A big-time golf tournament was coming to the area, and the Verona Area Chamber of Commerce wanted to capitalize. The goal: target people attending the American Family Insurance Championship for return visits to Verona-area golf courses — and overnight stays in the city's hotels. The solution: go all techy-tech.
Digital "fences" were established at the golf course, as well as at hotels within a 10-mile radius, during the tournament. People located within these fences were served ads in real time on their mobile devices during the tournament.
After the tournament, additional fences were set up at 77 golf courses within a 1.5- to 3-hour drive of Verona. This distance was chosen to:
Encourage golfers to book overnight stays in the city's hotels
Include 144 zip codes most likely to have avid golfers who play on vacation
Using the data we gathered throughout this process, known as geoframing, people were shown ads from the campaign on their mobile devices once they returned home.
Geomarketing tactics were combined with a digital display campaign targeting adults who ...
enjoyed golf, adventure travel, and hotels & accommodations
had a household income of at least $150,000
lived 1.5 to 3 hours from Verona
were 35-54 years old
Campaign messaging focused on the prevalence of golf courses near Verona: 23 within a 30-minute drive, impressing on the target that the city is agreat hub for their next golfing trip.
431%
Amount by which the campaign outperformed the tourism industry benchmark for conversion rate
26%
Clicks during the campaign that came from geomarketing tactics (even though impressions accounted for just 15%)
.18%
Clickthrough rate for geomarketing tactics, 250% better than the industry benchmark
.41%
Clickthrough rate for geomarketing tactics at University Ridge Golf Course, host of the tournament
THE BOTTOM LINE
Geomarketing provides the ability to drive narrowly targeted, highly qualified traffic toward a conversion, and in this case it was the ace in the hole to providing a significant bump to the City of Verona's hotels and its golf industry.
enjoyed golf, adventure travel, and hotels & accommodations