Destination Marketing Case Study: Data Improves Paducah’s Entry Rate
Client:
Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau
Paducah Convention & Visitors BureauThe Scope:
TwoSix Digital developed and managed a Facebook ad campaign to drive entries into the Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau summer sweepstakes in August, 2016. This ad campaign focused on the niche audience of quilting and crafting.
The Strategy:
Ad targeting strategies included the use of Lookalike Audiences of the Paducah Facebook page and matching email addresses of people who had previously entered the sweepstakes. Use of the PersonicX lifestyle clusters through the Facebook Audience Insights Tool helped determine the best possible interests for Facebook ad targeting.
Close monitoring and ad management led to TwoSix Digital seeing better costs per click, however the number of entries compared to the number of people viewing the sweepstakes remained disproportionate.
Upon reviewing ad targeting, TwoSix Digital noticed that women 55 and older on desktop were more likely to click on the sweepstakes ad. The ad’s placement and targeting were adjusted to serve this audience where they were most likely to convert.
The Results:
Upon changing the demographics and placement, the entry rate rose from 13.8% to 35.9% and the cost per entry fell nearly 16%.
When the next ad flight produced mixed results, a similar alteration to the targeting and placement was made. This led to an entry rate that was more than four times higher and a cost per entry that was 77% less. This kind of close monitoring and quick response led to a successful campaign rooted in data and serving content up to a much more relevant audience to produce measurable results.
Case Study: Explore Branson Photo Contest
Client:
Explore Branson
The Scope:
Throughout the summer of 2015, TwoSix Digital worked with Explore Branson to promote a summer photo contest that was designed to develop visual content on the #ExploreBranson hashtag. The images were curated and utilized on the Explore Branson website where users could view and engage with the imagery.
The Strategy:
TwoSix Digital utilized several social ad promotions to raise awareness of the program, along with billboards and window clings in the destination. One ad targeting strategy included proximity ads using Facebook’s geotargeting feature to drive entries and inspire consumers to generate content while they were actively in the Branson area. These ads targeted Facebook users whose IP addresses were currently within the destination or those who had recently traveled in the Branson area.
Content was curated and developed even further to promote Branson as a location for a variety of getaways. This was done by interviewing and recording testimonials from several photo contest entrants. TwoSix Digital then created video and audio files, along with blog posts based upon their trips. These trips reflected key travel interests in Branson like fishing, family vacations and outdoor adventures and were distributed through several channels including Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
The Results:
The summer photo campaign exceeded its established KPI’s and included the following results:
- 2,828 photos submitted into the contest
- More than 18,000 website visits from social media ads
- Nearly 3 million ad impressions
- Social ads saw an average click through-rate of 2.75% – more than three times the Q2 global average reported by Nanigans.com
This campaign showcases TwoSix Digital’s expertise within the deeper levels of content marketing including content generation, integration and promotion.
Ludington Lighthouse Getaway Giveaway
Client:
Ludington Area CVB
Client:The Scope:
Ludington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau engaged TwoSix Digital to develop and maintain a campaign intended to drive awareness and entries for a lighthouse getaway giveaway at the big Sable Lighthouse in Ludington while also collecting email addresses for the CVB’s e-newsletter.
The Strategy:
The Strategy:TwoSix Digital employed highly-strategic targeting from the Facebook Audience Insights tool and lookalike audiences of the previous year’s contest entrants and the CVB’s Facebook page. A number of ad flights were created and managed to drive entries into the giveaway.
The Results:
This campaign was the most successful and popular giveaway TwoSix Digital has ever hosted for a client. There were more than 22,000 entries – an increase of 298% from the previous year’s giveaway. In addition, 89% of entrants opted-in for the Ludington Area CVB e-newsletter and the list of subscribers increased 156%. Page reach also skyrocketed as a result of social ads.
Targeting for the campaign ads was so specific and accurate that the average click-through rate for the campaign ads was more than seven times the global average.
Case Study: Tunica "We Got It" Video Campaign
Client:
Tunica CVB
The Scope:
The Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau in Tunica, Mississippi conducted a direct digital media buy to highlight their Tunica “We Got It” destination promotional video. TwoSix Digital was assigned the goals for the video campaign to attract video views and encourage consumers from “high value” zip codes provided by the area casinos to complete a contest registration form with their email address and enter to win a getaway to Tunica.
