Million $$$ increase in bookings in a depressed market.
Increased margins, independent growth, and less reliance on third-party aggregators.
To say we are happy is an understatement. I have enjoyed working with the authentic digital team and their level of commitment to achieve above average results is very evident.
It is an excellent partnership and it is refreshing to work with a company that really listen to your needs and value your input. They have kept me in the loop and explained the reasoning behind every strategy used. It is a good balance where they listen, advise and implement.
One of the key surprises for me is how quickly they got traction for us, we expected a much longer lead time for Google AdWords and it was an unexpected bonus to get such strong growth early.
Project Overview
Objectives
- To carry out an extensive international research phase to determine the extent of the local and international market opportunities. The outcome of the research resulted in specific targeting strategies for Eleven European countries, China, Hong Kong, and South East Asia, North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand
- To implement multiple online marketing strategies to aggressively increase bookings over the 2012/2013 season
- To develop an online brand presence and gain traction against major competitors in the local and international markets
- To decrease the reliance on third-party aggregators and agents
- To grow booking revenue by over one million dollars in 9 months
Key Results
The pilot commenced after a two-month research and strategy phase. The research and analysis included an evaluation of local and international markets, a website review, and an online competitor analysis.
- SEO 362.61% increase in organic non-branded traffic
- AdWords achieved the monthly target of 1000
goal completions
followed by an increase to 1300 (130% of target)goal completions
in the following months - 157.15% increase in conversion rate goal of site visitors to the booking form
- Click-through rates have increased from 2.21% to 4.14%
- Over 1 million dollars of new revenue
- Market split testing has resulted in additional revenue and marketing spend efficiencies
- authentic digital’s extensive research phase identified additional markets and new keywords for current and future marketing initiatives
Project Summary
Our client was in a depressed market with forecasts indicating a 30 – 40% decrease in bookings for the industry. They engaged authentic digital to help them to increase their bookings and revenue.
Client
An emerging powerhouse in the motorhome rental industry in New Zealand.
Strategy
We undertook a two-month research program to determine the best way to maximise bookings for the International and Australasian markets. The extensive research phase identified 21 countries that we forecasted to achieve a positive result for our client. The research and analysis indicated that the strongest inbound opportunities were the target markets of Canada, USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
We suggested a dual strategy of Google AdWords and SEO as the best option to test and validate the research and analysis phase. Google AdWords enabled us to gain immediate benefits for our client by picking up low-hanging fruit
and unprotected opportunities. Small pilots were carried out to test the 2nd tier countries to identify any gold nuggets
that would produce immediate bookings and highlight potential for longer-term opportunities. As the AdWords campaign matured we are able to split-test and refine the program to gain maximum benefits from each market. The SEO strategy ensures the future-proofing
of the business.
The SEO plan includes brand protection and focused targeting of industry keywords and phrases with high commercial intent. It is an aggressive SEO strategy that will ensure even stronger growth in the future.
Supporting the marketing initiatives are a number of conversion strategies that will increase the quality and conversion of the leads for the business as well as margins and profits.
Results
Although many of their competitors experienced a reduction in bookings, our client grew their business dramatically. A combination of factors including strong growth, increased conversions and higher average sale price has resulted in a 1921% growth in qualified leads and a million-dollar growth for our client.
The sales and marketing initiatives have decreased the reliance on third-party agents and aggregators. The resulting independence and control over the sales process meant less discounting, higher price points and better margins.