how intertwined work on future strategy and brand can and should be.

We have added a few new components to this RFP (#8 Research & Reporting and #9 Vacation Guide & Print Guide Production) that address some of the services we’ve added over the course of our current contracts.

#220

Q:  What has worked especially well in your current agency relationships that you want to preserve, and what feels ready to evolve?

A:  The communication, collaboration, and level of expertise across teams we currently enjoy are things we’d love to preserve while still evolving. There’s always room to grow, and we challenge ourselves and our teams to continue building trust and communication channels with their counterparts. While we have prioritized and invested in quality research for many years, our biggest opportunity might be ensuring the research we invest in is shared more consistently across all agencies and teams. That’s been a new focus and effort of only the past year or so. It’s also important that we have centralized reporting and that knowledge and insights from all research efforts are shared in ways that feel as familiar to each partner as if they were their own.

#221

Q:  How important is fresh perspective versus institutional knowledge as you think about your next agency partners?

A:  We understand the pros and cons of each, and ideally, it doesn’t have to be either/or, but both. As we shared in our answer to question #99 on https://sdvisit.com/RFP#2650, we have to be innovative to be impactful despite the competitive advantages we don’t have. We welcome any agency partner who is ready to be scrappy and creative to help lift our brand and achieve our goals.

#222

Q:  Recent media coverage has offered a range of perspectives on how residents feel about tourism, while your March 2023 sentiment report highlights strong positive support. How would you describe the community’s current relationship with tourism today?

A:  Similarly, high! We worked on a new Resident Sentiment Study, and we just shared some initial findings at our recent Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism. On a scale of 1-5, measuring how residents agree or disagree with tourism promotion and with tourism in general as a priority for South Dakota, we consistently rated between 3.9 and 4.1 (the U.S. sample was consistently 3.6-3.8).

#223

Q:  Is there a perception of South Dakota you would like to evolve or expand on?

A:  See questions #7, #13, and #74 on https://sdvisit.com/RFP#2650.

#224

Q:  What does success in PR truly look like to you beyond coverage volume? Is it influence, perception shift, seasonal balance, economic impact, or something else?

A:  Awareness and brand perception, impressions, assistance in dispersion of visitors, and resident sentiment are larger drivers of our PR initiatives.

#225

Q:  Are there markets or media categories where you feel South Dakota deserves stronger authority or credibility but hasn’t fully broken through yet?

A:  Yes. South Dakota has opportunities to strengthen authority in outdoor adventure beyond the Black Hills, modern Native American culture, and shoulder-season/off-the-beaten-path travel, to name a few.

#226

Q:  Which of your target audiences do you feel you have been successful in engaging over the last 1-2 years, and which target audiences are you hoping to break further into?

A:  Two of our audiences, Moment Seekers and Thrill Chasers, have been well represented in our media coverage. However, growing both of these with coverage beyond the Black Hills region will be important. Please visit SDVisit.com to learn more about our audiences and work.

#227

Q:  For hosted media experiences (familiarizations/FAMs), are you expecting agency representatives to host in-person trips? How many FAMs are you looking to host per year? Do you have expectations for confirmed coverage?

A:  See responses to question #18 on www.sdvisit.com/RFP. Yes, generally, coverage is expected, and we expect the outreach with journalists and confirmation of their attendance to reflect that. However, we also are aware of the changing scope and certainly are willing to host journalists who are in information gathering and are reputable on securing coverage.

#228

Q:  What was a recent earned media placement that made your team very proud? Why?

A:  Proudest – to name a few: New York Times, Route Magazine, Afar, The Weather Channel, National Geographic, Hook & Barrel, Lonely Planet Summer Road Trip Story, and a Lakota storyteller featured in Midwest Living Magazine.

#229

Q:  Which social platforms are currently driving the highest-value engagement for you and how do you define “value” today: saves, shares, sentiment, site traffic, or trip planning behavior?

A:  Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We value all these metrics, as well as reach, as they each provide important insight into awareness, engagement, and conversion.

#230

Q:  Are there specific seasons, regions, or experiences within the state that you feel social has not successfully elevated yet?

A:  We are actively working to elevate the perception of northeast and central South Dakota.

#231

Q:  What audience segments are you most eager to grow through social that you are not currently reaching at scale?

A:  We've put a large emphasis on Gen Z and younger millennials, but we're still eager to grow among older demographics, especially families, Millennials, and Gen X. Boomers are still an important demo for us, especially on Facebook.

#232

Q:  How do you currently measure the success of community management and brand trust building on social and where do you feel that measurement is lacking?

A:  We currently measure success through engagement metrics like comments, shares, and sentiment analysis, as well as response time and follower growth. These give us a sense of community interaction and overall brand perception. Measuring consistency is a challenge, especially with DMs getting lost in message requests and filtered inboxes.

#233

Q:  Are you more interested in short-term campaign creators or in building a bench of long-term storytellers who return year after year?

A:  We utilize a healthy mix of new, short-term campaign creators and have also built relationships with other creators and influencers over the years. We entertain both options based on the niche or audience we’re trying to reach.

#234

Q:  Are there under-told communities or experiences in South Dakota that you would want influencer partnerships to help elevate?

A:  Northeast and central South Dakota are typically overlooked and would benefit from strong influencer partnerships.

#235

Q:  How do you currently evaluate influencer ROI and what feels missing from that evaluation?

A:  We currently evaluate influencer ROI by tracking impressions, views, engagement rate, engagements, sentiment, and comparing these metrics to previous influencer hostings.

Additionally, we track dispersion of our influencers throughout the state. Our current evaluation lacks a key metric: conversion rates (trips booked). Including this would provide a more accurate measure of campaign effectiveness.

#236

Q:  Among your stated department goals, which PR KPIs will be weighted most in year 1 (e.g., awareness/brand perception, visitation intent, off-season demand, stakeholder/resident sentiment, crisis readiness, industry/trade engagement)?

A:  Awareness and brand perception, impressions, assistance in dispersion of visitors, and resident sentiment are larger drivers of our PR initiatives.

#237

Q:  Is there a separate budget available for PR hard costs, including FAM trips?

A:  Please see question and answer #17 at SDVisit.com/RFP.

#238

Q:  Just to confirm, you're not currently looking for award submissions or thought leadership support as part of the scope, correct?

A:  That is a part of the larger overall strategic work portion of this component.

#239

Q:  Do you have an existing crisis comms framework (playbooks, approval workflows, scenario planning) or are you seeking the agency to build/refresh the plan as part of onboarding?

A:  We have plans in place, but are constantly refining with our AOR.

#240

Q:  Item 2.2 on page 9 states “The TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT is an amount not to exceed $ TBD.” Can you confirm the maximum contract amount for the term?

A:  The total contract amount in each agency’s contract will depend on which, and how many, components they are awarded. Travel South Dakota’s total budget for all components in FY26 was approximately $14.5 million and was split among each of our agencies of record based on our marketing needs and strategy.

#241

Q:  Aside from what is outlined in the PROPOSAL RESPONSE FORMAT are there any other font size or page size restrictions?

A:  While no specifics, know we will very much judge any middle-school level hacks negatively (grossly oversized pages, with legalese-sized fonts, tightly kerned, etc.). Have fun and get creative, but please approach the limitations with some respect for standards.

#242

Q:  What is the primary brand challenge you’re trying to solve for the next five years? 

