Meetings Marketing for Small Teams & Resort Destinations
See the marketing campaigns, strategy and support that helped Visit Carlsbad and its one-man sales operation kick-start its meetings & conventions.
Author: Kerrie Yancey
THE NEED
Visit Carlsbad was looking at a fresh outset for meetings marketing as they came into 2022 with a new President & CEO, a new Business Development Manager, and pandemic recovery in motion. The team needed an agency to position the resort destination in front of intended audiences and deliver immediate results to their partners who needed group business to return in order to have a strong business recovery. The destination’s partners were actively targeting and booking events across the pharmaceutical, healthcare, technology, professional sports, media and association industries (and continue to do so).
THE OPPORTUNITIES
Addressing a perception that Carlsbad is smaller than it is, the team wanted to raise awareness of the destination’s size and meeting capabilities. With more than 5,000 hotel rooms and a newly built 18,000-square-foot ballroom at one of the resorts, the destination provides more meeting space than many of Carlsbad’s well-known Southern California competitors. They needed to get the word out.
In addition, Carlsbad wanted to promote their Group Incentive Program: 5% of total actualized room revenue paid directly to the client as a reimbursement for transportation or other ancillary costs to the group.
“Meetings marketing and group sales are an important focus for Carlsbad as we know this is a key component to the travel industry’s full recovery.”
–Kim Sidoriak, President & CEO, Visit Carlsbad
THE PARTNERSHIP
Digital Edge got to work, delivering a meetings marketing awareness campaign that included a modern landing page with eye-catching animations and an intuitive user funnel. In addition, we added a lead-generation campaign element for the Group Incentive Program. We provided marketing support to help Visit Carlsbad and its one-man sales operation kick-start its meetings & conventions effort.
THE CAMPAIGNS
2022 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
- Awareness Campaign
- Incentive Campaign
- Digital Campaign
- Content Marketing
- Reporting & Metrics for Partners/Stakeholders
2022 Key Campaign Metrics
March – December
71
RFPs to Date
1,765,358
Total Digital Media Ad Impressions
684,204
Total Social Post Impressions
21,044
Landing Pageviews
13,723
Landing Page Users
18,104
Landing Page Sessions
2023 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
- Awareness Campaign Creative Refresh to new Carlsbad brand
- Sales Kit Design
- Sales Activity Support
- Continued Monthly Media, Content & Email Marketing
