Digital Campaigns That Convert

Golf the Great Ohio Lodges

Marketing shouldn't be something we "set and forget," and we should always strive for more than just high click through rates. Our marketing campaigns need to drive results for our properties, and we achieve this by continually tracking and optimizing for improvement. In this example, we used targeted placements, advanced tracking, and tailored messaging to bring more golfers to the Great Ohio Lodge golf courses.

The Challenge

The Great Ohio Lodge golf courses are located within six of the beautiful state parks in Ohio. However, there was a lack of awareness of how beautiful and challenging these courses are. As a result, we were seeing a decrease in booked tee times and overall use of the golf courses. There was also an opportunity to get more golfers to stay overnight at the lodges to extend to their trip. 

Not only did we want to create awareness of the golf courses, but also to encourage repeat visits, and season pass purchases. We needed a way to stay engaged with potential golfers and showcase the many reasons why someone should golf in Ohio, over and over again. 

The Solution

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ONDR) and the Great Ohio Lodges have partnered together for the past two years to run golf campaigns geared towards getting potential golfers out to the tee boxes. 

In the first year of the campaign, the primary goals were to get people to the golf course and in turn, develop a qualified email list to whom we could continue to market. 

Because the campaign started later in the season, we needed a way for our message to stand out, so we developed a golf weekend giveaway contest. Anyone who signed up was entered to win. The media strategy revolved around golf course visits, so we were able to measure and optimize campaigns towards anyone who saw a digital ad and then visited one of the course locations.

In the second year, we were able to capitalize on historical data, as well as leverage a very engaged audience in the form of our email list from year one. We sent out emails encouraging season pass purchases, golf trip specials at the lodges, and unique facts about each golf course. The media campaigns were once again geared towards awareness and golf course visits. 

The Results 

Golf course visits and revenue increased during both campaigns. Media efforts tracked if someone saw an ad and then visited one of the golf courses. And year-over-year, we were up 49% in tracked golf course visits from media efforts. Through a mix of social ads, native content, and programmatic advertising, we saw a 494% return on investment during the 2019 campaign, up from a 198% ROI in 2018. 

At Regency Hotel Management, we pride ourselves on finding unique and effective ways for the properties we manage to drive revenue and create engagement with our guests.