A:  While we have had a lot of success in expanding awareness of South Dakota as a premier vacation destination, we feel there could be improvement in some of the short-term intent to travel indicators in comparison to our competitor states. Below are some of the top deterrents to travel to South Dakota:

• Not on my radar – 44.5%
• Prefer other destinations – 35.8%
• Don’t know enough – 30.6%
• Too far away – 24.6%
• Been there, done that – 11.7%
• Weather – 11.2%
• Politics – 8.5%
• Too expensive - 6.1%
• Heard bad things – 2.1%
• Not safe – 1.4%

#243

Q:  When will the new Travel South Dakota Strategic Plan be developed? Will it include measurable goals/metrics? 

A:  We are contemplating beginning a new strategic plan in late 2026. Yes, some objectives of the plan will have goals and metrics.

#244

Q:  Is in-state resident perception a priority?

A:  Yes, we want our state residents to value the tourism industry and to take pride in our department’s work. Based on our 2023 resident sentiment study, South Dakota residents have an extremely positive perception about the value tourism contributes with 81% reporting that “Overall, I think tourism is good for my state” in comparison to the national average at 66% agreeing to this statement.

#245

Q:  The information provided in 11.0 on p. 33 details scoring criteria for written proposals. Will oral presentation scores be added to written proposal scores or will scoring and evaluation reset at the oral presentation phase?

A:  For those invited to the oral presentation phase, scores will be based upon written submissions and oral presentations.

#246

Q:  Does scoring start over after each phase, or is it cumulative? Do you have additional evaluation / scoring details you can share? 

A:  Scoring will be cumulative. We do not have additional details to share.

#247

Q:  When evaluating written proposals, will equal consideration be given to demonstrated past experience and the proposed approach outlined in the response?

A:  Yes.

#248

Q:  Can you provide any additional information on the selection committee?

A:  It will be comprised of senior Travel South Dakota team members.

#249

Q:  For component #1 Brand Marketing (Develop ONE (1) peak-season campaign using a budget of $5 million to promote travel in South Dakota. This plan should include market selection, media placement, and a detailed budget with media spend, agency fees, and production costs.) Should offerors assume responsibility for both creative development and media strategy, or is the intent for the example to focus primarily on media planning and placement, with creative shown at a conceptual level only?

A:  Yes, we would love to see the full execution of the campaigns from your agency — from research and concept through media and creative executions, and ultimately to success and measurement strategies.

#250

Q:  For Component #2 Cooperative Marketing & Management states, “Travel South Dakota has spent between $2.1MM and $2.25MM annually, inclusive of all production costs, but excluding the monthly retainer and any other potential agency fees.” Does this mean that the industry co-op partners MATCH that investment at $2.1 - $2.25MM in investment?

A:  No, the $2.1-$2.5MM annually includes the $1:1 match and is the total spend between Travel South Dakota and partners.

#251

Q:  For Component #4 Email Marketing Program, What is your current email marketing database size?

A:  See question and answer #113b on SDVisit.com/RFP.

#252

Q:  How do you currently measure the success of your website? How does success differ between the consumer site and the industry site? 

A:  For TravelSouthDakota.com, we value engaged sessions, average engagement time per session, lead generation conversions, monitoring acquisition channels, Core Web Vitals performance, and accessibility scores. Success on our consumer site revolves around experience and engagement with the content. Success for the industry site focuses on being a being a B2B resource of Travel South Dakota information, serving as a record of our programs, and sharing reports with the industry. The main measurements are users and engaged sessions.

#253

Q:  What feedback do you hear about most from consumers, positive and negative?

A:  We consistently get praised for our photos and videos. Many strong comments on the brand appeal and visual storytelling that TravelSouthDakota.com offers. We are also hearing positive remarks regarding our newly optimized accessibility features. While we don’t receive a lot of negative feedback, some of the areas that we prioritize for attention when it comes to UX include site speed, content accuracy, timeliness of content, and ease of navigation.

#254

Q:  Roughly how many people are actively editing/publishing content, and what parts of the publishing process are the biggest challenges today?

A:  A few internally, in addition to our AOR that takes the lead. There are still a few bugs that we are working out from the relaunch of TravelSouthDakota.com in 2025, but no major obstacle. Of course, we are always optimizing and adding new features and capabilities.

#255

Q:  What insights from analytics reporting are desired / on the wishlist, but currently lacking?

A:  We are currently focused on the UX for the new site, using HotJar for site visitor insights, and are prioritizing projects based on those findings. As a result, some of the core web vitals work has been deprioritized. These greater insights into the UX were #1 on the desired wishlist prior to the 2025 relaunch of TravelSouthDakota.com.

#256

Q:  How does website reporting currently tie into campaign reporting? Do you have desires for further integration?

A:  Currently, it’s a manual pull to report on how campaigns and efforts are reflected on the consumer site. We don’t have everything in a central dashboard for all campaigns and efforts that can layer across all channels and provide an integrated view. It’s our goal to get there eventually, though it’s not mission-critical at this time.

#257

Q:  Are there any known performance or technical issues that currently exist with the website? 

A:  See answer from your above question.

#258

Q:  Can you confirm that the www.TravelSouthDakota.com URL is just the backend administration URL for Drupal in your headless setup, and not a maintenance or other tool that needs to be rebuilt? https://api.travelsouthdakota.com/user/login.

A:  Correct.

#259

Q:  Your extranet site was not explicitly called out in the RFP. Is this included in the overall Consumer & Industry Website SOW? If so, can you discuss the functionality that it provides? https://extranet.travelsouthdakota.com/login.

A:  Yes. The extranet would be included in the overall TravelSouthDakota.com SOW. The primary functionality of the extranet is to serve as the location for creating and maintaining business profiles and event listings.

#260

Q:  Are your existing sites currently hosted on Acquia?

A:  See response to question #106.

#261

Q:  Do you enjoy the current headless front end Next.js system you have in place, or would you be looking to move away from it?

A:  We do not expect to change what we have in place but are also open to considering alternatives.

#262

Q:  Do you envision your line item of “[e]valuat[ing] the current design, navigation, usability, and functionality of the consumer website (TravelSouthDakota.com) and industry website (SDVisit.com)” will result in immediate needs that will need to be addressed as part of the website management post contract award?

A:  We do not expect to need to make major development changes. Also, see answer to question #46.

#263

Q:  Do you have separate dev/staging/prod environments for each site right now? And how often are you typically pushing updates?

A:  We do for TravelSouthDakota.com and SDVisit.com and updates are scheduled for 24-hours, or as needed.

#264

Q:  What is the Online Training System / Module built on right now—an LMS, Drupal, a custom app, or something else? Is the agency expected to handle hosting/support for the Training System? Does it share logins/accounts with SDVisit or is it its own separate login?

A:  The Online Training System is on WordPress and has its own login.

#265

Q:  For Component #8 Research & Reporting - Are there any general guidelines or expectations regarding when pre-testing of advertising concepts and messaging is required versus optional? Can you provide a quantity of testing annual testing instances or budget typically assigned to testing?

A:  While we don’t have a typical budget assigned for pre-testing creative, we do feel this will be an important research effort going forward. In the past year, we have begun pre-testing ads through online focus groups and feel it has been insightful. We don’t necessarily expect all creative concepts tested, but we do think testing a sample of creative variations is helpful and effective for the success of our overall marketing strategy.

#266

Q:  For Component #9 Vacation Guide & Print Guide Production, are ad sales included? Have there been any challenges in the past with this integration?

