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Luxury Inn Goes From Unknown to Booked Solid in One Season

3.3K

Facebook Fan Growth in 10 Months

287%

increase in social reach, April - December

100%

booked 2nd season

The Challenge:

The Inn at Cuckolds Lighthouse opened its doors for guests in 2014. The challenge was to quickly build brand recognition and facilitate bookings for that first season, as well as acquire the correct audience for ongoing bookings and sales. The target audience included upper income individuals interested in a unique vacation experience on the coast of Maine. The inn presented challenges in that it has limited space not conducive to large parties, children are not allowed, and the small island has very rugged terrain.

The Solution:

  • Development and implementation of a strategic plan for digital solutions to reach the optimal target audience, increase brand awareness, and create bookings for the inn
  • Social media claiming, optimization and branding for Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest
  • Development and management of ad campaigns
  • Reputation management to manage and encourage reviews
  • Directory Listings to insure the new inn showed up properly in online, mobile and GPS listings
  • Content development and management for social media channels
  • SEO on-site recommendations and link building

The Results:

Since 2015, the inn has had a 100%-booked rate with a growing waiting list of people hoping to get a chance to stay at the Inn. The “Lovers, Lighthouse and Lobster” package developed by Dream Local continues to generate a large percentage of the inn’s bookings.

Dream Local redesigned the inn’s existing Facebook page in March 2014, when the page had just 184 likes. About 10 months later, by Feb. 1, 2015, the page had 3,486 likes, giving the inn a strong potential audience moving into its second season.

Of the additional 3,302 likes, about 73 percent were generated by Facebook pay-per-click advertising designed specifically to increase page fans, and most importantly with the right fans. The campaign ran off and on from May 7, 2014, through Jan. 5, 2015.

Although Dream Local Digital relied heavily on advertising to build fans, don’t overlook the fact that 895 new page likes occurred organically (an average of 89 a month). Over eight months, advertising for likes cost about $130 a month.

Dream Local Digital also administered several campaigns targeted specifically to increase engagement by “boosting” specific Facebook page posts. Engagement includes post likes, shares, comments and clicks on links. Those ads were published between Aug. 20 and Dec. 31, 2014. Here are the results:

Spent: $154.88
Post engagements: 1,866
Reach: 22,258 unique Facebook users
Cost per engagement: $.08

While paid fan acquisition and engagement were an important aspect of the work done for the inn, without strategic targeting, quality content, page optimization, and branding, the fan acquisition campaigns would not have resulted in the high level of success and bookings realized by the inn.

About the Inn at Cuckolds Lighthouse

The Inn at Cuckolds Lighthouse is a luxury inn with just two suites on a tiny, rocky island off the coast of Maine. The inn is owned and operated by a community group organized to purchase and restore the island lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers’ quarters. As it approached its grand opening, the inn began working with Dream Local Digital to build a social media audience.

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