GCOMMERCE DRIVES OVER $1 MILLION IN REVENUE FROM PAID SEARCH DURING 1ST YEAR OF OPENING FOR DOLLYWOOD’S DREAMMORE RESORT & SPA

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May 26, 2017 by

GCOMMERCE DRIVES OVER $1 MILLION IN REVENUE FROM PAID SEARCH DURING 1ST YEAR OF OPENING FOR DOLLYWOOD’S DREAMMORE RESORT & SPA

A dream more than 30 years in the making, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort & Spa opened its doors to the public in the late summer of 2015. As this was Dollywood’s first resort lodging offering, they looked for a partner that would provide them with the experience and knowledge in hotel digital marketing to lead a successful online campaign to conquer occupancy and revenue goals set for the new Pigeon Forge resort. Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort & Spa partnered with GCommerce to plan, develop and execute a full digital marketing strategy. Among the key channels utilized to achieve this goal was paid search marketing.

WHAT WAS OUR STRATEGY?

We worked closely with the Dollywood DreamMore Resort & Spa team to align the digital marketing strategy with the overall strategy, positioning and goals of the resort. The cornerstone of our success relied upon a cohesive, well executed strategy across all channels, both online and offline. The strategic approach included:

  • Target top feeder markets
  • Utilize the already loyal Dollywood fan-base
  • Focus on Atlanta and Nashville as target markets
  • Highlight the incredible benefits – exclusive theme park access, on-site amenities, park shuttle and more

WHAT WAS OUR PAID SEARCH APPROACH?

In order to achieve success and support our goals with paid search we turned to Google and Bing ad search engines to reach our target audiences. The key aspects of our paid search approach centered around:

  • In depth and targeted keyword research to reach our audiences at every step along their path to book, from research phase to time of booking
  • Advanced paid search campaign structure
  • Audience targeting including RLSA and Customer Match
  • Retargeting of primary, secondary and tertiary markets identified with the client
  • Focus on driving top of funnel exposure – as a new product in the market it was essential to drive exposure at the top of the funnel
  • Automated bid optimization to use budget more efficiently to drive the most conversions
  • On-going campaign optimization using ad copy tests, removing underperforming keywords and evolving our keyword lists to target top converting search queries
  • Participation in Google’s Bet Adwords features

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?

  • Over $1 million in direct, last click online Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort revenue
    Over 8,800 phone calls generated from paid search
  • 5% conversion rate
  • 5.2X return on ad spend
  • Millions more dollars in ancillary revenue to Dollywood Cabins and Dollywood Theme Park