A:  No, ad sales are not part of the Department of Tourism’s responsibilities for the Vacation Guide. That falls within each one of our four regional tourism association’s responsibilities.

#267

Q:  Please confirm that there is no font, page size or orientation requirements within the noted 75 page response limit.

A:  While no specifics, know we will very much judge any middle-school level hacks negatively (grossly oversized pages, with legalese-sized fonts, tightly kerned, etc.). Have fun and get creative, but please approach the limitations with some respect for standards.

#268

Q:  Is this RFP a result of a contract expiration term?

A:  We’re required by state statute to issue an RFP for these services every five years. The first awarded contract has a maximum term of three years, followed by up to two one-year term contracts. The timing of this RFP is driven by the end of both our current contract and our most recent strategic plan, recognizing how intertwined work on future strategy and brand can and should be.

#269

How do you gather target audience insights, specifically:

Q 269A:  How were the Memory Makers, Moment Seekers, Thrill Chasers, and Known Traveler audience profiles developed? What data points were utilized to create these audiences, particularly the insight that led to the motivation that these audiences are “mystery-starved travelers”?

A 269A:  The Memory Makers, Moment Seekers, and other cohorts were developed from data and research, including first-party profiles and engagement metrics from our placements and efforts over the years.

The “mystery-starved traveler” comes from research and a brand discovery process to find the common thread that exists throughout our existing cohorts and potential future ones.

Q 269B:  What is your approach to sizing target audiences?

A 269B:  We let the media strategists from our agencies work with vendors and partners to identify how much of our target audiences can be reached by geo, tactics, budget, and similar factors, based on the specific campaign’s goals, strategy, and KPIs. Our agencies then include these in proposed media plans, recommending budget allocations and tactical breakdowns based on their partner/vendor RFPs and ad-serving platforms to help us best achieve the desired goals.

After campaign launch, and based on ongoing campaign performance monitoring and optimizations, we can discuss any significant shift in strategy or placements needed, or any opportunity identified, to surpass or meet our goals.

Q 269C:  What is it that makes you confident that you’re targeting the right people?

A 269C:  We constantly evaluate the health and performance of our campaigns across various intent signals and conversions, assessing their effectiveness and measuring ROI. The optimization process allows our agencies to identify what truly is most effective and gives us all the confidence that we’re targeting the right people.

If not, we adjust and learn, ultimately defining new audiences or adjusting current ones, like we have over the years. Our “Hunt the Greatest” campaign is a great example. We started with some fairly typical general audiences that were heavily skewed male and reflected other stereotypes. In 2020, with new campaign goals and research and measurement tools, we developed three specific cohorts (Lapsed Hunters, Traditionalists and Adventuralists), added a Female Hunter audience in 2021, only to return to a more general cohort currently that is much broader in scope and has proven highly effective over the past two to three years for driving license sales.

Q 269D:  How do you prioritize the goal of cultivating repeat travelers against that of acquiring new (first time) travelers to South Dakota? What is the ratio of repeat travelers to new travelers currently? What is our aspirational split for these audiences in the future?

A 269D:  In 2025, based on our geolocation GPS data, repeat visitors made up 66.27% share, while 33.73% were first time visitors. This does vary by distance with the following breakout:
50-150 miles, 83% are repeat, 17% first time
150-250 miles, 66% are repeat, 34% first time
250-500 miles, 56% are repeat, 44% first time
500-1k miles, 41% are repeat, 59% first time
1k+ miles, 40% are repeat, 60% first time

In our latest visitor profile report, findings from 2024 show that 90.6% of those surveyed said they intend to return to South Dakota. As such, return visitors are an extremely important segment of our visitor base, but we are always striving to share the South Dakota vacation experience with those who haven’t been here before, as many visitors report that their perception of our state improves after visiting. We currently don’t differentiate between the two, with the awareness gap that still generally exists for South Dakota. We recognize the value through our various programs and targeting, but do not have a set split/ratio, or a strategy for it.

#270

Q:  Do you have any Lifetime Value data points for the target audiences that have been a focus for Travel South Dakota?

A:  No, we do not.

#271

Q:  How supportive is the state legislature of current strategies and ongoing funding for the South Dakota Department of Tourism?

A:  The South Dakota state legislature has been very supportive of the Department of Tourism’s efforts in past years.

#272

Q:  Are there any new tourism products/experiences (either through development grants or otherwise) within the four regions that Travel South Dakota is especially eager for/will be focusing on in the next 1–3 years?

A:  We remain focused on expanding rural tourism experiences to help increase visitors’ average length of stay while ensuring the economic and community benefits of tourism reach rural areas across South Dakota. In addition, we are prioritizing the development of authentic Indigenous experiences on tribal lands and expanding outdoor recreation opportunities in response to growing demand.

#273

Q:  Is there any existing resident sentiment of travel and tourism that the Department is concerned with/focused on overcoming through brand efforts?

A:  We currently enjoy a favorable standing with our stakeholders, and we want to keep that trust. Our Forever 605 stewardship campaign and programs like our community and development efforts are some of the ways we hope to continue fostering that belief in the positive impact of tourism. Even simple initiatives like our Passport program and niche efforts such as our Arts and Culture, Winter, “Hunt the Greatest,” and Fishing campaigns help us show our commitment to promoting all of the state, year-round, for the economic benefit of our communities.

#274

Q:  What KPIs do you optimize against for each phase of the customer journey?

A:  It depends on the tactic, but some common ones broken out by journey:

• Awareness: reach, impressions, frequency, VCR, sessions
• Consideration: engagement and engagement rates (clicks, CTR, CPC, eCPA, VCR, view rate, outbound link clicks, time viewing), hotel and flight searches/search rate CPM, website visits and website visits by CPM
• Conversion: Post-Impression rate, CPLPV, CPL, VCR, ROAS, hotel and flight bookings/booking rate CPM, Brand Lift, Foot traffic reports, Spending reports,

#275

Q:  Can one agency bid on all components, or if there a preference for specialized agencies per component?

A:  Yes, one agency can bid on all components. Please refer to the answers to questions #3 and #84 at SDVisit.com/RFP. We have no preconceived ideas, and we are simply looking for the best agency(ies).

#276

Q:  Who are the key decision-makers (board members, committee, marketing executives, etc.) involved in the evaluation and selection process?

A:  It will be comprised of senior Travel South Dakota team members.

#277

Q 277A:  Is this RFP part of a regular agency review cycle, or was it initiated in response to a specific strategic need or opportunity?

A 277A:  It’s as part of a regular agency review. We’re required by state statute to issue an RFP for these services every five years. The first awarded contract has a maximum term of three years, followed by up to two one-year term contracts. The timing of this RFP is driven by the end of both our current contract and our most recent strategic plan, recognizing how intertwined work on future strategy and brand can and should be.

Q 277B:  If it’s the latter, what is the biggest issue we can help solve?

A 277B:  N?A

#278

Q:  How important is local or in-state presence for this engagement?

A:  Please refer to the answers to questions #31, #34, #93, #104, and #134. We are open to any and all agencies—no preferences given—but travel to the state will be important and required for key meetings, events, and work.

#279

Q:  Could you clarify how Travel South Dakota defines “subcontractors” within the context of this RFP?

A:  We view subcontractors as third-party vendors, individuals, or organizations engaged and contracted by you, the primary contractor, to perform specific tasks or services within the overall scope of work outlined in the RFP.

