🔥 Hottest Format
Short-Form Video
Summer YouTube Out-of-Market launched in May with 457K impressions. Reels + Shorts still drive 3–5× the CTR of static ads for DMOs. UV has both formats available — now is the time to test.
📈 Rising Trend
Creator-Led Itineraries
Travel Utah's "Urban & Outdoors" campaign runs through Jun 30. UV summer content (Plan Your Summer: 23K views, Festivals: 21K) is perfectly positioned to ride that state-level awareness spend.
🎯 Paid Social Shift
Advantage+ Scaling
Summer Festivals 2026 held $0.09 CPC through May with 14,881 clicks. Advantage+ broad targeting could push that further — New Follower Campaign at $0.114 CPC suggests audience expansion is working.
🌐 Search Behavior
Event-Led Discovery
Events page hit 46,970 views in May (+26% vs April) — peak summer discovery is here. "Utah valley activities" and "things to do provo" are the top converting search terms right now.
Summer Peak Is Now
Events page at 46,970 views and Summer page at 23,251 in May — this is UV's highest organic traffic window. Push spend aggressively through July.
Outdoor Content Surge
Fifth Water Hot Springs (2,529 views), Poppy Fields (3,078), and Date Ideas blog (3,584) all new to top pages in May. Build a short-form video campaign around these.
State OOT Tailwind (Ends Jun 30)
Travel Utah's "Urban & Outdoors" ends June 30. Two weeks left to ride the state spend — align UV creative themes before the window closes.
Date Night Dominance
"Fun things to do in provo for a date" hit 2,936 Google clicks in May. No competitor is owning this category. UV can build an entire date-night content hub around it.
YouTube + Reels Combo
YouTube Out-of-Market is live. Adding Facebook Reels alongside it would make UV the only Utah DMO running both simultaneously — first-mover advantage before summer ends.
Events Calendar — Peak Window
Events page at 46,970 views and This Weekend page at 11,876 in May. Summer events calendar is the single biggest organic asset UV has — run Google ads against it now.
Travel Utah / Utah OOT
State-level · Active now
Active Campaigns
Parks & Beyond Spring — Feb 1–Jun 15, 2026
Urban & Outdoors Spring — Apr 15–Jun 30, 2026
"Utah Unfolded" creator-led road trip itinerary (BYRDLI partnership, Apr 2026)
Trending Keywords
utah travel 2026utah road tripparks beyond utah
UV Action
Align content to "Urban & Outdoors" theme. Position UV as the urban base camp before heading to parks.
Visit Park City
Summit County · Premium competitor
Active Signals (May 2026)
Deer Valley East Village construction coverage — major earned media push
Summer hiking + mountain biking content ramping (post-ski pivot)
Forbes + Condé Nast "Best Destination 2026" press coverage driving organic search surge
Trending Keywords
Deer Valley 2026Park City summer hikingPark City resort
UV Action
Counter with affordability angle. "Sundance Resort without the Park City price tag." Target Park City audiences with UV restaurant + outdoor content.
Discover Moab / Grand County
Southern Utah · $1.4M 2026 budget
Active Signals (May 2026)
$1.4M full-funnel digital plan approved Jan 2026 — 31 ad placements across platforms
Spring/fall push timing (avoids summer heat); adventure + glamping creative
Madden Media agency relationship — sophisticated targeting infrastructure
Trending Keywords
Moab spring 2026Arches campingUtah glamping
UV Action
Don't compete head-on. Collaborate: "Start in Provo, end in Moab" itinerary content positions UV as the gateway, not a rival.
Visit Salt Lake
SL County · Largest budget in state
Active Signals (May 2026)
Tulip Festival listed on their events calendar — capturing some UV audience organically
Sports tourism (soccer, softball nationals) and convention marketing active
SLC Maven District + urban dining content targeting millennial travelers
Trending Keywords
salt lake events 2026things to do SLCUtah sports tournaments
UV Action
Target SLC audiences with "30 minutes south" messaging. UV offers more nature, more festivals, lower cost — and Tulip Festival is already on their radar.
Colorado Tourism / Denver
Rocky Mountain competitor
Active Signals (May 2026)
Heavy summer road trip targeting from LA, PHX, Dallas markets — same feeder cities as UV
Creator-led content dominance: Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts at scale
Competing for same "affordable family adventure" positioning
Trending Keywords
Colorado summer tripsRocky Mountain family vacation
UV Action
Target Denver feeder audiences directly. "Utah Valley: the Colorado alternative — closer national parks, lower crowds, same mountain vibes."
Meta Ad Library — Check These
Direct research links
Verify current competitor creative and active campaigns directly in Meta's Ad Library. These are the pages to search: