The Challenge
In 2013, Mackinac Island Tourism identified a need for a refined, laser-targeted digital campaign.
The Goal
While secondary goals have changed year to year, the primary goal has always been to increase total room revenue on Mackinac Island.
The Strategy
We knew that increasing site traffic and conversions on mackinacisland.org would be the leading indicators of how the island would pace with regards to room revenue.
- Because the island is open only May through October, the first effort was the dissection of all available data. Using historical data, travel research, and audience profiling we were able to predict peaks in bookings, understand target audiences and messaging, and lift conversions. These insights dictated a full year marketing campaign that elevated bookings in both early and late season, adding to increase of total room revenue for the island.
- This research also determined which audiences were most likely to convert. Focusing on national markets enabled Mackinac Island to reach visitors who planned trips that were longer in duration, resulting in incremental revenue increases. Each channels’ performance was assessed and optimized throughout the duration of the campaign, lowering the cost per click and increasing conversion metrics.
Results
From 2013 to 2015, when our team became MIT’s Digital Agency of Record, they saw the following increases in ROI:
An increase in ROI of +41.7% in 2 years
Web Sessions up 30.9%
Users up 27.43%
Hotel conversions up 39.2%