#280

Q:  Does Travel South Dakota anticipate developing a new evergreen brand platform and/or seasonal campaign in FY27?

A:  Yes, we expect to. We are rolling out a new campaign in FY26, so we’ll have some grace and won’t have to rush, but we’ll map that out with the awarded agency.

#281

Q:  For the 2/13 deadline; to clarify, does the proposal need to be in hand by that date, or postmarked by that date?

A:  The proposal needs to be in hand by 5:00 p.m. CST on February 13, 2026.

#282

Q:  The RFP references a “signed state voucher.” Functionally, is this similar to a purchase order (PO) system?

A:  Yes, that will come from our office when we submit a contractor/agency’s itemized invoices for payment.

#283

Q:  What are Travel South Dakota’s procurement net payment terms?

A:  See questions #72 and #96 at www.SDVisit.com/RFP.

#284

Q:  Re: paid media hard costs, is it acceptable for the AOR to bill the first day of the month the media is scheduled to run?

A:  Yes.

#285

Q:  Who do you consider to be your top three (3) competitors?

A:  Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota. Please reference question #153 on www.SDVisit.com/RFP for more.

#286

Q:  Which domestic and international markets are you currently prioritizing?

A:  Domestic Primary and Core Metros: Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Phoenix
Domestic Core States: CO, IA, IL, KS, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, WI, WY
International: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, UK

#287

Q:  Regarding format: do you prefer the response in Word document format, or is a designed deck (up to 75 pages) acceptable? Does the 75-page limit include required forms and the executive summary?

A:  We leave that up to you, but if you’re looking for some advice: Our RFP is hopefully informative and organized, though it is definitely not our best side. We know it isn’t pretty. Your response has the chance to be.

And yes, the 75-page limit does include everything.

#288

Q:  Are there any state policies or regulations regarding the use of AI-generated content (copy, imagery, design) that the AOR should be aware of?

A:  See question #69 at SDVisit.com/RFP.

#289

Q:  Can you share your most recent and relevant domestic/international research around target audiences, brand awareness?

A:  Yes, we make all available at SDVisit.com/Research-Reports.

#290

Q:  What state advertising and marketing do you most admire and why?

A:  Great question, and it depends on the day and the campaign, as our colleagues across the country do amazing work. Tennessee has been a favorite for a few years now for their many Cannes Lion award-winning work. Campaigns like “Kid Reviewed” with its kids’ laughter metric introduced for locations and viewers, or their 2025 “Colorblindless Viewfinders” and “Sound Sites” campaigns aren’t just flexing, they’re valuable tools for their prospective visitors and are looking at this world differently than the rest of us, for sure. Also, they show care and heart. What more could you want coming through for your brand?

#291

Q:  Brave vs. Safe: Defining “Disproportionate Impact” -- Component One asks for “innovative and highly impactful marketing campaign strategies”. Can you share an example from your past marketing campaigns or a specific execution that reached the upper boundary of your risk tolerance? What does “brave” look like for Travel South Dakota, and where do you draw the line between “unexpected and uncomplicated” and “too risky” for a state-funded entity?

A:  Yes, here are a couple of quick examples from the past few years:

• Super Bowl 2024: it was a fun idea, but a major investment we knew could be scrutinized. We had to be ready to defend it, though thankfully the results proved up.
• “Unexpected South Dakota” Jeep x Matador Network Three-part Series: again, it was a sizeable campaign investment, and one built around tactics like long- and short-form video, plus larger influencers, that are hard to track and justify to discerning stakeholders. We drew a line on giving away Jeeps like we were Oprah, but our associated giveaway of branded items was successful (as we thought it could be), and the performance was there in the end.
• “Into The Roundup” Series: while we already had the Jeep series planned, our agency had the great idea while going through troves of amazing footage from the Custer State Park Annual Buffalo Roundup to pitch a film and an accompanying series around the iconic event. Doing a full-on film and promoting through film festivals was a line we found, though with the response we got from the series, it wasn’t needed.
  
  The series proved impactful with audiences, and so far we’ve had nothing but support for the project and have gotten some fairly traditional partners asking how we do it and where one starts.

For more on tactics we haven’t done, see SDVisit.com/RFP question #133. If we can see the potential impact and are doing things because we know they will (vs. doing “just because”), we’re game.

#292

Q:  The “Mystery-Starved” Persona Paradox -- Your brand positioning highlights “boundless discovery for mystery-starved travelers.” Yet, in a digital-first world where every hidden gem is often spoiled by social media, maintaining a sense of undiscovered mystery is difficult. How much do you want the agency to push gatekeeping vs. broad discovery? Is there a tension between your goal to increase statewide visitation in “all corners of the state” and the desire of your target audience for “solitude in even the most remote locations”?

A:  We’re fortunate here that our residents and stakeholders largely understand the positive impacts of tourism in South Dakota – especially for our smaller, or more underserved communities. That, along with the fact that we’re not a Top 10 destination (yet; it’s still a long-term goal we’d love to hit), gives us some grace, and we haven’t tipped the scales like some other select destinations. We’re mindful of this, and hopefully that means we can continue to maintain that balance.

#293

Q:  The Strategic Partner: Challenge vs. Execute -- You currently work with five different agencies and emphasize a unified client-agency team with daily contact. In practical terms, where do you most want to be challenged by your agency? Are you looking for a partner to act as a strategic consultant that can expand upon your current audience segments (Memory Makers, Moment Seekers, etc.) or a creative agency that executes your established vision with more swagger? 

A:  Yes, and yes! We have challenges (see SDVisit.com/RFP, question #99), and we’re looking for talented, passionate, curious, industry-leading, thought-provoking professionals ruled by the craft and not ego, to help us create opportunities and competitive advantages across all disciplines of our work—even down to things like how we can best store and share troves of video assets with partners, make sure everyone in the industry reads our emails, or measure at what point in video spot that we re-awakened a traveler’s soul (and did they actually book, how long did they stay, and how many people have they referred). That would all be great.

#294

Q:  Success Metrics: Beyond Hotel Occupancy -- Your RFI mentions looking at the growth of tourism promotion tax, hotel occupancy and gaming revenues as important KPIs. Beyond these hard economic indicators, what brand health metrics are most important to you? Are there any specifically that are keeping you up at night? How do you measure the success of a Transformational journey or the reawakening of a traveler’s soul? Is there a specific North Star metric for sentiment among South Dakota residents (Forever 605) that is as important as out-of-state visitor spend? 

A:  In addition to the travel indicators listed on SDVisit.com/Research-Reports, we also consider other brand health metrics such as visitor perception studies, brand equity index, intent to visit and post-impression metrics, competitor rankings, visitor satisfaction, destination familiarity and advertising recall. For South Dakota residents, we determine success through resident sentiment studies which measure the level of support for all aspects of our work, such as what do residents think about tourism growth and development, tourism promotion, tourism economy and tourism employment. In addition, other success metrics we monitor are the level of engagement with our Forever 605 campaign and passport programs.

#295

Q:  Seasonality and the Dreaded ‘Drive-Through’ Challenge -- Our initial research shows many travelers consider South Dakota a someday or drive-through destination. You have a massive peak season but are striving to increase off-season visitation. If you had to choose between increasing the length of stay during the summer peak or increasing first-time visits during the winter/shoulder months, which is the higher strategic priority for the next three years?

A:  This is an excellent question. Increasing the length of stay during our peak months would have a larger economic impact, thereby increasing the number of jobs, tax revenue and labor income that our state, communities, businesses and all South Dakota households rely on. With that said, visitor distribution to all areas of the state and increasing visitation in our shoulder months are still very important initiatives of our department.

#296

Q:  The “IRL” Differentiator in a Virtual World -- In your Brand Book, you mention being the “Capital of IRL.” As travel planning becomes more AI-driven and virtual, how do you want the agency to leverage technology to promote a destination whose core value is being “unplugged” and “un-everything-you-expected”?

A:  We recognize the tool it can be for helping people perform select tasks and encourage its use for that purpose. We’ll be adding an AI resource to our site for that reason – hopefully helping site visitors more easily find and plan their “unplugged” vacation – and utilize with vendors in audience targeting currently, but no AI-generated getaway visual assets trying to be passed off as the real thing.

#297

Q:  For Component One -- Priority Markets to Attract Visitors -- In your 2025 campaign you mention “we continue to focus on traditionally strong performing states (legacy markets), while also extending our reach to data-driven emerging markets.” Which markets are your top priorities/high performers, which are lower performers and are you considering adding any new markets in 2026?

A:  

• Dallas, Texas DMA
• Colorado (with stronger emphasis in Denver DMA)
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas (new in 2025)
• Minnesota (with stronger emphasis in Minneapolis DMA)
• Missouri (with stronger emphasis in Kansas City DMA) (new in 2024)
• Montana (new in 2023)
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Wisconsin (new in 2023)
• Wyoming

The list above are our top performers. We’re historically a regional drive market, and while we’re seeing increased engagement from fly markets, that largely still holds true. Phoenix is one DMA that has proven interesting and is in the mix for 2026. Beyond that, we’re open to auditing and evaluating all with our awarded partners and setting a new multi-year course.

#298

Q:  A Brand Line: Campaign Anchor or New Rallying Cry? -- Your brand standards currently center on the “So much South Dakota. So little time” campaign. Are you looking for the “peak season campaign” to leverage this line or are you open to exploring other ideas?

A:  We’re open to new ideas through this process. See SDVisit.com/RFP, questions #35-42 and #68 for more.

#299

Q:  Your Current Audience Segments -- Can you share greater detail about your four audience personas beyond what’s featured in your brand book? Which segment is most critical to your success?

A:  After award, an agency will have access to our most current and exhaustive research, plus our first-party data and CDP for more. The three main cohorts are nearly equal in visitation and impact.

#300

Q:  Brand Tone -- As we begin to build a new brand campaign we’re a bit confused by a current brand focused on an audience hungry for mystery and spontaneity, but that suggests it is 100% literal and 80% recognizable on your sliding tone scale. Are the mystery and spontaneity of SD travel potentially poetic and open to interpretation or are they always literal and direct? If so, we would challenge, where’s the mystery in that? Where does your headline “Are you ready to run your fingers through the sky and wrap your arms around the unfamiliar” fall in the tone scale for you?

A:  We understand the confusion. We might chalk that up to the growth and transformation that come with each step we’ve taken as a mystery-starved brand seeking more, for things not so literal, but not realizing, on our journey of discovery, how far we’ve moved from that sliding scale that was a helpful 2023 stakeholder exercise.

#301

Q 301A:  Budget and Cost Proposal -- The overall budget for Component One is historically between $8.5 million and $9.5 million annually, excluding monthly retainer and other potential agency fees. For the $5 million campaign plan, should the detailed budget for media spend, agency fees and production costs be included within the $5 million limit or is the $5 million strictly for media and production, with agency fees to be listed separately based on the rates provided in the cost proposal?

A 301A:  Yes, please include media spend, agency fees and production costs within that $5 million. See more on SDVisit.com/RFP, questions #91 and #138 for what we’ve shared with other inquiring agencies.

Q 301B:  Should the budget allocate any funds for consumer research or pre-testing of advertising concepts, as mentioned in the capabilities you’re seeking?

A 301B:  No, we’d expect those to fall under Component Eight’s responsibilities.

#302

Q:  Component One Spec Work -- Is it possible to grant limited access for us to your library of video and image assets for the campaign spec work required for component one?

A:  No, but we do have some assets available on our Travel South Dakota Media Library.

#303

Q:  Are you able to list the incumbents?

A:  Our current agencies of record for each component are:

• Component 1: Karsh Hagan
• Component 2: Love Communications
• Component 3: Karsh Hagan
• Component 4: Lawrence & Schiller
• Component 5: Miles Partnership
• Component 6: Lou Hammond Group
• Component 7: Karsh Hagan
• Component 8: No current AOR
• Component 9: Miles Partnership

#304

Q:  Do you anticipate the incumbents to respond?

A:  While this is not confirmed, it’s our expectation that incumbents will respond.

#305

Q:  Is there anything South Dakota was unhappy with from previous agencies you worked with or is this going out to RFP because the term limits have expired?

A:  The term limits have expired. We’re required by state statute to issue an RFP for these services every five years. The first awarded contract has a maximum term of three years, followed by up to two one-year term contracts.

#306

Q:  Is it possible to respond to only portions of each Component or do you require all portions of a Component to be provided in a response?

A:  We prefer that all portions of a component be provided in a response, but we will leave that up to your discretion.

#307

Q:  6.1 - are you looking for an "all in one" company for the "Brand Marketing" section or is it possible that you could select one agency for all the branding & creative and another agency for the research/strategy and media buying/reporting?

A:  It is possible we could select multiple agencies to cover the work and scope outlined in the Brand Marketing component.

#308

Q:  6.1 - mentions media buying, implementation, and management of traditional, digital, video, audio, paid social, paid search, print, integrated partnerships and OOH placements. Is this an exhaustive list? Are all of these required to be provided by one selected agency?

A:  It could be either. We may select one agency to handle the above or based on the submissions we receive, we may decide to designate one of these efforts to a separate agency.

#309

Q:  7.2 - are you able to provide any insight into how the current co-op is structured and any conditions of the co-op? Are the partners happy with it or is there any information that can be shared to improve it?

A:  We have two primary co-op programs. The community co-op is designed to leverage marketing dollars through separate yet cohesive campaigns with 16 different communities. Each of these campaigns have distinct creative that highlights the individual community’s identity, while still staying consistent with overall brand standards and our campaign look. There are three separate tiers the community can participate in based on the level of funding available to them.

The other is our A la carte program that allows tourism partners to pick and choose different media placement options that cost anywhere from $500 - $10,000. You can read more about both programs at SDVisit.com/Cooperative-Marketing-Overview. Both programs have been successful however, we are open to hearing any suggestions you may have on improving them or restructuring.

#310

Q:  7.2 - for co-op creative, does each partner receive their own dedicated creative or does each partner "buy-in" to one overarching set of creative that drives to a landing page thar represents all partners?

A:  See answer above. Each campaign drives traffic to the partner website and each website is tracked to measure performance and attribution from the campaign efforts.

#311

Q:  7.2 - what are the expectations in regards to reporting for the co-ops and to the State?

A:  Each of the co-op campaigns must be measured using all of the standard KPI’s for media engagement and other travel indicators available at the local level. It is expected that the chosen agency will also manage the reporting of the campaign for each community and Travel South Dakota.

#312

Q:  7.2 - Do you have markets that you are already targeting that you want to include? Any that you prefer are not included?

A:  Please refer to the current target market list on https://sdvisit.com/2025-marketing-campaign. While extensive research has been done to determine our key target markets, we are always willing to consider others if there is justification for that.