The Strategy:
TwoSix Digital ran a campaign from May to July, 2015 and utilized multiple techniques to capture consumer interaction while targeting gaming and lifestyle interests of the Tunica visitor. The Tunica “We Got It” campaign included:
- 53 highly targeted social and digital ads
-27 YouTube ads
-15 Facebook ads
-11 Twitter ads
- Leveraging of Lookalike Audiences in Facebook Ad targeting
-Lookalike of Tunica Facebook page
-Lookalike of people visiting tunicatravel.com
-Lookalike of people who had already entered the giveaway
The Results:
The campaign accomplished its goals and returned the following KPI’s:
- More than 9 million ad impressions from 9 DMA’s
- More than 1.2 million video views for videos
- Social video advertising at $.03 per view
- More than 20K total contest entries and14,218 new email opt-ins for the newsletter, 22% of those opt-ins came from high-value loyalty zip codes provided by the area casino players clubs
The Tunica “We Got It” video campaign was awarded Social Media Campaign of the Year at the 2015 Mississippi Governor’s Conference and showcased the expertise of TwoSix Digital in the development and execution of a destination marketing ad strategy.
Case Study: Visit Hamilton County Tenderloin Trail
Client:
Client:Visit Hamilton County
The Scope:
The Hamilton County CVB approached TwoSix Digital wanting help building exposure for a niche culinary experience based around a regional specialty – their pork tenderloin sandwiches and a group of restaurants making up the “Tenderloin Trail”. The client had a number of blogs about these sandwiches as well as Tenderloin Passport that could be downloaded and a YouTube video on how to properly eat a tenderloin sandwich. These were available to use and promote.
The Strategy:
TwoSix Digital set out by creating a retargeting website pixel on the Tenderloin Trail section of the Hamilton County website to promote tenderloin blogs, the passport and the video to these consumers. A number of highly targeted ad sets were created to promote tenderloin content to. Lookalike audiences generated through the Facebook ads manager of the Hamilton County e-newsletter list were utilized as well as the Facebook Audience Insights tool. This allowed us to research and create trail audiences for ad sets to promote content to.
The Results:
This campaign exceeded client expectations and boasted the following results:
- The total of highly targeted impressions for the campaign reached 518,881 – which is less than $.01 per impression
- The total cost ad click measured out at $.27 per click. This was below the global average CPC of $.53 reported by Nanigans.com.
- More than 111,000 views of the Tenderloin Video were produced with average views lasting an average of 20 seconds.
- Total number of website & blog clicks totaled 4,769
- The ad click through rate overall for the entire campaign was 3.53% which is more than four times higher than the industry average of .81% reported by Nanigans.com
- An additional 473 new Likes were added to the Hamilton County Facebook page during the campaign process.
- Massive spikes in Facebook post reach – both paid and organic
TwoSix Digital’s work with the Hamilton County CVB demonstrates our core marketing competency by working with a client who needed help creating and distributing content related to a specific destination niche.
Case Study: Pure Michigan Million Page Likes
Client:
Pure Michigan
Client:
The Scope:
Pure Michigan assigned TwoSix Digital the task to increase its Facebook page Likes to over one million. This made Pure Michigan the third statewide tourism page behind Hawaii and New York to cross this mark. Additionally, TwoSix Digital was asked to change the location origin of the Facebook users from predominately in-state to out-of-state.
The Strategy:
Beginning in February and ending in May, 2015 TwoSix Digital developed and ran 269 unique ad sets using 13 custom audiences and 24 lookalike audiences.
The ads were targeted to consumers based upon suggestions from the Facebook Audience Insights tool and included interests, locations, brands and specialties that Michigan is known for.
Additionally, TwoSix Digital used Pure Michigan’s Google Analytics to determine targeted states and DMAs along with website pixels to help leverage traffic to michigan.org to reach a deeper and more relevant audience. 
The Results:
With TwoSix Digital’s strategy, Pure Michigan successfully reached its goal with more than 290,000 Page Likes. The campaign also obtained move than 15 million ad impressions.
A major KPI included shifting the percentage of page likes from in state to out of state. When the campaign began, only 40% of the state’s Facebook Audience was from out of state. When the campaign was completed, the audience was comprised of 52% out of state residents.
The campaign goals and KPI’s were all achieved ahead of schedule and under budget despite Facebook’s purge on March 14th of inactive or memorialized accounts.
