By Greg Ellison

(March 5, 2020) After recent community surveys indicated few residents get their Ocean Pines information from broadcast mediums, next fiscal year’s marketing budget has reprioritized resources to favor internal channels and print advertising.

Marketing and Public Relations Director Josh Davis said feedback from OPA leadership and residents led to a $48,000 marketing budget that abandons radio and television advertising.

“Years ago, General Manager John Viola, back when he chaired the Budget and Finance Committee, questioned the need for so much radio advertising,” he said.

This year’s budget, which ends on April 30, includes more than $17,000 for radio spots and nearly $30,000 for television advertisements.

After taking over the marketing department last May, Davis sent out an online survey to residents asking where they tended to learn about area news.

“Only 1 percent answered ‘radio,’” he said. “What registered much higher was social media, the Ocean Pines website, ‘This Week in the Pines’ weekly emails, and local newspapers.”

The data helped refocus marketing efforts and dollar allotments.

“Because of that, direction from Viola, and because of my own experience with the Ocean Pines audience, we decided to focus mostly on spreading information through our own channels, and through print advertising,” he said.

Davis said new marketing ventures for the Ocean Pines Yacht Club over the next fiscal year grew out of conversations with food contractor the Matt Ortt Companies regarding banquet services. “They told me that the vast majority of their bookings came from online sources,” he said.

Based on that feedback, the pending budget includes $9,200 for targeted web ads through Comcast.

“They’ll work with us to develop targeted advertising on the web and specifically in the Maryland/Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania markets, and spread that out over peak months when more bookings tend to occur,” he said.

The pilot program will be reassessed for cost effectiveness after a year before potentially being renewed in subsequent budgets.

While not increasing the bottom line, the pending fiscal budget shifts $25,000 in marketing funds from golf operations to public relations.

“Golf, for years, was the only Ocean Pines department that included its own, separate marketing budget,” he said. “We didn’t add to the overall association budget any more money than is usually spent on that department.”

The current fiscal year budget includes $71,000 for golf promotions, which is reduced to $35,000 in the fiscal 2020/2021 budget.

“My department was already doing a lot … and

Marketing Coordinator Julie Malinowski is very adept at that – so it just made sense to shift some of the money specifically to our budget,” he said. “Golf still has package play marketing included in its budget and, overall … the PR/Marketing budget is lower than the previous year.”