#313

Q:  7.2 - Does South Dakota only target out of state or do you do any in-state targeting? Are there parameters around when you choose one or the other?

A:  Our marketing strategy currently includes in-state targeting. While there are no specific requirements or parameters, the percentage of the budget targeting varies by campaign. For instance, niche campaigns such as fishing, hunting or Forever 605 will have a higher level or share of in-state investment than others, such as national or regional campaigns. We also invest heavily in in-state marketing through our 16 community co-ops.

#314

Q:  Can you please specify which international markets should be considered in our response, specifically for the Social Media/Influencer Marketing and PR components? 

A:  Please see the response to question #150 at SDVisit.com/RFP for PR, For social media, U.S. focus only. Our international social efforts are through Brand USA.

#315

Q:  Can you please clarify if the Department of Tourism books and pays for transportation and in-destination costs for media and influencers participating in FAM trips or other in-market activities?

A:  Please see the response to question #155 at SDVisit.com/RFP.

#316

Q:  Do you have a preference for individual vs. group media and influencer FAM trips?

A:  We have typically conducted influencer and journalist trips separately. Most all influencer trips are individual. We have an annual group press trip in the fall and maybe one small one in the spring. Otherwise, the majority are individual.

#317

Q:  Can you please clarify there are any agency travel expenses covered by the Department of Tourism, or if all agency travel should be considered as part of our budget?

A:  Please see responses to questions #88 and #94. Outside of those responses, this will be negotiated after award.

#318

Q:  Are you able to share if whethercial media and influencer marketing has been handled in-house in the past? If so, did you engage vendors for content creation? If an agency was in place, can you share the agency’s annual fee?

A:  Our agency handles influencer outreach, contract negotiations, and travel planning and booking. The agency’s annual fee can be negotiated after award of the contract.

#319

Q:  Can you share the primary goals of your earned media channels?

A:  Awareness and brand perception, impressions, assistance in dispersion of visitors, and resident sentiment are larger drivers of our PR initiatives.

#320

Q:  How important is it to retain usage rights for content created through influencer partnerships?

A:  We strive to garner full usage rights in perpetuity to keep our files clean and avoid misuse of content across platforms.

#321

Q:  What emerging markets (if any) would you like to see engaged in your PR and social media programs over the next 3 fiscal years?

A:  In previous responses, you’ll see our core markets, which remain a great place for us to leverage our PR and social efforts. Additionally, we’re seeing increased engagement from fly markets, a notable example being Phoenix. The northwest region and California have been great for our PR efforts to continue to test the temperature in those regions.

#322

Q:  Aside from the page limitation listed in section 8.0, are there any page size, spacing or font size requirements you wish respondents to follow?

A:  No, we encourage you to be creative and take the chance to wow us. We have warned others, though, that any funny business will be seen for what it is and judged harshly.

#323

Q:  What percentage are you currently paying in planning and management fees/commission? 

A:  Roughly 11% across the various services on Strategic/Account Management. See SDVisit.com/RFP, question #2 for more.

#324

Q:  Can you please confirm that the physical printing costs for Travel South Dakota’s print publications are NOT included as part of this component?

A:  Correct, they are not. We handle those bids through our department.

#325

Q:  Section 6.9, bullet 1 references “edits or revisions to Travel South Dakota’s publications” – can you provide an estimate on the frequency of any such revisions or edits on an annual basis and the number of additional publications that may require such edits that are not already listed?

A:  Edits to the annual Vacation Guide are required annually. This contract would be responsible for leading the updates to the guide for the first section (through page 33 currently). This contract also helps support the brand guidelines/template creation for our four regional tourism associations who are responsible for the remainder of the guide.

Revisions of one or two of our smaller guides may be required. Creation of new guides is TBD based on goals and needs.

#326

Q:  Is the E-guide or other publications currently being fully translated into additional languages and, if so, how many languages are they being translated into?

A:  We do not translate or annual vacation guides into additional languages. We currently offer translated versions of our Discover South Dakota guides in German, French, and Italian. We also have simplified and traditional Chinese guides available from a previous effort.

#327

Q:  Can you please elaborate on the top 3–5 strategic challenges you are trying to solve over the next 3 years (e.g., seasonality, length of stay, rural dispersion, workforce/resident sentiment), and how you envision your agency partners contributing to those priorities?

A:  We have future work outlined to identify our top needs and set a course, as we did with our strategic plan that ran through 2025. However, the challenges of perception and awareness, growing product, offerings and visitation, especially within our rural communities or tribal nations, and managing dispersion of traffic across seasons and across the state remain a priority. We envision that our agency partners will play a significant role in developing industry-leading marketing programs, tools, and assets that support these efforts.

#328

Q:  Are there any existing agency relationships (PR, website, CRM) you expect to maintain in some fashion after this RFP, and if so, how should new partners plan to interface with them?

A:  This process will be open, so we can’t say now what the makeup of the agencies will be. We can say, though, that no matter who it is, existing or new, all partners should plan to be collaborative, be humble, and lean on each other’s expertise. We encourage direct dialogue, and that won’t change.

#329

Q:  How do you currently define and measure success across your media mix (e.g., visitation, tax receipts, partner leads, brand health), and are there specific attribution or modeling approaches you want your agencies to deliver?

A:  In addition to the travel indicators listed on SDVisit.com/Research-Reports, we also consider other brand health metrics, including visitor perception, advertising ROI studies, brand equity index, intent to visit and post-impression metrics, competitor rankings, visitor satisfaction, destination familiarity, and advertising recall.

What we watch and optimize against while campaigns are live include (broken out by journey):

• Awareness: reach, impressions, frequency, VCR, sessions
• Consideration: engagement and engagement rates (clicks, CTR, CPC, eCPA, VCR, view rate, outbound link clicks, time viewing), hotel and flight searches/search rate CPM, website visits and website visits by CPM
• Conversion: post-impression rate, CPLPV, CPL, VCR, ROAS, hotel and flight bookings/booking rate CPM, brand lift, foot traffic reports, spending reports Our goal would be to incorporate mixed-media modeling into our approach. We’ll look to the agency awarded Component Eight to centralize all reporting and incorporate anything like that.

Our goal would be to incorporate mixed-media modeling into our approach. We’ll look to the agency awarded Component Eight to centralize all reporting and incorporate anything like that.

#330

Q:  Which analytics, and adtech platforms are you currently using (e.g., STR, Zartico, Adara, DMP, DSP, CDP, DAM, GA4) and are you expecting the selected agency(ies) to integrate, replace, or manage any of those systems?

A:  We currently utilize Future Partners, Tourism Economics, ADARA, STR, Datafy, Keydata, GA4, Salesforce, Integrately, Zoho, BlueConic and Crowdriff.

The agency awarded Component Eight will manage the analytics platforms. The agency awarded Component Four will manage Salesforce, Integrately, and Zoho, and Component Five will manage BlueConic and Crowdriff.

#331

Q:  Which international source markets are currently driving visitation to South Dakota, and are there emerging or underdeveloped international markets you see as high-potential opportunities?

A:  South Dakota’s core international markets include Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. We also maintain an active presence and ongoing promotional efforts in Italy, the Nordic countries, Benelux, and Australia/New Zealand. More recently, we have begun exploring opportunities in India while continuing to monitor Asian markets for potential reinvestment.

