The Olympia Lodge is nestled in gorgeous Pine and Monterey Cyprus trees just half a mile from the Pacific Ocean in beautiful Pacific Grove, California. The Olympia Lodge is a small, family-owned business that serves its guests with old-fashioned charm, spacious guest rooms, and friendly service.

Luminessee helps entrepreneurs and small business owners build reputations and revenue with brilliant web craft. Luminessee designs and builds engaging websites, email, social media, and search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns.

Upon The Olympia Lodge’s request, Luminessee partnered with The Olympia Lodge to craft a personalized marketing plan, that included mobile-friendly website redesign, social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and email campaigns. Luminessee used these tools to build brand visibility and credibility; cultivate stronger relationships with existing customers; and, ultimately, increase the number of reservations made each month.

The Olympia Lodge had been suffering, like so many other hotels, from a shortage of guests. The rustic, family-owned motel needed to increase occupancy and get the word out about their affordable, convenient lodging. The following were just a few of the common marketing challenges they faced. Luckily, a colleague in the hospitality industry referred The Olympia Lodge to Luminessee for marketing help.

DECREASED CONSUMER TRAVEL

According to the International Monetary Fund, before COVID-19, travel and tourism had become one of the most important sectors in the world economy, accounting for 10 percent of global GDP. Their reports go on to show that in the first half of 2019, tourist arrivals fell globally by more than 65 percent and had nearly halted by April of 2020. This was dramatically worse for the hospitality industry than the reduction in global tourism (8 percent) that occurred during the global financial crisis and 17 percent amid the SARS epidemic of 2003. Painfully, the residual drop in travel, following the pandemic’s sheltering-in-place trends and lockdowns, reduced the number of prospective hotel guests for nearly all businesses–especially in the hospitality industry—and led to unfathomable challenges for enterprises like The Olympia Lodge.

CONSUMERS’ INCREASED ONLINE SOPHISTICATION

According to the Travel Market Report, 61 percent of travelers in the U.S. have booked and paid for travel through their smartphone within the past year, and 64 percent use their smartphones enroute to their destination. Moreover, and indicative of the direction U.S. travelers are headed, tourists in India and China booked a remarkable 100% of their travel online. Further research shows that social media influences 52% of travelers to change their travel plans, so social media presence matters; 44% of travelers routinely use mobile phones to plan their travel, so a responsive (mobile friendly) and search engine optimized website is essential. Finally, 6 out of 10 travel shoppers are likely to leave a business website if it is not mobile-optimized.

In other words, in the world The Olympia Lodge faced, there was market uncertainty and digital reliance. Consumers required and depended upon consistency in the digital presence of the businesses that they frequent. This was true across all channels and devices—and still is. Any company not fully embracing these technologies loses out. So, the Olympia Lodge was not alone in facing these hurdles then, just as they are not alone now. Today’s hospitality market is still extremely competitive and challenging.

Considering the challenges just outlined that The Olympia Lodge faced, and the business’ desire to keep costs down, Luminessee devised a Content-Rich Online Marketing Strategy for the hotel, that included:

1. WEBSITE ENHANCEMENT & MANAGEMENT

Redesigned and built a WordPress website for The Olympia Lodge. Integrated the new site with the third-party, online reservation tool the hotel employed, by using a software API. Optimized the website to allow online bookings via intuitive navigation, design, and content. Orchestrated website navigation, copywriting, and imagery to direct customers to special offers, reviews, contact details, social media links, and most important – the booking engine.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA & SEARCH ENGINE (SEO) MANAGEMENT

Designed, launched, and managed social media marketing plan through popular channels such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram while cultivating visual consistency of The Olympia Lodge brand. Developed content to attract target customers who were already in the process of searching online for a place to stay in the area.

3. EMAIL CAMPAIGN DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

Strategically crafted and delivered email campaigns to engage guests, build brand awareness and cultivate brand advocates. Created valuable content, such as event calendars and activities-lists that generated buzz with target audience members and inspired stays at The Olympia Lodge.

• Email open rates nearly double that of industry standards
• 31,000 social media views in the last year alone
• A growing collection of positive testimonials from guests

Luminessee’s Content-Rich Online Marketing Strategy helped The Olympia Lodge to increase online reservations by 425% since the pandemic began.

“At the Olympia Lodge, we are in the business of providing our guests with the most relaxing and pleasant experience. Since customer relations and satisfaction is our key priority, we are delighted and relieved to work with the professionals at Luminessee. Luminessee does it all: from designing our website and social media to SEO and email campaigns. I am so pleased with the efficiency and effectiveness with which Pamela and her team execute their work. Since working with Luminessee, our sales and guest interest in our lodge have increased significantly online. I highly recommend Luminessee to all business professionals who have their hands full on the frontlines of their business.”

– Jasmine Johai, Manager, The Olympia Lodge

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