Colby Gason, marketing and public relations lead for the Manatee County Tourist Development Council, told the council the bureau produced "over 82,000,000 impressions alone" over the past year and secured dozens of earned-media placements as part of a strategy focused on digital advertising and targeted public relations.

Gason said the bureau is working with Madden Media and other vendors to push a creative program that emphasizes four pillarsbeaches, arts and culture, outdoors and culinaryand that the creative look will continue to emphasize a "quiet luxury" position aimed at households with higher median incomes. "We were very aggressive in our marketing. We were very strategic in our messaging," Gason said.

She described recent and planned activity that includes one-on-one press appointments, media missions with Visit Sarasota, a planned bookazine with Wanderlust and ongoing partnerships with sports teams and out-of-home media to sustain brand awareness in established markets such as New York and Pittsburgh and growth markets including Miami, Orlando and several Midwestern and Texas cities. Gason said the bureau had "85 placements" and emphasized moving audiences to the organization's website and related content.

On social platforms, staff told the council the county cannot maintain a direct TikTok account because of government regulations but uses hosted influencers who post on their own accounts to generate reach. Gason also said the bureau does not now track repeat visits beyond the initial visit: "We don't even track the conversion to a real estate owner or a business owner," she said when asked about measuring second- and third-time visitors.

Board members asked about website performance and measurement. Gason said the bureau recorded more than 1 million visits to the destination website last year and is developing a microsite for the convention center. "Everything is driven to the website," she said, adding that the site will be updated to meet best practices over the coming months.

Council members praised the marketing work and suggested additional reporting on web analytics and visitor retention once staff can collect those measures.

The presentation ran about 30 minutes and drew questions on targeting, measurement and partnerships, after which the council moved to the next agenda item.