#332

Q:  How fixed is the current South Dakota brand platform and visual identity, and are you open to an incremental refinement in the next contract term?

A:  Please refer to SDVisit.com/RFP, questions 35-41. We enter this process open to new ideas that help us achieve our goals beyond where we are now.

#333

Q:  Generally speaking, where do you feel your current creative is underperforming? Are there audience segments you feel have the potential to deliver more, and higher quality, visitation?

A:  Overall, we’re proud of the work we’ve been doing, and we’ve seen great performance from them. If there’s room for growth, it’s about how we can best continue weaving authentic storytelling into our efforts, especially in ways that capture the unique mix of grace and grit that makes the South Dakota experience distinctive.

We can see that magic exists in our semi-annual Advertising ROI/Image/Halo Research, in the gap between those unaware of South Dakota’s offerings, those who have seen our marketing, and those who have experienced it. We have an opportunity in our advertising’s impact on perception, and we would love to see it consistently hit 65-70+. We understand a lot of things outside of just creative can influence that, but it’s something we feel we can continue striving for.

Last – and this too is always a greater challenge – we feel that more assets from the various corners and niches of the state could go a long way.

#334

Q:  Beyond the written proposal, how do you envision the finalist presentation and selection process (e.g., spec work expectations, live creative exercises, research or media scenarios)?

A:  Agencies chosen for further consideration will be made aware of next steps at that time.

#335

Q:  How has Travel South Dakota utilized AI tools, and are there any policies in place with regard to the use of AI that an agency partner should be aware of? (Our firm's philosophy is that AI is a tool that can help us create and scale solutions faster, but it can't replace the human element of successful communications strategies.)

A:  Yes, we view and use similarly. We will be adding AI capability to our consumer site in the coming months, and we have seen some success with AI across select media capabilities (including targeting, optimizations, and even display chatbot units).

Here’s the State of South Dakota’s Bureau of Information and Technology’s AI Guidelines that state agencies follow.

#336

Q:  What has agency overlap looked like in previous engagements? How has your organization helped facilitate that collaboration?

A:  Previously, we set up gap contracts of varying lengths to carry us into the new fiscal year, giving us some breathing room as we onboarded four new agencies. This allowed us to retain services while the new agencies integrated or rolled over systems. During this time, we used the frequent communication touchpoints and collaborative culture we all worked together to foster, ensuring all parties could meet the timelines and waypoints we had established and successfully transition in (or out).

#337

Q:  The research and reports dashboard has a wealth of useful information. Which metrics are most important to the success of your team's goals?

A:  Out of the many indicators listed on that dashboard, visitor spending is the most important metric to determine the success of our team’s goals. Direct visitor spending translates into S&L tax revenue, jobs and labor income and is vital to our state’s economy.

#338

Q:  To what degree do you anticipate brand standards evolving over the course of this contract? (We believe all brands are living embodiments of an organization and thus are always evolving. We're trying to understand if there is an expectation for minor tweaks that are part of a brand's continuous evolution or a more significant brand refresh.) 

A:  We agree that standards will evolve organically and expect to see that over the course of the contract. See Questions #35-36 on https://sdvisit.com/RFP for more.

#339

Q:  Are there any existing influencer contracts or other long-term partnerships that a new agency partner would inherit?

A:  It depends on the component. We have limited instances of term agreements that extend beyond one year, and those are in mar tech. We do have some partnerships with media vendors that have lasted years, though that’s due to the value they consistently deliver and their ability to outperform others year after year.

#340

Q:  Our firm has a passionate belief in the power of integrated communications. Because of this, we feel strongly that it's important that all aspects of branding and marketing plans work together. We'd like to submit a proposal that addresses each of the components identified in the RFP, as we feel that each of these requiremens are well within our core competencies. That being said, we also understand that there may be a desire to pair agency skillsets, and we are eager to tailor our approach to your needs by working collaboratively with another agency. To that end, we'd like to position our proposal with an à-la-carte-style menu that allows your team to select which services to engage with. Would this be a suitable format, or would you prefer a single bid with fixed scope?

A:  We will award one agency per component, though work within each component can be adjusted, and recommend one keep that in mind for your approach.

#341

Q:  Is there a percentage of the total budget that you have typically spent or expect to spend on agency retainers and professional fees?

A:  Yes, please see question #2 on SDVisit.com/RFP.

#342

Q:  Can you please confirm if creative spec work is expected to be included in Component 1: Peak season campaign development with the $5M budget.

A:  Yes, we’d love to see what you can do and have asked them same from others (see question #14-15 SDVisit.com/RFP).

#343

Q:  SOUTH DAKOTA ATTRIBUTES -- What tourism activities do you think set South Dakota apart and are worth highlighting in future communications? Which tourist experiences offer a clear competitive edge when promoting SD and why?

A:  Visitors consistently rank South Dakota higher than our competitor states for well-known landmarks, native American culture, authentic historical sites, excellent national and state parks, scenic beauty and great place for a classic American road trip.

#344

Q:  Which US states do you consider your biggest competition? 

A:  Please refer to question #153 at SDVisit.com/RFP and for more, you can view prior research at SDVisit.com/Research-Reports.
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Colorado
Idaho

#345

Q:  INNOVATION -- Your team appreciates innovative marketing strategies and creative work. Are there any brands or campaigns you admire that feel like a good benchmark for quality or impact (whether those examples are in or outside the tourism category)? 

A:  Yes, so many, but for brevity here, we’ll share that in response to some others that should be posted soon at SDVisit.com/RFP, we shouted out the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Huckberry, and a recent Indian Motorcycle content piece a team member had received. Be sure to check later questions on our page for more once they’re posted.

#346

Q:  INTERNATIONAL SCOPE -- International travel to the US is facing headwinds. Could you help us understand your international prospecting priorities outside of Canada for the next few years?

A:  Travel South Dakota has been actively involved with the travel trade and media industries in key international markets including the UK, Germany, France, Benelux, Italy, the Nordics, and Australia/New Zealand for the past 20 years. Through cooperative marketing and annual in-market outreach, we partner with these segments to educate their audiences on why South Dakota and our region of the United States should be considered for leisure travel. We will continue building strong relationships in our core markets while also exploring growth opportunities in developing markets such as India and across Asia.

#347

Q:  PARTNERSHIPS -- Can you share your most important brand and media partnerships currently in place?

A:  Our research from Future Partners, Longwoods, and Tourism Economics is super insightful and important when checking in on our overall brand health. ADARA’s measurement has been crucial because it allows us to gauge and report out the overall health of our trackable campaigns in the moment. We love our Community Co-op and other co-op partnerships for how they enable us to focus on local or niche markets, leverage each other’s talent and resources to have a large impact on our greater goals.

#348

Q:  MEASUREMENT -- Describe your measurement methodology for evaluating marketing ROI (i.e., MMM, MTA, etc.)?

A:  Please refer to pg. 5 of the South Dakota Advertising ROI report on the SDVisit.com/research-reports page.

#349

Q:  Do you have Brand Health tracking in place? Who is the measurement provider? What is the frequency, and what metrics/sentiment are being measured?

A:  We monitor brand health metrics such as visitor perception studies, brand equity index, intent to visit and post-impression metrics, competitor rankings, visitor satisfaction, destination familiarity and advertising recall, all on an annual or bi-annual basis.

For South Dakota residents, we determine success through resident sentiment studies which measure the level of support for all aspects of our work, such as what do residents think about tourism growth and development, tourism promotion, tourism economy and tourism employment.

