Situational Analysis

Faced with projected declines in arrivals from key US markets, Nassau Paradise Island Promotions Board (the Bahamas DMO with goals to increase the demand and interest of Nassau as a Caribbean destination) sought to revitalize its marketing efforts and boost engagement. The challenge was compounded by market research indicating a growing preference for tropical destinations among travelers, leading to increased competition for the Bahamas. Furthermore, ForwardKeys Arrival Projections, which analyzes millions of daily flights to provide travel intelligence, forecasted softening and a decline in travel for the 2024 summer months. Net Conversion, the agency tasked with overcoming these hurdles, recognized the need for a data-driven, model-centric approach to adapt to the evolving dynamics of audience behavior and achieve measurable results in this increasingly competitive and challenging landscape.

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Strategic Goal & Objective

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The primary goals were to counteract the projected declines by increasing website visitation by +15% and increasing year-over-year (YoY) arrivals by +5%.

The overarching goal was to boost awareness and drive engaged site visitation to counteract the projected declines in key US markets. The objectives were to achieve measurable increases in site visitation, linkouts, new users, and ultimately, arrivals to the destination.

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Implementation

The resulting incremental awareness media plan was activated across carefully selected channels and geographic regions.

• Geos: Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Miami, Houston, Ft. Lauderdale
• Budget: $230k
• Channels: Online Video, Social, Paid Search
• Campaign Flight Time: 7 Weeks

Channel Optimization for Targeted Impact:

While Google online video campaigns typically leverage Video for Action campaigns, this incremental campaign strategically employed Video for Reach to ensure maximum exposure to potential travelers within the targeted DMAs. Recognizing the power of video to drive both awareness and action, the agency aimed to capture the attention of the widest possible audience and spark initial interest in the destination.

In tandem, our core campaigns (targeting top markets not identified as “soft”) continued to leverage Google Video for Action campaigns to strategically guide engaged viewers toward tangible interactions with the destination’s partners, boosting partner linkouts and view-influenced visits (ViV) to the website.

This meticulous segmentation also extended to social and search channels. Search campaigns utilized broad match keywords and a focus on maximizing conversions, casting a wide net to capture potential visitors actively searching for travel options. Social video campaigns, on the other hand, balanced awareness with intent, optimizing partner linkouts for those users who had already expressed interest in the destination.

Every omnichannel strategy is only as effective as its well-defined measurement plan utilizing clear KPIs per channel. In this campaign, awareness-focused online video assets were optimized towards eViV (engaged view-influenced visits), a proprietary metric developed by Net Conversion to ensure brand media was directly impacting website visitation; and in this case, media was influencing potential travelers to visit 2+ pages on the website. For those consumers who had already expressed interest (intenders), the focus shifted towards optimizing partner linkouts on the website, facilitating direct engagement with travel partners, and driving conversions.

Data-Driven Agility in Real-Time

Crucially, the campaign’s success hinged on real-time data analysis. ForwardKeys forecasted visitation to be monitored weekly from May to August (pre and post-incremental media plan), empowering the agency to make agile adjustments based on actual market response. This data-driven approach ensured that the campaign remained agile and responsive to evolving traveler behavior.

Creative Performance: The Analytics Edge

Creative execution played a pivotal role in driving engagement. The campaign featured a blend of evergreen content and a captivating “storytellers” campaign showcasing user-generated content (UGC) from influencers. This approach enhanced authenticity and fostered a deeper connection with potential visitors.

To previously quantify the impact of creative elements on website visitation, Net Conversion’s analytics team developed the Machine Learning Creative Model Score. This innovative tool evaluated creative performance based on various factors, including date, tactic, targeting type, creative version, spend, and clicks, ensuring optimal creative selection and deployment. The model focused on the top five creative pieces, representing 99% of year-to-date spending, enabling precise optimization and identification of areas for testing new content.

Using this model’s insights on the most impactful creative attributes and creatives, we strategically selected and deployed these high-performing assets during this campaign to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in the targeted markets.

Results

The campaign’s impact was not only immediate but also far-reaching, surpassing initial expectations.

• Digital Engagement: A substantial increase in site visitation (+33%), linkouts (+38%), and new users (+17%) indicated heightened interest and engagement with the destination’s online presence, surpassing the +15% goal.
• Destination Arrivals: Most notably, the campaign translated digital engagement into tangible results, with significant improvements in destination arrivals. June, July, and August saw increases of +8ppt, +7ppt, and +8ppt, respectively, significantly exceeding the +5% goal.
• Geographic Impact: Positive growth was evident across almost all targeted regions, with the exception of Miami, which experienced a slight decline. This anomaly emphasizes the importance of adapting strategies to regional market nuances.