#350

Q:  You've explained that efficiency is an imperative. Will you kindly share your most important/valued Paid Media efficiency metrics for both online and offline media?

A:  Yes, outside of the typical rate metrics, we value the insights we can glean by monitoring the hotel and flight searches generated, along with hotel and flight bookings generated as a CPM of our trackable efforts. We feel these reflect our efforts across the visitor’s journey to generate awareness, curiosity/interest and conversion.

For offline media, we monitor organic search activity, lead gen efforts and brand equity index.

#351

Q:  CLIENT/AGENCY RELATIONSHIP -- As you look forward to the next few years, what characteristics will be most important for your agency of record to possess? What barriers have you come across in the last few years in your relationship with your current agency?

A:  Please see the response to question 81 at SDVisit.com/RFP.

#352

Q:  We wanted additional clarification on Component One (Brand Marketing) pricing.

A:  Please include market selection, media placement, and a detailed budget with media spend, agency fees, and production costs within the $5 million dollar budget. This exercise and budget is for Peak only.

#353

Q:  Will agencies be signing an NDA during the RFP process?

A:  No.

#354

Q:  Are there any components Travel South Dakota considered more strategically central than others when evaluating proposals?

A:  No, we evaluate everything holistically.

#355

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota define success for the brand over the next 3-5 years beyond visualization growth?

A:  We have future work outlined to identify our top needs and set a course, as we did with our strategic plan that ran through 2025. However, the challenges of perception and awareness, growing product, offerings, and visitation, especially within our rural communities or tribal nations, and managing dispersion of traffic across seasons and across the state remain a priority.

Beyond hitting defined KPIs and the “scoreboard” numbers, continuing to positively impact the overall perception of South Dakota across the globe would be a huge win.

#356

Q:  Are there priority visitor segments or geographic markets Travel South Dakota is most focused on growing over that timeframe?

A:  No, that’s something we would like to take the opportunity to define (and set the course with) with the agencies we choose.

#357

Q:  Are there any visitor segments Travel South Dakota believes are currently underserved or underrepresented?

A:  If any at this time, it might be audiences outside of our typical drive market.

#358

Q:  What elements of the current brand are considered non-negotiable, verses areas where evolution is encouraged?

A:  We’re open to evolution and are curious in this process. We encourage responding agencies not to be beholden to current work and strategies. Pitch us on what you truly believe will be most impactful.

#359

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota balance brand consistency with the need for regional, seasonal, or audience-specific customization?

A:  We value the consistency that strong (and adaptable) brand standards provide. We’re open to evolving all, though any brand evolutions should be structured with an understanding of how important it is for our standards to handle our various campaigns across all efforts we’ll likely have between our main brand, co-ops, niches and seasons.

#360

Q:  Are there existing brand health or perception benchmarks agencies should be aware of?

A:  In addition to the travel indicators listed on SDVisit.com/Research-Reports, we also consider other brand health metrics such as visitor perception studies, brand equity index, intent to visit and post-impression metrics, competitor rankings, visitor satisfaction, destination familiarity and advertising recall.

For South Dakota residents, we determine success through resident sentiment studies which measure the level of support for all aspects of our work, such as what do residents think about tourism growth and development, tourism promotion, tourism economy and tourism employment.

#361

Q:  Please provide further clarification regarding the payment requirements noted in Section 6.0. Specifically, when the RFP states that ‘the agency must have the financial capacity to contract and purchase media or other applicable services without advance payment by Travel South Dakota,’ does this expectation apply to all media buys regardless of size or duration, and is there an anticipated timeframe for reimbursement once invoiced?

A:  Correct. Our state payment system typically processes payments within 14-21 days of receipt.

#362

Q:  How does Travel South Dakota balance short-term performance objectives with long-term brand building in media planning?

A:  We value a healthy media mix and a steady approach. We know brands aren’t built overnight, and travel is a big expenditure and a commitment, subject to many variables. A steady approach with a healthy mix of upper-, mid-, and lower-funnel tactics is critical to avoiding the temptation to chase volatile conversion metrics. Our Advertising ROI studies over the years have consistently shown that our efforts influence action in the moment, but the greater payoff is in the long term, giving us confidence to continue this approach.

#363

Q:  How much flexibility exists to reallocate budget across components or channels based on performance or changing priorities?

A:  A lot. We feel that the balance we’ve found in our short vs long-term approach gives us the opportunity to test, adjust, and optimize as needed to best respond to changing conditions. Doing so, we’ve learned many valuable lessons over the years that have positively informed our long-term strategies, lessons we would have missed out on if not for the ability and willingness to pivot.

With that said, we tend to keep that within the confines of an SOW or contract, primarily for paid media efforts.

#364

Q:  What level of creative collaboration does Travel South Dakota expect within media placements (e.g., co-branded retail content, dynamic ad insertion)?

A:  We expect media placements to support and enhance the creative idea—not merely distribute it. That’s why we get excited about unique partnerships that help us find channels for sharing our stories in ways that aren’t just another cookie-cutter ad served in places known and expected, where it’s easy to avoid or ignore. It’s also why we get excited about dynamic capabilities and the opportunity to be more relevant to the viewer when we do have their attention.

#365

Q:  What proprietary insights or data does Travel South Dakota have that we could leverage for media planning (e.g., CRM lists, loyalty data, previous media insights)?

A:  Upon award, the agency would have access to a healthy CRM list, extensive audience personas and segments, media insights and commissioned research. (We’ve been an ardent believer in research and first-party data going back a decade or more.)

#366

Q:  What KPIs are most important to Travel South Dakota when evaluating effectiveness across paid, owned, and earned channels?

A:  Please reference questions #6, #30, #145 and #236 on SDVisit.com/RFP.

#367

Q:  Will agencies have access to existing research, segmentation, or performance dashboards at the outset of the engagement?

A:  Yes, most definitely.

#368

Q:  Are there any known technical, platform, or CMS constraints within the current digital ecosystem that agencies should account for?

A:  Not that we are aware of but will need to review any proposed platform or CMS in advance to determine if meets security standards and our state IT requirements prior to implementation.

#369

Q:  What role does Travel South Dakota expect PR and earned media to play in supporting brand, reputation, and crisis response?

A:  PR has been a successful and strong component to the overall growth of our brand. It has also supported niche endeavors.

#370

Q:  Are there key events or initiatives where the agency is expected to take a lead role versus a supporting role?

A:  Media missions, crisis communications, PR activations, etc. would be a lead role.

#371

Q:  Please provide further explanation in regard to the in-person expectation noted in Section 4.4. What is the expected typical frequency of in-person meetings outside of standing events?

A:  Outside of standing meetings, there may be several times a year when, collaboratively, we decide in-person meetings are beneficial. We play that by ear.

#372

Q:  Are there any expectations – formal or inform – that agencies maintain staff located within South Dakota, or is in-person engagement evaluated strictly on participation and responsiveness?

A:  No, if an agency is selected for our work, we do not expect staff to be in South Dakota. Yes, engagement is evaluated on responsiveness, collaboration, communication, professionalism, creativity, etc.

#373

Q:  In Section 9.0, one of the criteria listed is: “familiarity with the project locale.” From your perspective, what best demonstrates this familiarity?

A:  We will be able to tell by your submission whether you have done your homework about our state, our department, our work, and the South Dakota tourism industry (and tourism marketing as a whole).